Women Are Still Winning in 2021 But Let’s Explore the Quality Behind Those Wins

Expansion on the Frontier with Crystal Chanel

Okay, 2021! It is only March, and us she-bosses, are already facing emotional frontiers. It’s a strange mixture of post-COVID19 related feelings that must be addressed: the good, the bad and even the confusing, as we celebrate Women’s History Month. On one front, we are adding Kamala Harris, Keisha Lance Bottoms, and Stacey Abrams to our Shero list.  On the other hand, women are working twice as hard with less emotional support. Even those of us working from home are feeling quarantine fatigue from travel restrictions, virtual school, zoom overload, and seeing our housemates more often than usual. It has become harder to find solace, celebrate wins, and even maintain motivation for life. Yet, our social media captions quote “boss babes” who shatter glass ceilings while holding a baby on one hip and Pay pal analytics in the other. When the reality is we are all losing our marbles. Pre-COVID19, I was convinced that happy hour with my girls, Sunday brunches and hot yoga was the kryptonite to crushing my goals, one mimosa at a time.

Yet according to https://legaljobs.io, women in business and leadership were still rising to the challenge. Check out these 2020 statistics:

*Women own 36% of small businesses worldwide.

*California has the highest proportion of women-owned firms in the US at 1.3 million.

*Women launch more than 1,200 new businesses every single day in the US.

*Women-owned businesses generate around 1.9 trillion dollars in revenue, and

*The growing rate of women-owned businesses is 5%.

So ladies, may I remind all of us to continue moving forward because we are clearly getting the job done. However, these statistics only speak to what’s happening with women on the surface. I believe if we pulled back a layer or two, we would find women worldwide in need of reassurance and HBIC energy like never. Over the next few weeks, we will profile some of the most brilliant female business owners and leaders that I know personally who are making a huge difference in their communities and respective entrepreneurial spaces.

Women like Angine Moss, Founder of Hossana for Youth; Chaunci King, CEO of Royalty Spirits; Tra’Renee Chambers, Host of Situations and Conversations; Chef Kiara Hardy of Kitchen Killa Culinary Solutions, Chef Moe of Chef Moe Flavaz, Sherronda Daye, Owner of Defense Tea, and Kemyana Jones Bey, Co-Owner of The Perfect Salon Suites are the epitome of ladies getting it done, come what may.

Ironically, although I work with some of the strongest and brightest female minds in business, when prompted in my writing therapy class with the word delicate”, I wrote this about women:  He told his son that women are like delicate flowers.

They are pretty, they smell good, but they are fragile.

Their beauty and confidence can be blinding.

But know this.

No matter how strong they appear,

Do not yell at them or handle them roughly!

They are best when handpicked.

So, choose your favorite color.

But do not touch her work of art.

At least, not initially

For she has likely been mishandled by those prior to you.

She would not tell you but just know she carries stories of  Love lost on lonely highways.

It is not a perfect love story for her.

So be careful with her son.

Treat her like a delicate flower.

Like a delicate rose with protective thorns, let us celebrate the duality of a woman’s strength and fragility. For It’s that very duality that women are winning and questioning themselves at the same time at a higher rate than normal. And rightly so, because according to a recent study, “women are less likely to be hired and promoted to manager.” That study also shows that “men hold 62% of manager-level positions, while women hold just 38%. And although one-third of the companies surveyed set gender representation targets for first-level manager roles, only 41% of them did not for senior levels of management,” sites bbc.com.

Yet regardless of gender barriers, quarantine fatigue and unjustified imposter syndrome, women are still winning in 2021, so let us celebrate that! Happy Women’s History Month

Crystal Chanel Press Release Marketing, LLC Social Media Marketing |Business Development |Project Management www.justpressrelease.com @PressReleaseLLC on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube