Chickonomics Blog

Hey Chicks,

Have you been out of the workforce for an extended period of time, perhaps to raise children? Or are you sick of your current job and seeking more flexibility by (perhaps) working from home or starting your own business? If you answered yes to either of these, check-out my current Chickonomics Chat podcast episode.

Sure, you can consider this an informercial for it, but it’s FREE and it is loaded with great info that can help you with On-ramping or Off-ramping.

My interview is with Catherine Clifford, co-founder of YourOnRamp.com. I went to their launch party on Monday night in the Bay Area, and it was sold-out with 150+ fabulous women from all kinds of interesting backgrounds, with all types of personal reasons for being there. And the topic is so hot they even got coverage on the local NBC News affilitate. Not many business networking events get that!!!

I met 2 women who are attorneys but have been out of the workforce for around 10 years raising their kids and are now trying to get a feel for what’s out there in the work world for them. Both had done part time volunteer work while full-time parenting but are now looking for on-ramping into careers again. I also met a guy that off-ramped to be a stay at home Dad and is now looking to enter the workforce again. He was the only man out of the 150+ attendees…had he been single he would have been REALLY popular that night!

I also met a woman from a large, well-known high tech company that was in her early-50’s and tired of the corporate b.s. so she was there to learn about off-ramping ideas. And I met lots of chicks in their late-20s and early 30’s, with small children and working full-time, trying to find alternatives to the corporate grind but still needing to bring in a “full time” income for their families.

And the founders of YourOnRamp.com spared no expense by serving amazing appetizers like fresh sushi and great wine. And if the networking, wine and food wasn’t enough, they hired an amazing keynote speaker to educate and entertain everyone: Dr. Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of Off-Ramps and On-Ramps.

She is an economist and the founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy where she directs the “Hidden Brain Drain”—a task force of 35 global companies committed to fully realizing female and minority talent over their career lifespan. Can you tell I pulled that directly from her website bio?

Anyhoo, I’m sure many of you can relate to the women that I met that night, so check out the podcast interview to learn more about this great online service! Catherine even shares several success stories about some YourOnRamp.com members that are guaranteed to motivate and inspire you!

Here’s a link to the interview:

http://chickonomicschat.podomatic.com/

Cheers to Chicks!
Lisa

Go, Ricki, go, Ricki!

FYI: That was written to the chant that audience members greeted her with at the beginning of every show.

Well, Chicks, it appears Ricki Lake has gone from host of Springer-esque talkshow fame to serious chick supporting women’s rights and educating women about birthing options, and the hazards women face by hospitals pushing (no pun intended) high-tech births (e.g. c-sections).

She is currently in Australia to promote her new film, The Big Business of Being Born, directed by Emmy award-winning Director, Abby Epstein.

An article I just read on www.Theage.com.au stated:

In Australia to promote her film about women’s rights and birthing issues, Ms. Lake held a press conference with Justine Caines, a candidate for the What Women Want party.

“I do think this is a political issue, this issue of women fighting for their right to choice,” Ms Lake said. Her film features her giving birth at home in a bath and investigates women’s choice for vaginal birth or caesareans, and whether women get adequate care during childbirth.

Here is a link to read all about the movie. The press release also includes some alarming facts that any woman on the verge of giving birth should be aware of. My partner and I are currently trying for Baby #2 so we found this info to be extremely interesting (and alarming!):

http://www.theage.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/ricki-lake-just-the-ticket-for-talk/2007/11/02/1193619148291.html

Cheers to Chicks & Go, Ricki!

Lisa

Hello Chicks!

Big news in South America this weekend! Yesterday, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner became Argentina’s first female President! She started her political career in the 1970’s, is a lawyer, was a former Senator for Buenos Aires Province, and is the wife of the current President of Argentina, Nestor Kirchner.

Sound familiar?? Many people compare to her Senator Clinton because they share a very similar background and path–just in different parts of the globe.

Shortly after her victory was announced, she proclaimed: “We have won amply,” with her husband standing at her side. “But this, far from putting us in a position of privilege, puts us instead in a position of greater responsibilities and obligations.”

