Women on the Verge of Entrepreneurship by Lisa Duggan

Entrepreneurship - how sweet it is!

There’s nothing more exciting than the feeling of possibility, of knowing that something unique and new is about to be born. It’s the feeling we get at graduations and weddings, whether we’re standing on the dock waving off friends and family, or we’re the passengers on the ship that’s sailing away to the Big Next. 

Last week the Women Entrepreneur Festival at NYU’s ITP School was that ship — where I happily drank champagne from the top deck, along with 250 other fabulous women.

This is the 2^nd festival hosted by ITP, the brainchild of Nancy Hechinger, of the ITP faculty, and entrepreneur and angel investor Joanne Wilson, aka @TheGothamGal. The goal of this year’s festival was to continue its inaugural mission: “To sow the seeds for a community of women entrepreneurs in NYC”, and, “to expose women who have not yet taken the entrepreneurial leap — the pre-entrepreneurs — to the women who have.”

Venture Capital is the ultimate swag.

For a post-feminist-era, Generation XXer, who turned seven the year Title IX became law (and who cries a little too hard at women’s sports events) I’m still in awe of mass gatherings of smart, powerful women.  Beginning with the decidedly personal keynote by Arianna Huffington at the kick-off, to the inspiring poem read by ITP founder Red Burns at its conclusion, the festival delivered on its mission. WE was the place to rub elbows with women in all stages of entrepreneurship.

Arianna, Joanne Wilson, and Mary Schmidt Campbell, Dean of the Tisch School of the Arts.

What I found rare about the festival (besides hundreds of women gathered in one spot discussing the value of a different kind of Ruby) was its lack of the ubiquitous, self-deprecating, female framework that requires women to denigrate one aspect of themselves in order to boast about another. The WE Festival suggests a future world where girls are not Either/Or — smart or beautiful — but Both; where an interest in fashion and HTML are not mutually exclusive. A future where a great pair of heels doesn’t signal that you’re superficial, but super-savvy.

“Great shoes! Now, can you tell me where you found your web developer?”

This year the festival (not conference, it’s a celebration after all) focused on makers — knowledge makers, taste makers, change makers — and offered three morning and three afternoon sessions. Attendees were invited to circulate freely among the overlapping sessions, which many intended to do, but most women commented that they couldn’t tear themselves away from any panel. (Another rarity about WE — what’s the last conference you attended where you didn’t need Red Bull to stay awake for the afternoon program?) And no one dared miss the rousing and informative Investor Panel that concludes each festival, this year hosted by the incisive Janet T. Hanson, Founder and CEO of @85Broads. (Girls just want to have funds now, Cindy Lauper. Time to update our anthem.)

We’ve made tremendous progress between the time Gloria burned her bra and Brandi Chastain exposed hers. Women now have unprecedented access to the education and connections necessary to build companies that men used to inherit at birth, and which allowed them to dominate the economic field for so long. Greater access to Capital must be next, if we are to realize our dreams of ownership, innovation and leadership. The WE Festival points women in that direction by providing a place for investors and entrepreneurs to meet and mingle.

Winning!

And as my work focuses on parenthood, I’d add another critical component to our success as women entrepreneurs: childcare and eldercare. Women are still expected to assume the role of caregiver in heterosexual unions, even when their work is equally or more rigorous than their male partner’s. It’s difficult (but not impossible, as so many women have proven) to focus on innovation if you’re constantly worried about who’s greeting the 3 o’clock bus.

Reliable, affordable, sustainable, quality solutions to the caregiver dilemma — both from the private and public sector— are needed to allow women now, and our daughters later, to move forward with their ambitious plans. Encouraging men to consider becoming the full-time caregiver is one solution, i.e., proposing that your husband become a stay-at-home Dad, a route which an increasing number of dads are choosing.  A Parent-Fund is another: a tax-deductible savings account similar to a college fund, that’s to be drawn against when our sons and daughters ramp off for parenthood, and require funds for childcare, eldercare, continuing education or — to start a new business. (I'm waiting patiently for someone to create this investment vehicle…)

If you’re looking for more inspiration, I urge you to read through all 250 bios of the attendees found here and then read the list of speakers, panelists and moderators here.  But FIRST read my very brief list below (in no particular order) of some of the incredible women I met, learned from and laughed with at this year’s #WE. 

