women – Girl Authentic

Catch & Release—Ready to Launch!

Catch & Release—Ready to Launch!

By Michelle Meyer|2017-07-10T09:42:33-05:00July 6th, 2017|Blog|

Want to understand the heart of Girl Authentic and how together we can bring about a new work equilibrium? Read on.

I have always wanted Girl Authentic to serve three purposes:

Talk to women about building their own businesses and building a different model for all of us to work in
Help women shape their business ideas and approach
Invest in women-led business development

Today I get to share how, for the first time, Girl Authentic has provided support in all three ways.

I am thrilled to announce the launch of Catch & Release, created by Jennifer Cook. Jennifer took an idea she’s had for a long time, believed in it, and believed in herself enough to make it a reality.

Are you wondering what her idea was? Jennifer is an outdoor enthusiast. Her activities mostly revolve around fishing, boating, and camping, as well as other outdoor activities she and her kids do. From this love, she decided to create a way for outdoor enthusiasts to exchange their equipment and accessories directly – thus, Catch & Release.

I am so proud of Jennifer. She never gave up—she just kept quietly working on her idea, continued working her “day job,” found support where she needed it, and made it happen.

I know this is just the beginning of a very exciting venture for Jennifer and the community that will begin to take shape as they buy and sell their equipment and accessories through her business. Look for Catch & Release to become THE place to find the best equipment available.

I also have a purely selfish reason to be excited, too, since Catch & Release represents the first time Girl Authentic has provided the comprehensive support I noted above. It’s what I have always hoped Girl Authentic would become in the long term—much sooner than I ever thought I would have the opportunity.

Jennifer told me how supportive and helpful she found the GA blogs—and then she shared her idea. I knew right way she was going to make this a success. Her passion made it feel right. She used words like love and committed and community and confident. I am proud to be a part of Jennifer’s story and will be supporting her in her continued success.

So…here she is—almost a year after she first started working on Catch & Release to launch a new way for outdoor enthusiasts to create a marketplace exclusively for their needs. Please join us. If you have a need to sell something or want to try something new using top equipment without plunking down top dollar, 1) download the app, 2) put your wares up for sale or search for what you want, and 3) tell your friends. The app will let you buy and sell directly with easy payment options so you don’t have to figure out how to get paid or pay someone else.

Jennifer envisioned her dream and then put in the hard work to make it reality. Catch & Release is the real deal, and Girl Authentic is happy to support another business building work equilibrium!

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Do you trust your instincts when they tell you to walk away?

Do you trust your instincts when they tell you to walk away?

By Michelle Meyer|2015-10-12T14:55:12-05:00October 12th, 2015|Blog|

This is my first post since May because the last few months have been so crazy-busy. I’ve essentially been working two jobs: First, continuing to pay the bills as a supply-chain management consultant, and second, getting a lot in place for Morf3D, the additive manufacturing business I’ve been developing with a business partner for the last two years.

So much was accomplished for Morf3D over the summer: Key agreements completed with equipment and service partners, a lease negotiated for a terrific new California location, and several major conferences attended to support business development.

Best of all, our new Chief Technical Officer found us. I’ve said from the very beginning that I wanted Morf3D to have a female CTO – and I must admit, I had doubts that we would ever find one. Then Melissa Orme sent us a letter telling us she wanted to join Morf3D. I couldn’t believe it! After years of hoping, here she is – and she is amazing.

Then, in late August, I walked away from it all.

An event occurred that caused a moment of complete clarity and absolute knowing for me – I’m out. There was actually a series of events that happened, all the previous ones of which I ignored, or reasoned away, or doubted my instincts. This one however, I chose not to ignore. I could not ignore that feeling of absolute knowing.

Have you ever had a moment like that, when you just know – no matter how it looks from the outside – that something isn’t right?

It might seem obvious to go with the option to avoid something that looks disappointing from the outside. Normally, to make things work, and do what would be expected, I can go into what a good friend of mine calls “Tetris mode” – I can spend my days constantly working to fit all the pieces together, trying to fix what I know in my heart cannot be fixed. This option can be quite seductive for me, since I’m really good at it. I know, because I have done it for decades. I know how to keep fitting pieces together. But I also know it’s a game that never ends.

