Most Powerful Women International Summit in London

The Fortune Most Powerful Women (MPW) International Summit, which is taking place in London on June 11-12, includes Lloyd's of London CEO Inga Beale on how she leads the company culture to promote inclusion, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva on global economies, Bank of America vice chairman Anne Finucane on the bank's outlook on Brexit, and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchinson on her top priorities of military cooperation, intelligence-gathering, and combating terrorism.

The MPW International Summit is the cornerstone of the global expansion of Fortune Most Powerful Women, which started as a conference and has evolved into the preeminent community of women leaders in business and beyond.

Learn more here.

Giving Thanks to all the Mom Entrepreneurs and Presidents

With Mother’s Day yesterday, it’s a perfect time to give thanks for all that moms have done. There are plenty of moms who have made a huge mark on the business world as well.

Here are some successful mom entrepreneurs and presidents who might provide some inspiration for others the day after Mother's Day.

21 Successful Mom Entrepreneurs to Inspire You

WPO Conference 2018: Huge Success!

©2018 Laurel Delaney.  (L-R) AJ Goehle, Sandy Marsico (center) and Kim Robinson

The WPO Conference 2018 held at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles was a huge success.  Nearly 1,000 women CEOs attended to share business strategies and experience with other successful women from all over the world, as well as learn from interactive seminars and speakers.

Next year's conference takes place in North Carolina from May 1-3, 2019.  Stay with us to learn more.

WPO Conference 2018: Disruption and the Future of Business

The Women Presidents’ Organization 21st Annual Conference will be held from Wednesday, May 2nd – Friday, May 4th 2018 at The Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles.

The conference encourages WPO members to share business strategies and experience with other successful women from all over the world, as well as learn from interactive seminars and speakers.

Additionally, it will provide potential members who qualify a unique opportunity to experience the impact the WPO has on women business owners professionally and personally.

Lear more here.  And to those who plan to attend, I will see you there!

Female Founders Are Taking Wine Mainstream

Winemaker Sonja Magdevski founded Casa Dumetz, one of the leading boutique labels in natural wine, and that's despite the fact that the industry has long been considered a “boys club.”

Now, though, that’s changing. Magdevski, along with dozens of other female founders, is working to redefine who and what constitutes a winemaker, specifically through the emerging market dedicated to organic ingredients and sustainable practices.

Women are not just closing the gender gap, but adding their own take on a market that has been mostly dominated by male tastes and sensibilities.

Read the entire article here, which claims there has been an uptick in female leadership in the wine industry.

Build a Network

Six winners of the 2018 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship, five are women, share their lessons learned along the path to success.

One is:

The lesson she [Jennifer Pahlka, head of Code for America] has learned, she says, is "when you start out, it can be lonely. You need a network. A network is beautiful. You need support [think of the Women Presidents' Organization], you need emotional support during the tough times." It can be colleagues, other entrepreneurs, friends and family: "Nobody does this alone."

Other lessons range from leading with love to learning something new.  Read them all here.

VCs Evaluate Entrepreneurs Differently When It Comes to Gender

In a two-part study, authors Malin Malmstrom, Aija Voitkane, Jeaneth Johansson and Joakim Wincent observed that venture capitalists adopt markedly different stereotypical notions of female and male entrepreneurs during their decision-making processes.

These stereotypical notions, which cast men as having traits better suited to starting successful companies, don’t hold up when compared with venture performance data from annual reports. In other words, there is no statistical evidence that a host of myths about female entrepreneurs is true.

Learn more here.

Zero Limits

Lisa Schiffman, Global Leader and Founder, EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™, identifies six steps the most successful women entrepreneurs undertake to break through to scale.  Her insights come from a decade of working with female entrepreneurs.  Every growth-minded entrepreneur can benefit from heeding this advice.

One point she makes is to consider outside funding.

Historically, women have lacked access to outside cash to fuel their companies’ growth. This is one reason they are more likely than men to bootstrap. In fact, according to the 2017 Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO) Business Outlook Survey, 68% of female CEOs and owners of multimillion-dollar companies used their personal savings to launch their businesses.

Learn more here.

Be Intentional About Your Public Speaking Goals

How do you go from having zero skill to mastering your craft? It’s not just about putting in the hours. It’s about the right kind of practice and monitoring your progress along the way. It turns out any skill can be gained quickly through what I call progressive mastery.

