But there are still strides to be taken
The female empowerment movement has propelled women to speak and live out their truths.
We’ve witnessed more and more women pursuing dreams that have been walled off to women by barriers such as traditional but stereotypical gender role assignments in the workplace, business world and society as a whole.
Over the last decade or so, we have seen a slow but steady shift in that stereotypical mindset which says women can only be in certain jobs and men can take any job … or be the CEO of the company.
Women aren’t just getting hired more in typically male-dominated jobs – such as automobile mechanics, truck drivers, and construction. They’re business owners, even in traditionally male-dominated industries.
Thirty-six percent of all businesses in America are owned by women – a 30-percent rise over the 2007 ownership figures, according to a report by writer Geri Stengel published in Forbes magazine in 2016. Stengel cited data from the 2012 U.S. Census in her reporting. In her article, Stengel went on to proclaim that “A Golden Age for women entrepreneurs has begun.”
And, the percentage of female-owned small businesses rose by 27 percent between 2007 and 2012, according to Intuit QuickBooks Resource Center.
The stories of these women starting their businesses, in the face of the “it’s a man’s world” stereotype, are inspiring. Leah Benson opened Gladys Bikes, a cycle shop geared toward women, in 2013. Her story was shared in an online publication by Intuit QuickBooks Resource Center.
“We tend to have products that make sense for women’s bodies and personalities, sense of style, so on and so forth,” Benson told Intuit, “I love bikes. I think they’re all awesome but usually, they’re set up for men. It means that sometimes, it can be hard to find things that fit for women. We just turned it on its head.”
Simone Bruni opened her demolition business, Demo Diva, sometime after Hurricane Katrina destroyed many sections of New Orleans in 2005. Bruni told Intuit that she wanted to have a role in getting her hometown back on its feet and helping her neighbors.
In starting Demo Diva, Bruni said she was not discouraged by the fact that there were hardly any women in the demolition field, she also told Intuit. Instead, she made that fact a selling point for her business: “I knew that I wanted to be set apart. I wanted to be different…I figured that that one niche would give me a hand up.”
While shattering stereotypes of gender roles is serious, Molly Proffitt found a way to turn it into a game. Proffitt of Georgia founded her business, KerChunk Games, and developed an online, free-to-play puzzle game – “Princenapped” – in which the goal is to rescue a prince! That flies in the face of the fairy tales young girls and boys have been fed for years. You know: The fairy tales of helpless princesses and fair maidens waiting and hoping for a prince to rescue her and make her life better.
“It’s not that it hadn’t been done,” she explains, “It’s taking our experience of already building games and saying ‘Let’s put the level of polish on it that we feel it needs, and take this theme that we feel needs to be conveyed, that all people can be heroes and princes can be rescued too.’ ”
Only 11 percent of game designers, and 3 to five percent of programmers, are female, according to Intuit.
“There aren’t a lot of women in game development and we’re working to change that,” Proffitt added in her statement to Intuit, “The only way we can change that is to see more companies that have women in leadership positions, that can then hire more women.”
Retail is another area where entrepreneurial opportunities abound – and despite rumors of a “retail apocalypse,” small retail is actually growing. The pop-up shop concept represents a fast and convenient way to get into the retail market, especially as consumers demand something other than cookie-cutter mall stores. According to Steve Brooks, a global consultant who specializes in helping retail pop-up entrepreneurs achieve success, retail entrepreneurs are bringing more excitement to the shopping experience with specialized, short-term pop-up shops. According to Brooks, “Consumers have gotten bored with shopping. You go into a shopping mall and you see the same shops. Everything looks the same. Pop-ups really inject some enthusiasm and some entertainment into the shopping experience.” Brooks says that the pop-up concept, although it is increasingly being used by larger established retailers, has proven popular and effective among independent and start-up entrepreneurs.
Patrice Banks, owner of Girls Auto Clinic, is another shining example. Banks became an auto mechanic a few years ago … and went on to open a successful auto clinic. In a January 9, 2018 interview with NPR’s Fresh Air program, Banks told host Terry Gross that “I was afraid I was going to be taken advantage of. I was tired of feeling helpless and having to go talk to a guy.” “I couldn’t find a female mechanic,” she says, “so I had to learn it [myself].”
Banks took night classes while she worked her main job during the day. Later, she left her day job and worked in a couple of big city garages for free while she finished her training. She opened Girls Auto Clinic in 2016.
Women don’t have to own a business, or work, in a male-dominated industry to participate in the female empowerment movement. Maybe a woman wants to be able to do some auto body repairs or improvements on her car, for example. She can do that. There are so many easy-to-follow instructional training videos and manuals for car repairs out there. And, if she needs some supplies. She can handle that, too. For those new to this, visit https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/shop-supplies-c-512.aspx.
Here’s to shattering stereotypes, in any way we can!