Nobody starts out in the C-suite. Members of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women community tell you how they navigated corporate America to get to the top

Trailblazers

Fortune introduces the newest season of Trailblazers.

Cora’s Molly Hayward: Out to improve the world since age 10

The female-focused wellness company does a lot of good.

when you make business a force for good, it's incredibly powerful, and it's incredibly engaging for a lot of people. My name is Molly Hayward, and I'm the co founder and chief brand officer of Cora. Cora is a modern women's wellness company, so we started out in period care. We wanted to create better for you products that were also better for the world. So making products that are healthy and organic and made with natural materials while also helping to provide products. Two girls in need all over the world so that they can attend school during the period when a woman buys Cora True, our deity subscription. It's a one for one giving model. So for every month supply of product that you receive, we provide a month supply of pad plus reproductive health education to a girl in need in India. And when you purchase our products that target, we give 10% of our net profits to John Africa in Kenya, which helps to provide pads and health education. Two girls there I love the saying, you know, look at what you were doing when you were 10 years old and you'll know, you know what you should do for the rest of your life. And when I was 10 years old, I was like running around my fourth grade classroom, getting kids to sign petitions to help save the baby chicks that we're raising our class. Or I would tuck me everybody to donate, you know, 25 cents of their lunch money units. So I always had this really, really strong sense of sort of responsibility. Oh, help! Wherever I could. Several years ago, I was traveling in Kenya, and I met a girl who told me that she would stay home from school during her period because she couldn't afford menstrual pads. And really, that was the inspiration for Cora as a woman who had never not had the product that she needed to manage her period. It was almost impossible for me to imagine going through my day, going to school, going to work without without those problems. No, really. My first thought was, Oh, my gosh, How can I help this one girl stay in school during her period? And then my next thought was there are probably millions of girls like this girl all over the world, and there are probably millions of women like me who would have the same reaction if they could help this girl in this small way and help to make sure that she could get the education that we all know is so vital to her ability to break out of the cycle of poverty and pursue her dreams and ambitions that they would. It was incredibly powerful moment for me. I mean, truly life changing. And I felt like even though, you know, I knew that pursuing the idea was going to require a lot of resource, that at that time I didn't have and I knew I'd have to go out and find it, it was like I couldn't not do it. There were many points in the sort of journey of starting Cora, where I really got to the end of the rope at every round. There are the naysayers. They're the people who think that you've built the model wrong or you should be doing it this way. We believed in what we had built, and then in the next round people were saying so brilliant that you did it this way. Even though fundraising is can be challenging every No was sort of just the motivation to keep going, and it felt like if it's a no, then that wasn't the right person. But there were enough yeses and people who believed in us. We've now raised over $35 million to date. Every time I go back to Kenya, every time I go back to India, not inspiration is just renewed. That feeling happens again and it's very visceral and it's very, really seeing just the the strength and tenacity of these girls is it is just incredibly moving and really makes you know any of the hard work that we D'Oh Number one seems small in comparison and number two feel completely worth it.

Ignite’s Anne Moses: Fighting to get more women into political office

Women hold only about 25% local political seats.

