We had our Second Shift holiday party today and besides rocking some ridiculous attire and drinking too many lunchtime margaritas, we took a moment to think about how much this business has grown in the past year.
Last year there were 5 of us; this year there are 11. What is so incredible about our team is that we practice what we preach–most of our hires are from within our own network and everyone is empowered to create a work/ life balance that works for them.
In the past year we partnered with some amazing companies like Microsoft, Spotify and Makers.
Every month the total number of bookings is growing which means more women in our network working!
In 2017 we will have a big announcement about someone joining our team. She’s a game changer…
Here are some pics of the East Coast team (minus 2) Enjoy and Happy Holidays!! Jenny and Gina
Why do women leave the workforce? One of the main reasons is the exorbitant cost of childcare making two working parents a luxury. In the 50 states, the average cost for an infant in center-based care can be as high as $17,082 per year. When parents do the math it is often unaffordable for both parents to be out of the house working– especially if you factor in rising rent and commuter costs. That’s why The Second Shift advocates for remote and flexible work options that help women stay in the game during the years when their children are not old enough to go to school all day. Read the article for a list of where your state falls in the list of most expensive monthly childcare cost. http://fortune.com/2016/12/09/child-care-cost-us/#ondemandtalent#makeworkworkforyou
Last night Jenny and Gina were invited to by our friends Dyllan McGee and Blair Enders from Makers to a talk with the one and only Gloria Steinem at the Bayview Correctional Facility– a former women’s prison in downtown NYC that is being transformed into a center for women. The site is currently hosting a must see traveling exhibition of Annie Leibovitz’s photographs of amazing portraits of women. What is truly exciting is the building is being developed by a female team and 50% of the actual construction work is being done by women. The site will be a place for education, community and will turn a place of negativity into a space for positivity.
Last week Jenny and Gina went to London for meetings around expansion to the UK. Yay!
On the way Jenny’s laptop was left in the plastic bucket during TSA screening…. oops! However, there is a silver lining– TSA lost and found recovered the computer and saved the day! Earlier this morning on a trip to TSA headquarters in Union, NJ to claim her laptop Jenny discovered this brochure outlining a program that the TSA has for employees to provide relief when personal issues are making work a struggle.
This is super progressive and super cool! Coming from London where parents are guaranteed 37 paid shared weeks maternity leave and a portion of early childhood care and education is subsidized by the government, it is great to see the issues facing families being discussed in a pro-active way by our government–If every business had the same policy and back up for their employees we would be a much different environment. Long story short– thank you #tsa #ondemandtalent #makeworkworkforyou
After a day of sadness, too many cocktails and glass ceilings left intact we have to get on with business and do what we can to make a difference for the women in our growing community. The Second Shift is not involved in politics but we are in the female empowerment business and the idea of the 1st female President was, and remains, a goal we hope to see in our lifetimes. That said, instead of focusing on the negative, let’s look at the positive:
Our members continue to astound us with the sheer magnitude of their unparalleled awesomeness. To date we have 650+ members and that grows weekly as we add more women to the network. There is a waiting list thousands long to join us. As we grow in numbers the business world is embracing our call for flexible work options.
Every month the number of jobs coming to The Second Shift grows. Just this past month we worked with companies like Microsoft, Outbrain, CAA and XO Group.
We are currently in San Francisco meeting with business leaders, strategizing a digital marketing campaign and on-boarding a local head of sales (both with women from our own membership obvi).
Things are moving forward quickly and we are so excited about what we have all accomplished over the past year. 2017 is going to be a major year for all of us– and that is something we should all be proud of. We are honored to have you as part of our community and we feel a huge debt of gratitude to you for putting your trust in us. We won’t let you down.
We recently published our first piece of thought leadership for Entrepreneur online and it was a big success for The Second Shift and brought new eyes to our business and our pool of talent. Helping to shepherd this from idea to publication was our new featured member Cori Howard. She worked with Jenny to keep focused and on deadline and then pushed it through to publication. It would not have happened without her, so thank you Cori!
Here are some tips from Cori about why the creating your own content is invaluable to any business.
1. What is thought leadership and why is it important for businesses?
Thought leadership is a relatively new and very important media strategy for business leaders, corporate executives and CEOs today. Thought leaders – innovators who drive the conversation around a particular industry – don’t wait for media to come to them. They bring their message directly to a global audience through high-profile published articles and guest blogs. it helps raise awareness, builds a brand – for a company or individual – and provides a way to share ideas important to your company or industry with a large audience.
2. How do you work with companies and individuals?
The first step is brainstorming to define goals, target the right publications and come up with a list of compelling story ideas. The stories have to be original and contribute something new to the conversation already taking place online. And they can’t be overtly self-promotional. It’s a tricky balance to find just the right combination of what’s useful for a publication’s readership and what’s useful for the CEO.
3. How did you get into this?
I spent 15 years as a journalist and another ten in PR. Thought leadership is the perfect combination of both jobs. It involves research, writing, editing, a strong story sense and media placement. It allows me to use all my skills to help other people tell their stories, which is my passion.
