Meet

ELENA GEORGE Stylist to the StARS, on the Business of BEAuty

WhOA! Sarah Palin’s sizzling hot

on our Be GuSty blogSee what women like you are saying

MAkE it hAppEN:

Work at home Resources

Revealed(legitimate ones, of course!)

11WOMEN Explain how to Negotiate Advancement at Work

VOLuME Xii

$4.95 / womenforhire.com FALL 2008

© 2008 General Dynamics. All rights reserved. General Dynamics is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We welcome and encourage diversity in our workforce.

All applicants must be U.S. Citizens and currently hold or be capable of obtaining a DoD Security Clearance.

At General Dynamics C4 Systems we place the accent on people. We realizethat only through our people can we raise the bar for systems integration andimplementation, and provide our customers with winning solutions – core to edge.

Openings we are accenting right now for experienced professionals include:

These and other positions that accent your skill set and experience can be viewed at .www.gdc4s.com/careers

Accent on people.

womn-hr-ad_08-2008.indd 1 8-22-2008 9:31:38 AM

I can be without my lip gloss, credit cards and cell phone but I feel completely lost without my little rechargeable thumb board—and constant access to my email.

How did it come to this, my need to be in constant communication with every single person in my life? No clue, but it can’t be good.

After all, it’s not as though I’m a doctor or someone who must always be on call. I don’t receive urgent inquires and many of the emails I get are not that important. Still, that ratio-nale means nothing to my habit.

My husband Peter and our children aren’t pleased: they used to joke about being BB orphans, but they stopped kidding so long ago that I can’t even remember.

Peter puts up with me when I ignore him while he’s driving. Sometimes—make that very often—he’ll begin a conversation with himself, providing the questions and answers as if he and I were talking.

That usually gets me to put the thing back in my purse. For a few minutes. But then I see that little red light flashing.

My 11 year-olds Emma and Jake stop talking to me when they catch my eyes moving toward the device. When I see other people checking their email in a restaurant, I think it’s rude—then I do the same thing.

I read about totally preventable accidents—people tripping on the sidewalk—because they’re texting instead of paying attention to where they’re walking. University of Utah researchers found what, in the quaint old days, used to be considered common sense: writing and reading text messages while driving a car increases the likelihood of an accident. Their study found that texting behind the wheel is 50% more dangerous than talking on a cell phone while driving. In another study, 9 out of 10 Americans think road texting should be

outlawed. I agree…I think.

Maybe I have a problem with being in the now—being present in the present—since I suppose that checking e-mail can be viewed as an escape.

The only time I am completely focused is when another red light is on—the one on the camera at ABC’s Good Morning America when I’m doing my workplace segments there. Live television has a way of forcing you to focus on only one thing. I do it well when I’m there, but I can’t seem to recreate that experience outside of Times Square.

Recently while I was interviewing someone (totally unrelated to GMA!) I caught myself thinking about my “to-do” list, instead of engaging solely in the conversation. I was so anxious for the interview to just end.

Here in New York City, one of the most vibrant and exciting places on earth, I find that the flashing red light on my BB usually draws my attention while I’m riding in a cab—not the sights and sounds of the Big Apple.

What to do? Here’s what: I’m going to give a shot at living in the present, and not worry about who or what is waiting in that little gizmo in my purse.

I’m going to stop looking at that little red light, to stay focused, to listen to Peter and the kids and look at all that life outside my yellow cab from now on. Instead of that race to be in the know, my journey will aim toward being in the now.

I will make a conscious effort to savor every moment. I cannot wait to begin—after I just check my e-mail.

Tory JohnsonCEO, Women For Hire

Speaking of enjoying the present and living in the now…

Soon after the 2007 publication of From the Heart: Seven Rules to Live By, my friend Robin Roberts was diagnosed with breast cancer. hoping to help others deal with the disease, the Good Morning America co-anchor has added a new rule that highlights the importance of early detection. it’s included in the paperback version, now re-named From the Heart: Seven Eight Rules to Live By (hyperion, $14.95). in this new chapter, “Make Your Mess Your Message,” Roberts recounts the story of her diagnosis and how what began with a breast self-exam quickly became surgery followed by aggressive chemotherapy.

i’m addicted to my blackbeRRY

www.tmobile.jobs

Work together.Be bold together.

Share success together.

At T-Mobile, we help customers connect with the people who matter most in their busy lives. That takes new waysof thinking and an appetite for challenge every day. We share a passion for service and the energy that comesfrom being a part of an exciting industry. If you have outstanding people skills and are excited by the world ofwireless, you'll make a great fit. Team players who embrace adventure and responsibility enjoy great careers, thechance to build new skills and the spotlight that comes with success. We deliver great benefits, too. Don't missthis opportunity to have your work count for something important. Together, we can do great things. EOE

SEA005532B 5/21/08 10:38 AM Page 1

womenforhire.com2

Corner Cubicle

5womenforhire.com

in eVeRY iSSUe

2 Corner Cubicle6 Inside Women For Hire12 Tidbits & Tactics

20 Political Power Girls of 200823 Working from Home is a Sign of the Times

coVeR StoRY

27 Meet the Savvy Stylist to the Stars: Elena George knows how to shine!

neGotiate to Make a DiFFeRence

31 Meet 11 Women who are Driving Change in the Workplace33 Pamela Nicholson, Enterprise Rent-A-Car34 Randi Menkin, UPS & Kelly Noland, Ernst & Young37 Elissa Ellis-Sangster, Forte Foundation & Manisha Mande, Xerox39 Julie Gilbert & Wendy Mormile, Best Buy41 Betty Thompson, Booz Allen Hamilton & Candy Duncan, KPMG44 Nell Merlino, Count Me In & Jen Kim Field, VolunteerMatch Solutions46 Courageous Negotiation48 Spotlight on Success

table of contents

T. Fath, D. Scarpelli, D. Niemi, J. Ventura, L. Wychrij, J. Fogle, S. RoseberryDDB CHICAGO INC.

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Cover Girl: elena GeoRGeelena George is usually behind the cameras helping to make the world’s most successful women look even more gorgeous. this time the tables are turned and the spot-light is on her. George lets us in on the business behind beauty.

Allyson Lubow photographed George in September in New York as she applied gloss from her patented product, Go Light On My Lips.

A big dose of humor is just what workplaces crave. Door tags, folders & notepads become welcome supplies that add a spark to mundane tasks. Nobody does it better than Knock Knock. Visit knockknock.biz.{

womenforhire.com 7womenforhire.com6

inside women For hire

fall 2008 caReeR expoSNeed a fresh start? Want to see what’s out there? Think you’d be better at some-thing else? We invite you to attend our career expos this fall. You’ll be sure to find companies that interest you, recruiters who will engage you and other smart and savvy women just like you. Be prepared to leave our expos with a whole new outlook on your career. Don’t pass up the opportunity to explore a New You.

Fall Dates:

Boston: SEPT. 23PhiladelPhia: SEPT. 25Washington, dC: OCT. 2ChiCago: OCT. 7atlanta: OCT. 14dallas: OCT. 16MinneaPolis: OCT. 21taMPa: OCT. 29neW York: NOV. 11los angeles: NOV. 20

Sign up for our early morning seminars, hosted by Women For Hire founder Tory Johnson, before all of our expos. Johnson’s inspirational advice, heard by millions of women on ABC’s Good Morning America, will pump you up for your day with Women For Hire—and the new career that awaits you. Meet and network with other career-minded women and get great tips from Johnson. Register today at womenforhire.com.

Job boardLive too far from the 10 cities where we hold our career expos? Not to worry! Visit womenforhire.com today and search for great jobs nationally through Women For Hire’s Job Board. It’s simple: create a free account, post your resume and begin your search.

Early Morning SeMinaRS

womenforhire.com8 womenforhire.com 9

Stay inSpiReDListen to Tory Johnson on her new inspirational audio CD for a good dose of Sound Advice. Not only will you learn the highs and lows of her career, you’ll also get plenty of tips and tactics for advancing yours and maybe have a few laughs, too. Visit womenforhire.com to order your copy.

career Experts

connectionWe recently expanded our

SPEAKERS CONNECTION to include career experts on every topic imaginable. The next time your company or organization needs to book a speaker, check us out! Topics include self motivation, career advancement, health and wellness and finance. Need a life coach, career coach, or resume writer? It’s all here. Look through our Career Experts directory today at womenforhire.com.

Let’s Stay connecteDJoin Women For Hire groups on LinkedIn, Facebook, and our own Women For Hire Career Network. Let us know what you’re up to and we’ll get back to you!

women For hire Work from Home webinaRThis summer, we received an overwhelming response to our

Work from Home Webinar. So we created an archive on our website for everyone who didn’t get a chance to view it the first time around.

If you want to make a reasonable living working from home or supple-ment your income and learn what the options are, then this is for you. Visit our work from home section at womenforhire.com and

register today.

inside women For hire

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Join the many women at Waste Management who are helping our company achieve a greener future – today. It’s a smart, savvy career move that’ll make a real difference in your life and to our environment. www.wmcareers.com.