Fernandez also told a crowd of reporters that voting was especially joyful for her because she grew up under the 1976-83 dictatorship.

“I’m part of a generation that grew up in a country in which nobody could say anything, so we value this in a very special way,” she said.

You can read more about her life and career by visiting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Fernández_de_Kirchner

Cheers to Chicks!
Lisa

Hey Chicks!

I am very excited to have been asked to be a featured panelist at the 2007 Women in Leadership Summit in San Francisco, Nov. 12-14! This will be VERY cool. The panel discussion will be about how new technologies, such as online social networks, are impacting women’s leadership roles in business. I was asked to participate so that I could bring my expertise about Millennial Chicks (Gen Y) to the table. The event coordinators knew about my new book, Millennials Incorporated, and thought I’d be a good fit.

My co-panelists are 2 major figures in the world of women’s leadship: Rayona Sharpnack, Founder & President of the Institute for Women’s Leadership, and Pamela Wilhelms, who is an organizational consultant and executive coach with 20 years experience in individual and organizational development.

If you live in the Bay Area (or close by!), you should check out this amazing conference. It’s in its ninth year and gets an attendance of over 700+ women executives and leaders. Great place for networking, learning, and inspiration!

http://www.linkageinc.com/learning_events/conferences/wil/default.aspx

Also, along the lines of leadership, my recent podcast episode on Chickonomics Chat is an interview with Rayona (who I mentioned above). She has written an awesome book about taking control of your life personally and professionally and really shared some great info & tips in the interview. Her new book is called: “Trade Up: 5 Steps for Redesigning Your Leadership & Life from the Inside Out”.

You can download this podcast episode (FREE!) at:

http://chickonomicschat.podomatic.com/

So, there you have it. Some great things to check-out (a Summit, a podcast, and a book!) all about empowering women!

Cheers to Chicks!
Lisa

Hey Chicks!

I’m always looking for cool sites that support women and that provide good content, and this one appears to do that! It’s DamselsinSuccess.com (great name) and was founded by Harleen Kahlon.

Here’s the basics of their mission:

At Damsels, we agree with the popular notion that, in order to grow something, you have to give it attention. And we want to put the spotlight on YOU… Your fascinating stories, your valuable insights, your ambitious dreams. When you visit Damsels In Success, you should feel that you are in the company of women who listen and share. A Damsels woman is one who wants to hear others’ perspective on the professional situations that women have all experienced or witnessed, and she is one who has her own enlightening and curious perspective to share. At the very least, participating in Damsels In Success should be a fun conversation. But we hope it is much more… We hope Damsels In Success is transformative.

If, after the inspiration, you’re encouraged toward a new professional role, we invite you to use the Job Board to connect with high caliber employers who are dedicated to adding professional women to their teams. In this section, when you click on the logo of some of the employers featured under our “Employers Who Support the Advancement of Women” banner, you’ll be able to read about the employer’s policies on diversity, maternity leave, flex time, sexual harassment, etc.

So, Chicks, check-out what they have going on and tell your friends!

Cheers to Chicks!
Lisa

Hey Chicks,

Ann Coulter is one crazy chick. As you know, in my blog I not only cover stories or issues that involve or impact women, but stories just about women in general. This could be about a female celebrity, female politician, whatever.

I recently came across this story on MediaMatters.org about wacky chick Coulter and her recent appearance on CNBC’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. It is yet another example of her intolerance for anyone that isn’t white, Christian, straight AND Republican. Notice I didn’t say “or”. You have to meet all (4) of those criteria for her to think you are remotely civilized. I have NO doubt she would consider me Satan.

Here is the actual transcript from the show on October 8th. Considering Donny is Jewish, I’m sure he was only seconds away from back-handing her across the face:

DEUTSCH: Let me ask you a question. We’re going to get off strengths and weakness for a second. If you had your way, and all of your — forget that any of them –

COULTER: I like this.

DEUTSCH: — are calculated marketing teases, and your dreams, which are genuine, came true having to do with immigration, having to do with women’s — with abortion — what would this country look like?