Here are the 10 steps to progressive mastery Brendon Burchar followed to learn public speaking.

RIP: Theresa D'Angelo, Founder of Three Businesses

Theresa D’Angelo received a patent in 2015 for a device inspired by the cover for a swimming pool. Her daughter, Madelaine, described it as “a people catcher.”  She died March 10, 2018 in her Grand Island home after seven-year battle with metastatic breast cancer. She was 59.

“She loved to work and loved being an entrepreneur,” her daughter said.

D'Angelo was the founder of three businesses:  Rail Services, Complete Auto Network and Complete Personnel Solutions.

She [Theresa] was a board member of the New York Staffing Association and a member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and the Women’s Presidents Organization. An advocate for inclusion and diversity, she encouraged young women in their careers.

Learn more about gifted entrepreneur and problem-solver Theresa D'Angelo here.  May she rest in peace (RIP).

Essential Characteristics of Successful Businesswomen

How do you succeed in business?  There are many essential characteristics that successful women business owners carry. Here's a look at a few.

5 Things Tory Burch Wants You to Know About Business Ownership

Through her work, designer Tory Burch has met hundreds of small-business owners from New York to Shanghai.  Below, she shares the advice that has helped her over the last 14 years.

1. Believe in yourself.
2. Buckle up and know that it’s going to be a tremendous amount of work.
3. Be open to new ideas.
4. Seek out opportunities.
5. Think bigger.

Full article here on what Tory wants you to know.

Criticism, When Delivered Thoughtfully, Helps Teams Perform Better

In "How to Use Criticism to Your Advantage," the author talks about how criticism hurts for a reason but it doesn't mean it can be avoided.

Criticism, when delivered thoughtfully, helps teams perform better and helps people improve their behavior. It also wakes people up and makes them realize they can’t be complacent. If people on your team are doing a terrible job, they deserve to know so they can improve their work. And if your partner is acting in a way that upsets you, he or she should know why.

Put some thought into your next criticism.  And remember, never attack the person; instead criticize the action.

Believe in Entrepreneurship

Starting a business requires hard work, perseverance and smarts to bring it beyond the million dollar level.

There’s no easy path, no get-rich-quick scheme that will make your business thrive other than you.

What do you need to have in order to start a thriving business?

1. A responsible fear.
2. Realistic expectations.
3. Short and long-terms goals.

Read more here.

WEGGinar™: Creating a Workplace that Works:

Joselyn DiPetta, Google and Managing Partner, Present Possibility is passionate about empowering teams and individuals to expand their view of what’s possible. Her focus on women’s leadership, diversity and inclusion, and leadership alignment is a platform for the creation of holistic solutions that transform people and cultures in service of achieving exceptional results.

In this WEGGinar™, Joselyn covers how to:

• Develop a deeper understanding of diversity and inclusion
• Understand why diversity and inclusion are critical to successful and sustainable business outcomes
• Learn about the importance of fostering an environment where everyone can fully contribute
• Learn about unconscious bias and the importance of addressing it

View the WEGGinar™ by visiting: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1837790091765976835.  It's complimentary thanks to companies who support WEGG: IBM, UPS and Bank of America.

What Women Entrepreneurs Can Do to be More Successful

Kerry Hannon, contributor for Forbes, interviews Carla Harris (pictured), chair of the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), a 30-year-old, nonpartisan federal group that serves as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners.

One key question:  What can women entrepreneurs do to be more successful?  Harris says:

Women entrepreneurs should leverage the resources already in place, as there are a plethora of supports across the country specific to women business owners. In a thriving ecosystem, there are in-person and virtual incubators and accelerators, SBA resource partners such as SCORE, Women Business Centers and Small Business Development Centers, as well as online educational resources that provide powerful knowledge throughout the business lifecycle.

And of course the Women Presidents' Organization powers prosperity for women business owners too.

Read the entire interview here.

5 Soft Leadership Skills That Affect the Bottom Line and Create Hard Results

Managing the personal portion of leadership while still achieving goals and hitting deadlines requires the art of leadership, as opposed to the science. As the leader, you’re managing for results and outcomes. But results don’t come without relationships, connections and personal investment.

If you’re not getting the results you want, it may be the soft stuff that you’re lacking.

Here are the five soft leadership skills that affect the bottom line the most directly, and how leaders can develop them.