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Regina strives to balance work and her personal life. She also knows that there are two kinds of success —

professional and personal. At the IRS, she’s finally found an employer that agrees.

A career at the IRS is about more than just numbers. Here, we’re committed

to giving our professionals the benefits and skills they need to excel —

at work and at home. We figure that an important job should have

important benefits. That’s why we offer great insurance, continuous

training, a diverse team of colleagues, and job security. We also look

for professionals with different backgrounds to fill positions like these:

Revenue Agents work on-site with taxpayers, large corporations,

small businesses, government entities, certified public accountants,

and attorneys to conduct tax examinations.

Revenue Officers are involved in cases requiring tax research,

interviews and investigations, analysis of financial statements, and

other important responsibilities.

Criminal Investigation Special Agents protect the

integrity of America’s tax system by following the movement

of money to determine and provide proof of criminal activity.

Be more than just a number at work. Learn more about

an employer that cares about its people at

www.jobs.irs.gov/print.

www.jobs.irs.gov/printU.S. Citizenship Required | An Equal Opportunity Employer.

CAREERS AT THE IRS

Publication: Women for Hire Ad Size: 8” x 10.75” Run Date:

Fax to: ________________________________

Fax from:______________________________

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Project #: IRS_DC003125B_WFH Date: 8/19/08 CA: CW

Work-life balance. Amazing career choices.Regina came to the right place.

Forward resume to: Talbots, Attn: Human Resources, Job Code: WFH, One Talbots Drive, Hingham, MA 02043. Fax: 781-741-4696.

E-mail: resumes@talbots.com

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Equal Opportunity Employer

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womenforhire.com12 womenforhire.com 13

Marilyn Carlson Nelson, 69, is chairman and CEO of Carlson, one of the country’s largest privately-held com-panies and the parent company of Radis-son, Regent, Country Inns & Suites, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and T.G.I. Friday’s. Carlson employs nearly 200,000 people in more than 150 countries.

In How We Lead Mat-ters: Reflections on a Life of Leadership (McGraw

Hill, $19.95) this mother, grandmother, wife and social activist shares personal stories that show another side to someone who routinely makes Forbes “100 Most Powerful Women” list.

Women For Hire asked her five questions.

Did the recent corporate scandals lead to the title of your book?

Yes. They had a profound impact on me because I was so concerned about how they were going to impact our country’s positioning in the world. We were focused so much on results that how we got results didn’t seem to matter anymore. Why isn’t stewardship a responsibility of every CEO?

Most corporations are run by men. If you could give them advice, what would it be?

Share a bit of vulnerability. Allow people who fol-low you to see you as a whole person. That will strengthen your leadership. If you let it be known that you care, and help men and women who are going through the same challenges, you’ll be a fuller role model.

Will the number of men and women running major corporations be equal someday?

We need to do a better job of letting women who are on the fast track stop-out when they have kids. What happens now is the majority do not go back into the corporation that they left, so that they are really off the track and they lose their momentum and start over in another place. One of my pas-sions is to talk to corporate leaders about projects that keep people–a man or a woman, whether it relates to aging parents or children–connected. When that day comes, we’ll accelerate the rate of women who go on to become CEOs. It would keep them on a track.

Do women need to be less feminine to get ahead?

Women need to be authentic. There are women who are typically more feminine. I probably fall in that category, but I don’t think that’s more or less successful than a single, very ambitious woman who has a much more direct and linear style that would probably be characterized as a male style. I actually believe that men and women need to use both their right and left brains more than they do.

What should women take away from your book?

So often, women in particular ask, “What are you doing for yourself?” I think magazines actually fuel that: do something for yourself. In my case, I really feel that if I’m not doing it because I want to for myself, then I shouldn’t be doing it. If I don’t like my choices, then I should change them. Raising my kids was for me. I wanted to have a family. There were sacrifices along the way. I wanted to be CEO and I wanted face time with people all over the world, so I was on airplanes a lot. I liked my choices and I took accountability and responsibility for them. I think it made me a lot happier rather than saying “Who’s thinking about me?” It doesn’t mean I didn’t get crabby once in awhile or that I didn’t get to do something that I had hoped to do. I remind myself that I didn’t just want to be CEO, I really wanted to do it. I think that is so important. Ana-lyze the job you’re aspiring to. What does it really entail? How many hours do you have to put in to be successful? What kind of travel does it involve? If you love what you do, you don’t work.”

Tidbits & TacticsFINAL

KEYLINEKEYLINE

APPROVAL

Be a part of the unique team that has made Best Buy the #1 retailer of consumer electronics. Choose from an exciting list of careers like Customer ExperienceManager, Geek Squad® Agent and General Manager.

We offer competitive pay, employee discounts, a wide range of benefits and excellent career opportunities that will help you lead a balanced professional and personal life.

Bring your skills, talents and energy together for a career opportunity at Best Buy™

Visit Careers.BestBuy.com todayto apply online for a career with us.

F INAL RELEASE

Studio PBEST BUY ADVERTISING

31513 © 2007 Best Buy

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PRINT SCALE: 100%LIVE: 7.75"w x 10.5"hTRIM: 8"w x 10.75"hBLEED: 8.25"w x 11"hColors: 4cPUBLICATION: TRAFFIC: MaulePA: SchafferPREV PA: Schaffer, Gregory____CBM: ____AE: ____CD: ____AD: Moore____CW: ____PrintProd: ____:Legal ____:Proofreading

31513_CR_Womens_Ad.qxp 1/22/07 11:41 AM Page 1

Five Questions for the Classy

caRlSon chieF

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Take Time To taSk

Many people find it challenging to avoid distraction, stay focused and use their time and energy to maximum benefit, says Karen Leland, co-author of Time Management In An Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day.

Leland notes that a recent report from the University of London found that when workers constantly juggle e-mails, phone calls and text messages, their IQs fall ten points. Another study found that when people switch back and forth between tasks, efficiency and accuracy take a dive, as much as 50%.

Leland’s three tips for staying focused in these rush-rush times:

1) turn off technology. The ding of an e-mail coming in or the buzz of the Blackberry may seem harmless but they can tempt you to stray from the job at hand.

2) Create designated task times. By setting aside a selected time period to do all your phone calls, e-mails or errands at once, you can reduce the amount of time you spend going back and forth between all of them.

3) Plan some open space. Instead of booking every minute of every workday, leave some open time to catch up on anything new that comes in, or process old items that have been hanging around.

Tidbits & Tactics

Overcome Career FeaR

“In my 15-plus years as a career counselor, I’ve seen first-hand that fear is by far the biggest roadblock to progress and success. There’s a bit of a career coward in all of us,” says Katy Piotrowski, author of The Career Coward’s Guide to Job Searching: Sensible Strategies for Overcoming Job Fears.

Her top job-hunting tip:

As a woman, you’re a compassionate commu-nicator. You understand other people’s needs and priorities, and can effectively respond to them through your words and actions. Capitalize on this important quality by creating letters of introduction that articulate your interest in po-tential employers (even if no job is advertised!), as well as what you have to offer to support their goals.

Work It oUt

When you write a book called Work’s a Bitch and Then You Make it Work: 6 Steps to Go From Pissed Off to Powerful, someone is bound to ask about the provocative title.

Author Andrea Kay, a veteran Cincinnati career coach, was happy to oblige when we put that ques-tion to her.

“I got ticked off hearing from so many workers who wrote me to say: ‘Why bother? You can’t have a decent career anymore.’ Just listen to the nearly 85% of workers talk about their soul-sucking careers and jobs—how they work their butts off for companies who ask them to do more with less, receive less in return and how they get no respect. So I give workers a chance to bitch and moan about how helpless they feel at work. Then, despite what’s wrong and broken in the workplace and things they don’t control, I help them put hope back into their lives and prosper with six steps they do control.”

If she had to pick just one of her steps, which would it be?

“Step 1: Take Your Pick: Disillusionment or Naked Truth. If you want to stop being pissed off, you have to first look at the way things are, or as I call it, The Naked Truth. This step won’t keep you from ever being angry or suffering, but it will help you change your anger into something more productive—to get what you want and motivate you to do some-thing different than you are doing now—which is probably only bitching.”

beSt blURbS FRoM new bookS: To save you time, we tracked down the authors of several new books to get their top tips for thriving at work.{ }

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Do You Have the knack?

In their new book, THE KNACK: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up, authors Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham say that entrepreneurs should avoid socializing with employees outside the office.

Seemed a bit cold to us, but Brodsky says it’s the right move.

“To be a good boss, you need to maintain a certain distance from your employees,” says Brodsky. “As the boss, you always have to be thinking about what’s best for the business as a whole, and you can’t let emotional attachments interfere with your decisions. Not that you shouldn’t care deeply about your employees and their families, but it’s a mistake to develop personal relationships with them outside the business. Employees should not be your social friends, and your social friends should not be your employees. Yes, you should treat your employees with respect. You can laugh with them, cry with them, be happy and sad with them, but neither you nor they should ever forget that it’s a business relationship.”