COULTER: It would look like New York City during the Republican National Convention. In fact, that’s what I think heaven is going to look like.

DEUTSCH: And what did that look like?

COULTER: Happy, joyful Republicans in the greatest city in the world.

DEUTSCH: No, no, no, no, but I’m talking about this country. You don’t want to make this country — it’s not about Republicans. I’m saying, what would the fabric of this country look like? Forget that the Republicans would be running the show.

COULTER: Well, everyone would root for America, the Democratic Party would look like [Sen.] Joe Lieberman [I-CT], the Republican Party would look like [Rep.] Duncan Hunter [R-CA] –

DEUTSCH: No, no, no, I don’t want — I’m not talking about politically the landscape. What would our — would we be safer? Would people be happier? Would they be more –

COULTER: We would be a lot safer.

DEUTSCH: Would there be more tolerance? Would there be — would women be happier, would the races get along better? The Ann Coulter subscription — prescription. What — tell me what would be different in our fabric of country, because –

COULTER: Well, all of those things.

DEUTSCH: — I can give — I can give you an argument there would be more divisiveness, that there would be more hate –

COULTER: Oh, no.

DEUTSCH: — that there would be a bigger difference between the rich and the poor, a lot of other — tell me what — why this would be a better world? Let’s give you — I’m going to give you — say this is your show.

COULTER: Well, OK, take the Republican National Convention. People were happy. They’re Christian. They’re tolerant. They defend America, they –

DEUTSCH: Christian — so we should be Christian? It would be better if we were all Christian?

COULTER: Yes.

DEUTSCH: We should all be Christian?

COULTER: Yes. Would you like to come to church with me, Donny?

DEUTSCH: So I should not be a Jew, I should be a Christian, and this would be a better place?

COULTER: Well, you could be a practicing Jew, but you’re not.

DEUTSCH: I actually am. That’s not true. I really am. But — so we would be better if we were - if people — if there were no Jews, no Buddhists –

COULTER: Whenever I’m harangued by –

DEUTSCH: — in this country? You can’t believe that.

COULTER: — you know, liberals on diversity –

DEUTSCH: Here you go again.

COULTER: No, it’s true. I give all of these speeches at megachurches across America, and the one thing that’s really striking about it is how utterly, completely diverse they are, and completely unself-consciously. You walk past a mixed-race couple in New York, and it’s like they have a chip on their shoulder. They’re just waiting for somebody to say something, as if anybody would. And –

DEUTSCH: I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree with that at all. Maybe you have the chip looking at them. I see a lot of interracial couples, and I don’t see any more or less chips there either way. That’s erroneous.

COULTER: No. In fact, there was an entire Seinfeld episode about Elaine and her boyfriend dating because they wanted to be a mixed-race couple, so you’re lying.

DEUTSCH: Oh, because of some Seinfeld episode? OK.

COULTER: But yeah, I think that’s reflective of what’s going on in the culture, but it is completely striking that at these huge megachurches — the idea that, you know, the more Christian you are, the less tolerant you would be is preposterous.

DEUTSCH: That isn’t what I said, but you said I should not — we should just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians, then, or –

COULTER: Yeah.

DEUTSCH: Really?

COULTER: Well, it’s a lot easier. It’s kind of a fast track.

DEUTSCH: Really?

COULTER: Yeah. You have to obey.

DEUTSCH: You can’t possibly believe that.

COULTER: Yes.

DEUTSCH: You can’t possibly — you’re too educated, you can’t — you’re like my friend in –

COULTER: Do you know what Christianity is? We believe your religion, but you have to obey.

DEUTSCH: No, no, no, but I mean –

COULTER: We have the fast-track program.

DEUTSCH: Why don’t I put you with the head of Iran? I mean, come on. You can’t believe that.

COULTER: The head of Iran is not a Christian.

DEUTSCH: No, but in fact, “Let’s wipe Israel” –

COULTER: I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention.

DEUTSCH: “Let’s wipe Israel off the earth.” I mean, what, no Jews?

