Recently I have had the opportunity to listen to a variety of different women leaders in the Omaha community speak about what it is and has been like to be a successful female in a male dominate world.
Among these women were Bridget Lavin, Founder of Lighthouse Yoga, Trisha Ryan, Director of Dance at Midland University, Shilpa Buch, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience in the College of Medicine and director of The Nebraska Center for Substance Abuse Research at UNMC.
Also, Beth Ryan, Owner and Founder of Beth Ryan Media, Shonna Dorsey, Co-Founder and the Managing Director for Interface: The Web School, and Kristi Nohavec, AIA, PE, LEED AP, structural engineer at Leo A Daly.
Although all of these women work in different fields, what I realized was that they shared the qualities of being hard-working women whom despite fears, negative stereotypes, and some setbacks, were able to not only overcome, but also succeed, and become great leaders in their fields.
Listening to them talk I was able to gain advice that I now want to pass along. No matter how nice we may dress, there is nothing glamorous about being a female in a male dominated world.
The first thing is that it is okay to be nice. Sometimes because we find ourselves surrounded by men in our fields, we feel the need to become “one of the guys” and that can easily become us being aggressive, but that should not be the case.
However, being nice does not mean you shouldn’t stand up for yourself. A lot of times men will look down upon you, not take you seriously, or disregard things you may have said, but you do not have to take it. Even if they are “the top of the top”, everyone deserves to be respected and when you let others disrespect you, you are disrespecting yourself.
Don’t let others make you fear being social. Anywhere you can go say hi, because you never know whom you will meet. Networking is important because eventually collaboration will become essential.
It is also okay to fail. Failing doesn’t mean that you are weak or not good enough. If you don’t know something, it is okay to admit you don’t. Girls are often brought up being told that they have to be ready, be ready for school, boys, marriage, children, but the truth is that you don’t. Each person is different and they each walk different paths.
I am an avid quote lover, and so I wanted to conclude with three of my favorite quotes:
“How can we effect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?” – Emma Watson
“I call myself a feminist when people ask me if I am, and of course I am ‘cause it’s about equality, so I hope everyone is. You know you’re working in a patriarchal society when the word feminist has a bad connotation.” – Ellen Page
“I was called a feminist, and what I heard was, “you are an angry, sex-hating, man-hating victim lady person.’ This caricature is how feminists have been warped by the people who fear feminism most, the same people who have the most to lose when feminism succeeds.” – Roxane Gay
