Tag Archives: female empowerment

Who Run the World?

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Working with an all-female staff has it’s advantageous. Female representation in politics, Planned Parenthood, and women world leaders are go-to conversation starters, which creates a stimulating and inspiring work atmosphere. This is my second summer working for a small, women-only run organization – last summer there were only 2 full-time employees, this summer 10. It began to dawn on me today that it is highly doubtful that I will be able to continue working in a female-dominated work place. This realization reminded me of an article written by a Claremont student, who argued that women at Scripps College – and female education institutes in general – will not gain the appropriate skills to fight gender imbalance in the workplace. Here are some of my reflections of the skills I gained from working in an all-female atmosphere:

  1. I don’t feel judged for my clothing, outside work activities, or the foods I consume at work. My friends who are working in larger companies this summer often vent to me about how their every move seems to be scrutinized by their male co-workers. Having the experience of not feeling judged for not being into sports or having a bad hair day enables me to notice when such judgment is happening, instead of it becoming a normalized precondition to working. Having friendly coworkers who showed me from Day 1 that mistakes are OK eases my workplace anxiety. I can take this confidence to initiate conversations and share my opinions into my future internship workplaces.
  1. I feel respected by all my co-workers, from my direct supervisor to the director of the entire program. Nobody cuts me off mid-sentence, talks over me, or doesn’t fully explain an assignment. I am comfortable asking my supervisor for more responsibility, making bold edits/suggestions, and asking questions. Many people might feel absolutely fine doing these things in a male-dominated office, however I am the type to overthink everything and take social signals as cues of how to act very seriously. With the practice of raising my voice among higher-ups, I will be able to do so when I am in the minority.
  1. I feel supported in my academic/extracurricular/career interests. Women tend to value forming relationships more than men, and actively seek out how they can help others. This attitude creates a non-competitive workplace, which I really enjoy. In future internships I hope to continue seeing my colleagues as support systems, people who I can give and receive help from, and not competitors. I’ve also learned from this experience to not be scared to talk about future goals and plans. I received helpful insight when bringing up interning in D.C. [people shared their summer experiences in the city], an office I was applying to in particular [someone knew a friend who worked there], and even class registration.

Female Mentorship: Who Runs the World?

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Like most 20-somethings—Oh, who am I kidding? Like most anyone on this planet, whenever I feel that I need some words of wisdom in my life, there is only one reasonable person to turn to…

Who runs the world?

Beyoncé.

And while we all know that Beyoncé truly does run the world, it is the fabulous female dominated PR/brands communications agency, ID, that is running some of the entertainment industry’s top talent. This semester, I was given the honor of interning in their Digital Strategy department and currently I have been there for two months. Being in this highly successful, predominantly female run environment has inspired me for this week to talk about female mentorship.

It’s rude. I know. It can come off as weird. I know that, too. I know all of that, but… I just could not stop staring at her.  She hadn’t even said anything, and yet she already had me mesmerized. It wasn’t just her radiant inner strength or her powerful eloquent tone of voice once she had finally spoken at The Fullbridge Program Employer Panel. This was bolder than that. This was fierceness personified. This was Natalie, and this was my future new boss and spirit model. For me, a role model is someone whose job/role you aspire to have/fulfill. But Natalie is someone whose demeanor, whose fierceness I hope to embody in my future.

It was 9 am on my first day, but Natalie still hadn’t arrived in the office yet. Her assistant, however, warmly greeted me and proceeded to give me a tour around the office. It was in this tour that I started to realize how truly lucky I was to have obtained this internship, but not for the reasons you’d think. Sure being on Hollywood Boulevard witnessing exciting festivities such as The Oscars and having a bird’s eye view of the Hollywood sign everyday were great perks. But what really made ID so magical for me during that tour was seeing and meeting women who were sitting in the corner offices and at the highest ranks of the company.

When the tour concluded, I assumed that I would be relegated to the intern corner where I met a couple of interns a few minutes earlier. To my surprise and extreme fortune, however, she actually led me into Natalie’s office and told me that this would be my workspace. Someone could have easily tripped over my jaw in that moment because I just could not understand how I managed to receive such a privilege. Her assistant told me that I was really fortunate to have an internship with Natalie because she is the only executive who allows interns to sit in her office with her. She told me that Natalie wants her interns close by to ask her questions and to listen in on her calls so as to get a real sense of what her job and the industry is like.

Being able to closely watch Natalie in action for these past few weeks has really started to make me reflect on the powerful female mentors I’ve had in my life, and how integral they have been to shaping the woman I am today. It is not who or what they are talking about in conference meetings and phone calls that has been so beneficial for me, but rather how they are speaking and presenting themselves in those situations. At Fullbridge, we learned that women sometimes tend to do something called “uptalking,” which involves raising the pitch of the last syllable of the last word in a sentence that subtly makes your statement sound like question or seem uncertain. Getting the opportunity to listen in on important business calls with Natalie and other important female mentors in my life, however, has given me clear examples to emulate on how to present oneself as a female in male-dominated business run spaces. From what to wear, how to sound, and next steps after graduation, these women have given me a briefcase full of important work place/life advice and tips that I will carry with me through time.

So if the opportunity presents itself, I would highly suggest seeking out a female mentor/spirit model. I know gender equality is important, but if you are someone who self-identifies as a female, then having that female spirit model will definitely teach you subtle, but important aspects on how to survive in the work place that a man will never be able understand/provide.

So where can you find these fantastical spirit models? To be honest, everywhere! Scripps is a women’s college after all, which means we have an excellent selection of women all around to choose from. Faculty, staff, current and past supervisors, and even your fellow peers are doing such amazing things out in the world that just hanging out with them a few times could help put you on track to being the best version of yourself. So get out there and network! And if you don’t know how to do that, stay tuned for a future blog post!

To the powerful female mentors I’ve had in my life, there is no word to describe how incredibly grateful I am to have had you in my life. Thank you for letting me watch you, letting me pester you with questions, and letting me emulate you. I hope that when I write stories of my success and achievements, that you feel not only proud of me, but proud of yourselves because there is a piece of you in me that contributed to that.