Interview with Anita Bruzzese
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Today’s interview is with Anita Bruzzese! She blogs at On the Job By Anita Bruzzese.
1) What do you think are the biggest challenges for women around the world today?
I think the biggest challenges are
1) a stable, equitable income, especially for single mothers. Until we have wages that are equal and fair to what men are paid, then we will have women — and children — living in poverty;
2)helping women to attain good educations in jobs that can put them in top-earning fields. While there are efforts underway to direct more girls to science and engineering (traditionally a male-dominated fields), we need to do more to help women attain jobs that will not only provide a good income, but also help them excel and rise to levels of authority in their industries; and
3)finding support in all industries for the lifestyle choice women make. Whether they choose to stay at home for a while to raise children, or return to work when their children are young, women still must shoulder most of the responsibility for maintaining a home and caring for the children. In that regard, the workplace could provide great flexibility and support to help them in whatever road they take.
2) If more women were in positions of power do you think the world would be different than it is now? If so, in what way?
Yes, I do think the world would be different. Women are more collaborative, are better at negotiating and use compromise more. They are also more flexible and adaptable to change. I think we would see a world with less wage disparity, more tolerance and a deeper awareness of how our common goals are greater than our differences.
3) How does your blog help to Inspire, Dare or Educate women to Achieve and Succeed?
I’ve been a journalist for more than two decades, so I believe that information is power. I provide facts, and then let readers make their own choices. I’m not here to preach or harangue women about their careers because I know that they’re smart enough to take the information they are given and run with it. I hope I provide inspiration — I know that they inspire me, every day.
4) Do you think the U.S. will have a woman president in your lifetime?
Absolutely. No doubt in my mind.
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Thank you very much Anita!
Please take some time and visit Anita’s blog: On the Job By Anita Bruzzese!
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Related Posts:
- Interview with Vered of MomGrind
- Interview with Liz Strauss
- Inspiring, Daring, Educating, Achieving and Succeeding!
September 8, 2008
Interview with Vered of MomGrind
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Today’s interview is with Vered! She blogs at MomGrind.
1) What do you think are the biggest challenges for women around the world today?
In a UN Conference in 2001 it was stated that “in the world as a whole, women comprise 51 percent of the population, do 66 percent of the work, receive 10 percent of the income and own less than one percent of the property”.
I would say that the challenge is to get to a place where we do 50% of the work, receive 50 percent of the income and own fifty percent of the property.
2) If more women were in positions of power do you think the world would be different than it is now? If so, in what way?
Not in the beginning, because after years of men being in power, women that do reach positions of power act like men. It’s the only way they can survive at the top.
But if society gradually shifted so that positions of power were held by women in equal numbers to those held by men, I think that gradually there would be a shift towards less acts of violence and using mainly diplomacy efforts to solve conflicts. I also think that human rights would get more protection and that the social benefit system would be more developed.
3) How does your blog help to Inspire, Dare or Educate women to Achieve and Succeed?
It doesn’t. I write MomGrind as an outlet for my creativity and for my need to share my thoughts and ideas with a larger audience than my real-life friends. I guess it could inspire women to speak their mind, since that’s pretty much what I do.
4) Do you think the U.S. will have a woman president in your lifetime?
Yes, I do.
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Thank you very much Vered!
Please take some time and visit Vered’s blog: MomGrind!
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Related Posts:
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- Interview with Anita Bruzzese
September 1, 2008
Interview with Dr. Val Jones
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Today’s interview is with Dr. Val! She blogs at Dr. Val and The Voice of Reason at Revolution Health.
1) What do you think are the biggest challenges for women around the world today?
The challenges vary considerably, depending on culture, religion, socio-economic status, age, marital status, whether or not she has children, and geographic location. I can imagine that a single woman with 5 children who lost her husband to AIDS in Sudan is facing very different challenges than a single college student studying political science at Yale. That being said, I’ll focus on the “Western” issues that are familiar:
1. Unequal pay. Even in the most enlightened countries, women with similar education, skills, and experience (to their male counterparts) make 77 cents on the dollar for the same work. This is illegal in the US, and is happening all around us: It’s Time for Working Women to Earn Equal Pay.
2. Sexual harassment. Sadly, women are often objectified in the work place and experience either overt or covert prejudice because of their gender. I interviewed a woman recently on my blog who told me that she found that being obese gave her a distinct advantage over other women, because her male colleagues saw her as a “person” and not as a sexual object. I know that sounds crazy, but I think she has a point.
