Glass Ceiling Escape: Your Own Business
From the State: Loans & Training
Juliet Shavit’s Firm: PR for High Techs
Annie Jennings PR: Attention-Getter
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Kathleen McGinn Spring and others were prepared
for the January 31, 2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights
reserved.
Women in Business: Notes from the Field
Women have made great strides in attaining leadership
roles over the past decade. Now, today’s increasingly global and
E-based
world presents new opportunities, challenges, and obstacles. How can
women move up the ladder and feel comfortable in these situations,
and how can you raise the subject with your boss?
“It is important to find out what your organization is doing to
foster communication about these issues, what else can be done, and
what information is being missed,” says Joan Kelly, a senior
consultant specializing in women’s leadership practices for William
M. Mercer, the Carnegie Center-based consulting firm (609-520-3733,
For many years, women have been in the executive-level pipeline, but
their movement into senior level positions has grown from only three
percent to five percent. Women have both visible and invisible
barriers
to moving up in the workplace. It is still true that elements of the
“good old boys” network — such as golf outings —
continue
to be important places to exchange information and build networking
relationships that are so crucial to career advancement, especially
in the service industries.
Exclusionary practices deprive women of a forum such as this, to share
vital “inside track” information about their own companies,
and get the feedback they need to assess their current role; where
they are going and how they can get there. Women are not always privy
to this crucial information, since they are not yet inducted into
the “good old boys” club.
Kelly notes that it is the responsibility of both management and the
employee to survey these activities and to be aware of the barriers
they can create. Oftentimes, managers attempt to be kind in offering
these opportunities to employees, and do not realize that some
individuals
are left isolated. Both you and your boss need to identify these
situations
in creating a gender-friendly environment.
Women open up a crucial dialogue when making management aware of their
feelings about these events. The Wall Street Journal recently reported
a rise in both settlement size and litigation around diversity issues.
If you suggest alternative methods of optimizing communication, and
more inclusive policies, you are doing your company a favor.
Although many companies have policies in place, some are just
“window-dressing”
and are not put into practice. However, many companies are increasing
their leadership diversity by focusing on the attraction, retention,
and development of high potential women. These companies realize an
integrated leadership development strategy, with a focus on women’s
leadership, is now considered a business imperative and fundamental
for growth. Managers who are aware of these issues can help their
company obtain financial rewards. But it’s up to you to help your
company get there, and have your manager understand your personal
goals.
Kelly offers some tips to get started:
Find out if your company is “taking the pulse”of your organization’s culture and pinpointing the inherent biasesin the system.Find out if scheduling after hours activities with clientsis important to your company’s executives — and if they are payingattention to the needs of working parents.Find out if your company is fully utilizing its workforceby promoting women.Know that your questions and comments to your boss are helpingthe company capture diversity of thought and create a competitiveadvantage in the marketplace. Diversity programs can actually helpretention and have been shown to provide the impetus to strategicgrowth.Join or start a women and leadership group in your companyto open a dialogue and get support for your actions.Top Of PageGlass Ceiling Escape: Your Own BusinessWomen who are frustrated by their inability to penetratethe glass ceilings that lead to executive positions often break awayfrom corporate jobs to start their own businesses. A state-sponsoredcourse, the Entrepreneurial Training Institute, can help. It offersinstruction on preparing a business plan, understanding the financialaspects of running a business, and developing marketing strategies.Class size is kept small — only 20 students — to allowextensiveinteraction between students and instructors, who are representativesof community development organizations and the NJDA.ETI is especially interested in helping women and minority-ownedbusinesses.Classes are held once a week from 6 to 9 p.m. The next sessions beginon Wednesday, February 21, at the Burlington County High TechIncubatorin Mount Laurel; on Thursday, February 22, at the Human ResourceDevelopmentInstitute in Trenton; and on Thursday, March 1, at DeVry Institutein Edison. Cost: $225. Call 609-292-9279, E-mail: eti@njeda.com, orgo to www.njeda.com.Though participants in ETI programs are not guaranteed business loans,ETI upped their chances when, last fall, it formed a partnership witha number of