If you have experience in sales or customer service and a bachelor’s degree, please apply online @ erac.com/womenforhire. To contact a local recruiter, please call toll-free (888) 999-ERAC.

Serve the Customer • Be Honest • Have Fun • Be a Good Neighbor • Open Doors • Always Listen • Reward Hard Work • Own Our Brand

What company will I start my management career with?

I believe this one.

I heard Enterprise was different, but until I

started working here I didn’t appreciate how

much. The fi rst thing I noticed is that people

count. Whether it’s a long-time customer or

an employee who’s just starting out, every

opinion matters.

Take our signature “pick you up” service.

This was started by a manager who simply

listened to customers who needed a ride. Not

everyone was convinced it was a good idea,

but he was empowered to run with it - and it

ultimately developed into a trademark of our

superior customer service.

So, you see, that typical, impersonal,

corporate bureaucracy you’d expect

from such a successful industry-leading

company just doesn’t exist here. So if I have

a good idea, no matter what my job title, I

know it will be heard and my career will be

rewarded accordingly.

I believe in two-way communication. And so does my $9.5 billion company.

We are an equal opportunity employer. M/F/D/V.

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Tidbits & Tactics

How To Deal: DiFFicUlt woRkplace DialoGUe

Avoiding difficult conversations is an all-too-common work-place experience. But retreating into silence or resorting to

spin won’t get you good results. In Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment, co-author

Maren Showkeir identifies on-the-job conversations that every-one dreads. Showkeir’s top three and how to address them:

Dealing with a difficult relationship: People often choose to work in a haze of anger or silent resentment rather than

confront the issue. It’s easy to point a finger of blame, but it won’t get you unstuck. Start a new conversation by owning

your own contribution to the rough relationship. Raise difficul-ties directly and neutrally, solicit feedback and find different

choices to move the relationship in a new direction.

Delivering difficult news: Nobody enjoys dispensing distress-ing information. The impulse may be to deny, downplay or

sugarcoat bad news to avoid dealing with another’s emotional reactions. Resist the temptation. People are in charge of their

own feelings. Be direct and own up to your part in creating the circumstances. Allow people to voice their concerns and ac-

knowledge the choices everyone has about resolving problems.

Facing a difficult future: In tough economic times, disappoint-ment and fear can drive your behavior. Playing the victim or

colluding with other workplace cynics is not an inevitable response—it is a choice you make. Get clear on where you

stand and advertise it. Explain the choice you made and invite others to make the same choice.

womenforhire.com18

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making a real difference in people’s lives. �at’s because you’re helping loved ones protect each other, and families provide for future generations. Working for a Fortune 100 industry leader certainly has its benefits, but the greatest

rewards are the ones you can’t measure in paychecks.

NEW YORK LIFE. THE COMPANY YOU KEEP.®For more information about a career as a New York Life agent, please call 800-497-0849 or visit www.nylcareersforwomen.com

EOE M/F/D/V

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Workplace Whine:

pUt a coRk in it

The economy is sluggish at best, layoffs are everywhere and just when you think that a nice ride in your car might relax you, gas costs $4 a

gallon. No wonder your mood is none too bright and when you come to work each day, well, you complain.

Jon Gordon, author of The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work, says that complaining is contagious, spreads negativity

and has no place at work.

“My goal is not to eliminate all complaining; just mindless, chronic com-plaining,” Gordon says. “The bigger goal is to turn justified complaints into positive solutions. After all, every complaint represents an opportunity to

turn something negative into a positive.”

Gordon’s tips for doing that:

When you realize you are complaining, simply add the word “but” and then add a positive thought. Example. “I hate driving to work for

an hour but I’m thankful I can drive and that I have a job.”

Focus on “get to” instead of “have to.” Instead of griping that you have to work, think about how you get to work while

others are unemployed. Focus on feeling blessed instead of stressed.

Turn mindless complaining into justified complaining. With mindless complaining you are mindlessly focusing on problems. With justified

complaining you identify a problem and the complaint moves you toward a solution.

Ride Out ReceSSion

In Bulletproof Your Job: 4 Simple Strategies to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out on Top at Work, author Stephen Viscusi lays out his four-step method for avoiding the dreaded pink slip.

It boils down to his four imperative rules: Be visible. Be Easy. Be Useful. Be Ready.

We asked him what single bit of advice he would give someone in the workplace whose job is on the line.

“Take less money,” he says. “Consider changing your wage if it is about money because it will take a long time for you to find a new job today.” Offering to work for less is a tact that employees don’t often consider, Viscusi says, but it has its plusses. “You can always look for a job while you’re getting paid less—and it’s always easier to look for a job while you still have one.”

womenforhire.com20 womenforhire.com 21

Q: as the mother of two daughters, what would be your greatest hope for the workplace culture that they’ll inherit?

A: My father, a blue-collar city worker, supported our whole fam-ily while my mother stayed home. Today, living with one income just doesn’t cut it. Both parents have to work. It is important that my girls can let their passions play out. I want them to dream big and be able to reach those dreams. They must also have ways to provide for their fami-lies, earn adequate salaries and benefit from equal pay for equal work.

Q: thinking back on your own career, what was your single biggest struggle as you juggled family and work and how did you deal with it?

A: A defining moment for me was when I was interviewing for a posi-tion at the University of Chicago Hospitals. I thought about what flex-ibility I would need in caring for Malia and Sasha, who was just a few months old at that time. I decided to walk into that interview with my baby and lay out the flexibility I would need. They agreed and gave me the job. I was lucky. But I know that many working women don’t have the luxury, as I do, of a grandparent available to help or a flexible job.

Q: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing working women in this country and how, as First lady, would you work to remedy it?

A: I have been holding roundtable discussions with military spouses. It’s been an honor to hear the challenges they face as they work to main-tain their family life when their spouse is serving in the military. These spouses are dealing with constant relocations, which make it hard for them to find and maintain jobs, homes and mortgages and educational opportunities. I hope to continue these important conversations and bring these amazing spouses’ stories back to Barack, so we can do more as a nation to support these heroic families.

Q: With the exception of a few professions, women’s earnings aren’t on par with men in this country. Your reaction?

A: Despite decades of progress, a woman still makes only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. A recent study estimates it will take another 47 years for women to close the wage gap with men at Fortune 500 corporate offices. Our government needs to take steps to better enforce

the Equal Pay Act, to fight job discrimination, to improve child-care options and family medical leave and to give women equal footing in the workplace.

Q: What words describe you best, and why?

A: Working mother, supportive wife and a good friend. Our girls are our first priority, so it is important to me to focus on them before anything else. My husband has embarked upon a tremendous campaign, and every day, I want to support him. My friends have become an incredible sup-port network for me when Barack is away, and I value our relationships very much.

*Despite our repeated requests, Cindy McCain’s communications office declined to participate.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Just a few days before this issue went to press, Arizona Sen. John McCain stunned the nation by pick-ing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his GOP running mate.

Agree with her politics or not, women are fascinated by this former small town mayor who gives new meaning to “bringing home the bacon.” Palin, a hunter, can field-

dress a moose!

Our blog has been inundated with reaction to Palin’s nomination, her personal life and what it means for women.

Here’s a sampling:

“Women should not be dumb enough to vote for a woman just because she’s a woman. I’m voting for Sarah because she’s qualified.”

“It is amazing that many women are tearing Sarah Palin down because her daughter got pregnant. This blog looks like a bad Lifetime movie with everyone tearing each other apart.”

“Sarah Palin is to women what Clarence Thomas is to African Americans.”

“We should be more alarmed at her lack of understanding of foreign policy than her baby with Down syndrome, or whether or not she can skin a deer. Perhaps she was too busy raising five children and hunting for dinner to really bone up on the subject.”

“You can never trust a woman who insists that contraceptives are not good.”

“As a mother I have a difficult time understanding how you can be VP, which will be extremely demanding, and be an involved mother of five, including an infant with special needs. It seems to be all about her, and not what is best for her family.”

Weigh in with your thoughts at womenforhire.com.

political POWER GiRlS oF 2008

The Home Depot is more than an equal opportunity employer. We constantly look to our associates for great ideas, and we recognize that many minds are better than one. That’s why diversity, teamwork and innovation continue to help The Home Depot grow as an industry leader.

POSITIONS:Full & Part-time Sales Associates, Cashiers, Specialty Sales, Store Management Opportunitites and More.

BENEFITS:Full and Part-time Bene ts

Tuition Reimbursement (full-time)

401(k)

Bonus Opportunities

A Career with Growth Opportunity

The Home Depot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Bilingual candidates are encouraged to apply. Available positions may vary by location.

careers.homedepot.com Apply online today.