COULTER: No, we think — we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.

DEUTSCH: Wow, you didn’t really say that, did you?

COULTER: Yes. That is what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws. We know we’re all sinners –

DEUTSCH: In my old days, I would have argued — when you say something absurd like that, there’s no –

COULTER: What’s absurd?

DEUTSCH: Jews are going to be perfected. I’m going to go off and try to perfect myself –

COULTER: Well, that’s what the New Testament says.

DEUTSCH: Ann Coulter, author of If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans, and if Ann Coulter had any brains, she would not say Jews need to be perfected. I’m offended by that personally. And we’ll have more Big Idea when we come back.

[…]

DEUTSCH: Welcome back to The Big Idea. During the break, Ann said she wanted to explain her last comment. So I’m going to give her a chance. So you don’t think that was offensive?

COULTER: No. I’m sorry. It is not intended to be. I don’t think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to, you know, live up to all the laws. What Christians believe — this is just a statement of what the New Testament is — is that that’s why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don’t believe our testament.

DEUTSCH: You said — your exact words were, “Jews need to be perfected.” Those are the words out of your mouth.

COULTER: No, I’m saying that’s what a Christian is.

DEUTSCH: But that’s what you said — don’t you see how hateful, how anti-Semitic –

COULTER: No!

DEUTSCH: How do you not see? You’re an educated woman. How do you not see that?

COULTER: That isn’t hateful at all.

DEUTSCH: But that’s even a scarier thought. OK –

COULTER: No, no, no, no, no. I don’t want you being offended by this. This is what Christians consider themselves, because our testament is the continuation of your testament. You know that. So we think Jews go to heaven. I mean, [Rev. Jerry] Falwell himself said that, but you have to follow laws. Ours is “Christ died for our sins.” We consider ourselves perfected Christians. For me to say that for you to become a Christian is to become a perfected Christian is not offensive at all.

DEUTSCH: We will let the audience decide then, won’t we? Ann Coulter. New book. More Big Idea straight ahead.

Hey Chicks!

More news about chicks around the globe…it appears Bhutanese women are tired of standing on the sidelines of society and are starting to fight for a voice in their culture; but not without opposition…from their government AND from some other Bhutanese women.

But regardless of the challenges, it’s another example of the Chickonomics Movement making some headway around the world! And what I found interesting is that some of what they are fighting for is similar to what American women fought for back in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848.

Here is more info about this topic from an article written by Kinley Wangmo for Kuenselonline.com:

On October 6, 2007, women gathered under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) umbrella to discuss social, women and youth issues. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB) has said that political parties are not allowed to have separate women or youth wings.

“The draft constitution prohibits segregation based on sex, religion, language or social origin and having a group, which particularly isolates women from the mainstream of the party politics, is unlawful,” said election commission officials. “It is also self-defeating because, on one hand, you have a women’s wing and, on the other, a youth wing, implying that the main party members are men.”

ECB officials said that the commission was not against women or youth issues being brought to the limelight, but the constitution made it clear that a wing, structured in such a way as to have its own charter and objectives, was not permissible.

The women members have, however, got around the commission’s stance by renaming the PDP women’s wing as the department of women and youth.

“Initially, we called it the PDP women’s wing, but the ECB heard about it and was under the impression that it was an independent body of the party or an NGO,” said the director for PDP’s women and youth department, Lily Wangchuk.

“But that is not the case, we are a department within the People’s Democratic Party and not a separate branch. We have let ECB know that. Since then, we have not heard from them on the matter and we have an understanding within the party that it is okay to have a women and youth department,” she said.

The director also said that ECB has to understand that the department’s intention is not to start a feminist movement but to incorporate women’s perspectives in the party policies and plans.

On the other hand, women members of DPT call themselves the women’s support group of DPT and also the Amsu Detsen. They do not have a separate charter and their goals and objectives are in line with the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa’s objective and goals, according to the members.