That’s why, this time, I chose a different option. As soon as I knew clearly what was right for me, I chose to go with what I knew. And there was complete relief and calm in that. There was nothing to fix. I went with the option that works on the inside.

I invested a tremendous amount of personal, intellectual, and monetary capital in building Morf3D. And I got a great return for my investment: I met some of the industry’s leading executives. I learned a ton about a fascinating new industry. I met some terrific people I hope to come across again and pursue new ideas with in the future.

It just wasn’t going to work any more. So I chose happiness instead of what I knew was coming – that feeling of always having to make it work, make it right, when I knew it was wrong. That was going to leave me completely out of alignment and out of integrity with myself and with what I wanted Morf3D to represent. That, I couldn’t do.

It might seem unusual to walk away from my two years of effort. But I’m happy knowing it’s exactly the right thing to do.

I’m happy to be walking away. And I’m walking away to be happy.

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It Was the First Time There Was a Line

It Was the First Time There Was a Line

By Michelle Meyer|2015-05-19T14:41:51-05:00October 12th, 2014|Blog, Women and the Workplace|

I was going to have to wait in line to use the restroom. And I couldn’t have been happier.

I’ve been attending my profession’s annual global conference since I was a junior in college in 1987 (I’ll let you do the math). There was often a line for the men’s room, but never for the women’s room. It was, we used to joke, one of the perks of attending our profession’s conference as a woman. You could get into the bathroom any time, no waiting. There just weren’t that many women in our industry.

And then, this year, it was different. I walked in to the restroom – and there was a line! I was a bit taken aback. I had been so used to attending the conference, and there never being a line. Another woman and I just stood there looking at each other, realizing we were sharing the same thought.

This was terrific!

That moment, we knew, represented a turning point. It’s something I am proud of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) for helping to make happen in our field. And it didn’t happen by mistake.

I was lucky – I was part of the first wave of women who benefited from my profession’s efforts to create opportunities for women. And it did take specific efforts! Over the years, CSCMP has worked tirelessly to help advance women in our profession. So have many great companies. So have the terrific universities and professors that are educating the next generation of Supply Chain Management professionals.

What did they do? They started by having the right conversations and asking the right questions. What can we do? How do we attract more women? How do we support them? They do research to show whether women truly are advancing in the field, and they actively seek out women to interest them in their profession, their university programs, their companies, and the terrific jobs this field provides.

Contrast this with the International Manufacturing and Technology Show I attended with one of my business partners a few weeks earlier in Chicago. There were more than 113,000 attendees at the conference. But twice during the four days we were there, I found I was the ONLY person in the women’s restroom. (It was sort of spooky, really.)

Two professions – very different gender balance.

There is tremendous opportunity today for women – in both supply chain management and in manufacturing technologies. We may have made more progress in supply chain management today, but we can do the same in manufacturing tomorrow. We’ll do it the way we do anything in the professional world. We’ll work at it. We’ll make an effort. And, women can lead the way by building these companies of the future.

I can’t wait to wait in more lines.

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You want a horse? Go get a horse.

You want a horse? Go get a horse.

By Michelle Meyer|2015-05-19T14:42:30-05:00August 12th, 2014|Blog|

I wasn’t even 6 years old when I discovered something I really wanted: My own horse. My family had just moved to a much more rural area where EVERYONE had horses – well, except me. I knew I wanted a horse.

My parents got me lessons at the local stables, and many of the neighbors were kind enough to introduce us to their horses and let us ride. But, I refused to stop bugging my parents. So my dad came up with a deal he figured would put off the need to get a horse for quite a while. He told me, “When you can saddle and bridle a horse all by yourself, I will get you a horse.”

Six months later I showed up in the yard with my friend Debbie’s horse all saddled and bridled. My dad asked, “Why do you have Debbie’s horse?”

“You told me when I could saddle and bridle a horse by myself, you’d get me a horse,” I told him. “So I got him ready all by myself and rode him over here.”

My dad just looked at me. “I did say that, didn’t I?” he finally said. And I had my own horse not long after that.

I was only 7 years old, and I knew what it meant to be authentically powerful as a girl. I wasn’t questioning my abilities or worrying about how others would respond to what I said and did. I knew what I wanted and what I was capable of. It felt natural. It felt like me.