Read more:  5 Soft Leadership Skills That Affect the Bottom Line

In the Digital Economy, Speed Matters

According to an MIT Sloan Management Review article, Jeanne Ross says, "To keep pace with customer demands and competitor moves, companies must be able to quickly experiment with a potential offering and, depending on customer response, continuously enrich and scale that offering, or discard it and move on to the next experiment."

Ms. Ross claims that innovating at speed means utilizing empowered teams that are aligned to achieve company-wide objectives.

Read more about how to empower your teams and architect your company for agility.

Find Finance. Find Mentors. Find Balance.

Women entrepreneurs face many challenges when they start companies.  That said, to make it easier on women, all companies should be supporting the move towards more diverse perspectives and inclusive attitudes at every level of the business world.

As the article below, states, "understanding and quantifying the challenges faced when starting a woman-centric business may help to break down the systematic prejudices and level the playing field for women in the entrepreneurial sector."

Read more about finding finance, finding mentors and finding balance as you build a business.  And of course joining WPO can help you overcome all of these challenges.

A Few Good Winning Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs

Who isn't always looking for a good winning strategy that brings success to a business that much faster?

Here are eight (8) winning strategies from a book, Think Bigger, that will help you enlarge your thought processes on what it takes to run a successful business.

Read:  Winning Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs

Be Unique and Intelligently Greedy When Others are Fearful in 2018

©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

As Tony Robbins said to entrepreneur and author Tim Ferriss, “Winter is coming.” Everything is cyclical, so make sure you’re prepared to be intelligently greedy when others are fearful. When people are myopically fixated on problems, they often leave opportunities in plain sight.

Read more on what will make your business a success in 2018.

Happy New Year!

Season's Greetings and Best Wishes for a Prosperous New Year

©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Make Your Team Thrive in 2018

Yes, it's doable:  you can start a business and have a baby at the same time.

When Caitlin Zaino, Founder of Porter & Sail, a hospitality company, was expecting her first child, she was desperate find an example of another female founder who’d juggled childbirth and running a startup.  She found the role model she was looking for in Birchbox co-founder Katia Beauchamp, who shared this advice.

“Everyone wants to think that they are the most important person in an organization but the team still thrives, if you’ve done your job well, all should move forward.”

So when the time came, Caitlin took time off, wanting to show that it was more than OK for anyone — even the founder — to take time away for a new baby.

Read more about how you can strike out on your own, start a new company, grow the economy, and have a baby.

WEGG Enables Global Growth for Women Business Owners

Laurel Delaney writes for the WPO blog:

Women-owned firms that export,” reports the White House Council on Women and Girls, “not only earn more but employ more people and are, on average, more productive than women-owned firms that do not.”  But estimates show that only 12 percent of women-owned SMEs in the U.S. export.  Either women do not think they have what it takes to export or they lack the appropriate support, such as training, education, and advisory networks.

Solutions are available.  Visit Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global

WEGG is a proud partner to the Women Presidents' Organization

Fire Clients Who Hold You Back

I am a big fan of Marshall Goldsmith and this article is one of my favorites because it rings true on so many levels for me.  The biggest nugget in the article below is how toxic relationships -- whether a client, customer, employee, boss or group -- can hold you back.

Which relationships should you continue to develop, and which should you gently let go? In business, Goldsmith recommends that customers be referred elsewhere (fired) when they do these six different things.

The bottom line is that it isn't terribly hard to cut ties with people or groups who bring you down.  And when you do, you lead a more stress-free and healthy life.  And that can only be a good outcome.

When It Comes to Women Business Owners and Babies, VCs Ignore Them

The struggles of a breast-pump startup underscore venture capitalists blind spot when it comes to women and babies.

Venture capitalists, however, do not appear to share my [author at The New Yorker magazine] enthusiasm for breast-pump #disruption, perhaps because the industry is ninety-three per cent male. 

Read more about why mothers who are business owners don't seem to be worth anything to venture capitalists.

Screenshot: Medela

Stand Like a Rock

©2017 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." -- Thomas Jefferson

Inspiring Quotes from Women Business Owners and Leaders

As Sara Blakely (pictured), founder of Spanx says, "Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else."

Discover other inspiring quotes from women business owners and leaders.

Making the U.S. Tax Code Fairer to Women Entrepreneurs

With Congress putting the finishing touches on a tax plan that’s aimed at overhauling the system, there is one other reform Caroline Bruckner thinks they should consider: making the U.S. tax code fairer to women entrepreneurs.