SHARE KNOWLEDGE.EMBRACE DIVERSITY.

women For hire talks to

Michelle obaMa

Sizzlin’ SaRah!

womenforhire.com 23

When Nydia Contreras quit her job because of an illness, she thought she had kissed her career goodbye. “Nowadays employers want someone who is going to be with them for 10-plus years,” says Contreras, 57. “I thought I would never find another job.”

But after hearing me talk last fall about legitimate work from home opportunities on ABC’s Good Morning America, Contreras was intrigued by Alpine Access, a virtual call service center that was looking for representatives.

“I knew that was something that I would like to do and that I had the knowledge and skills to excel,” she says. “I applied, had my voice audition and interview and was hired after several weeks. It made me feel that no matter how old you are there are companies that will hire you.”

Contreras now makes $10 an hour—working online for a large financial services company between 30 and 38 hours a week. Her son followed suit—and now also works from their home in Kingsville, Texas while he attends college.

Until two years ago, I had never given much thought to the thousands of people, like Con-treras and her son, who work from their home every day.

But I began to learn about this rapidly growing army when, in conjunction with my workplace

segments on GMA, anchor Diane Sawyer issued a friendly challenge: Find ways for our viewers to make money from home.

I had always viewed work-from-home pitches skeptically: scams by hucksters claiming that just a few hours a day stuffing envelopes could be your ticket to fortune.

Many such scams do exist—buyers beware! I began to discover plenty of legitimate oppor-tunities offered by reputable firms, aimed at people who for one reason or another don’t want to toil in a traditional workplace.

Those heeding the call include not only full-timers who want to leave the office behind, but also those looking for supplemental income, from stay-at-home moms who find themselves stretched for monthly groceries to would-be retirees who know their nest eggs just aren’t going to cut it.

When Denise Negron of Kennesaw, Ga., saw her real estate career taking a nosedive due to the mortgage crisis, she contacted Arise, another virtual customer service provider, and became one of their certified professionals. She now earns about $15 an hour, working a 40-hour week from home answering customer calls for a large pharmacy chain.

With three kids aged 17, 11 and 3 Negron says she didn’t want to be the kind of working mom who “kissed them in the morning and said, ‘Have a nice day’ then saw them for an hour each night. I wanted to be there for them.”

Her new gig is working out fine, she says, but working alone at home “takes some getting used to: you just can’t swivel around in your seat to talk to a colleague. But for me it’s a plus: no more gas costs, I don’t have to buy lunch and I don’t have to buy business attire. “

Erin Bocherer became increasingly stressed from juggling a part-time PR job with a long commute, three kids under the age of six and a husband who travels two to three times a week.

She considered working at a local coffee shop in Atlanta so she could be near her kids when they

were in school, but it didn’t pay enough, so she began researching online job possibilities.

A GMA segment introduced her to Elance, an online marketplace that connects businesses with freelance talent, which allows Bocherer to do PR from home servicing a number of clients.

“I make more money ($50 an hour) and I’m working less hours,” she says. “So many busi-nesses are reducing or dropping their marketing and PR budgets. They can’t afford agencies so they are looking to people like me to outsource their PR services. ”

“My family could not be happier,” she says. “Just not having to commute has dramatically reduced the stress in my life. I’m just happy to be here for them everyday.”

After months of research, I’ve outlined some of these opportunities in a New York Times bestseller, Will Work From Home: Earn the Cash Without the Commute, a guide to making money at home, co-written with Robyn Spizman.

Here’s a look at some of the resources and op-tions I’ve discovered, spanning various industries and skill sets, that allow you to work flexibly—typically as an independent contractor—from home.

Provide business services: Businesses are increasingly hiring individuals off-site to perform tasks ranging from coding Web sites to writing press materials, offering many opportunities for stay-at-homers.

Two sites, Elance.com and oDesk.com, connect such businesses (“buyers”) with independent workers (“service providers”), posting thousands of opportunities, and otherwise facilitating the whole process, from hiring to payment.

Both sites allow you to create a free profile to tout your skills and experience, and take assessment tests to certify your skill level for prospective clients. You can also view postings of opportunities and bid on appealing projects, determining your own hourly or project rate.

answer customer calls: When you call cus-

working From home is a SiGn of the tiMeSby tory Johnson

Different is powerful.

At AT&T we understand that our success rests on our ability to leverage the many facets of diversity—in our workplace, the marketplace and our communities.

If you’re ready to experience the

power of DIFFERENT, we invite you to visit us online at

www.att.jobs.

Diversity is the AT&T way of standing apart.Equal Opportunity Employer. © 2008 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved.

ATL022801B 8/26/08 5:27 PM Page 1

Want to be a Va?Thousands of women dream of performing administrative support to businesses from home. The biggest obstacle to fulfilling that goal: securing clients. The International Virtual Assistants Association offers a range of tactics to overcome that challenge. Visit IVAA.org for extensive ideas and resources to build a successful virtual assistant business.

tomer service at your bank or place an order with a retailer, the voice you hear on the other end might well belong to someone working out of their living room, anywhere in the country.If you’ve got solid customer service skills, a computer with high-speed Internet access, a dedicated land line, a workspace free of cry-ing babies and barking dogs and at least 20 free hours a week, you could do likewise. The pay generally ranges from $8 to $15 an hour, depending on skill level, call volume and assigned accounts.

To become a virtual agent, connect with one of the major players, which include AlpineAc-cess.com, which hires employees; LiveOps.com, which pays people as independent contractors; and Arise.com, which requires individuals to incorporate. There are pros and cons to each business model, so visit their sites to learn which might be best for you.

Become an online seller: A friend of mine recently used Craigslist to sell more than $5,000 worth of gently worn designer handbags and accessories. Inspired by the windfall, she’s now handling listings for other women and taking a commission. If you enjoy selling online, follow suit and offer to photograph and list unused items for your pals. When the stuff sells, you get a cut.

get crafty: Etsy.com is an online community that connects sellers of handmade items—including candles, clothing, ceramics, jewelry, pottery and even food—with a worldwide audience. It’s free to get started—the site takes 3.5 percent of your sales, plus a 20-cent listing fee. Each listing remains live for four months and includes up to five images along with the description.

It worked for Chanel Kennebrew, who’s been selling her funky handmade bags and clothing on the site for just over a year. The Brooklyn-based designer, who generates about $750 a month in retail sales, says it’s a dream come true.

“I wake up each morning doing exactly what I said I was going to do as a little kid.”

An added benefit: Boutique buyers and gallery owners across the country scour the site to spot new talent, which can lead to wholesale orders and showcases. In addition to shops in Texas carrying her designs, Kennberew has raked in $15,000 in wholesale orders from stores as far away as Japan and Russia.

“I’m not making as much as I would with a full-time graphic design position,” says Kennebrew, 25, “But I’m sustaining my creativity and I’m not starving.”

google for dollars: Build a Web site and you can generate cash via online advertising—and you don’t need master-level technical skills or a background in sales. Google’s AdSense is the leader in contextual or content-sensitive online advertising, in which ads are targeted to Web

sites with relevant content. When visitors click, the site’s owner gets paid.

Get started by starting a Web site or blog based on your area of interest or expertise. For example, as a new dog owner, I may create a site about all things beagle. When I register with AdSense (google.com/adsense), which works with hundreds of thousands of online advertis-ers, ads related to that subject will appear on my site, which might plug anything from dog food and breeders to pet insurance and even dog Halloween costumes. I’ll receive money-from pennies to dollars, depending on a number of factors-every time someone clicks on those ads.

In addition to AdSense, there are also smaller ad networks to explore, which you can find by, yes, Googling the term “online ad networks.”

Be a mystery shopper: If you’d like a home-based business that allows you to get out of the house occasionally, consider being a mystery shopper. These workers make anonymous visits to retail stores, restaurants and gas stations to monitor specific behaviors and make sure they’re up to brand standards. They might rate the greeting they receive, the cleanliness of the environment, the availability of merchandise and the knowledge of the sales team.

Many companies request investigations of competitors as well as their own locations, to see how they stack up. For example, a mys-tery shopper might measure the wait in line at Duane Reade versus CVS, or gauge how much a Target sales associate in electronics knows about a specific digital camera, compared with one at Wal-Mart.

Another option involves merchandising, where you’re charged with helping manufacturers present their product in a retail environment to generate sales. You may assemble displays, distribute coupons, sample food, restock shelves or demonstrate products.