“We are not an independent so-called ‘wing’ of the party. We are a support group of the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa,” said a member, Khandu Om. “We don’t have a leader or a director, but we have women’s working groups and several focal persons in a few districts and, at the moment, our main objective is to ensure that women understand their role in democracy.”

The PDP women and youth department members said that they were going ahead with their activities, adding that the time to act was now.

On October 4, a women’s discussion forum on ‘women’s role in democracy’ was organised by the PDP women and youth department. However, it left the organisers and volunteers dissatisfied.

The reason was the turnout, which constituted only a handful of educated women, housewives, businesswomen and lacked the participation of women in the civil service.

“Civil servants are told to remain apolitical but, if they are to vote, they need to be informed and for that they need to attend such meetings,” said Lily Wangchuk. “But women are worried, because they are either civil servants or wives of civil servants or armed forces.”

“We sent out about 500 invitations to educated women, but only about 100 turned up,” she said.

However, those attending the meeting did not put up a lame show. Some were outspoken and some were coy but they had the courage to face the crowd and give inspiring talks on why women should raise their voices. Some however forgot the larger issue and simply pledged support to the party.

Some of the gaping issues, relevant to most Bhutanese women and society at large, like sexual harassment in the work place, lack of care for old people, uneducated and divorced single mothers, and a lack of economical day-care centres for single as well as working mothers, were raised.

But there were women, who had attended such a gathering for the first time in their lives, and did not see housework or battery as issues.

Some listened but were critical about the women and youth department’s role. “What I understood is that they are indirectly asking for votes by saying that there is nothing they cannot do for us,” said Kinley, 56.

On the other front, a similar meeting was organised by the women tshogpa of DPT on September 28. A DPT member, Rinzin, told media that women’s involvement in party politics and decision-making would contribute towards a better tomorrow.

About 300 women from Lamgong Wangchang constituency in Paro attended the meeting in Lango gewog.

By Kinley Wangmo kinley_w@kuensel.com.bt

Hey Chicks,

Can you believe it has already been 6 months since idiot man Don Imus made is racially fueled, gender discriminatory comments about the African American women of the Rutgers women’s basketball team? And, par usual with the memory of the American public, it looks like he’ll (possibly) be back on the air December 1st. He is currently negotiating with Citadel Broadcasting for a significant deal that may include syndication.

He was fired back in the spring by CBS and NBC. So it looks like he’s had a nice 6 moth vacation and is ready to sign another deal…but not if the National Organization for Women (NOW.org) gets their way!

According to a mass emailed press release I received today, here’s what they have to say:

NOW was the first women’s organization to speak out against Don Imus’ insulting and degrading language directed at those accomplished young women, generating over 30,000 message through their website. In April, NOW and other civil rights organizations went to New York City and told CBS and MSNBC that it was time for Imus to go.

NOW has alerted supporters so they can write to Citadel Broadcasting urging them to reconsider, and to take a stand against hate speech.

I’m sure if most of the white, Republican men get their way, he’ll be back on because money tends to override values in the world, but at least NOW will stand up and be heard.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out…

Cheers to Chicks!
Lisa

Hey Chicks,

Well I have been one busy chick and have fallen behind on my blog duties. Last week I moderated a panel for the Association for Technology and Women, and it was hosted by Yahoo. It was a panel about Millennial Women in Technology and the panel consisted of 5 very bright 20-somethings. We had a blast and had the audience entertained and they expressed some great opinions and insights. The panelists were from Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, Lockheed and Affymetrix.

And now I’m preparing for a big seminar that I’m conducting tomorrow for a large public company in Silicon Valley about Millennial Chicks and Guys. It’s about how to attract, recruit and retain the new generation of young professionals. This whole topic spins from my new book on Amazon: The 2007 Chickonomics Guide to Millennial Professionals. Hot topic, cool stuff.

Okay, so that’s why I have been MIA. Lots of prepping and developing for these speaking gigs.

