Today is International Women’s Day.  Originally called International Working Women’s Day, it is celebrated on March 8^th each year to recognize issues and accomplishments of working women in the past, present and future.  It started in the early 1900s as women fought for wages, working conditions, and the right to vote.  It has expanded to acknowledge issues facing women around the world.  For more information about the history, visit:   http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/iwd/history.html

We really are making progress.  My grandmother was 36 years old when women got the right to vote in the United States.  When my mom was a young adult, women were encouraged to stay at home or, if they needed to work, be secretaries, teachers, or nurses.  Most baby-boomer women can share stories of the challenges they faced when they began their professional careers.  Today women hold leadership positions in major corporations. There may still be a wage gap but the opportunities are substantially better than they were.

Today women are becoming small business owners at a faster rate than men, although men clearly dominate the field in terms of numbers and earnings.  According to Kauffman Foundation research only about 35% of start-up business owners are women.  This seems to be a low participation rate at a time when more than 50% of the college students are female and about 46% of the workforce are women. http://www.kauffman.org/uploadedFiles/Growing_the_Economy_Women_Entrepreneurs.pdf  However, 35% represents a dramatic increase over the last 10 years.  Since the vast majority of new business owners are over 40,  this means that the men and women starting new businesses now already experienced that transformation of roles for women in the corporate setting. That assumption of equality will make it easier for all small business owners to grow together.  Many of these baby boomers share the belief that entrepreneurship is the best path to overcome the recent economic issues that resulted in corporate lay-offs, diminishing savings, and reduced retirement funds. 

This economy needs effective entrepreneurs.  Today is International Women’s Day.  This month is Women’s History Month.  It is worth celebration.  The elimination of artificial barriers frees us all to work together to rebuild the economy and our individual lives.  The Front Desk Team staff work with small business owners every day.  It is exciting to see the enthusiasm, expertise, and energy these entrepreneurs bring to their companies.  It’s exciting to think about what we are building together.  This next decade is going to be fun!