In both cases, hiring is handled by a third-party vendor. Two trade associations offer listings of le-gitimate companies and opportunities related to their respective industries: the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (mysteryshop.org) and the National Association for Retail Marketing Services (narms.com). Pay starts at about $8 to $10 per assignment and can go as high as $30 to $50, depending on the requirements.Warning: Never pay to be a mystery shopper or merchandiser—no legitimate opportunity requires a fee or certification.

give care to a senior: Another business you can run from home without actually spending your working hours there is providing seniors with nonmedical home-based care. This work includes offering companionship, doing errands and light housekeeping, preparing meals, schedul-ing doctor appointments, handling bills and other tasks family members might tackle if they were

available. A number of national companies hire such workers, among them Home Instead, Se-nior Helpers and Comfort Keepers. On a local level you can search online for companies that provide home-based care for seniors.

tap your inner entrepreneur: You may not make the cut for Donny Deutsch’s show, but you can bring in $1,000 or more per month with small ideas that are easy to execute with little to no investment. If you’re doing this full time, you can triple or quadruple that. For example, a Manhattan dog walker commanding $25 per walk twice a day, five days per week, makes $250 a week from one client. Add four more and the take skyrockets to $1,250 a week. If pets aren’t your preference, market your avail-ability to parents. Online tutors make an average of $10 an hour, but by lining up your own clients and visiting their homes, you can command many times that amount.

Will Work from Home: Earn the Cash With-out the Commute is available on Amazon.com, BN.com and local booksellers. Send your receipt to book@womenforhire.com to receive a premium membership to the Women For Hire Career Net-work and to be added to Tory Johnson’s VIP list of home based job leads.

First-ever

Work From hoMe expo!

whether you’re a stay-at-home mom looking to supplement your family’s income, a retiree whose savings have fallen short of the monthly minimum, or someone who’s eager to find an alternative to the cubicle and the commute, Women For Hire’s first-ever Work From home expo is a must-attend for you.

Join us Saturday, november 1 at the cobb Galleria in atlanta, Ga., where we’ll bring together a wide range of opportunities for you to make money from home.

attendees from this expo will benefit from exceptional exhibitors, phenomenal speakers, expert advice and raffles and giveaways through-out the day.

Visit womenforhire.com or call 212.290.2600 today for details on attending or exhibiting at this event.

womenforhire.com 25

womenforhire.com26 womenforhire.com 27

Mariah Carey, Robin Roberts and Gayle King are just three of the dynamos who’ve been made even more beautiful by five-time Emmy Award-winning hair and makeup artist Elena George. Her creativity was seen daily for more than six years on The View. where she made up the faces of the hosts and their guests. She left the program to tour worldwide with Carey as the super-star’s personal stylist. When George, 42, returned home, Roberts recruited her to Good Morning America, where she now starts her day.

When she’s not working with stars, this girl-on-the-go spends time building her exclusive lip gloss line. Not only are the colors sensational, but each compact piece features a patented, built-in mirror and lighted wand.

Women For Hire talked to this issue’s cover girl, a single mother who came to this country from Panama at age 10 without speak-ing a word of English and who is now living the American dream.

When did you realize you had a talent for makeup and hair?

I always had this thing that my dolls and my girlfriends should look pretty. My dolls had the best hair. As a teenager, when most kids were outside playing, I was concentrating on making money braiding hair. I set up a chair in our living room and girls would come in to have their hair done. I came up with different designs, one of which was the Bo Derek style, which was the hot look at the time. I started at $15 a head and then upped it to $30. As young as 14, I always had money.

Your first big break developed out of a high school friendship. My classmate was Sandy Denton, who became the “Pepa” of the famous rap group Salt-N-Pepa. She complained one day about her look. She wasn’t happy with her hair and makeup and wanted a change. She liked my work, so I did her hair in the neighborhood, and then for her first worldwide music video. Now 20 years later, we still work together.

After cosmetology school and then college, you co-owned a salon, and even though the business was successful, it wasn’t right for you.

My beauty salon was the hardest thing I had ever done. The location was terrific with high traffic. The lighting and décor were perfect. But we had 24 girls working there and I didn’t like managing other people and their work. Even though business was strong, the management part wasn’t for me. I’m a creative person, not a business person, so I walked away.

elena George knows

how to Shine!

A better way?It’s about an inclusive and flexible environment that attracts and advances all women. It’s about programs that provide high-level mentors, professional coaching and individualized career development plans to help them achieve their potential. It’s about leaders in every business unit who connect them with professional networks. It’s about making a difference for our people.

What’s next for your career?ey.com/careers

© 2008 Ernst & Young LLP Ernst & Young refers to the global organization of member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young LLP is a member firm serving clients in the U.S.

womenforhire.com28

While doing makeup for the ladies at the View, you received a call about the possibility of working with Mariah Carey.

Most people in my line of work are boisterous, but I’m quiet and spiritual. That was very important in this role. I started by doing Mariah’s makeup for parties and events. Then it expanded to touring with her. For nearly two years, we trav-eled around the world—England, Germany, Russia, Italy, you name it.

It was private planes, first class accommodations, the finest dining—that life is something else. You enjoy the blessings, and then you come home to your own life. As great as it is, tour-ing puts your personal dreams and aspirations on hold. You’re totally focused on delivering someone else’s dreams.

When you settled in back home, you heard from Robin Roberts.

I had met Robin when she was a guest host a while back on The View. I was thrilled to be hired as her exclusive makeup artist at GMA. I love Robin so much; I never feel like a piece of equipment with her. It’s like painting a canvas every day.

Tell us about your bond during her cancer treatments. That was a chal-lenging period. Everyone goes through turbulence in their lives, but all of that is trivial compared to cancer. I had to figure out how to minister to a person going through this. Even when her faith was a little low, I’d encourage her to bring up her self-esteem.

I wanted to help Robin look as if she wasn’t suffering. With chemo, eyelashes and eyebrows fall out. But by being creative, we put her together every day. She never looked fake because she’s a beautiful person inside and out. Makeup is one thing, yet attitude and spirit make you feel the best.

Let’s talk about your lip gloss!

When I was with Mariah, I often had to touch up her face when we were in dark areas off stage. I had those reading glasses with two small lights for reading in dark places. She always laughed at me, but that’s all I had. I was determined to come up with something to help women put on lip gloss when there’s not enough light.

I partnered with an architect who had an idea for a design. I brought the creative and marketing expertise. It was going to cost me $85,000 for the manufacturing in four colors in China. Included in that was close to $10,000 on the overseas shipping and receiving alone. It was a lot of money to come up with.

Before taking the chance, you showed a prototype to Oprah’s best friend Gayle King.

I’ve done Gayle’s makeup for a long time. She loved the lip gloss. She said I absolutely had to do it. She promised to put it in an issue of O. Gayle really gave me the guts to go for it. I didn’t know how I was going to pay for it, but I was determined to do it.

And your Go Light On My Lips gloss appeared, as promised by Gayle, in the December 2006 issue of O.

I set up a website (GoLightOnMyLips.com) and the orders from the magazine started flowing in. The first 500 came almost overnight. Then on Dec. 15, 2006, Rosie O’Donnell talked about the product during a holiday segment on The View. I didn’t have enough hands to handle the orders. I made back the $85,000 in one day, so I was able to repay the loan I had taken and I could float on the profits. Even Mariah ordered 3,000 pieces, which sold out at her concerts.

As a single mom, I’m very proud of my son who’s in high school and helps with taking orders and packaging and delivery. I’m able to give him a first-hand look at how business works, which is an important lesson at any age.

How do you keep up the sales momentum?

Keeping the PR fresh is a challenge. I suggest the lip gloss for gift guides at every holiday. I keep in touch with beauty editors. I wholesale the product in generic packaging to various compa-nies. In addition to the regular piece at $19, I developed a glitzy, more expensive limited-edition version, which is a $150 fully-studded work of art. And the best way to maintain the excite-ment is by adding new colors every season, which is not cheap.

I’m constantly thinking of new ideas, promotions and marketing avenues. I have had some great success with this product, but the best is yet to come!

“Makeup is one thing, yet attitude and spirit make you Feel the beSt.”

Our strength is our diversity. At MetLife, we recognize that the diverse talentsand perspectives of our employees lead to our growth and success. That’s why weactively seek candidates from a variety of backgrounds. And once you join MetLife,we offer opportunities for networking and support through a variety of groups andworkshops, including our Multicultural Resources Network. Our Individual BusinessAdvisory Councils—Women, African-American, Hispanic, Chinese and South Asian—work to develop representation and business in their markets. It’s no wonder that we have been recognized by Working Mother magazine as a Best Company forMulticultural Women for the past two years.

Join a company that values your unique contribution. For more information about acareer with MetLife, call 1-800-JOIN MET or visit metlife.com/careers

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Bring your talent to a company that celebrates you.

Bring your talent to a company that celebrates you.

08016820_womenforhire_2008v3 1/31/08 4:07 PM Page 1

George with her clients Mariah Carey, Robin Roberts and Sandy Denton.

Whether you work in the air or on the ground, you always want to work with the best. The best people, the best equipment, the best routes, the best rewards. All working together to take you further. That’s American Eagle.

Every day, our 350 aircraft fl y over 1,800 fl ights to more than 160 cities throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. But we need your help to get us there. So if you’re a pilot, fl ight attendant, mechanic or other aviation professional, get ready to take your career farther at American Eagle.