3. Glass ceilings. Just as in the animal world, people succeed by copying the behaviors of those in power – it establishes that you’re part of the peer group. In corporate America, that means that women need to behave like men in order to advance. The irony is that women who copy male behaviors are generally disliked and are not truly accepted by their peers. So it’s a real catch 22 – you’re begrudgingly offered a leadership position once you establish that you’re like the other guys or you refuse to act differently and may advance if you clearly demonstrate that you work twice as hard and are twice as smart as the others. Either way, you will generally be disliked. I’ve chosen to go the “work twice as hard” route.
4. Gender profiling. I can’t tell you how often people have expressed surprise that I’m a physician – they usually assume I’m a drug rep or a PA, PT, or a nurse. It used to annoy me when people said, “but you don’t look like a doctor” or when I worked in the ER and my patients would demand to “see the physician” when I was interviewing them. I even had a parent ask if the lab tech could suture his son’s wound (not realizing that the male in the white coat was not a physician). He just assumed that ANY male would do a better job than I would. It was infuriating.
2) If more women were in positions of power do you think the world would be different than it is now? If so, in what way?
Well, in order to answer this briefly, I will need to resort to gross generalizations. So take this with a grain of salt…
I think that women tend to be multi-taskers and creative problem solvers. If more women were in positions of power, we would see a less structured work environment, more flexibility in accomplishing objectives, and a lot less “posturing” and time spent in male bonding activities like drinking and attending sporting events. I also think we’d save a lot of money because grand gestures, gambles, hostile takeovers, inflation of company value, would be replaced with more conservative decision making. That being said, women have a tendency to talk too much (yes, even gossip) and can sometimes have difficulty getting things done quickly.
I honestly think that men and women are amazingly complementary in their work styles and abilities. When they respect one another and remain true to themselves they can do amazing things together (instead of wasting time trying to be identical to justify their equality). The best supervisor I’ve ever had was a man who was gender-blind. He truly didn’t see people as male or female – he just listened to their ideas and watched their output and judged/promoted them accordingly. He was tough and didn’t mince his words (I saw this as a great strength of his that I didn’t have) and I was creative and built connections where he never dreamed there would be any. It was such a joy to work with him because I could really be myself (I didn’t need to feign interest in male activities) and he could be himself (he didn’t need to coddle me). All I can say is that if you can be part of a team like that – count your lucky stars!
3) How does your blog help to Inspire, Dare or Educate women to Achieve and Succeed?
Unfortunately female bloggers tend to be pigeon holed (whether they want to or not) into writing for women exclusively. I like to think that my blog appeals to men and women, and I write with both in mind. Judging from my comments section, it seems that both genders read my work – which is category breaking in and of itself. I hope this inspires other women to feel comfortable being themselves – without needing to cater to their own gender. I’m really excited to have a popular blog that’s getting attention from major media outlets in a category that is dominated by men (healthcare). Blogging is a great way for women to shine, because good writing is not gender-specific. As more of us women blaze a path to financial independence through our blogs, more will dare to follow.
4) George Carlin once said that God must be a man because a woman never could or would let the universe get as messed up like it is. What do you think? If there’s a God – male or female?
Well, George is a very funny man. I think his point about the “mess” is related to male aggression and the hostility and war that can result. But women have their faults too… and I think if we were in charge we’d probably create a uniquely female mess of things. What that would look like, I’m not entirely sure. Maybe we’d be hoarders and those less fortunate would die of neglect rather than war? As to God’s gender – I’m a Christian so I believe that God is neither male nor female. But if the house tells you something about the architect, I guess you can say that God’s personality is reflected most completely in the combination of the two genders. Knowing that should help us all to reflect on the incredible honor and value there is in being a woman or a man.
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Thank you very much Dr. Val!
Please take some time and visit Dr. Val’s blog: Dr. Val and The Voice of Reason!
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August 25, 2008
Interview with Liz Strauss
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Today’s interview is with Liz Strauss! Her main blog is Successful Blog.
1) What do you think are the biggest challenges for women around the world today?
I have trouble speaking for a world of women. I can only speak to what I know and what I see. As a world, we don’t value each other nearly enough. In some parts of the world this means that women aren’t considered attractive unless they are young. In parts, it means that a woman’s work is undervalued hard labor. In some parts women are considered less than men.
