Why prioritizing your career is good for your kids! Watch the entire chat with with attorney, professor and author Lara Bazelon. Topics discussed include: generational feminisim, assumptions, role modeling, guilt, perfectionism, the work life balance lie, why ambition gets such a bad rap. Check out the whole talk here!
If you are interested in learning about NFTs and web3 and what it means, this webinar with Second Shift member and Mavion founder, Michelle Reeves, is a must. She breaks it all down and explains this new world with step-by-step instructions on how and why you should get involved– whether you are a skeptic, an entrepreneur, artist, or a speculator. Regardless of your goals, it was a fascinating conversation about this new space, the technology behind it, the downfalls, and the ways they can work together to give women greater power and financial independence.
Last week Jenny spoke with entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Kut Akdogan, of Gaussian, about the traditional vc model of fundraising and how it is, more often than not, a losing strategy for small start-ups. Venture capital, according to Kut, is risking your entire business on a moonshot– going all in and going big– with the promise of major success. However, most venture back start-ups fail, the business model is set up that way, and most women founders don’t even get to the first round of funding.
Kut wrote about an interesting article about this topic and you can watch the entire conversation with Jenny here.
Instead, Kut says, the more pragmatic approach to funding and growth is something he calls the “incremental moonshot,” whereby you don’t suppress your vision, but you take small steps to prove a valid business model and move the goalpost realistically. You don’t have to lower your ambitions, but outside of the vc model you can adjust the expectation of rapid scale and allow yourself the time and space to test things, grow organically and learn along the way.
Thank you so much Reshma Saujani for joining Jenny and The Second Shift community to talk about gender inequity, unpaid labor, and how feminism failed working women. Her new book Pay Up lays out a vision for a workforce where the structure is even for men and women, whether or not they have children.
Reshma, best selling author, founder of Girls Who Code and The Marshall Plan for Moms gives voice to all the tired, overworked women who were told if they played by the rules and worked hard enough they could “have it all.” Instead, the pandemic exposed all the ways the system is stacked against working women and families– at home and at work. Reshma agrees with The Second Shift that there has never been a better time or opportunity than right now to change the very structure of work. To learn how you can watch the entire conversation here.
Unicorn Space: the active and open pursuit of self-expression in any form, built on value-based curiosity and purposeful sharing of this pursuit with the world,
What is your Unicorn Space and if you don’t have one, how do you find your inner creativity? That’s the heart of Jenny’s conversation with author Eve Rodsky last month. Eve is the bestselling author of Fair Play and her second book is all about carving out time for yourself to bring joy into your life.
Here is a tip– has nothing to do with children, work, partnership or day-to-day responsibilities.
It starts with curiosity: this could be a recipe you want to try, a game you want to learn or some larger goal oriented pursuit.
The next step is connection: you need to invite people to join you in this endeavor. This could mean to come and eat the meal with you, learn the game together or participate along your way to achieving your goal.
Finally, completion: Unicorn Space has an ending– you sit and share the meal you cooked, you play the game you learned together or you finally go out and do the larger goal you have been working towards with those who helped you.
This can seem daunting to women where time seems precious and mental load is already heavy– but finding Unicorn Space is a funk buster, an energizer, a mood lifter– and that is vital to your ability to do everything else in your life successfully.
Want to learn more? Watch the entire conversation here.
Tell us your work story : Who are you and what do you do?
I help clients achieve their goals. Sometimes this means creating viable businesses, professionalizing practices, developing client bases or donor pools. Sometimes we are focused on sharing our story with the world; sometimes we need to take a step back and create the business itself. Sometimes clients know what they want, but more often, they know what is missing. I treat every client’s business as if it were my own — one that creates value for me, and my clients, and their clients.
What is your proudest professional accomplishment?
I am most proud that I have been able to be the CEO of my life. I raised my girls myself, giving them the time and attention they deserve, and supporting us all as a single mother.
If you could change one thing about how your given field operates, particularly with regards to women, what would it be, and why?
I don’t see the workplace as male / female, but as inclusive or divisive. Men and women are both capable of being inclusive and divisive. John Hunt talks about creating environments where there is a democracy of ideas. This happens infrequently. But we all know that there is value to being young, freshly out of school, and first generation with new tech platforms. There is also value in wisdom, experience, and institutional knowledge. We can’t have diversity of thought when we don’t have a diverse workforce. The differences between us are strengths. We should not be encouraged to stifle ourselves by all dressing in one uniform; speaking a language of made-up jargon, or worrying more about performative tasks than growth and goals.
Do you have any advice on how to craft a winning pitch?
Focus on the goal, not how you get there. Think about what success looks like, not the tactics. For my clients, the tactics might be a website, PR, social media, events. But these are not goals. The goal — What are we doing here? What does success look like? How will you describe this venture at its maturation point? This is what we need to define in conversation with our clients. A shared vision of success. Once we set the goal, we can set off, tacking as necessary. And please be sure to create an environment for success, one where a shared vision means a situation that works for the clients, and yourself in service to the client. As they advise on a plane, be sure your mask is on first.
Who has been your biggest cheerleader?
My girls are my greatest fans. And also my task masters, holding me accountable for every goal and ambition I throw out.
