You’ve Come a Long Way …

The Skinny on IWD 2023 at 1871

It was nice to be back in person at 1871 for the 2023 International Women’s Day half-day event. The theme this year was “Embrace Equity”, and it did not take long to dive right in.

I entered the building with mixed emotions, remembering how I felt three years ago, days before the pandemic, and how remarkably different my life was today.?

Emotional, yes, I mean how couldn’t I be? 2019-20 was one of the more brutal years for me mentally, physically and emotionally and yet now I was able to walk into this building with the confidence of having helped build a nonprofit, while also building my own LLC and offerings as a consultant.?My global network had grown over 10x, and if my net worth could be reflected by my network, I would be considered rich with the incredible humans I collaborate with on a daily basis.

Eager to show up … I showed up early and had coffee with 4 women:?two additional founders, an investor, and a data science manager in the tech world.

Once it was time to take our seats, I headed for the front row. Why not? I wanted to pay attention to every ounce of wisdom coming from the stage. I even had the opportunity to exchange a few words with Betsy Ziegler , CEO of 1871, prior to her kick-off of the event. Sharing a bit of my personal transformation with her was impactful, as she is living proof of how to shake things up in Chicago with her resume of success, while having no qualms about encouraging others to show up as they are, vulnerability and all.

“You’ve come a long way (baby)”, the Virginia Slims tagline, kept going through my mind after talking with so many others with transformation stories of their own. The empowerment movement has evolved significantly since 1968. Rather than a cigarette tailored for these women’s hands, they’ve got something much more powerful … technology, intelligence, and passion to make a difference in the ever-changing tech scene in Chicago.

While the odds are seemingly against women when it comes to start-ups, Chicago boasts better numbers with 34% women founders in Chicago versus 18% nationwide. It is people like the women on the panel(s) and those sitting next to me, in this particular room on this particular day, who are shaking things up too with the help of their allies.?‘Moving the needle’ so to speak.

Betsy started the event celebrating each person in the room, and emphasized the intentions of 1871 as an innovation nonprofit seeking “to inspire, equip and support across the full maturity of a business”.

If only we could do the same for all people, right?

She reminded us “Every great big company was at one point just an idea”.?With the right support we can drive positive change by surrounding ourselves with peers and insights to accelerate our ideas.

As for the aim to embrace equity, “equal opportunities are not enough” said Ziegler, we must be a “leader of acceptance and inclusion” as she challenged the room to determine 1-2 things we could each do personally to help with the mission. “It’s time for us to thrive again” became the battle call.

We are a world driven by data, and yet many ignore the facts that diverse teams actually outperform others with higher revenue, return on sales and return on invested capital. “Capital is not rational”, however, as many continue to “invest in and hire what they know”. This type of pattern recognition impacts investments, hiring, and team development. However, it can start with one, just like the one woman investor who I had coffee with in the morning, she has breached the wall and is commencing on modifying the landscape.

Here are some of the key topics discussed throughout the day led by SANDWINA , each one could be an article unto itself. I had to choose my 2 breakout rooms, so was not able to attend all of the sessions, a highlevel overview below:

• Closing the Investment Gap
• The Art and Science of Allyship – Azalia H. Speight : ”We all have power, privilege, platform – how are we using them to help others?”
• Personal Branding Story
• Fixing the Broken Rung to Equity – Bridget Lohrius and Sharmili Majmudar : "When evaluating pay equity, it is important to pay attention to and measure intersectionality, as it also creates a long-term wealth gap."
• Conversation with leaders – Betsy Ziegler, Suzanne Muchin , Andrea Zopp , a few snippets below:

o??If you don’t learn how to sell yourself and your ideas, you can’t have an impact. Have a point of view and hold it.

o??Unless you become a good storyteller, you will not persuade hearts and minds.

o??Focus on outcomes and talk in detail about what moves the business with specificity.

o??Manage the bottom line – it’s not what you make, it’s what you keep.

o??If you can’t raise the money to support your idea, it doesn’t matter how good the idea is, eventually the idea will dry up.

o??Does this idea have value, purpose, is there a reason people will get behind it? ?Is there a market for it?

o??How committed are you to the ups and downs that come with being an entrepreneur??Even with a great company and idea, there are dark days if you cannot handle that if it will derail you.

o??Internal:?see yourself as someone capable of leading from the front, know from deep within that you are ready to lead and no one can possibly convince you it’s not happening.

o??External:?need a list of allies. Know who your allies are in the room, in the city, on your text. Be willing to ask for help, “I’m willing to lead and I need your help”.

o??Resilience is needed to be an entrepreneur – it’s all in. A daily commitment and recommitment.

At the end of the day, Betsy reminded us to “meet someone new, learn something to put into action, and have fun.” Seems like a reasonable request.

We left the room, got in line for lunch, and I engaged in conversation with a woman from MHub, and had lunch with another woman founder.?As we shared our stories, I was reminded again of the impact of being vulnerable. We listened to one another’s stories, then she looked me in the eye and said:

?

“It’s like you’re telling part of my story”.

We both felt heard and understood. Perhaps we’ll be allies??At a minimum we connected on LinkedIn . I hope to stay in touch to see how her new business goes, and the offer remains open to be an ally online and again in the city someday.?

It's time to support one another, let's start today!