It was two years ago that I reached out to 10 amazing women sales and marketing leaders in my network and shared my crazy idea of launching a non-profit that supported like-minded women with networking, education and resources. It was with their abundance of support and shared passion, that WomeninRevenu.org was born! I often get asked what inspired you to start this organization? I can think back to three critical stories that stand out for me and built the desire to take the plunge:
- All White Male Exec Team Pages: I was mentoring a previous employee of mine on finding a new role and she asked me for advice on a few companies, but with concern scrolled through several that she ruled out because they had no women on their exec team. Countless pages of all white male executives and boards. What this says to candidates is “I don’t feel like I would feel welcome” “I don’t think this is for me”. Things had to change.
- Mansplaining: It was a meeting that sticks out to this day, I was about to leave work to go Christmas shopping on December 22nd and my all-male exec team asked me to meet about the design team and their org structure. I was the head of marketing and they wanted to have the marketing design team to move into the product. After calmly stating the obvious factors that the team contributed 90% of their work to my team, I was mansplained how this did not work and basically that my feedback was not welcome by the head of product. The exchange was rude and condescending. No one even flinched that it was out of line. This is so common for women that this is how women are treated at the executive level as if their strategic input is not welcome. Not ok.
- All Male Speakers: I was attending a sales conference which had an embarrassingly male-centric line up to the point that the organizer started to notice how obvious it was but admitted “He didn’t know how to find women sales talent”. I took his feedback to be genuine but also really questioned this reality. We need ladies on the stage too…and there are plenty of amazing options.
Through these moments of inspiration to drive change, Women in Revenue emerged to help drive change, education and support for women in GTM roles. I am proud of the organization we have built together as a community of 4,000 strong.
Please join me in celebrating these milestones and thanking our sponsors who have helped make this happen. If you want to join this community as a member please join us free of charge at womeninrevenue.org/join or as a sponsor at team@womeninrevenue.org.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTING SPONSORS FOR YOUR DEDICATION TO EMPOWERING WOMEN LEADERS!