Visit www.AmericanEagleCareers.com to see why we fl y and view job previews.

American Eagle is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Your route to success.

© 2008 NAS(Media: delete copyright notice)

Women for hire8” x 10.75”4c

womenforhire.com 31

Negotiate to Make

a

DiFFeRenceby carol Frohlinger

You may not have bought a car or a house or received a job offer in the last week, yet you undoubt-edly negotiated. that’s because you’re negotiating any time you need to reach agreement about something–not just when money is the issue. chances are you agreed with a friend about what movie to see or with a colleague about how to meet a tight deadline or (and now i’m raising the ante!) came to terms with your teenager about curfew.

we often fail to recognize the opportunities we have to change things by negotiating to make a difference. the women featured on the following pages did just that. as leaders in their compa-nies, they negotiated for the support they needed to start or advance diversity programs in their companies.

how did they do it?

• They found people who shared their vision and enlisted them as allies. these leaders know that engaging others is critical to changing the status quo. Strategically building a coalition dramati-cally increases the likelihood of success.

• They listened–really listened–to the concerns raised by people whose support they needed. Then they figured out how to address them. People don’t agree to lend their endorsement unless their interests are met.

• They agreed to pilot and review. when negotiating for something new, particularly when the issues are sensitive, smart negotiators make it easier for people to say ”yes” by demonstrating how well their proposals will work before asking for additional support.

You can apply their negotiating principles to many situations in your life. Go ahead, negotiate to make a difference.

Carol Frohlinger is a lawyer, consultant and co-founder of Negotiating Women, which provides practical skills training to help women be more successful at work.

Become SMaRteRImagine being able to lead a meeting full of useful ideas and engaging team exercises without doing a lot of preparation. Just Add Women Meeting Toolkits enable you to do just that.

Meeting materials include: Detailed Facilitators Guide, Power-Point presentation (as required) and Meeting Attendee Materials. Structured meetings are available with topics dealing with the challenges women face in the workplace, such as Creating A Plan To Balance Work And Family That Works; Building A Strategic Network; Dealing With Difficult People, and many more. Visit negotiatingwomen.com.

womenforhire.com 33

Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn and share your accomplish-ments, says pamela nicholson. last month, she became the fourth person, and the first woman, to serve as president in Enterprise’s 51-year-history.

“i worked hard to produce results at each stop along my career path with enterprise, which helped me rise through the company,” nicholson says. “i also knew it was important that i shared my ac-complishments. professional women should be comfortable making decision makers aware of their successes to ensure their contributions are factored into future decisions.”

nicholson began her career with enterprise 27 years ago as a man-agement trainee and has steadily risen to the top. as president of the privately-held company, nicholson now oversees all of enterprise’s transportation businesses, including enterprise Rent-a-car, national car Rental and alamo Rent-a-car.

to the current crop of entry level employees—management trainees who get antsy behind the counter because they want to move up right now—she says that now is the time to partner with a mentor and solicit comments on your work, good and bad.

“Request consistent feedback from supervisors, and not just during annual, biannual, or quarterly performance evaluations,” nicholson says. “an open communication line between an employee and super-visor can lead to constructive criticism, which any professional should welcome. Very rarely does a fast track to the top present itself to a new employee. but understanding the opportunity that lies ahead

and the efforts it takes to get there is huge in the development of an eager employee. often, working with a mentor who has been on the same successful career path is encouraging.”

Make it haPPen!

worried about losing out to an external recruit for a promotion? nicholson’s tips for negotiating with your present employer:

• Keep an “internal resume” for your own personal use. “Saying to your boss ‘My program helped the department grow by X percent’ sounds better than ‘My program helped the department grow a lot.’”

• Build a network of contacts outside your department to gain exposure throughout your organization. “by building relationships with other operations—business discus-sions and companywide conferences are great places—you give yourself a leg up if you apply for a spot outside your immediate network.”

• Be prepared, but not overconfident. As an internal candidate, you should be famil-iar with the business and the decision makers for the position. “networking is great and will often get you into the interview room, but simply being on a first name basis with that person might not be enough.”

Pamela Nicholson, enteRpRiSe Rent-a-caR

Williams Lea is a proud sponsor of Women For Hire

Williams Lea is a global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company. We provide expert management of all printed and digital information an organization shares with its internal and external audiences.

At Williams Lea, our people are our most important asset. They are the living, breathing heart of our business, the ambassadors for our brand and the secret behind our phenomenal record of growth. As a global business our workforce embraces cultural diversity and individualism. Our company supports committed, focused individuals to realize their potential.

www. williamslea.com

womenforhire.com34 womenforhire.com 35

Randi Menkin, UpS, DiRectoR oF woRkFoRce DiVeRSitY

transportation has traditionally been a man’s world—women are the excep-tion to the rule. Delivery companies like UpS, the third-largest U.S.-based employer, work hard to attract and retain them.

So it concerned Randi Menkin, UpS’s director of workforce diversity, when she began to see mid-level women at UpS leaving the company at an alarm-ing rate. She worried about the impact on diversity at UpS, which has 430,000 employees. only 10% of UpS employ-ees are women, while 28% of its 38,000 managers are female.

She got to work and found during interviews with women who were both leaving UpS and staying that they often felt isolated on their routes and in their offices. To fix the problem, Menkin helped create a pilot program in 19 locations designed to make women feel more connected, not just to their male colleagues but to female co-workers and their communities as well.

the three-pronged program included UpS connections, after work sessions to address personal and professional issues like time management or child-rearing; UpS business connections, which en-courages women to connect with other women through professional organiza-tions in their communities; and UpS

community connections, which offers leadership lessons through service and community involvement.

a year later, the program has cut turnover among women by 25% in pilot districts, where more than 6,000 women participated. UpS connections is be-ing rolled out nationally. to Menkin’s surprise, men are also attending sessions that were initially designed for women —to discuss mutual concerns such as eldercare, financial planning and presen-tation skills.

Make it haPPen!

thinking of starting a mom’s network? Menkin’s tips:

• Develop a business case to support your plan that meshes with your compa-ny’s strategic direction. a solid business case will help persuade higher-ups.

• Be as inclusive as possible. Invite both men and women to participate at events and to serve as mentors and facilitators. Your program can easily become a forum for many issues that both male and female employees face.

Kelly Noland, eRnSt & YoUnG, SenioR ManaGeR

when they were about to have babies and then again when they returned from maternity leave, ernst & Young’s kelly noland and beth Schiavo realized that new moms could use some in-house support.

So noland, who now has three children under 5, and Schiavo, who has two kids under 4, created the firm’s working Moms’ network for the Southeast area.

their mission was simple: to provide support, resources and mentoring op-portunities for expecting and new moms; increase retention; build awareness sur-rounding the firm’s commitment to its working moms; and create role models for younger women who are thinking

about their future with the firm and starting a family.

the program, which started out with 150 women, was so successful that ernst & Young rolled it out nationally and created a brochure to guide women in prepping for maternity leave and return-ing to work. The firm also launched a quarterly conference call featuring expert speakers on a variety of topics beneficial to working parents.

today, the working Mom’s network also includes many working dads who attend meetings on topics that range from jug-gling work and family to guiding your children on how to use the web safely.

Make it haPPen!

interested in getting a working mom’s program where you work? noland’s tips:

• Have a well-thought plan to present to executives to get their support early in the process. be prepared to address what specific tasks you’ll handle to launch the program.

• When you describe your program, include mutual benefits to employees and the company. executives are more responsive when you can explain the benefits to the company—not just what’s in it for you and your colleagues.

• Provide an estimate of the number of people your program will impact. “beth and i had been approached by many of our colleagues informally to discuss issues and trade advice, so we had a general idea that other moms would be eager to join,” noland says.

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womenforhire.com36 womenforhire.com 37

Elissa Ellis-Sangster, FoRte FoUnDation, execUtiVe DiRectoR

Most college women know about master’s degrees and what’s involved in getting them, but when it comes to Mba degrees, there’s still a mystery about what an Mba can do for a woman’s ca-reer. that’s where the Forte Foundation, a consortium of corporations and busi-ness schools dedicated to getting more women in business leadership roles, can help, says executive director elissa ellis-Sangster.

Forte kicked off in 2001 in the wake of a landmark study that explored why fewer women attend business school than schools of medicine or law. Since then, Forte has extended its under-graduate career lab seminars from four to 20 campuses and made them avail-able online. “the whole purpose is to educate women about the next five to six years and how business school might be something they might want to consider,” ellis-Sangster says. “that just didn’t exist before.”

Forte’s Mba scholarship program —$1.5 million to 35 women in 2003—rose to $7 million this year, benefiting some 200 women.

Forte’s Mba forums, featuring women business leaders and Mba admissions officers, attracted 600 women when they kicked off. they now draw 2,000. “it’s really important to women to see other women. They say, ‘Oh, that’s something i’d be interested in. they’ve done it. i can do it.’ Sometimes the conversations that women really want to have about the issues can’t happen in a mixed-gen-der setting just because of dynamics.”

