The Rise of the Design Executive Officer
To solve the world’s problems: we need to think like designers, feel like designers, and act like designers.
How To Become A Female Fortune 500 CEO
As Mary Barra prepares to be the first female leader of a global automaker GM, I wanted to repost a presentation I attended last year from another Fortune 500 CEO. Laura Sen, President and CEO of BJ’s Wholesale Club spoke at the MIT Sloan’s Women in Management Conference in 2012, about her tips for reaching the top of the corporate ladder as one of only twelve female Fortune 500 CEOs. Performance is Proof The result of your work must have a tangible measurable benefit that you can point to and take credit for. In her experience, when you succeed and put up the numbers your gender will be overshadowed by your results. This will also make you a more obvious candidate for promotion. Follow Your Passion Laura started as a French major who liked to shop and ended with a career as one of the most successful women in retail. She says that her work never feels like a job because she loves it. Following your passion is the only way to work hard without burning out, even if where you start isn’t where you end up. Branch Out Try a new class, read a different type of book, or volunteer for something new. Your perspective will be expanded. In Laura’s experience, diversification was the key to advancing her career. When moving from a fashion buyer to logistics at BJ’s she gained a diverse foundation that helps her in her job as CEO today. She added that the more diverse the background of a candidate is, the more likely they will be promoted to general management positions. Promote Yourself In 2002,...
My Inc. Interview: 7 Networking Tips for Women
Geri Stengel interviewed me about networking tips for women entrepreneurs in conjunction with my monthly Founder Friday events in New York City. I start many meetings reminding the 200 attendees to approach networking events in a thoughtful way designed to make the most of your time. Read the complete article about Networking Tips for Women on Inc. …Connections open doors, doors to money, markets and qualified managers and employees. Pick your venue. There are plenty to choose from. If you don’t like the vibe of one organization’s events, try another. You can choose gender-specific hosted events such as Women 2.0 Founder Friday or the National Association of Women Business Owners, industry specific organizations, such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or general business groups such as Chambers of Commerce. Know your elevator pitch. You are not here to make a sale, so you don’t need to close the deal. You do need to let people know who you are and what you do in a way that makes them want to hear more. Ask questions. Women are great at building closeness and connections through conversation. By asking questions you’ll engage the person and really get to know what they do. Still not comfortable? Pretend you are interviewing people for an article about the event; get the who, what, and why. Make the task less personal. Read the complete article about Networking Tips for Women on Inc. Geri Stengel is the founder of Ventureneer.com, which connects socially responsible businesses, social enterprises, and nonprofits with the knowledge needed to make the world a better place while thriving as businesses. As a...
16 First Date Skills That Will Make You A Better Business Networker
You’ve heard that WHO you know is more important than WHAT you know, but your education focused on facts instead of making connections. Whether you use these skills to connect to your next investor or to meet the love of your life, many of the same principles that make you a great first date will make you a better business networker too. BEFORE YOU MEET Prepare your soundbites. Almost every meeting will include questions like “what do you do?” and “where are you from?” Instead of the standard answers, prepare short stories that make you sound interesting, fun, and unique. Don’t tell your latest acquaintance that you’re building the next social network and looking for a technical co-founder. That’s predictable and so common it’s forgettable. Tell him how you combined your love of website design with yoga to create a video blog that teaches parents how to introduce yoga to their kids and it’s gotten far more popular than you could have imagined. If this isn’t natural to you, check out books on how to talk about yourself with just the right amount of self promotion such as BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It by Peggy Klaus. Investigate to find common ground. It’s easier to bond with someone when you have something in common. If you’ve lived in the same states, vacationed to the same places, or went to the same school, you’ll want to bring that up early to build rapport. With all the free information available on the internet, there’s no excuse to not know that they love shiba inu puppies too. I use tools like 123People...
Why Don’t More Women Go Big With Their Own Business?
With few female entrepreneurs to look to, MIT Sloan hosted a panel on how women can go big with their own businesses. The panel included Joanna Rees (Founder of VSP Capital), Katrina Markoff (Founder of Vosges Haut-Chocolat), Alexandra Wilkis Wilson (Founder of Gilt Groupe), and was moderated by Fredricka Whitfield (Anchor, CNN). What Is Getting In the Way? Joanna thinks that fear and giving up after set-backs gets in women’s way. Some women quit after their first major failure instead of taking it as a learning lesson and pushing forward. Joanna got rejected by hundreds of investors in the process of starting VSP Capital. Her tips for negotiation meetings was to “ask for the order” and make sure you know where you stand before you leave. Alexandra emphasized listening to all the negative feedback you get while pitching. You may learn that there is a hole in your business plan or way you could explain something better. The road to success is not smooth. How Important Are Support Networks? Imperative! Gilt was built on personal connections. Alexandra didn’t have the money to the buy a marketing list so they had to sign up quality customers through word of mouth and personal networks. Joanna suggests that you need to surround yourself with people you trust that can collaborate with you on solutions. Katrina is working on building her advisory board to supplement the help she already has. We must remember to help each other as well. Joanna revealed that when she ran for mayor of San Francisco she reached out to mayors and legislators across the country. Interestingly, all the...
Jazmin Victoria Hupp co-founded Women Grow, the largest professional network in the cannabis industry. Since it’s launch in 2014, Women Grow has connected over 25,000 entrepreneurs at events in 45 cities across the US & Canada. The organization hit $1 million in revenue in 2015, with no outside funding. In 2016, they earned 6 billion media impressions. Jazmin was named a “genius entrepreneur” by Fortune Magazine and Forbes considers her one of the “top businesswomen” in the cannabis industry. Inspired by Women Grow’s impact, Newsweek ran the headline “WOMEN IN WEED: HOW LEGAL MARIJUANA COULD BE THE FIRST BILLION-DOLLAR INDUSTRY NOT DOMINATED BY MEN.”
Jazmin’s mission to support female entrepreneurship began in 2011, when she took the role of Director of Digital Media for Women 2.0, an organization that helps women start high-growth ventures. During her tenure, the brand expanded from the Bay Area to hold events across six countries for over 100,000 business women.
Jazmin’s background is in Theater and Management Information Systems. She creates magical transformative opportunities that scale with new technology.
In the last half of 2016, Jazmin dropped 40 pounds without dieting by learning how to process stress effectively. She creates happiness through a practice of yoga, meditation, cannabis consumption, and self-love.
Jazmin will be launching new projects in collaboration with Melissa Meyer. Sign up to be first to learn about exclusive new events and content.