Remember that? That’s “GirlAuthentic.”

Every once in a while someone will ask me about the name “GirlAuthentic.” They might have noticed the dual meaning in our logo (tie, dress) or our tag line (Equilibrium at Work; Equilibrium at work). Then they often move on to our name – because words do have power, and do shape things.

For me, “GirlAuthentic” is a call to remember.

For working women of all ages, or for those still in college or younger, it’s a challenge to never forget what it feels like to be authentically powerful as a girl. The workplace needs more of the feminine, not less. So “GirlAuthentic” is a challenge not to hide or mask what comes so naturally to you – no matter what well intentioned coaching, (but bad advice), you might receive to do the opposite.

For others, like myself, “GirlAuthentic” is a challenge to remember what we have forgotten. Today, too many women are trying to be empowered through a masculine vibration, not a feminine vibration. Some of us have gotten very good at it! But there’s a price we pay for doing so.

Three years ago, as I was reading Barbara Marciniak’s “Earth,” I realized that I had mastered the masculine vibration. But I had lost my own true voice along the way. In fact, my “success” was so complete that I am having difficulty finding that authentically powerful girl. I’m having to work to bring her back.

But I know I will. She’s in here, somewhere. I remember her.

And she wants a lot more than a horse.

When do you remember feeling authentically powerful?

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Closing the Gap

Closing the Gap

By Michelle Meyer|2015-05-19T14:45:46-05:00June 12th, 2014|Blog, Uncategorized|

“We’re minding the gap, but how do we close it?”

That’s the question the Women Donors Network asked recently. A lot has been written lately about all the gaps that exist for women – in business leadership, in political leadership, in the imbalance of how many hours of taking care of our families women still shoulder even if they are working full time… and I could go on.

In many ways, all this talk is a good thing. It shines a light on the current state of affairs and encourages the conversations. We can only create new things through ideas and conversations.

I just wish we were creating new things.

All sorts of changes have been suggested in the current conversations to close the leadership gap for women – but almost inevitably, our ideas are tied to changing the current structures and barriers. We’re talking about having women behave in a certain way to try and succeed in the current structures. We’re not really providing an alternative – for them, or for the men they work with.

Here’s your alternative: Stop playing the old game. Create a new one.

GirlAuthentic is about helping women create new structures. What would give women the wealth and power necessary to build new structures and eventually – maybe – change the old ones? Women building significant businesses. We can build Fortune 500 companies faster in the next 40 years than we can ever hope to change the current business and political structures in any significant way.

Why build businesses? Because building businesses is the fastest way to acquire wealth.

Why is wealth important? Because wealth creates power and the ability to create social impact.

We can close the gaps faster if we build the businesses to function in a balanced way, and control the money and the power. Stop playing the old game, and start creating a new one.

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Step one: This conversation.

Step one: This conversation.

By Michelle Meyer|2015-05-19T14:46:07-05:00May 13th, 2014|Blog|

Step one: This conversation.

A few weeks ago I had the honor of speaking at Penn State University’s wonderful “Powerful Women Paving the Way” conference. I love the conference name. I love that it was organized by a student organization, Women in Business. And I love that there was a diverse mixture of women and men both in the students and in the professionals and sponsoring organizations who attended.

But most of all, I love that conferences like this are the right first step. They are the conversation.

If we want a work environment where women can be authentic, we’re going to need to create that environment from scratch. That means more women building businesses – significant businesses.

It’s going to happen in three steps.

Conversation.
Conferences, discussions and interactions – even online, on websites like this one – are creating the possibility in many more women’s minds of building significant businesses (businesses that strive to be the Fortune 500 companies 40 years from now). I believe we can build these businesses faster than we can change the current corporate structures, which don’t really want to change. But first – we have to talk about it.

Creation.
The second step is development – generating ideas and building business plans. Now the conversation is ready for action.

Commitment.
The third step is about funding the launch of these new businesses. Women will have to put their money where their mouth is! We have money, but we are not oriented to putting it in to vehicles that will invest in women-led businesses – because there are very few today. We are going to have to create new investment structures too.

These three steps are what GirlAuthentic is about – being the platform for conversation, facilitating the development of ideas, and finding funding for the ideas and businesses that are ready.

