Is it Time to Re-assess `Women's Work' in 2005?

by Denise Michaels

Published on this site: June 13th, 2005 - See more articles from this month...

As droves of women leave corporations to seek green pastures in entrepreneurism, it's time to re-assess the world of work for women. According to the April 8, 2005 issue of "The Week" hundreds of thousands of women are leaving. The article states, "A recent survey by the business research firm Catalyst found one in three women with MBAs is not working full time. (For men the ratio is one in 20.)" Denise Michaels, 47, author of the ground-breaking, "Testosterone-Free Marketing: The Yin and Yang of Marketing for Women" says, "For millions of women, the corporate world doesn't work. The hours, the cutthroat competition and exclusion from `inner circles' doesn't set
well, so they leave."

Michaels says, "We're wired differently. The science of how the sexes think differently can no longer be ignored. There's almost a polarization occurring. Men are staying in corporations, women are bailing. My book helps those women who choose to break free become savvy, confident marketers and salespersons' so they can create more cash flow."

Examples of women making massive mid-life shifts abound. Sue Koch, 58 of Irvine, CA, was in project management with a large construction and engineering firm for over three decades left when the company told her she could move cross country permanently or leave the company. At 56, she left. She didn't want to go back to the corporate structure; however she admits she was naïve about marketing.

She acknowledges, "I thought doing a good job and word of mouth would be enough." Overwhelmed and isolated Koch says, "I didn't even know how to network so I was starting from scratch." Koch now consults people who want to leave corporate America. "I design exit strategies for corporate rats," she says with an impish grin.

The February 21, 2005 cover story for Newsweek, "Mommy Madness" discussed the frustration and feelings of failure many women experience trying to blend good parenting and meaningful work in their pre-mommy careers. The article describes women falling asleep at their desks from overwork, lack of sleep and not having clear boundaries with the myriad of hats they wear and the conflicting demands that keep them in a state of perpetual craziness and fatigue. New York Times, writer Matter Miller in a May 25 2005 article writes, "Why don't we re-engineer these jobs - and the firms and the culture that sustain them - to make possible the blend of love and work that everyone knows is the true gauge of "success"? Miller adds, "Today talented people live in fear of sounding anything less than 24/7. Tell your boss you have to deal with a drinking problem and you'll be fine; say you want more time with your family and you're on the endangered species list."

"The Week" article noted above says with the pressure for quarterly profits and global competition, "The corporate climate is actually becoming more Darwinian, not less."

Fortune magazine recently discovered 20 of the 50 "most powerful women" named in its pages over the years left their power positions. Most declared they favored the "rewards" of a sane domestic life to the prestige and income of occupying the corner office.

The March 7, 2005 cover story of Time was about male and female brain differences and how that translates into aptitudes in math and science. Amanda Ripley wrote, "Thanks to new brain-imaging technology, we know there are indeed real differences between the male and the female brain, more differences than we would have imagined a decade ago." A clear edge has never emerged between male and female brains, but the way the way we process information and solve problems is vastly different the article states.

Michaels says, "Entrepreneurism is growing like crazy for women. Were wired differently from men. Most women are uncomfortable with the scorched-earth, damn-the-torpedoes ethos of big business. Owning our own business seems to suits the way we work best and our family lives. For many women it all comes together for them. But most women are horribly ill at ease with the most important skills necessary to make their enterprises profitable – marketing and selling.

Ann Zuccardy, CEO of Vermont Shortbread is a technical writer for IBM, working from home. She developed Vermont shortbread when her daughter was a toddler. A divorce forced her to re-enter the corporate world. Zuccardy is planning her eventual exit strategy because, "It's not like the stable jobs our parent's had. The world has changed. My daughter is no longer a toddler – but I want to be
around to support and guide her."

When asked about her first marketing and selling efforts, Zuccardy admitted, "I held myself back and had a lack of confidence. I felt I had to know everything."

Jennifer Wright, 53, an American living in New Zealand, recently featured in the May 16, 2005 cover story of Time, said she left her university professor position to become a coach for mid-life women because academia no longer fit her. "It didn't sustain me," she said. However, getting a business off the ground held new challenges. "I thought you put your shingle out and people came," Wright said.
"Marketing and selling made me feel uncomfortable. I didn't want to tick people off or be seen as a used car salesman."

Terry Green, 52 of Baltimore OH started her business after one too many calls from the principal's office. "I was sitting in an office all day and the kids were running wild. I didn't have time to be a mom, so I quit my job." Green said she was struck by how daunting marketing was on many levels. "I felt I was imposing myself on others. Even at networking events where you're there to talk about your business; going up to people and telling them about my business as a virtual assistant was difficult."

Michaels says, "It's a `girl thing'." After coaching 1,200 plus men and women in marketing the last four years, she noticed a marked difference in attitudes towards marketing and selling between the sexes. "Women grow up hearing messages like `don't toot your own horn' and `good girls wait.' We take these `lessons' into our business without realizing it. The result is millions of women business owners wait for customers to call like they waited for the cute boy in high school history class to call for a date. Women can change by making different conscious choices and hence get much better results – but first they must be aware of the fears and beliefs that are driving them."

Women are starting businesses at double the rate of men. 400 women a day start a business according to recent statistics. "It's a wonderful change from the days when we tried to keep up with the men in the 1980s. We didn't have female role models back then. Attempting to imitate the men was a dismal failure," says Michaels. "Business ownership provides an alternative from the corporate arena that's often testosterone-heavy. It's good for women and families. However, if women don't see the obstacles that hold many of them back from successfully selling and marketing, they don't have a business – they have an expensive hobby."

Koch, who's been exposed to Michaels' work says, "I didn't realize I was holding back, it was such ingrained behavior. I have a new awareness, a new sense of responsibility for my results and I'm taking risks I shied away from before." She adds, "You don't have to know how to do it all, you only have to figure out how to do what comes next."

"I've learned to take on new ideas since discovering Testosterone-Free Marketing," says Wright. "My fear disappeared as I got a clearer understanding of what marketing is all about. My business is about aligning with feminine energy. TFM is in alignment with that." Wright sees the sky as the limit for her coaching business and workshops.

Zuccardy adds, "My assertiveness and confidence have skyrocketed. I'm less afraid to ask for help and I'm using my own unique strengths. I'm great at writing, creating strong friendships and listening to my intuition – rather than make decisions solely based on facts. I was using intuition before – but now I pay attention to it."

"Testosterone-Free Marketing helped me know I'm not alone feeling nervous and about marketing and tooting my own horn. Women don't promote like men do. To read about other women who've overcome that fear – gave me more confidence," says Green.

"I wasn't immune to the fears discussed in the book," Michaels says. "In my 20s, I almost hoped that a customer wouldn't be there when I showed up for a meeting, I was that uncomfortable. I wrote the book I needed to read and addressed an issue that has largely gone unnoticed. It's a problem no one has identified until now and a different paradigm about marketing that works for women," Michaels says, "My book serves two purposes: primarily it's to help women business owners level the playing field with men who own businesses. I also wanted to finally upset the old myths from back in the 1980s when I got out of college that insisted there were no differences between men and women except our `plumbing'. That was a disservice to our unique strengths as women."

For over two decades, Denise Michaels has been a successful marketer, speaker, trainer and coach. Michaels is a keen observer of the Mars/Venus marketing differences between the sexes. She's founder of www.MarketingforHer.com and authored the myth-shattering new book, "Testosterone-Free Marketing: The Yin and Yang of Marketing for Women." Send emails to Denise at [email protected]