In a survey of 1000s of women entrepreneurs done by Rachel Rodgers (author of “We Should All Be Millionaires”), when asked if women felt confident in their ability to manage money and make financial decisions,
90% said no.
These women had an average income of over $100k so why was there such low financial esteem amongst such strong women? As women, we’re taught our financial goals are too big and that we’re incapable of accomplishing them. We have been taught that we are asking for too much and not worth the amount of money we deserve. Even after the Equal Pay Act was established in 1963, women are STILL earning less.
Before 1974 women couldn’t even start their own business, accessing higher education, or make large purchases such as a car without the approval and cosign of a man. As a woman who owns her own business and as maddening as that is to hear, I can't help to be grateful that we live in a different world where we have the opportunity to make big changes in the world in which women are perceived and valued.
Men have had centuries to build wealth, businesses, political power and so on. Women have had only about 50 years and already we have women million and billionaires and presidential candidates (I'm excited for the day when we see a woman as president!). In such a short amount of time, this shows how powerful we are despite the adversities that have held us back for too long.
This is EXACTLY why I work with women run businesses and fempreneurs. It’s up to us to empower each other because let's be honest, most likely men are going to help other men. When women support each other, we open doors that were previously closed to us. New opportunities are created because we now have the support to build each other up instead of having to fight an uphill battle all the time to defend our worth and why we deserve to be compensated equally.
Women need other women to get ahead and to succeed. There are many women out there who are fantastic mentors, coaches, and teachers that can help you get you to where you want to be. Let's come together to make significant changes that result in a better world for us all because when women succeed, society prospers as a result.