Make it haPPen!

have a job and want help paying for your Mba? ellis-Sangster has this advice:

• Check to see if your company has a tuition reimbursement program. “it’s a lot easier to have the conversation if they offer that program,” she says. “Make sure you have done your research so that you are clear about where you want to go within the company. You want to show that your Mba is going to add value back to the company, that you are committed and that when you do get that degree that you’re not going to leave.”

• Don’t be afraid to take out student loans. “loans are not the enemy. when it comes to getting your Mba almost everyone gets some type of loan because there are lots of ways to pay it back. i have never heard any woman at a Forte forum say, ‘That investment was not worth it.’ even if they are in the middle of paying off their student loan, they’re still pleased that they made that invest-ment in themselves and their career.”

• If you’re looking for financial aid from a school, look at a school’s demographic profile so that “you can get a sense of where you fit in. Have a couple back-up schools where you know you’re one of the top candidates verses you’re one of the middle ones. if you get into a com-petitive school, you might be able to say, ‘I got $5,000 from them. Do you have $5,000 you can give me?’”

Manisha Mande, xeRox, ManaGeR/bUSineSS & StRateGY DeVelopMent

internal networks—sometimes called af-finity groups or caucuses—are common in big business today as more companies continue to diversify their workforces. xerox, for example, supports partner-ships with six national employee groups.

Manisha Mande, manager of business and strategy development at xerox, is active in two such groups: women’s alli-

ance and asians coming together.

being involved with both groups, she says, has helped her connect with col-leagues she might otherwise never meet, learn how to better navigate within xe-rox and take on tasks and responsibilities outside her normal comfort zone.

the xerox chapter of asians coming together is in touch with their coun-terparts at kodak and bausch & lomb, among others, who participate each year at a national conference and a summer picnic. “we meet people outside of xe-rox, learn what their companies do, and what practices can be shared so that we can enable xerox to be a better place,” says Mande. “one of the biggest advantages of be-ing part of a group is that there is a lot of camaraderie among members them-selves,” she says. “You get to network. You get to meet senior management from dif-ferent organizations. if you have concerns, issues or certain ideas that you would like to move forward, you can do them very successfully through caucus groups.”

Make it haPPen!

interested in forming an internal net-work? Mande’s advice:

• Engage your diversity office and hu-man resource department.

• Point out the advantages to having such a group and “how people in your company can learn from the experiences of other companies.”

• Do a benchmark study of programs at some top companies to determine what has been successful there and what you could take and use to create a group in your own company.

womenforhire.com 39

Julie Gilbert, beSt bUY, wolF FoUnDeR & Wendy Mormile, beSt bUY, StoRe ManaGeR

For Julie Gilbert, a dream led to an innovative program ad-opted by best buy which has increased the electronic giant’s female customer base by $2 billion.

Gilbert’s epiphany came after a bad day: a junior female colleague described her frustration at not being part of best buy’s male-dominated executive team. hours later, one of those male executives told Gilbert that while she was respected within best buy, her real enemies were…other women executives.

“i was in a pretty dark place,” says Gilbert. that night, she dreamed of the wolves she heard during her childhood in South Dakota. the next morning, she began thinking about her vision and how wolves “spend their entire existence building leadership skills in their pups” and how older wolves “give back” everything they learned to younger members, all designed to make the pack as strong as possible.

Gilbert went on to create best buy’s women’s leadership Forum—(wolF)—credited with increasing best buy’s female customer base while attracting, advancing and retaining women employees. Gilbert has mobilized more than 25,000 female customers and employees to innovate best buy. Groups of wolF packs, from cashiers to top execs, collaborate to make the shopping experience more female-friendly.

last year some best buy stores launched designer ipod and laptop cases at the suggestion of one wolF pack, while an-other wolF group was instrumental in widening store aisles

to accommodate strollers. Female job applications are up 37% in areas with active wolF packs; female turnover rates are down 7%.

“we’ve given opportunity to voices that don’t have political power to be able to innovate a 40-year-old company,” says Gilbert. “it’s about a cashier who comes up with an idea, then has a chance of not only getting it built, but to be right in the middle of that innovation and hopefully run it one day.”

WOLF packer Wendy Mormile of Mansfield, Mass, credits the program with boosting her self-confidence which helped her become a Best Buy general manager. “I always had confi-dence in myself—i knew i could get the job done—but i was intimidated by the people above me with titles.” Since joining wolF, she routinely talks to senior executives across the coun-try. “before, my network was only the people i knew in my district. now i get to know executives on a more personal level and ignore the titles. these people want to know my opinion.”

Make it haPPen!

For companies that are interested in the concept of creating a program to increase their female customer base, Gilbert says:

• Look at your business and research what women are spend-ing on your different business lines. “chances are good that women dominate sales already or will shortly. that may give you the business motivation to start a program.”

• Look for a female executive who has passion for innovation, credibility in building a business and “the sort of wherewithal to take something like this on.”

• Ask where your CEO is in this whole story? Is he or she com-mitted to walking down this path? “the ceo has to be 150% locked and loaded in this work to make it successful.”

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Betty Thompson, booz allen haMilton, hR Vice pReSiDent

booz allen vice president betty thomp-son has a 20-year track record in the hiring world, spending 15 years as head of human resources at mortgage giant Fannie Mae. but even she was surprised by the vigorous process she went though before being hired in February to head people services at booz allen, the con-sulting firm.

thompson went through 25 interviews and recalls thinking “you gotta be kid-ding me.” in retrospect, she feels booz allen’s hiring process could be stream-lined, but that “there’s a lot not to lose.”

thompson joined booz allen at a key moment: thanks to a sharp increase in government defense contracts, the firm hired 5,000 new employees last year “with brute force,” she says. a com-pany that had long thought of itself as a 10,000-person firm today has close to 20,000 employees, which changes dynamics. She’s now in the process of figuring out “how can we do that with more ease and more confidence so that those employees are getting what they need to be as productive as possible.”

thompson says that Job one in recruit-ing is “creating a good place to come to work—even if you’re not making as

much money. there’s always some place that is going to pay you more. but are they going to care about you as a person, whether it’s about benefits, the space you work in or the projects you’re assigned?”

Make it haPPen!

thompson has a few hiring tips for recruiters:

• Identify the people you want to hire and understand what’s important to them. Don’t try to be everything to everybody. “Do that and you’re going to attract people who don’t fit.”

• Don’t be the hip company that “looks for Genxers and cool techie stuff. we all want to be cool—it goes back to our high school days—but the reality is if you oversell that and it’s not really who you are, you erode trust for the people who work there.”

• Make sure that your employees can articulate what is special about work-ing there. “i’ve seen a lot of companies where if you talk to 10 employees you get 10 different messages about what it’s like to work there. continuity gives you great confidence. You’re not wonder-ing, ‘Do they really mean it or is there something else going on?’ ’’

Candy Duncan, kpMG, MiD-atlantic aRea ManaGinG paRtneR

candy Duncan has always been a trailblazer in the accounting world of KPMG—starting as the firm’s first female partner in Virginia all the way to her current role as kpMG’s Mid-atlantic area managing partner, the first woman to hold this title. She has been active in kpMG’s women’s advisory board and the kpMG net-work of women. as a corporate role model, Duncan sees nurturing younger employees as one of her most important tasks, “to realize the doors are wide open, you move forward and bring others along, both male and female.”

She recalls her start at kpMG more than 30 years ago—when just 10% of the new employees were women, compared to more than half today. those were the days, she says, when women weren’t assigned to certain male-dominated accounts—ship-building being one. but she has always remembered advice from a male mentor: “ ‘If you do a great job, people will remember you and you’ll stand out.’ that really made an impact on me. if you are the only woman in a board meeting and you make two or three points, they are often remem-bered more than what was said by another colleague.”

Make it haPPen!

Duncan’s advice for women trying to navigate in uncharted territory:

• Don’t go it alone. Find a mentor. “Mine have been male and female, not all have been kpMG, some have been clients. when you need a boost in confidence or a reality check, mentors will give you honest feedback.”

• You can do it all, but you just can’t do it all at once. “life is a journey, not a sprint, and you have to look at your career that way. You have to have balance. communicate with those you work with and your family and friends to figure out what is really important to you so that you’re just not assuming that everyone understands.”

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Nell Merlino, coUnt-Me-in, pReSiDent & ceo

throughout her career, nell Merlino has inspired millions of women to take action. More than 71 million women have participated in take our Daughters to work Day, which Mer-lino designed and produced for the Ms. Foundation in 1993. “over the years i’ve witnessed a fairly broad period of change in the workplace for women,” says Merlino, 55. She is founder of count Me in for women’s economic independence, the leading national not-for-profit provider of online business loans and resources for women to grow their micro businesses into mil-lion dollar enterprises.

as the driving force behind count Me in’s goal of getting 1 million women entrepreneurs to $1 million in revenue by 2010, Merlino has energized and en-gaged stakeholders in making this vision a reality. “the program provides money, mentoring and marketing opportunities for women entrepreneurs.”