Ignite’s Anne Moses: get more women into political office

For a long time, ambition has been kind of a dirty word for women and girls, and certainly in the political room, I think girls and women have. Historically, things were changing now, but historically have had a tendency to not want to declare that they want to do something until they feel like they have all the skills they need to do it. My name's and Moses and the founder and president of Ignite Ignite is the movement of young women who are ready and eager to become the next generation of political leaders. And what we're doing is we train young women really young women. I mean, young women is young in high school college grad school, and we're training them to realize their political ambition, to understand how to be a politically engaged and ultimately to run for office. Most people, when they think about elected office, they think of the top 536 feet, right Congress and the president. In fact, they're closed toe 520,000 seat elected seats across the country. Most of those he threw the local level women are only 25% of the 520,000 total seats. And so even after 2018 where everyone was so excited because it was the first year of the woman we've had in 26 years, we didn't really get that much farther. I started ignite about a decade ago because it was clear to me that if we wanted to change the trajectory, we really needed to start younger and get women when they were at an age and developmental stage, thinking about who they were and what they wanted to do with their lives. Running for office is kind of a tricky thing. It's not a common job. Most people don't do it. Most people don't know how to do it. We teach them the skills on how to do it and how to raise money. How do you figure out how many votes you need? How do you reach your voters? Were natural constituencies? How do you articulate your personal calls for service? Why do you want to run? What is it about your life that makes it so that you want to run? And why does that uniquely qualify you to run really hard? Heard a nonprofit When you have $0.0. And it's not like hard up where you're starting a for profit where Not that women have much like sank into the sea, but there is no where there was then. No such sort of VC social investment philanthropy groups. So I really had to, like, boot strap it the whole way really hard, like so hard that I just don't know what the hell I was thinking hard. I mean, I got over, but I don't a lot of a lot of organizations go under, and by the way, we started inside of the recession. I was really hard. But I figured if we could make it, then piece of cake in orderto have really good policy. You need to actually have a democracy that is made up of the folks that represent all parts of your society, right that our democracy is predicated on having different perspectives of all kinds of different people. And so when you have a democracy that has 80% older white men making all the decisions, you're just not gonna get about decision simply because they only have a kind of a single perspective on all these issues. There's nothing like seeing you know, an AOC or an eye on a Presley or a Suri's David to make you think things are possible. It feels like there's a potential for a generational shift in leadership that people are overtly talking about for the first time. I just think right now this is the moment to be pushing as hard as we possibly can to get this done.

The Riveter’s Amy Nelson: Moms 'seen as a distressed asset' at work

The company includes men in the conversation.

'The Riveter' wants to change corporate America for women

When I got pregnant, I started asking myself, Can I work? Can I have it all? And I think that's because the world around you seems to think that you and that danger get. Certainly, women can just like money, build their lives really want. My name is Amy Nelson and I am the founder and CEO of the Riveter. Riveter is a modern union of working women. We have workspaces programming events all really designed thio change the paradigm for working women in America today and we include men in that effort. We don't think you can change corporate America or the start of landscape for women unless you include men in the effort in men's still meters oxygen. In so many ways, the Riveter stands apart because it is putting itself throughout the country, including in the middle of the country, and saying to women and corporations and men that we can change things for working women and we can do it together. Many of our members are starting small businesses, Some are starting venture skills and what we do in that context, we provide the resources and programming kind of get them going when we're starting a business. It's hard to know how do I do Financial projections? Where do I go to the learned pay taxes? Thio. How do I get venture capital funding? And so we have programming on an office hours around all of that. I was a corporate lawyer for 10 years before I started the Riveter, and I really thought I'd be a lawyer forever. When I went to law school, in fact, there was still tearing off my loan, so I decided to start the rivers. But for me, the world really took a change when I became a mother, or really, when I became pregnant, my first daughter, when I told my colleagues I was going to be a mom, I think the perception and perspective of me kind of change on a dime and I started looking around me and really looking above see where Mom showed up in corporate America. And what I saw is that there weren't money and relieved instruct me to my core. I think for most of my career, I thought, Maybe there isn't gender bias. I'm succeeding in the male dominated area, right? Some. Maybe this isn't a thing, or maybe it's something we can overcome just by doing. I think mothers are still seeing it. A distressed asset in the American workplace. I like to talk about the maternal wall a lot more than the glass ceiling because I think the two are completely linked. And so I thought about what a different path looks like for me, and I thought about starting my own legal practice and going out of my own. I started going to different co working spaces to go to classes on how to write a business plan and all the things I needed to put in place because I'm super type and didn't have a N b. A. And in the parking spaces, I found a lot of knowledge, but I didn't find other women. So I started asking other women, Where do you go for community at this stage in our lives? Who do you talk? Thio and I found that all of us help pretty isolated and didn't have that that network. And so I decided instead of starting a legal practice, maybe the thing to do would be to build what I wanted. And that was the start of the Riveter. So the riveter have raised $21 million.3 rounds of funding, and I knew very little about the venture capital world before I started this. Sometimes I wonder if I had known what I have begun. Women today still get 2% of VC funding, and I don't know what the statistics are on Mother, but I know that it's much less. I received questions and pitch after pitch about being a mother and managing to grow a company while I was having. I don't think my husband would have gotten the same question. I've asked a lot of my peers, your men and your CEOs and fathers when they haven't. I decided to talk about motherhood. Life is chaos, but it's kind of a calculated CASS. And the thing that keeps me going every day, and all of this is that I really believe we are making change. I hear stories every day from riveters about how the community has helped them. The connections they made, how they got their business off the ground. So it's really important work. A lot of times people ask me if I'm doing this for my daughter and I am, but I'm also doing it for me. I deserve to be paid equally. I deserve all of these opportunities and we shouldn't have to wait another generation or one after that to get that.

Zilingo’s Ankiti Bose: Building a successful startup as a woman in India

She faces obstacles as a woman business leader there.

Zilingo’s Ankiti Bose Builds a successful startup in India

the minute you think about fashion, but you go beyond just the consumer side of fashion. All the designs for the fashion were talking about supply chain and operations and financing off it. It tends to be a very gendered industry against women. My name is on TV, both on the co founder and CEO of the lingo. You know how fashion is such a huge industry? Everybody wears clothes. It's 5% of global GDP, $3.8 trillion if you include all the fabric sanctions and everything that goes on clothes. Yet it somehow the most under digitized industry in the world that explore data. Everything that see that's bad about fashion is true. By the way, So are we filling up? Glances are consuming too much? Is it all not sustainable and responsibly made? It's all true. 70% of the landfill in the world are filled up with fast fashion on you actual of this that there's no visibility, no sense of whether the product I think our sustainable actually sustainable. It's basically a very large, very confused, highly under devised, a completely non transparent industry. So that's where the legal comes in. Report in technology across the entire supply chain, right from the farmer to the mills, to the fabric makers to the factories to the brand so they can transparently transact with one another. And then we provide technology tools for them to make that better. It's incredibly hard to be a woman in Tak. In developing countries, there have been situations where I have stepped out of meetings with traders or large associations and let my co founder or CEO or somebody else have the conversation because they were a guy and we needed to get the deal done. I think first thing super important is to be undeniably good at your work, on every technicality at everything, so that, you know, people don't point a finger at it and say she's a woman and hence she doesn't get this. I know what's very, very unfair because a man might be given more chances. The other thing is that I think it's totally okay to have meal allies and male mentors Andi friends who help you in your part and career and in your journey, because sometimes that's the only help you can happen. So you should raise your hand and ask for opportunities off for mentorship us for help. Sees it on really make the most of it. I think it's unusual, or at least it's not happened a lot before. Where an Asian company has aspired to solve a global problem at the scale as a New Age startup led by a woman that's trying to do this, it's a little unusual. There are a lot of challenges that come along the way, making sure that their trust in the brand that people don't think of this is an Asian company, only that there's a There's a global problem to solve their high quality in the kind of products we deliver. There's a lot of trust to be built in the system. I think some of those air challenges, but also that the opportunity taking the big polluting industry, digitizing it, making it fair and transparent way hope to leave the world a lot better than we found it. And we can see that in fact, every single day when we work with much, when I'm at a conference like this and I meet women and they come in and say, you know, this is an inspirational story, all I think to myself. This is a huge responsibility and I cannot let them down. It scares me a little bit the amount of responsibility that comes along with being one of the women to do something like this. But it's also a huge honor, and I hope I don't let anyone down.