banks, including Commerce Bank, First Union Bank, FirstWashington Bank, Fleet Bank, and Yardville National Bank. Throughthe partnership, called SEED (Strengthening the Economy withEntrepreneurialDevelopment), the banks will provide additional support to ETI andto the small business owners who take its course, helping to movethem from formal business plan to business financing.In addition to other sources of funding available to them, ETIgraduatescan apply for business loans from a revolving loan fund establishedspecifically for them. Through the NJDA, loans and loan guaranteesfrom $20,000 to $100,000 are available for small business. Last yearthe NJDA provided $730,000 to 12 small businesses in New Jersey (seestory below).Top Of PageFrom the State: Loans & TrainingTerri McNichol got an extensive business education— and a $35,000 startup loan for her new business too — byspending one evening a week for eight weeks as a participant in anEntrepreneurial Training Institute program.”It was wonderful,” says McNichol of the ETI program. Sheowns Ren Associates, an Alexander Road-based intercultural artsconsultingbusiness. “They put you in touch with a whole team of experts.After the formal presentation, you break out into small groups, eachwith its own expert in accounting, law, or banking. You have accessto all these experts every week. It’s practically one-on-one.””I am an artist and an art historian,” says McNichol, whoworks in watercolor and holds a master’s degree in Asian art historyfrom New York University. “Even though I have been anadministrator,I didn’t have business training. How many of us have time to go backand take business?”The ETI program that turned McNichol into an entrepreneur is sponsoredby the New Jersey Development Authority for Small Businesses,Minorities’and Women’s Enterprises. “ETI compresses it all in itsprogram,”McNichol says of the financial information needed to start a business.”I now know about cash flow, and doing a budget, and doingprojections.”And McNichol, who began her business just one year ago aftercompletingthe ETI program, learned how to turn her idea for a company that wouldempower communities through art into a business plan that couldattractfinancial backing.A requirement for graduation from the ETI program is a business plan.What’s more, McNichol says, “they don’t have you do a plan andthen say `good-bye.’”Each member of the class presents his or her business plan to a panelof banking, accounting, law, and marketing professionals. Lenderson the panel often offer loans to members of the class.McNichol received her $35,000 loan from a lender she met through ETI.Her loan request was at the low end of amounts requested by studentsin her class, she says. While her business is in the arts, McNicholsays many of her classmates were in technical fields, while otherswere starting restaurants.McNichol plans to grow her business through collaborations. She isworking on a book on elder care, emphasizing how the issue crossesgeographical and cultural boundaries. Her collaborator is NancyMattis, a nursing home expert and author she has known since thetwo attended St. Anthony’s High School in Hamilton, now McCorristinHigh School, together. Mattis is the owner of HealthWrite Publishersin Maine. In another collaboration, McNichol worked with the Nai-NiChen Dance Company in Fort Lee on a Chinese curriculum for a magnetschool in Elizabeth. Nai-Ni designed the curriculum and McNichol addedthe professional teacher training component.McNichol, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College, gother start in higher education from Mercer County Community College,where she obtained an associate’s degree. She has been teaching Asianart history at MCCC for 10 years.Before starting her business, McNichol was director of Ellarslie,the Trenton City Museum. While in that position, she raised fundsfor and mounted a permanent exhibit of Trenton pottery and sanitaryfixtures. She also began her association with the dance company,helpingto bring programs of movement and calligraphy to Trenton schoolchildren.McNichol also served as director of community programs for the Councilfor the Humanities.Because ETI is so interested in helping women and minorities, McNicholencourages them to take advantage. “This is a tremendous timefor women,” she says. “I can’t think of a better time to starta business than right now.”— Kathleen McGinn SpringTop Of PageJuliet Shavit’s Firm: PR for High TechsEven when the IPO market is suffering — especiallywhen it is — it’s a good time to open a PR and marketing firmfor high tech companies, says Juliet Shavit, who has justfoundedjust such a firm, SmartMark Communications. “The companies thatare running out of funding, pre-IPO, desperately need to get exposurefrom market analysts. With technology going as fast as it is, thereare hundreds of companies doing the same thing. Branding becomes veryimportant now.”Shavit left an agency job in the Manhattan office of FitzgeraldCommunicationsto open her own firm (Box 3038, Princeton 08543, 609-406-1145; fax,609-406-9118). She offers “project-by-project” based publicrelations on an as-needed basis.The traditional business model of big city PR agencies — theretainer— is not going to work for the young high tech companies, saysShavit. “They run out of money, and the PR agencies suck themdry until they have no money and collapse.”Shavit earned her bachelor’s degree from New York University (Classof 1996), where she also received a master’s degree. At NYU, shefocusedon modern American poetry, specifically that of Sylvia Plath. Shedid public relations for the New Yorker magazine and worked inmarketingfor Technion University and Rad Data Communications, both in Israel.She was responsible for high technology accounts in the Manhattanoffice of Fitzgerald Communications. (Her husband is an engineer atJDS Uniphase. Her father, Allan M. Zarembski, is an engineeringconsultantfor the railroad industry.)SmartMark’s services include: messaging (working with a client toidentify key messages and mission statement), announcements(distributingpress releases over a wire service), trade show outreach (findinga suitable trade show and setting up analyst meetings at the show),and speaking opportunities (booking a company executive into anappropriatespeaking engagement).SmartMark also coaches executives on what to say during an interviewor how to make a presentation. Providing marketing materials, devisingand producing ad campaigns, and developing presentations are otherservices Shavit’s firm offers.Top Of PageAnnie Jennings PR: Attention-GetterMost amateurs don’t know the components of the pressrelease, says Annie Jennings, proprietor of an eponymous publicrelations firm in Belle Mead. The standard way is to present theinformationin a paragraph format and expect the editor or broadcast producerto read it. “But that is not how it happens any more — theydon’t have time to read press releases in the standard format.”Instead, Jennings says, lead with five “National Enquirertype”captions, “something sizzling designed to capture or grabattention.”A producer will see only one of those caption-like headings, she says,whichever one they have some experience with.After grabbing attention, Jennings says, create certainty in the mindsof your target — editor, journalist, or producer — that thespeaker you are touting will result in an excellent “segment”of a radio or television show, or an excellent interview. “Givethem the information they need to come to that conclusion.”Provide the credentials — why this person is an expert on thetopic, with the achievements and the awards earned. “Then tellwhat the listener will learn, the benefits to the reader. We givethe five talking points for the article or the interview —generallyhard nosed advice giving strategies that will change someone’s life.The talking points become the backdrop for the interview, what theproducer will be working with.”Jennings teaches a six-session “Crash Course in Publicity”on Monday and Thursday evenings starting Monday, February 5, at 7:30p.m. at her Belle Mead office. This course, she says, also covershow to make a pitch, how to leave an effective voice mail, how tobreak into new markets, how to follow up without pestering, and more.Cost: $995. Call 908-281-6201.Jennings studied economics and finance at Rutgers but left schoolto start a Wall Street trading company. “I was an entrepreneurthrough and through. I learned the business from the ground up.”She retired from the business when she married and had the first offive children; the oldest is 17. Her husband worked on Wall Street.”When there was a recession in the stock market, I thought therewas a chance I would have to go back to work, and the hourly ratethat most people would pay me would not support my family. I realizedI had a special talent for promoting people’s work, and now I haveover 1,000 clients and eight employees — five full-time and threepart-time.”Jennings now has an unusual billing method — she is paid forplacements,not retainers, and not hours spent. “I have booked thousands ofinterviews and am famous for my `pay for placement’ program,”says Jennings. “My clients pay me only for successful results— no retainers. I take in all the upfront risk and invest in myclients first. They give me their wish list and I work it for themat no charge until the placement is done.”The charge might range from $500 for being mentioned in a printarticleto $10,000 for a “really good high quality feature.” Mostprint articles run from $1,500 to $2,500. A feature is more expensivethan an attributed quote, but if contact information is included,that costs more.Broadcast placements start at $1,000. “We don’t charge foranythingless than a top show, in the top 25 radio markets,” says Jennings.”If you get on Larry King or Oprah, you might pay $10,000. Webook every major show.”Jennings says her clients include New York Times best-selling authorsand experts. But if an author is worthy of Oprah, why would the authorneed a publicist? “I am highly motivated to get the result, andthey might not have the time to contact the exact journalist who wouldbe working on the exact fit for them,” she says. Her most likelyclient, she says, is someone with excellent credentials, who has animportant contribution but has not reached the best seller caliber.”I can open the doors for them.”