Supporting women is not a gender issue, it's an economic one

My worlds collided this week when I went to the House of Commons to speak about women’s economic security.

First, the theme for our conference is Speak Up. Stand Out. Soar.  So there I was on April 6, speaking out on behalf of women.

But second was my initial response when the invitation arrived.  Here I am having just co-authored Good Enough, a book on why women don’t feel good enough,  and I start to question why they have chosen me?? 

Initially I wasn’t going to do it, but I quickly realized this opportunity wasn’t about me and my nervousness, but about the women in Canada who deserve better.  So I went to Ottawa.

What did I learn?  First big lesson – seven minutes goes very quickly.  That was how long I had to present, and so I didn’t get to cover all I wanted to say.  Fortunately I can send in a further written submission, which I have already done.

Second, I got asked all sorts of questions about women on boards, women in skilled trades, seniors, compassionate leave – all of which made me glad that I take an interest in women's issues.

So what did I talk about? First had to be affordable child care as without it, too many women can’t work and their skills and talents are lost to the marketplace.  With the tragic case in Vaughan in the news this week,  I also highlighted that this is what can happen when parents desperately need child care and they chose what they can afford. This is the case where a child died and it was found that the caregiver had 35 children and 12 dogs in her care.  

Having worked with abuse survivors and teen moms, I also talked about the needs of marginalized women and then addressed the needs of women entrepreneurs.

Several years ago I served on the National Task Force for Business Growth for Women through which we checked the pulse of women entrepreneurs across Canada.  We wanted to find out why women’s businesses grew more slowly in comparison to their male counterparts. 

What did we learn? First the results were the same across the country – that women lack financial literacy; they don’t use technology to grow their businesses and they lacked confidence.  The latter being a big one, and it dovetails with what we learned doing our book.  I shared these results with the Standing Committee.

I also spoke about the need to support women over 40 in their entrepreneurial endeavours.  If you are under 39, there are all sorts of resources you can access, but one year later, you are out of luck.   My recommendation was that they expand the mandate and funding of Futurpreneur, a successful program that provides loans and mentoring to the start-up business owner.

Another glaring gap that I addressed was the lack of a federally funded women’s enterprise centre in Ontario.  Every other province has the benefit of such a resource, except Ontario.  Time for this to change.  My suggestion was to bring the Ontario based women’s business organizations and networks  together to share best practices and work out how such an enterprise centre could operate and be funded.

Creating a level playing field for women is not a gender issue, it is an economic one. When women succeed, everyone benefits – families, communities and business. 

Invest in yourself. Get a mentor.

When you start a business, you don’t know, what you don’t know and often you end up finding out the hard way.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a fast track so you could avoid some of the pitfalls?   When you have a mentor, someone who has already ‘been there, done that’ it could save you a lot of heartache. 

Sure you will still make your share of mistakes, that is how we learn, but just having someone asking you the right questions, gently or not-so gently prodding you in the right direction, can make a positive difference.

It is a lonely life out there as an entrepreneur. As a solopreneur you make all the decisions – something that attracts many of us to this career path in the first place, but the down side is what if you are wrong? Really wrong.

But you don’t have to be alone when you own. Having a mentor reduces that sense of isolation.  You have someone who is in the ring with you, cheering you on, celebrating your successes and providing support when business doesn’t go the way you expected.

Back in my career days I had a mentor who frankly saw my potential long before I did, and she would give me stretch assignments, which left to my own devices, I would never have taken on.  A mentor brings an objective prospective to your business, seeing your potential, perhaps gently pushing you out of your comfort zone and providing ideas that had never occurred to you.

As women we often don’t like to ask for help.  We don’t do vulnerable.  But having a mentor is none of that.  It is actually a sound business decision.  It means you recognize you and your business are worth investing in; that you have potential and want to grow – professionally and personally.

I encourage you to make that investment in your future.  Sign up for a mentor through our new Mentoring Program.  Go on --- you know you are worth it.

Mentoring magic

“One of the greatest values of mentors is their ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination.” — John C. Maxwell

When I was in government I was fortunate enough to have a manager who did just that.  She saw my potential long before I did and as a result would give me stretch opportunities so I could learn new skills and develop my leadership skills.

I’ve blogged about formal mentorship programs before and from my personal experience they haven’t always worked that well, much because of the matching, or lack of thought given on who would connect and work well together.   It seemed more a superficial linkage based on skill sets the mentee required.

I have even participated in an online mentoring program through which I was matched with a young university student in United Arab Emirates which was an interesting experience where I think I learned more than she did!

Over the years I have also mentored several women and each time I have chosen them.  There was some chemistry between us from the get-go and I’d seen their potential and wanted to help them get ahead.

That’s why I am so excited about the mentoring program Company of Women will be starting in January.  This past week I met up with Laurie Hunt, who has facilitated numerous mentoring programs, and who, I am thrilled to announce will be heading up our program.

Right from the very start we plan to capitalize on the synergy between the women when we do the matching.  In addition to an application form through which the women have to indicate their goals and what help they need, we are hosting a “mingle and match” event so everyone gets to meet and from there the “matching” begins.

The goal is that the mentors and mentees “meet” once a month, which can be done in person, over the phone, on Skype – whichever works best for the couple.  Touching base once or twice by email is also encouraged.  There will be webinars and other learning opportunities, as well as group face-to-face meetings during the year.