Their collective, infectious energy will keep me moving forward for months to come.

* * * * *

Ilysse Rimalovski is an ideator, collaborator, journalist, copywriter, coach and extra-lucky for me, a neighbor, who was happy to share the ride in from New Jersey. I first met Ilysse when she was presenting a new business idea in the health and wellness sector for our area. We’re now committed to meeting 1x month for support and inspiration for our respective business ideas. You can find Ilysee on Twitter @ThriveWell.

Katie Clegg is Founder & Chief Eating Officer of Foodiacs, whose tagline, Live Voraciously, I had tattooed on my butt this morning. Katie & company know that food is here to serve us, not the other way around.  Foodiacs is, “dedicated to connecting our members with gourmet food artisans and culinary tools and experiences.” Members enjoy exclusive information and access to exquisite food from around the country. Plus? She founded and runs the company with an ex-boyfriend — and they get along swimmingly. Keep your eye on Katie.

Amy-Willard Cross looks a little like Carrie Fisher (sane, young, Carrie Fisher with very cool eyeglasses) and has the hardboiled energy of Kate Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story. Which seems just about right, as she’s a journalist, world traveler and founder of Vitamin W, a curated news site where you can get your daily dose of “news, business and philanthropy for women.” You can also contribute to the advancement of women and girls everywhere through your Vitamin W membership. Vitamin W is, “100% Kardashian-free. Guaranteed.”

Nancy Rielle is the CEO and Co-Founder of VerveCards, maker of “ecards for savvy senders.” The idea for her company was born when her choice for a belated birthday e-card was reduced to, "This one doesn't totally suck.” I like their link-less format – the card appears on your screen immediately. I’ll be sending one to my cousin Louise today, in hopes that it will stop her from sending me a Jacquie Lawrence e-card ever again.

Sarah Chipps is a JavaScript developer and the founder of Girl Develop It which, “Teaches low cost web development classes geared towards women.” Sarah recently hosted a hack-a-thon for women that, she reports, smelled way better than one populated by her coding male-counterparts. During the Knowledge Makers panel I asked Sarah if she ran a summer coding-camp for my eight year old daughter. My question prompted the lovely Adda Birnir, founder of Balance Media, to lean over and hand me a deck of cards stamped Digital Divas, with a glossary of web technologies (so clever!) Digital Divas is, “an educational experiment whose goal is to make technology more accessible to everyone (especially the divas).” 

The indomitable Tereza Nemessanyi, aka @TerezaN, was also in attendance. Tereza is a WE alum and founder and CEO of Honestly Now, a Q&A gaming site that is quickly gaining users and popularity (warning: it's highly addictive!). I'm designing a bitchin' holster for Tereza, so she can carry her multiple mobile devices (two phones and a camera!) with style — and to thank her for connecting me with a potential partner on the spot, via said devices. (You can read more about how Tereza combines motherhood with entrepreneurship on The Parent du Jour, here.) 

I also got to meet, IRL, the amazing Whitney Johnson, president and co-founder of Rose Park Advisors. Prior to WE, we had only "met" online when Whitney asked me to guest-post on her Dare to Dream blog (which becomes a book, DARE-DREAM-DO: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream in May 2012) and I asked her to share her family with me, virtually, on The Parent du Jour. Whitney is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review and a TEDx speaker. Follow her on twitter at @johnsonwhitney. 

Lastly, but certainly not least, a one-liner I tossed off to attendee and software engineer Véronique Brossier has become the name of her blog: Let Them Eat Code.  As technology continues to make more and greater opportunities for all 21st century entrepreneurial Divas, digital or not, that's excellent advice we all should take.

* Photo source: my own, or those captured from Twitter, at #WEFestival.

Check out The Parent du Jour, my 365 day web project, featuring mothers and fathers from around the world. It has been described as, "An online book being written one day, and one parent, at a time."Thanks! - Lisa D.

Our Children Would Be Safer If They Were Baby Seals Or Dolphins

Today's post was written by our new friend from the North, Maggie's Bear.

*Mr. Bear and I met the way people and animals usually meet. He followed me home on Twitter, then I fell in love with his blog. (And he was kind enough to contribute a profile to The Parent du Jour.)

