From My Inbox: 131 Years 🤬

For the 14th year running, Iceland (91.2%) takes the top position. It also continues to be the only country to have closed more than 90% of its gender gap.

131 years.

That’s how long it will take to reach gender parity - assuming we continue to prod along at the current pace.

Ok. I lied. It is 131 years….and stalling.

And that number of 131 years + the high probability of a few more years been tacked on, since as noted in the World Economic Forum report, we’re stalling…was arrived at by looking at four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment).

131 years, measured across four critical dimensions - an averaging, which yes, dear reader, means that along several dimensions, the journey to parity is even longer.

Terrific, huh?!

131 or so years.

Here’s my thought: raise a glass of your favorite cuppa (or a fist or finger) to the accomplishments that got us to this place, then look ahead and charge forward.

Ok.

I’ve got another number for you: 26 million.

26 million Americans don’t access to the IDs they need to escape poverty and live healthy and productive lives.

It’s an astonishing number that came to my attention thanks to activist, change maker, and soon-to-be-published author Kat Calvin. Yes, her book “American Identity in Crisis: Notes from an Accidental Activist” is available for pre-order and yes, I’m damn proud to call her a friend.

AND another number: 1.

My pal Mary McKenna, co-founder of AwakenHub achieved a massive FIRST. She is the FIRST person to win two high-profile angel investment awards (1 in Europe and the other in the UK and both in the same week), making her the first person ever to do so.

Now, before this From my inbox turns into a maths class…let’s move on.

Carrot? Stick? When a brand faces a choice like this I say 🥕🥕🥕every time!

My pal Elizabeth Talerman is a brand guru. Ok. I got that wrong. She is THE brand guru. That’s her quote above, and the article To fill offices, Google issues ultimatum while Salesforce tries charity (Washington Post) prompted her 3 carrot reaction.

“I’m here to make mistakes; I can’t make mistakes at work.”

Another insightful post from my pal Sarah Feingold over on LinkedIn. When your job not simply requires but demands that you do it perfectly, go find something you can successfully fail at.

I logged into my Twitter account recently to discover there are a LOT of crypto and NFT deals I’m missing out on. If (like me) you’re wondering about the state of social media check out Episode 79 of Marketing, Mindfulness and Martinis. Host (and yes, a friend) Joanne Tombrakos interviews digital pioneer and early adopter, Nadina Guglielmetti, Vice President and General Manager of Marketing for The Vitamin Shoppe. From Tik Tok to Twitter to Lemon8 and YouTube Shorts - these two experts cover it all.

Well sh#t, I’m back to the numbers. KPMG Canada released it’s third annual inclusion, diversity, and equity report - and its workforce is 54% women. I’m now off to see how that is reflected in their c-suite and around the boardroom table.

Speaking of the boardroom. More than 85% of governing Board roles are filled through networking, less than 15% are filled by recruiters! Let me repeat that number: 85% of governing Board roles are filled through networking. One way to network closer to landing a board role is by joining an advisory board of an early stage company. My friends at The Fourth Floor have over 800 startups engaged on their platform, many ( I strongly suspect) are looking for advisors.

“Seeing others’ kindness helps us maintain this belief that the world isn’t that bad.”

Skip the scary headlines. Stories of kindness can ease the angst of upsetting news, study says (Washington Post) And I’ll admit it, I miss the “wive of a president having an affair with an alien” or Elvis spotted [insert location here] headlines that used to frequently appear in the tabloids.

Make money on your clothes? Wardrobe more sustainably? Meredith Fineman is not only an author, she’s a vintage clothing collector, the founder of Secondhand Society AND she has a new online course to help you make money from your closet.

You’re familiar with farm to table, how about farm to face? Thanks to Global InvestHer and their 2023 Summit, I discovered Blendily, a Portland Oregon based, female-founded ‘seed to soul” botanic wellness company (and for those who know me, you know I’m a skincare, skin health fanatic). Now emails about products with yummy names like Sapphire Moon Facial Oil Serum, Orange Dreamsicle Lotion Bar, Force Field Aromatic Body Oil are delighting my inbox (and senses (cause yeah, not everything in my inbox is well, blah blah blah serious).

BTW DYK that Global InvestHer has a global directory of women-founded businesses? Shop it. Get on it.

“Your presentation at [insert name of fab client’s offsite for women in leadership here] was amazing and gave me a great deal to think about. I’ve been making notes about my goals & network every day since.”

Yes, I’m chuffed, thrilled, humbled and motivated when I receive feedback from those who have attended one of my talks or workshops. Why? Not just ego, tho I do have one. No, because my WHY is to help others succeed. And feedback (such as the kind email quoted above) indicates I’ve managed to do a little of that. And yeah, just like a thoughtful handwritten thank-you note, I let messages like this linger for a while in my inbox (so no, I’m not an inbox zero type of person) - and before you ask, the handwritten notes get posted on the fridge.

BTW you’ll discover ways to work with me, here, on my website.