Being an entrepreneur is a solo occupation and it can be challenging to find someone who will give you impartial advice, be a sounding board and who will lend their wisdom and expertise with you.  Having a mentor means you have someone in your corner.  How cool is that.

This fall Laurie will be speaking at each of the chapters to talk more about your existing network and the mentoring program, what it is … and what it isn’t.  Like anything else, you only get out of it, what you put in.  We are also looking for mentors and if you would be interested in taking on this role, contact us.

Doing well by doing good

Now I am no Pollyanna, but I do believe in the power of giving back.

Growing up my father had the philosophy that you always helped the under dog,  someone who needed a hand up.  He called it a sense of balance – in that you created a more balanced playing field for others and that when you were fortunate, it was your role to help those less fortunate.

He grew up in poverty, with an alcoholic, abusive father who he and his brothers turfed out when my father was a teenager.  He dropped out of school at 14 to help earn money  but through hard work, grit and determination, ended up a successful business man. 

He never forgot his humble beginnings and was generous to a fault, as I discovered at his funeral as people came forward telling me about the loans he’d given them.  You could say he was a dragon before there was a denJ

So with that backdrop, it is not all that surprising that I have tried to follow in his footsteps – giving my time, my expertise or donations to good causes.  While this has been gratifying, it is not all altruistic, and in fact many of my volunteer positions have actually led to paid jobs.

As a business owner, I have also found that there are benefits to giving back, particularly from a brand perspective.  Customers and staff all want to be part of an organization that cares, that supports others.  Take TOMS.  For each pair of shoes you buy, Blake MyCoskie donates a pair to a child in a developing country.  His shoes are comfortable, not that expensive and so it is easy to support his business.

Recently on my birthday I was given a “Me to We” card where a portion of the sales went to one of their causes.  They provided a link so you could check in and see just where the money was going.  All great marketing and a real feel-good moment all round,

When you give from your heart, you’re not doing it for the accolades or potential awards you could receive, yet that is what happened to me when I got involved with Opportunity International, a charity that gives microfinance loans to women in developing countries.

I helped write a book Faces of Opportunity which shared the stories of some of the women. It was a real eye-opener for me in terms of the poverty most of the women faced, and one of the women had died of AIDS by the time the book was published.  That book raised over $20,000 for the cause, and as a result I received the TIAW World of Difference Award, which in turn led me to be invited to speak in Turkey, all expenses paid.

See what I mean.  You have no idea how much your efforts will not only impact others, but your own life too.

I encourage you to step back and see what cause you can align your business with.  When it fits with your mission and vision, perhaps as in my case, it made sense to support = women in developing countries, because that is what I am doing here in Canada.   Or it be could that you want to have an impact on the future generation?  We’ve done that too.

And just to be clear,  it doesn’t have to be money.  It could be your time or expertise.  When you sit on a board, for example, you broaden your networks and learn new skills.   

Start small.  But start.   I’ve found  that when you focus on others, you live a more fulfilled life and there’s a real buzz when you realize that you are making a difference.

There is a quote I like “All that you give into the lives of others, comes back into your own.”  How true that is.

Farewell my friend...

Much has been written over the past few days about the sudden death of Donna Messer. On April 3^rd, Canada lost a woman who was known across the country as the “Queen of Networking”  and there has been an outpouring of love as people share their stories of how she helped them. 

I only wish Donna could have witnessed how much of an impact she’d had on people’s lives.

I first met Donna over twenty years ago.  She had been speaking at a board of trade event, sharing her story of how she started Orange Crate, a company she successfully ran for ten years and I went to introduce myself after her talk.  We stayed connected, as you do with Donna, and over the years, our paths would frequently cross.

But it was when I was working for government, that I first saw the power of Donna’s networking in action.  At the time I was running a program called Words on Work, where successful women would come into the classroom to share their career paths with female high school students.  Naturally Donna was quick to sign up and when we were at a conference in Stratford, where she was speaking, she “planted” her introduction of me to the audience, helping me recruit more women to my program.

That’s what Donna did.  If she believed in you and what you were doing, she’d go out of her way to make sure you met who you needed to meet.  She was like a walking rolodex with all the people she knew, always making the introductions to help you get ahead.

One of the best connections she made for me was when she introduced me to Jean Price, one of her closest friends, who fast became one of mine.   It is those friendships in life that we hold dear, because no matter how far away you may live, you just know the other person will be there for you.

And Donna was there for so many people – she was always supporting the underdog whether it was the immigrant doctor who was driving a taxi or the new entrepreneur shakily starting her business.

She was outspoken and quick to put you right if, in her opinion, you did something wrong.  I remember being told off when I forgot to bring my business cards to an event she was hosting, you can imagine her horror.J

The last time I saw Donna was on International Women’s Day on March 8 when she was receiving an award.  How fitting.  I am so pleased that she was being honoured for all that she had done to help women get ahead in life. 

Just ten days later, she was given the devastating news of her cancer, news she wanted to keep private and so we respected her wishes.  Today I know people are reeling in shock. Even those of us who knew her dire prognosis, never believed she would be taken from us so soon.

For the past eight years, Donna has been a permanent fixture at my conference.  Always a popular speaker, she attracted many of her fans to come hear her speak.  She was scheduled to speak this year, so it will be strange for her not to be with us on May 26, but I know she will be there in spirit, encouraging us to reach out and support one another.