Currently, federal tax incentives targeted to help small businesses grow and access capital either effectively exclude or bypass altogether the majority of women-owned firms, according to groundbreaking research I [Caroline Bruckner, Executive in Residence, Department of Accounting and Taxation, American University] conducted on how the tax code affects women business owners through American University’s Kogod Tax Policy Center. 

For the first time, Caroline's research considered specifically whether women business owners can (or do) take advantage of tax breaks intended for small businesses.

Read more about how the US tax code bypasses women entrepreneurs.

From Our WEGG Partner: Women Entrepreneurs Are Crushing It

If there’s anything that defines women entrepreneurs, it’s their ability to figure out everything from how to write a business plan to launching an app to taking a business global.

When you are ready to launch and grow your business, keep these six tips in your back pocket from women who’ve done it before.

Read:  What Women Entrepreneurs Have Done Without Regrets to Crush It

Why I Joined the Women Presidents' Organization: A Member's Perspective

Doing Business With the Federal Government

As Annie Pilon for Small Business Trends points out:  "The federal government is awarding more contracts to women owned small businesses than ever before. There’s still a long way to go. But for women who haven’t ever considered doing business with the federal government, it might be a good time to reconsider."

Check out her article providing tips for women business owners looking to navigate the world of government contracting.

How to Stay Strong and Healthy While Growing Your Business

The New York Times-bestselling author, Bethenny Frankel, is the founder of food and beverage company Skinnygirl, which sold to Beam Suntory for a reported $100 million in 2011.

Frankel also launched a television production company called B Real Productions in 2015. This fall Frankel is going to share her experience with aspiring business owners as a guest judge on ABC’s Shark Tank and she was a speaker at Advertising Week New York. 

But her latest venture is the one that is closest to her heart. Read more ... secrets to building a multimillion-dollar brand.

Jim Collins Delivers What Makes a Good Leader

What To Do With Employees Who Rub Others the Wrong Way

No matter the specific behavior, your employee is rubbing people the wrong way. As the business owner, you know it’s your job to address the issue, but you’re not sure how to start the conversation because it's awkward. What should you say? How do you broach the topic?

Experts weigh in here but before you begin the conversation, prepare what you want to say and how you plan to say it.

Why Do People Love to Hate “Process” but Rail Against Disorganization?

Why do people love to hate “process” but rail against disorganization?  Elizabeth Doty, a former lab fellow of Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and founder of Leadership Momentum, a consultancy that focuses on the practical challenges of keeping organizational commitments, writes an excellent piece for strategy+business on Liberate Your Team With Clear Processes. 

But back to why people love to hate process:

It is because most people associate processes with checklists, forms, and rules — the overseer breathing down their necks. Not surprisingly, leaders wanting to foster innovation and creativity are reluctant to institute such rigid controls and procedures.

Learn more ...

Who Is the Mysterious Aureta Woman?

In this post we focus on how women are leveraging Instagram to build their brand and their following.

Take Aureta Thomollari.  With no last name on her account and captions barely longer than three words, she could be anyone. But as it turns out, Aureta Thomollari is a woman with an incredible eye for beauty and Instagram is her hobby.  In fact, Thomollari's main focus is on her career as an entrepreneur and investor.  She takes images from locations around the world.

By simply looking at her Instagram account, a mysterious feeling arises. Who is this “Aureta” lady with the beautifully curated, colorful account chalk full of fashion, art, design and yes -- a few selfies?

Read more here to learn how you can build your image with not so much work and garner thousands of followers too.

Screenshot courtesy here.

Become a Chicago WPO Member!

Not a member of the Women Presidents' Organization and based in Chicago?  No problem.  We are hosting our 14th Annual WPO Chicago Summit on Thursday, September 14th and if you join before then, you can attend.  Contact Laurel Delaney at ldelaney(at)globetrade.com to get signed up.  Look forward to your membership and the possibility of you joining us on 9/14.

Congress Is Looking to Revamp the Tax Code

For the first time in 30 years, Congress is looking seriously at revamping the tax code, which means we have a once-in-a-generation chance to transform the code into a tool that empowers women entrepreneurs. The question is, will Congress seize this opportunity?

A new report by Caroline Bruckner of American University's Kogod Tax Policy Center and the national advocacy organization Women Impacting Public Policy (WPP) found that women business owners can't take full advantage of more than $255 billion in tax incentives because of how they are legally organized and the industries they serve.