The saddest challenge I see, though, is the women who have so much who look at other women as competition.
2) If more women were in positions of power do you think the world would be different than it is now? If so, in what way?
If different men were in power wouldn’t that also be true?
I’m sure that world would be different if more women ran businesses and countries, but I’m not sure it would be better. I think it would be just tilted in another way. I’ve managed and worked for both men and women and the challenges are different but neither is without political and human games. The best teams have both men and women because we balance each other.
I’m not sure that there aren’t more women in power than we know.
3) How does your blog help to Inspire, Dare or Educate women to Achieve and Succeed?
Head, heart, and meaning. I talk about having all three — because we need to know who we are and live the life that is our own. I don’t know that I inspire dare or educate them, but I’m sure on a quest to inspire, dare and educate me.
4) If little girls are made of sugar, spice and everything nice – what do you think adult women are made of?
Adult women are made of a rainbow of ideas and potential. They are the caring hands and heart that move the world to be strong.
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Thank you very much Liz!
Please take some time and visit Liz’s blog: Successful Blog!
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Related Posts:
- Interview with Vered of MomGrind
- Inspiring, Daring, Educating, Achieving and Succeeding!
- Interview with Anita Bruzzese
August 4, 2008
Interview with Donna D. Fontenot (aka DazzlinDonna)
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Today’s interview is with Donna D. Fontenot (aka DazzlinDonna)! She writes at the following blogs: SEO Scoop, DazzlinDonna, eBuzz Coach and Online Press Kit Templates.
1) What do you think are the biggest challenges for women around the world today?
Self-confidence. Women are often led to believe that they can only do certain types of things, or *should* only do certain types of things. Women are often treated as though they should feel certain ways, should act certain ways, can’t understand certain things, etc. Much of this is so subtle that most of the world doesn’t even realize it is happening, and would deny it flatly if told they engaged in it themselves. All of these long-standing forces working together serves to undermine the self-confidence of many women, who grow up thinking they couldn’t possibly do this or that or the other thing. Instead, they believe they can’t possibly run their own business, lead teams of thousands, solve world hunger, or build a flying car. Every human on earth faces challenges, but those who have self-confidence can overcome almost any challenge that threatens to block their progress.
2) If more women were in positions of power do you think the world would be different than it is now? If so, in what way?
It’s almost impossible to know since we have so little history with which to make an educated guess. Part of me wants to say, “Sure, of course it would be different”, but another part of me recognizes that power often changes everything – for either sex. I do believe, however, that a more equal balance would likely help, but until we see that actually take place, we’ll never really know for sure. Here’s what I do believe though. Whether or not the “world” would be different, I’d bet that women and the way in which they view themselves would be vastly different.
3) How does your blog help to Inspire, Dare or Educate women to Achieve and Succeed?
My motto is “You’ll never shine if you don’t glow” (lyrics taken from the song All Star by Smash Mouth). I try to not only live that motto myself, but to help others live it as well. On my DazzlinDonna blog, I attempt to inspire women by showing them that they really do have the knowledge, ability, and talents to succeed, by giving examples of everyday talents that everyone can relate to. So often, women don’t recognize the talents they have within themselves. Once they realize the abilities they have, they want to know how to use them to create a successful ebusiness. I then try to educate them by presenting real-life step-by-step how-tos demonstrating how to turn their ideas and talents into ebusinesses. Finally, I challenge readers by asking them to attempt creative exercises that may seem hard or silly at the time, but the tasks are designed to help them get beyond their fears and self-doubts. Hopefully, at some point, they’ve been inspired and educated enough to begin the process on their own. Sometimes however, women are ready to take that extra step, but they feel they need just a little one-on-one coaching. At that point, I direct them to my eBuzzCoach.com site so they can determine if I’d be the right fit to give them that extra guidance and encouragement.
4) Do you think the U.S. will have a woman president in your lifetime?
Yes, I believe we will see a woman president in my lifetime (assuming my lifespan is average). I think we’ve all seen the first glimpses of the abililty of the American people to finally make a breakthrough in its long-standing history of only accepting white males in the position of ultimate power. So, how about a prediction? Not this election obviously, and not the one after that, but the person elected to be President of the United States 12 years from now will be a woman. We’ll see if my prediction comes true or not.
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Thank you very much Donna!
Please take some time and visit Donna’s blogs: SEO Scoop, DazzlinDonna, eBuzz Coach and Online Press Kit Templates!
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