MB is a rare find, and not just because he's a talking ursus arctos horriblis. Flip through the pages of his blog; you'll find informed commentary on everything from politics to parenting.

That's right, informed commentary. It's not extinct.

Here, he talks about how we put entertainment, politics, commerce — just about everything else — ahead of our children's safety and well being.

* * * * *

THERE ARE MANY ways to gauge the health of a society. The condition of its economy, the effectiveness of its political leadership, how united or divided the people are on the issues they face and so on. How a society treats its most vulnerable is probably the most accurate form of measure because it speaks to the heart of that society’s

There is no more vulnerable group in our global society than children and we aren’t measuring up.

I wrote yesterday about children in Greece being abandoned by their parents because of the tough economic conditions that country is facing. In Saudi Arabia, a man was arrested and charged for trying to sell his son on the Internet for $20 million and in Canada, a father and his wife and son are on trial, charged with the murder of the father’s three daughters and their aunt.

This isn’t something to be found only in developing countries, this lack of concern for the welfare of children is becoming endemic across all societies.

Yesterday, it was reported that an Occupy protester was arrested for leaving his baby in a tent in sub zero weather. Penn State is in the grip of a huge child sex abuse scandal and so many children go missing in North America, we’ve created a unique system called the Amber Alert just to try and recover them.

Pedophile porn rings abound on the Internet and children all over the world, some still infants, are routinely victimized and terribly abused so that some can make money feeding the sick perversions of others.

In 2005, the last year for which there are accurate statistics, there were 66,500 children reported missing in Canada alone, a country of only 35 million people.  In the United States, the number is almost 800,000. Globally, the number is in the millions although nobody really knows for sure just exactly what the true number is because some countries don’t track the statistics.

Four children die every day in the United States from abuse and there are proportionate numbers in other developed countries around the world.

These are children and they are at risk but what are we focused on? Based on what is being talked about online, and somewhat passionately and even stridently, we seem to be focused on everything but our children. 

There are those who send out tweets every day to save baby seals, dolphins or (insert mammal of choice). Others are intent on proving that the Republicans /Conservatives or the Democrats/Liberals are the agents of Satan and must be defeated or else we are on the Freeway to Hell.

Quite a few are committed to making fools of themselves with inane comments about their hair, their sex lives or the sex life they would like to have with another tweep while others are burning with the light of Jesus to save the world from an oil pipeline, greenhouse gas emissions and melting polar ice.

There are thousands of messages advertising how to make money online, how to increase your social network presence and about this new high tech toy or that.

The economy consumes many people while showing others how to profit and make money in this current economy is the mission of more than a few. Football, hockey, the UFC or (insert sport of choice) are the passion of those taking a break from whatever else they usually comment on.

Anonymous brags on the Internet about how it shut down a child porn ring and then moves on to its next grandstanding moment.

In between are countless quotes from famous dead people and the bible and while all this chatter goes on an average of more that 2000 children in North America alone will go missing that same day.

Yes, there are people who are concerned. Some devote their lives and their careers to doing something about it but most of our societies have other, more important priorities. A few people fire off a quick tweet donation to some mysterious website in support of abused children but then it’s back to the chatter.

I understand and appreciate that we can’t be talking about only this topic every day, all day. We live our lives to the best of our ability and we have many things that interest us, that we consider important and that we want to discuss and share with others.

But what I don’t understand is why the safety and care of our children isn't a priority. In fact, I question why it isn't even on the political agenda.

There isn’t one political candidate talking about this, not one PAC, lobby or community group, newspaper, television or radio station or political party putting pressure on government to address this problem. We’re more outraged and defensive about SOPA and the possibility of government imposing restrictions on the Internet than we are about what is happening to children…our children in our communities.

You can tell much about a society by its priorities and it’s clear that our society is more concerned with saving animals and the Internet than it is with saving our children. We've become more focused on proving our point, whatever it is, than we are with protecting the most vulnerable in our society. I'm not surprised, this is the same society that steps around the homeless while donating to protesters living in tents. Yesterday a baby was endangered thanks to the negligence of one of those protesters whose priorities were focused on something other than the welfare of his child.

Sadly that seems to say pretty much all you need to know about our values. It makes me wonder how we can ever hope to build a successful society on them.

© 2011 Maggie's Bear

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