How do you negotiate the balance between life and work when you are the one setting the boundaries?
It’s tough. We need to be accountable to clients. But we are sometimes the only ones who can show up for our families. If we show up 100% for our clients when we can, we can have the comfort of them having our back when we can’t.
If you could tell your younger self one thing about what this professional journey would be like, what would you tell her?
Set a pace you can maintain; a career is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.
How do you make work work for you?
My work doesn’t always work for me! I am sometimes delivering on a project fee at a lower rate than what I pay my dog walker; too light for work or totally overextended. Sometimes I have people on my team who can’t get the work done fast enough, or don’t have enough to do. Like the stock market, we can’t gauge well on the day to day. The 65-day moving average blends the ups and downs. And as we move into the 10year, and 20year cycles — we see a different story. My friend Danny Green told me — “And later when you look back at it, it looks like a finely crafted story. But at the time, it don’t.” I am hangin’ in with Joe Walsh till I get there.
The concept that women are bad at negotiating is a pervasive idea that has been proven to be a total myth. Women are just as persuasive… we just need to use different tactics that align with our authenticity and innate skills. We hosted a webinar with Kathryn Valentine and Sarah Lacy of ChairmanMe to learn how to “Negotiate Like a Girl.” You can watch the full webinar here, but here are some of the highlights.
First, let’s do some arm-chair psychology. Obviously, this is a far more nuanced conversation but the basics are: girls are raised to take care of people’s feelings, lead with empathy and be people-pleasers. As working professionals, this shows up as internalized fear of being unlikeable and fear of failure, lack of confidence and insecurity about potential negative backlash. The outcome is that women with the same skills and experience are paid less than their male counterparts because they don’t negotiate for salary and benefit packages at the same rate, leaving them behind at each stage of their career. Overall that can mean they work 8 more years to make up the loss of salary and they could leave up more than $1 million on the table upon retirement.
What’s the solution? Women need to learn how to negotiate for themselves not using the current model which only works for men. Turns out negotiating like a girl is more successful– for both men and women! There are two ways to do this: Communally and Collaboratively.
Collaborative Negotiation:
Instead of setting up a scenario where it is you vs. them, come to the negotiation from the point of view of US vs. the problem. It is highly effective and strengthens the relationship by pitting you on the same side. Your success is not taking away anything, it is a win for everyone.
Communal Negotiation Structure:
Take your past accomplishments + your vision of the future for yourself and the company = your ask.
There is a lot more detail on the webinar and Kathryn Valentine gave The Second Shift access to her proprietary negotiation calculator. This handy tool will help you figure out what you should be asking for based on age and salary. Don’t forget, you can use these tips to negotiate more than salary– for a list of 50 things you can negotiate click here.
ChairmanMe is generously offering a 20% discount to Second Shift community for their Negotiation course.
The course takes place over 6 weeks with online classes and cohort sessions to level up your self-worth and accountability and set yourself up for success!
If you are interested Click Here and use the code SECONDSHIFT
Join Jenny Galluzzo and Sarah Lacy, Founder of ChairmanMe, to learn the art of negotiation. Do you know that women who negotiate salary increases earn more than $1million more over their careers than those who don’t? Stop underselling yourself and join our webinar on January 18th at 11am EST.
ChairmanMe is an online educational platform where badass women support, grow, belong, connect, and discover the tools and the allies to live their best lives. These award-winning courses are taught by the world’s outliers and leaders who are shaping the future of politics, art, science, and business.
Sarah Lacy, founder and CEO of ChairmanMe, is an award winning investigative journalist, author, serial entrepreneur. Sarah is generously offering a 20% discount to Second Shift community for their Negotiation course.
Starting on Jan 24th the course takes place over 6 weeks with online classes and cohort sessions to level up your self-worth and accountability and set yourself up for success!
If you are interested Click Here and use the code SECONDSHIFT
2021 was dubbed the Great Resignation with 4.5 million workers quitting their jobs in November alone. With so much churn in the labor market it can only mean that 2022 will be a time will be a time of major workforce transformation– a great reimagining of what the workplace looks like from where to when and how we work. Yes, this is stressful and scary, but it’s also a moment of great optimism when we can re-write the rules, focus on how to build a better model by focusing on inclusivity, stickiness and equity.
Jenny and Gina and The Second Shift team are workplace transformation experts who are focused on working women, families, and flexible/remote work environments. We consider 2022 the year when we go from talking to implementing– there is no other choice. Workers preference for freedom, flexibility, and a personalized experience was created during the pandemic and has proven to be successful. There is no going back.
Restructuring to create an integrated and dynamic approach to hiring, creating a truly hybrid system, while adding incentives and raises to retain and attract relevant talent. Companies need to shift from structure and process to agility with 33% of global managers expecting to rely on external talent to assist them in this evolution, yet 24% say they are ready to manage that process.
Let us help you embrace flexibility and elastic hiring. When you hire a Second Shift member for a clearly defined role you bring on skills that align with your specific needs to finish projects quickly, efficiently and with the right talent for your exact need, exactly when you need it.
Whether you are a business in transformation, hiring or looking for some advice– let The Second Shift #makeworkworkforyou!
