Tag: women - Page 2

If you thought it was hard to start a business, spare a thought for those who are actually running businesses and trying to take them to the next level.   It's one thing to get off your bum and start a business that originates as just an idea, or the next viable step from working for someone else, but what happens when that takes off? Is it easier or is it harder.

A woman whom I know name called another woman that she doesn't really know a "gold digger" to me this week. I was mortified. Not only was she completely wrong, and she knew it, she was acting out against another woman due to her own personal insecurities and trying to influence another. On top of this, the person she name called is a highly successful business woman who is 100 percent self made and never taken a penny from any male. She lives a highly luxurious life on her own dime and everyone knows it.

Analyst group Merrill Lynch recently found that spending among women in the US is a staggering $5 trillion dollars a year.

Just as important, is that whilst women determine their own spending habits, they also influence men's spending habits.

There are many advantages of being single; you can do what you want when you want, you will never wake to snoring, and you never need to get out of your pajama's if you don't feel like it.

You can kiss as many boys as you wish, decide on the spare of the moment to fly abroad, and eat baked beans on toast without having to consider another.

I am curious to know what makes one person in an organization really stand out from the rest. As a seasoned entrepreneur with more than 10 years under my belt, I am constantly being reminded, if not surprised by the most interesting individuals in my team.

Today, I found out two things; the first is that I am not as bad as I thought when it comes to finding a solution to a problem and secondly, that if you give someone an opportunity, its the only way to see if they have the ability to shine or not.

As a person who is no stranger to having to pull up my sleeve, my first thoughts are always that I have to do it on my own - but I have something to share with you and it is that that is not always the case. In fact, if you reach out to your team and share your experiences and problems, they are usually the ones who come up with the solution that is best suited to your business or you personally. Your staff know you better than you think, and if you are delusional enough to think that by hiding in your office, that they don't, then you have a lot to learn.

I have been in Sydney for the last few days and I am so happy to experience the city that I love dearly, with my team. I usually waltz in and waltz out, within a day or two, and have my time so filled with meetings that I don't spend enough time getting to know the people around me.

"All women are crazy and all men are stupid," said a well-known author when I recently met them at Atlanta's St Regis Hotel for a cocktail.

How true. I know many women will throw their arms up in the air at this one and it is a gross generalisation - but if you think about it, it actually is closer to the truth than most women entrepreneurs would like to admit.

While I try in earnest to be consistent, without too many overwhelming changes to my personality, I think most people who know me well, would say I am a tad crazy - just like all my other female friends. I won't react quite like I use to when it comes to anything emotional or otherwise, because as you get older, the chances are you can hold it in a little more, but YES I do over-think things and I definitely react irrationally at times when I would prefer to not have reacted at all. 

Sitting in the Los Angeles airport after being in Miami Beach for an entrepreneur’s conference, I pick up The Mail on Sunday only to discover a story written about women who meet each other through work.

It’s been five days of the best Miami has to offer coupled by discussing entrepreneurial topics, life and success (or in some cases, lack of) with some very versatile, uninhibited entrepreneurs who all seem content to share stories and experiences while enriching each other’s lives through old-fashion mateship.

An extraordinary thing happened yesterday. I arrived at a client meeting and was greeted by their inhouse / incumbent agency and felt like I had walked into a one-woman war zone.

It was suppose to be a meeting whereby both parties worked together on different projects to accelerate the growth of a company, working on the strengths of each agency - but it didn't quite go to plan.

Firstly, this woman walked into the room, didn't acknowledge me at all and sat down and started typing away on her computer. After 10 minutes, she was faced with having to be introduced to me and as she shook my hand, she nearly broke it. I hear men say that this happens with people who try to make a statement, but in 14 years of business, this has never happened to me. I have never met a woman who has shook my hand so aggressively that my fingers turned blue.

My first thought was about how the meeting was going to unroll and whether it was worth me being there.

Over the years, I have met many inspirational women who have had some impact on my life in one way or another.

When I was just 25 years old, the then Chairman of Citibank in Australia organised for me to meet Wendy McCarthy, who at that time was on numerous boards including John McGrath's, McGraths Real Estate board and acted as a mentor to senior managers in many of Australia's top companies.

Yesterday, I wrote a blog on how women can help their man to be more successful. As promised, today I am focusing on how men can help their women be more successful (in business).

If you are a man and lucky enough to have a woman that is determined, ambitious, talented and intelligent - as well as owning their own business or having a high flying career - then count your lucky stars. You are in the minority.