It all starts with conversation. We need to be talking about women building significant businesses – women who are just coming out of school, and especially women who have two or three decades of experience under our belts. When they do they will create workplaces that are in balance for women – and for the men who seek that same balance, but have an even harder time asking for it!

We can make a different world together. But we start by imagining it together. We start in conversation.

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Announcing Conversations!

By Michelle Meyer|2020-11-13T13:17:53-06:00April 14th, 2014|Blog, Bringing Forth the Feminine, Women and the Workplace|

Since the forming of GirlAuthentic, there have been many requests to tell people what the “model” looks like for a new business that is based on a balance of the feminine and masculine. I have resisted answering the requests with only my specific ideas. I do have some ideas, but I guarantee you they are only some of the ideas, and might not even be the most creative. Women have the opportunity today to build businesses that operate and feel the way we want them too.

So, in an attempt to provide examples, my creative team and I have begun to put together a series of conversations with interesting women who have created their own businesses. We also wanted to highlight the thought processes and choices behind the structures they have put in place and how their businesses operate.

Today is our first example. We’d like to present Amy Fowler Stadler, founder of Lewis & Fowler, a well-known technology consulting, strategic project management, and expert staffing services company that started with Amy and her partner, Kevin Lewis, in Denver and now provides services nationally. Please join me in hearing Amy’s vision.

Now it’s your turn: What are your ideas for new models of businesses that are built on a foundation of balance between the masculine and feminine?

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Three reasons “leaning in” won’t work for women

Three reasons “leaning in” won’t work for women

By Michelle Meyer|2015-05-19T14:47:36-05:00December 12th, 2013|Blog, Persevering, Women and the Workplace, Women Leaving a Legacy|

Since I started GirlAuthentic, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about Sheryl Sandberg’s book and ongoing conversation “Lean In.” Sandberg is the COO of Facebook and one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World; her book is loaded with advice on how women can achieve their goals and realize their leadership potential.

I tell people her advice is fine – if you’re satisfied with what’s behind Door Number One.

If your goal is to become a female senior executive in one of today’s corporate structures – a statistical long shot, by the way – then Sandberg is for you. I have 3 problems with the “Lean In” conversation:

It’s a gender-based conversation.

“Lean In” is a discussion on how women can conform in order to excel in today’s masculine environment – a corporate world built by men, for men. What we need is a discussion on the absence of the feminine and how to bring it forth and have it be valued in the workplace.

It’s not news to a lot of us.

What Sandberg doesn’t seem to understand is that a lot of women have spent a couple of decades saying NO to what’s been expected and what she’s proposing. We’ve taken a good look at what’s behind Door Number One. And our response has been, “You want me to “lean in” to that?! No way!”

This rejection of the status quo is sometimes couched as women being “less ambitious.” It’s the opposite. Many women are MORE ambitious than men. We have been quietly building a new model of “having it all” – a whole and complete life, with time for our families or personal interests, for personal well-being, AND for a fulfilling professional experience.

If Door Number One means giving that up, let’s see what’s behind Door Number Two.

It doesn’t work.

For the majority of women, “leaning in” won’t work – and we have the data to prove it.

In 2011, Catalyst published a study called “The Myth of the Ideal Worker: Does Doing All the Right Things Really Get Women Ahead?” Their study included a hefty list of the “right things” to do to get ahead at work – what Sandberg calls “Leaning In” today. You can read the list on page six of the full report – it includes some obvious things like “develop a career plan” and some zingers like “communicate willingness to work long hours and weekends.”

But here’s the kicker: Catalyst found that while using these strategies worked great for men, it didn’t have the same payoff for women. Women who did the “right things” were more likely to get ahead than women who didn’t (barely). But men were still more likely to find success – “right things” or not.

So in answering the study question “Does Doing All the Right Things Really Get Women Ahead,” the answer was a resounding “no.” The problem isn’t women. We don’t just need to try harder or conform more. Leaning in won’t be enough.

We need a different world to lean into – a world that works for women and for men.

That’s going to mean more women building their own businesses, businesses where the culture is different. That’s what it means to look behind Door Number Two.

I’m ready to open that door. How about you?

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