Make it haPPen!

For someone who wants to ask family or friends for a loan to start a business, Merlino has these tips:

• Keep in mind that funding for most small businesses begins with family or friends. while asking for loans that way is normal for men—75% of male small business owners got their start this

way—only 30% of women hit family or friends up for starter money.

• Be crystal clear what you are going to do with the money. if you can spell out how the money is going to be spent, dollar by dollar, even better. business people use charts to diagram their plans. there’s nothing to stop you from doing likewise when asking your mom, dad, brother, sister, uncle or friend for some money. treat this like a professional presentation.

• Be specific about when and how you are going to pay the money back, and how you are going to do it if your busi-ness fails.

• Point out what this business can do for the family as a whole.

• If a family member turns you down, don’t be discouraged. Move onto a friend who might be in a position to loan you money and who has confidence in you.

Jen Kim Field, VolUnteeRMatch SolUtionS, DiRectoR

corporate social responsibility, once limited to the United way and other employee matching gift programs, has skyrocketed in recent years as companies realize the benefits to their firms and their employees. “Volunteering helps increase employee morale and em-ployee retention. people feel better about themselves and the company they are with,” says Jen kim Field, who got into

volunteering a decade ago when she ran a local program in washington, D.c.. “it makes me feel good just knowing companies want to get involved.”

Field, 32, now runs VolunteerMatch, a 10-year-old online database and orga-nization that pairs corporate volunteers with non profits. The aim? “To have everyone find a great place to volunteer,” she says. “in the wake of various recent corporate scandals, there’s a heightened awareness in boardrooms that employees are the bread and butter—their greatest asset—and employees are saying, ‘You know what? i want to give of my time and my talent.’”

VolunteerMatch lists 54,000 volunteer opportunities at any given time. For an annual fee of $5,000 and $50,000, com-panies can give their employees access to a list of almost 60,000 non-profits.

the incoming workforce—Generation Y—“is looking at companies that have these types of programs and it is influenc-ing their decisions,” says Field, so much so that recruiters are stressing volunteer programs in their campus career fairs.

Make it haPPen!

if you’d like to interest your company in a volunteer effort, Field says:

• Find any number of psychology stud-ies that show the social value of giving. other studies show that senior execu-tives at many top companies consider a vibrant volunteer program “an impor-tant strategic part of their business. everyone looks to the bottom line; this type of thing influences it.”

• Point out that employees who are involved in sincere volunteer efforts “serve as ambassadors and can enhance a company’s reputation.”

• Stress the team building aspect of uniting diverse groups of employees for a volunteer effort. “it allows someone who has just started in an entry level position to have access to senior manag-ers and that helps them enhance their skills. the human resource component of volunteer programs is becoming a huge trend.”

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womenforhire.com46 womenforhire.com 47

By Megan Raphael

Negotiate or have bamboo shoots stuck under your nails? Given the choice many women would choose the latter ; as painful as physical tor-ture might be, the discomfort of negotiation seems even worse.

A client, Carolyn Hayes, is a chiro-practor with a growing practice. She’s a direct, clear communicator, and has never been one to back off from any

challenge. That is, until it came to negotiating patient payments. “My business has taken a real hit because I’ve not had the courage to confront this issue. I’ve been so scared of offending people or making their life difficult in any way. The irony is that by not negotiating I’ve been more than willing to make my own life more difficult,” says Hayes.

What keeps us from courageously negotiating a conflict, issue, contract, task or project? Often we become paralyzed by fear of not being liked or approved, not wanting to look too aggressive or demanding, or fear of creating discord of any kind. We worry that negotiation, by surfacing issues and concerns, will make things worse. We choose to flee because we get scared about expressing who we are and what we need.

Another factor is lack of self-confidence. A study by the Wash-ington Quality Group found women tend to under-assess their skills while men tend to over-assess theirs. This inaccurate self-perception can be a significant barrier holding us back from negotiating. Poor self-image means that we may feel we are unworthy of getting what we want so we don’t ask for it. Lack of confidence gets in our way of believing we have negotiation skills at all.

It takes courage to tackle a conflict or issue directly, and face another’s anger or demands. Courage to move past our jitters and shaking knees to find a mutual solution. It takes courage to know and express what we need and want, then listen to what the other person needs and wants.

Hayes finally decided her needs were as important as her pa-tients’ needs. Together we developed a negotiation strategy that gave her the flow of revenue she needed while leaving room

for patients to have the flexibility they needed. We prepared a plan to use when patients wanted different arrangements, and Hayes came up with affirmation and breathing exercises that allowed her to enter negotiations with a new sense of calm and confidence. “I finally trust my business will be successful and I can do what I’ve always wanted to do because I’m courageously negotiating now,” Hayes says.

10 WAYS TO COURAGEOUSLY NEGOTIATE

1. Decide your needs are important, and your wants have validity.

2. Remember how courageous you have already been in many areas of your life. Tap into this courage; let it support you throughout the negotiation.

3. Believe a mutual solution is possible. Entering the negotiation with an attitude of “positive expectancy” gives you a far greater chance of success.

4. Know what you want and do not want. Determine your boundaries. What are your deal-breakers?

5. Drop your assumptions and judgments about the other person and situation.

6. Avoid the blame game. It has no place in a successful negotiation.

7. Plan your strategy. Negotiations are a dance but preparation can help or hinder it from the very beginning.

8. Use a proven approach such as “No Fault Negotiation.” Be clear on the data (observable, undisputable facts), the impact of the situation on you, your needs, and ideas for potential solutions.

9. Listen. Seek to truly understand where the other person is, and how they see the data, impact, needs and potential solutions.

10. Breathe.

Megan Raphael is a public speaker, certified life coach, and award-winning author of a book for women, The Courage Code. She is president of Courage Project, helping women to live and lead courageously. Visit courageproject.com.

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Patricia MacPherson was in-trigued last September by a small display ad she saw in The Boston Globe for the Women For Hire expo at the Sheraton Boston. “There were a couple of things that piqued my interest,” says MacPherson, 39. “One was that there was a networking seminar beforehand. I also liked the idea that it was specifically geared towards women. So I pretty much figured what the heck, I’ll give it a try.”

Within hours of talking to a recruiter from DHL at the event— that afternoon—MacPherson had an interview with a district manager.

Within weeks—just two weeks before Christmas—she began working at DHL. It was trial by fire, she says, since holidays are the toughest time for a delivery company.

She passed the test.

Today, she is a DHL field service supervisor at its Stoneham, Mass., facility, managing drivers, physically sorting packages and lately, running a local part-time hiring initiative.

MacPherson is one of thousands of women across the USA who have found careers through Women For Hire expos.

For women planning to attend any of Women For Hire’s 10 fall expos, MacPherson has this advice: “Keep in mind there are op-portunities and it can move quickly. It did for me.”

She came to Women For Hire as many women do: looking to get back to work after some years off to raise kids.

MacPherson hadn’t worked for a decade while her children were young, but she knew that she had valuable skills that someone would appreciate. She just had to connect with the right company.

So she did her homework before the Boston expo, narrowing the list of companies that planned to be there with ones that interested her and then looking at the kinds of positions they were interviewing for and matching it with her skills.

Before having children—now 12, 8 and 5—MacPherson helped arrange pickups of donated clothing and household items for the charity Big Brother Big Sister Foundation, so she knew quite a bit about customer service, pickups and deliveries.

“My background is pretty much in a male-dominated industry and being a woman in that indus-try makes me stick out. Fortunately for me it has been for the good.” MacPherson says.

“In general being able to stand out in the crowd makes me more visible,” she says. “I thought that a lot of women going to the expo would not be going in that direction so I was assum-ing I would stand out among other women there. I think I did because I was interested in transportation logistics, but also because I was pretty aggressive.”

She found the networking seminar beforehand helpful. “I hadn’t been in the work force for a decade and it was a nice refresher. It felt good to me personally to be among other women who were in a similar situation. It felt good to be a part of that again. I really liked the caliber of women who went to the event: a lot of women in different places in life. My age, younger and older, at different career levels.”

Having career expos geared to women “makes it more of a comfortable situation” to discuss careers, MacPherson says. “As opposed to girls on one side, guys on the other, like at a high school dance.”

Returning to work, she says, was “an adjustment for my family. I feel lucky that my husband (David, who works in construction) has been supportive and able to rearrange his time to handle some of what I do. For a good number of years I was basically the Kool-Aid mom on our block. That has changed but I still make it a point to spend time with my children.”

She has told friends to attend Women For Hire expos. “It’s not scary at all. It’s not a job interview. If anything, it’s good prac-tice for getting involved or moving forward in your job search. There’s a lot opportunity there. Keep an open mind as to what can happen.”

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