To access the report, "Billion Dollar Blind Spot: How the U.S. Tax Code's Small Business Expenditures Impact Women Business Owners," go here.

Read more ...

14th Annual WPO Chicago Summit 9/14/17

Finding Synergies and New Ways of Doing Things

©iStock/emyu

Ever wonder how you can get the most out of absurd ideas while running your business?  I do too. Let's face it, every day we are bombarded with cool ideas that come from our employees, suppliers, advisors and customers.

As we wait, our own mental wheels start spinning. When we hear an outlandish idea, most of us have a rapid reaction: We dismiss it. It sounds stupid, like nothing our company would ever do. Worse still, it sounds like something that the head of the department would never consider.

So how do you let go and free your imagination to take in new ideas and possibilities that might grow your business beyond your wildest dreams?

Here are two ways that can help you discover new ways of doing things.

Getting the Most From Absurd Ideas

Baby Boomers and Millennials Should Unite

According to Taylor Brown for the Kauffman Entrepreneurs, "Baby boomers are micromanagers, work hard, do not understand technology, are stubborn and want to destroy the planet. Millennials are lazy, entitled, tech savvy, want to save the world and don't know how to communicate in person."

What's a business owner to do?

Although the generalizations of baby boomers and millennials vary, they do share one similar characteristic, they both share particular entrepreneurial characteristics. Millennials crave freedom and earning potential. Baby boomers have a desire to build something.

Why then don't baby boomers and millennials co-found together instead of focusing on their differences?

Read more ...

Support Women Entrepreneurs: Here's How

Supporting women entrepreneurs goes far beyond purchasing their goods and services, sharing expertise to help their businesses grow (e.g., through WPO chapter meetings), or attending the events that other women organize.

As Lisa Abeyta for Inc. Magazine goes on to say:

Those are actually the easy ways we can support women in business. The real challenge is continuing to support women when it requires that we hold them accountable for bad behavior or intercede when we see them making decisions that could damage their reputation or company.

If you care, read on ...

The Ultimate Secret to Success That Women Must Share

What do you get when you problem solve with a group of women entrepreneurs? Well I know just the organization that has the answer.  Keep reading.

Geri Stengel, contributor at Forbes, gives us a bird's eye view into what members of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO) found.

• 77% of members do business with each other.
• 67% of members’ businesses have grown since joining the group.
• With growing businesses, 75% pay themselves over six figures annually.

“Entrepreneurs learn best from each other,” said Marsha Firestone, Ph.D., President of our WPO.  And that’s why you join a peer advisory group.

Learn more ...

Why You Need Food, Sleep and Exercise to Run a Successful Business

How many of you take care of yourself in a way that you are proud of?  Let's face it.  Most of us put our business first and everything else last, which is a recipe for disaster.

But whether it fits into your schedule or not, maintaining great health should come first, before our daily to-do’s, before our work. Why? As the article below says:

Because if we aren’t healthy, we can’t be successful, either—at home or at work.

Read more ...

How Do You Scale Your Culture?

In running a business, we all know its the little things that matter -- from acknowledging achievements to being unafraid of failure.  That's how you build an incredible culture.  It starts with values and works its way toward creating a framework for what's important when making decisions.

In the article below, scaling your culture is addressed along with how to be deliberate about it.

How to Scale Your Culture While Growing Your Company

Be Bold and Scale Big

Through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program, the EY folks have gained a unique understanding of how to help women entrepreneurs succeed.  Its competition and executive leadership program identifies a select group of women entrepreneurs in the US and Canada whose businesses show real potential to scale — and then helps them do it.

In this article, they cover scaling big:  3 force multipliers for growth, which are contributing substantially to accelerated growth for women-led companies.

Are Small Business Tax Expenditures Operating as Congress Intended?

Research shows that policymakers and stakeholders have a blind spot when it comes to understanding how the tax code impacts women business owners and raises new questions about whether small business tax expenditures are operating as Congress intended.

This issue has a dramatic impact on the economy. The percentage of firms owned by women has soared from 4.6 percent in 1976—the first time the Census released a report on women’s business ownership—to 38 percent today. There are more than 11 million women-owned businesses with 9 million employees and they contribute $1.6 trillion to the economy.

As the article states, we need to know what in the tax code works for firms and what doesn’t.

Read more ...