4. Did you enjoy working with us? I am sure it was hard to keep cracking the whip to keep me focused 🙂
As a working mom who has struggled with my own choices around full-time and part-time work, and as someone now fully embracing the gig economy, I was very passionate about this story and I’m very passionate about what you’re doing at The Second Shift. So that made all the pestering emails to get your feedback and all the edits and research worthwhile.
Catching up on old issues of the NYTimes and read Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Op-Ed from Oct 2. Truly inspirational words about the people in her life who helped her and supported her through her life from her parents to her teachers to her in-laws and husband. It can’t have been easy to enter law school in 1956 when women accounted for less than 3% of all lawyers in the U.S… and she was pregnant with her first child. Here is her father-in-law’s advice to her at the time:
“By the end of 1954, my pregnancy was confirmed. We looked forward to becoming three in July 1955, but I worried about starting law school the next year with an infant to care for. Father’s advice: “Ruth, if you don’t want to start law school, you have a good reason to resist the undertaking. No one will think the less of you if you make that choice. But if you really want to study law, you will stop worrying and find a way to manage child and school.” And so Marty and I did, by engaging a nanny on school days from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.Work-life balance was a term not yet coined in the years my children were young; it is aptly descriptive of the time distribution I experienced. My success in law school, I have no doubt, was in large measure because of baby Jane. I attended classes and studied diligently until 4 in the afternoon; the next hours were Jane’s time, spent at the park, playing silly games or singing funny songs, reading picture books and A. A. Milne poems, and bathing and feeding her. After Jane’s bedtime, I returned to the law books with renewed will. Each part of my life provided respite from the other and gave me a sense of proportion that classmates trained only on law studies lacked.”
Co-Founder Jenny Galluzzo wrote an article for Entrepreneur about how and why flexible work is changing the options for working women. Here are her four reasons why the gig economy is working for women:
1. Project-based work provides benefits.
Women who are choosing to work in the gig economy understand they won’t have an executive level salary, job security, benefits or a consistent work schedule. But they also understand that in exchange, they get freedom, flexibility, balance and ownership of their lives at a crucial moment. They also get a sense of renewed optimism about being able to step back in if and when they desire. In other words, they stay in the game, but on their own terms.
2. Part-time working moms are happier.
Recent studies show that women who work part-time are more engaged both at home and at work. The reason is balance – not feeling like their personal equilibrium is off and the stress is too much to bear. Obvious, perhaps and not possible for everyone. But the rise of the gig economy has meant part-time work is an option for more women.
3. Freelancing may make flex work the new normal.
If women stay in the game and take on leadership roles, the acceptance of freelance, contract work as a viable career path may trickle down through the corporate world, even in industries like finance and marketing that haven’t typically embraced flexibility. It may even change attitudes toward working parents in general. If the boss sees a positive result from a changing culture, it will create a friendlier place for all people looking to work on part-time and project-based jobs.
Whether building a business or trying to get a new job, networking is an integral part of being successful. For some people, like my co-founder Gina, it is second nature. She is a master at working a room, handing out cards and making contacts. For me, it is a necessary evil, like going to the dentist. I advise women in various states of their careers and here are some of the networking tips I wrote for a recent piece on Chalkboard Mag about getting out there – advice I often have to take myself!
USE WHAT YOU’VE ALREADY GOT:
Reach out to your friends and family, old colleagues, owners of shops you frequent in your area — anyone you know who can be of assistance. People who know you will be more willing to return calls and give you a chance to sell yourself. If you have been out of work, offer to do a clearly defined project for free to build up your recent job history.
TALK TO EVERYONE:
Conferences and networking events are great places to make contacts. Once you are there, you have to work the room. Talk to everyone —I mean literally go up to people you don’t know and stick your hand out and say, “Hi, I am so and so, here’s my card.” Make sure you bring lots of business cards and try to speak to as many people as possible.
TECHNOLOGY IS YOUR FRIEND:
Make sure your LinkedIn profile is updated and optimized to target the audience you want to reach. It’s easy to connect through Facebook and LinkedIn with alumni associations, trade associations, former colleagues and hiring managers. This is the most cost-effective and time-sensitive way to reach the most people quickly.
One of the reasons often given for why women choose to leave the workforce is the high cost of childcare. It’s become such a hot topic that both presidential candidates have created platforms to address the issue. Why? Because, according to a new Care.com study, in some states infant care is higher than the cost of college tuition. In most of the country the cost of full-time childcare is 85% of the monthly U.S. median cost of rent.
For many families weighing the choice between paying the high cost of care vs having one parent stay home and take care of the kids is a no brainer… or is it. This same study shows that:
“the average American woman taking a five-year break from her career starting at age 26 will lose out on $467,000 in income, wage growth, and retirement assets and benefits over her lifetime. (The average American man of the same age will lose $596,000.) Considering that the average cost of care is a little under $10,000, the career break ends up being about 10 times more expensive.
With the number of women in the workforce declining to a 27 year low in 2015, it is remarkable to think about the lost earning potential. Obviously, this study doesn’t take into account many factors that face families from the cost of care for an ill child, lack of access to well paying jobs, single parents etc… but in general this is a striking example of why it is so important for women to stay in the workforce.
The Second Shift is a solution for women to be able to continue working when it is may seem like it is not worth it. We are a safety net to bridge the tough times so that you don’t have to choose one path or another. We help you make work work for you!