— Barbara FoxTop Of PageMedia Women UniteWomen with careers in the New York or New Jersey mediaor in area communications companies, whether freelancers or staffers,are invited to compare notes with their peers at an informalgathering.Snowed out in January, the media women will get together for breakfastand networking on Sunday, February 25, at 10 a.m. at the Ramada inNorth Brunswick.The invitation notes that you should consider yourself eligible ifyou have ever had your alarm clock set for 4 a.m. for at least sixmonths; earned slightly above the poverty level for one year; workedthrough Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas/New Year’s Eve and other”holidays;”considered your work clothes to be jeans, old sweaters and no make-up;or wondered why all the people you went to college with left thebusinessyears ago and are earning “real” wages.If you fit the criteria, but want more information, call SusanYoung at 732-613-4790 or E-mail syoung@sueyoungmedia.com. beforeThursday, February 1. Fee: $10, collected at the door.Top Of PageDot.Com MomsThe Internet has opened a world of opportunities formothers who want to stay at home and work too. A website that offersadvice and points moms toward work-at-home opportunities is Dot ComMommies (www.dotcommommies.com). The site, started last year byStacyPerez, a stay-at-home mom who lives in Illinois, offers advice(“Four Tips to Choosing the Right Business”) and links tosites posting freelance cyber jobs. One of these sites, Smarterwork(www.smarterwork.com), has listings for writers, researchers, Webdesigners, personal assistants, tax preparers, software developers,and marketers.Dot Com Mommies also lists business opportunities, but it warns thatit does not endorse them. Many of the listings, peppered withexclamationmarks (“Get Paid to Party!!), might possibly be too good to betrue.Top Of PageScouting WomenThe Delaware-Raritan Girl Scout Council has announcedthe winners of its 2001 Women of Distinction and Girl Scout ofDistinctionawards in seven categories.A dinner in honor of the winners will be held on Thursday, March 15,at 5:30 p.m. at the Forsgate Country Club in Monroe Township. Ticketsare $125 per person. Corporate table sponsorships are available for$1,500. Call 732-821-9090, extension 112 for further information.The honored women:Judith Ladd, World of Science and Technology winner, hasbeen with the Sarnoff Corporation for 12 years and is head of themolecular devices and systems group in the bioelectronic materiallaboratory. Ladd contributed to the start-up of three new SarnoffTechnology Venture companies, including Orchid Biosciences. She isacting in the role of Chief Technology Officer for Everest Displays,a yet-to-be announced venture that is in the process of raisingventurecapital for a new display manufacturing technology.Isabel Miranda, World of Corporate Leadership winner,is an attorney and a director and senior vice president for U.S. TrustCompany of New Jersey, managing the Trust and Client Service Groupon Vaughn Drive. A member of the board of trustees for the Universityof Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Miranda was the first womanand the first individual of Hispanic ancestry to chair the board ofthat institution.Rita Moonsammy, World of the Arts winner, a folkloristwho is pursuing her Ph.D. in Folklore and Ethnography, is folk artscoordinator and community arts manager with the New Jersey StateCouncilon the Arts.Barbara Ostfeld, World of Health and Fitness winner, hasbeen associated with St. Peter’s University Hospital since 1980. Sheserves as Director of Pediatric Psychology and is also ProgramDirectorof the SIDS Center of New Jersey. In addition, she is ClinicalProfessorof Pediatrics and Psychology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.Sharon P. Robinson, World of Education winner, isexecutivevice president and chief operating officer of Educational TestingService. She is a leader in education rights for disadvantagedstudents.She has served in positions in the U.S. Department of Education aswell as the National Education Association.Val Skinner, World of the Outdoors winner, is aprofessionalgolfer and advocate for women’s health. A member of the LPGA, ClassA, Skinner has been Chair of the National Breast Cancer CoalitionPro-Am tournament.Shirley K. Turner, World Citizen winner, is a statesenatorfrom District 15 in Mercer County and also directs the office ofcareerservices at Rider University.Turner has served on a number of community organizations,includingthe Commission on Business Efficiency in Public Schools and the NewJersey Child Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect. As a statesenator,she has bills pending to increase accessibility to safe and affordableday care, require insurance companies to cover Pap Smear exams, andestablish MicroCredit Business loans to women on public assistance.Each of the women, who were chosen based on their professionaland personal accomplishments as well as their dedication to thebettermentof their communities, will mentor one of the Girl Scout of Distinctionwinners: Aiko Marsi , West Windsor-Plainsboro; SusanBodofsky,North Edison; Janice Verbosky, Hamilton;Megan Klusza,Lawrence;Charlsia-Jene Terrell, Sayreville; and Alicia Kelly, Trenton.Corrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