But how cool is it about the women’s leadership forum in Dubai?? Here’s some basic info from the article I saw today on www.bi-me.com (Business Intelligence Middle East):

“UAE. Under the patronage of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, The New Arab Woman Forum will take place on 21-22 October at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai

The Forum is organised by Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group and Al Hasnaa magazine, in cooperation with the General Secretariat of the Arab League, ESCWA, V-Day Karama, Diplomatic Ladies Association Dubai and North Emirates and media partner MBC1.

The forum emphasizes the fundamental role of the Arab woman and her various powers and abilities in leadership, management, politics, business, education, media, beauty, and the problems she encounters.

The New Arab Woman will bring together more than 500 high profile delegates and speakers from 30 Arab and foreign countries. Invitees include women government ministers and parliamentarians, NGO heads, and renowned actresses, artists and journalists, as well as businessmen and other specialists. The gathering promises to be one of the major events on the 2007 conference agenda, combining relevance, calibre, advantage, placement power and excellent presentation.”

Mazen Hayek’s quote is the foundation for my definition of Chickonomics:

“The role of Arab women is no longer limited only to building a family. She now plays a vital role in steering the change to become an effective member in facing current and future challenges,” said Mazen Hayek, MBC Group Director of Marketing, Public Relations and Commercial, representing the sponsors.

Go, Arab Chicks, go! Very exciting and very important!

Cheers to Chicks!
Lisa

Hey Chicks,

I saw an article today on Yahoo that was a great reminder that we all need to be doing something that we love for a living. Take me for instance. I have successfully owned a high-tech marketing agency in Silicon Valley for 18 years. I started it when I was just 25. But I started to become really bored with it and that burn-out was affecting me: B-I-T-C-H comes to mind.

So I knew I had to change something. That’s when I had to dig deep to determine what I wanted to do next. It came to me pretty fast: speaking and writing. Then, being the marketing/branding expert that I am, I had to “brand” it. So pretty soon afterwards hatched the term for my platform as a speaker/writer: Chickonomics.

There’s much more that goes into this story, but suffice to say my first book was just published and now available on Amazon (you can see the cover and read about it on the left hand side of this page), and I have started to secure sizable speaking gigs with large corporations. It has taken me almost 2 years to “get here” because I continued to run my marketing agency full-time while all of this stuff was created: My brand, my book, my blog, my website, my podcast, my seminar offerings, my keynotes, etc. BUT…it’s here, it’s going, and so far, it’s working.

Anyway, that’s my personal example of following your passion and (trying) to make a living from it, but here are a few others from the article I read this morning:

“When Offbeat Dreams Become Careers” By Ysolt Usigan, ClassesUSA

- Stephanie Adams is now the owner of Flow, Yoga, Spa & Wellness in Hood River, Oregon. Adams jumped full force into a law career before having children, but later found she didn’t have the time to adequately balance parenthood and her law profession. So she quit her job and started taking yoga classes.

Soon enough, her hobby developed into a career. After acquiring certifications in yoga and fitness, Adams opened her own yoga studio, where she teaches and leads teacher-training programs for aspiring yoga instructors.

- Though most of her friends were pre-med, Christe S. Bruderlin-Nelson pursued a peace and conflict studies (PACS) degree at University of California, Berkeley. She’s now a freelance writer and consultant on topics related to her passion.

Beyond learning from a mentor, Bruderlin-Nelson sought out meetings with professionals with similar interests. She now takes part in an international think tank that led her to work on education initiatives for youth in West Kenya. Such involvement only solidifies her passion for peace.

- For Michael Rogers, the decision to become a seasonal park ranger at Ken Caryl Ranch in Littleton, Colorado, and leaving the corporate world of cubicles ended up being music to his ears.

Rogers is a professionally trained opera singer with a degree in vocal performance from University of Puget Sound. When he moved to Colorado recently with his wife, he discovered his love of nature. So when he’s got downtime between auditions and performances, he earns a living working outdoors.

So, as we enter Autumn, take some time to determine what it is you REALLY want to do as a career, and make a goal to have it figured out by the first of the year. That way you can hit the ground running at the beginning of 2008 and get the wheels in motion.

Use Q4 for THINKING and 2008 for ACTING!

Cheers to Chicks!

Lisa