[MUSIC PLAYING] They constantly had things that would be challenges, but you can never let it get you down. You have to prove it wrong and come out stronger on the other side. I'm Maria Molland. I'm the CEO of Thinks. Just I did interview with this company because of what it did and it was a woman founded business. It was a platform raising up girls and women in society. And so I was really excited about the fact that I'd be joining a business that seemed so focused on making women's lives better. But what I found shortly, thereafter, in the final round of interviews is that one of the board members told me directly that they were concerned around my having a young child and my ability to do the job. I think I paused. I was pretty blown away, to be honest. And I kind of collected my thoughts as to how to best respond to it in the moment. I was traveling at the time in this interviewing process from Tennessee to New York, I was bringing my daughter with me. And I had proving kind of time and time again that I was willing to do lots to ensure that I could do this job and could indicate that I was really excited about it. And you kind of started thinking maybe they're right, to some extent, right? Can I do this, right? Because it was my first CEO job. But there is another part of me that thought, I have to prove them wrong, and I need to make sure that they know that I am completely committed, that I'm able to do this job better than anybody else, and that I will hit it out of the park. But I also realized it was this opportunity to ensure that I could create policies that would make it easier for working parents to be able to have a career and a family life. So a lot of the benefits that we've now put together actually are really oriented towards making sure that you can cover the cost of a nanny and a daycare. We have childcare stipends. We have more flexible leave policies. We have longer parental leave policies. And those things I think will help-- it certainly helps me think about how to manage it all and try to manage it all. And I'm hoping it helps the other people at the company, and sets an example also to other companies as to what we need to do to help working parents. It is hard, right? I completely admit that there are times when I leave my child Monday mornings and she's really upset because she spent the whole weekend with me, that it's difficult. You have something that really gnaws at you for a few hours afterwards. But I love my job so much, and I also love what we do where we're really helping women and girls. And not only the ones that can afford underwear. We have a very big give back component for more the marginalized girls and women out there that I'm so proud of. And that makes me feel like my daughter as she gets older too she's going to, hopefully, be proud of me and I realize that it perhaps was a sacrifice. But it's something that I did for me, of course, I enjoy it as well, but also for her and for the world at large. 

Thinx CEO on the Importance of Good Benefits for Working Parents

Leadership

Maria Mulland says creating these policies is a key part of her job.

I constantly had things that would be challenges. But you can never let it get you down right, And you have to prove, prove it wrong and come out stronger on the other side. I'm Maria Melinda. I'm CEO of thinks. I decide to interview with this company because of what it did, and it was a woman founded business. It was platform raising up girls and women in society, and I was really excited about the fact that I be joining a business. It seemed so focused on making women's lives better. But what I found shortly thereafter, the final round of interviews is that one of the board members told me directly that they were concerned around my having a young child and my ability to do the job. I think I paused. I was pretty blown away, to be honest, and I could've collected my thoughts as to how to best, uh, respond to it in the moment I was traveling to the time in this interviewing process from Tennessee to New York, I was bringing my daughter with me, and I would had proving kind of time and time again that I was willing to do lots to ensure that I could do this job and who could indicate that was really excited about it. And, you know, you kind of started thinking Maybe they're right to some extent, right? Can I do this right? It was my first CEO job, but there's another part of me that thought I have to prove them wrong, right, And I need to make sure that they know that I am completely committed. I'm able to do this job better than anybody else and that I will hit it out of the park. They also realized it was this opportunity to ensure that I could create policies that would make it easier for working parents to be ableto have a career and a family life. So a lot of the benefits that we've now put together actually really oriented towards making sure you can cover the cost of a nanny in a daycare. We have a child care stipend. We have more flexible leave policies. We have longer parental leave policies, and those things I think will help certainly helped me write. Think about howto manage it all. I try to manage it all, and I'm hoping it helps other people at the company and sets. An example also to other companies is what we need to do to help working parent. It is hard, right? I completely admit that. And there are times when I leave my child Monday Maureen's and she's really upset because she spent the whole weekend with me that it's difficult. You have, ah, something that really knows that you for a few hours afterwards. But you know, I love my job so much, and I also love what we do where we're really helping women and girls and not only the ones that can afford our underwear. We have a very big give back component for more than marginalized girls and women out there that I'm so proud of, and that makes me feel like my daughter. She gets older, too. She's going to hopefully be proud of me, and I realized that it perhaps was a sacrifice. But it's something that I did for for me. Of course, I enjoy it as well, but also for her and for the world at large.

 One of the things I say often is we need to take our clients' issues as personally as they do. They're counting on us to help them-- most of the time to help them with their family's goals and dreams. When my dad died unexpectedly, I was 27. And then the three youngest kids were freshman, sophomore, and junior in college. My mom and dad had the traditional duties in the house. She paid the bills, he did the investing. So I saw up close and personal what happens when you don't plan enough for the future. My mom had no idea what to do. Historically, I was not actually that interested in a career in financial services, to be honest. I started as a lawyer and doing health care. And then when that happened, it's like, whoa, once she got closer to retirement, it's like we got to put a plan together here in order for you to figure out when you can retire, how much you can spend per month, et cetera-- and helping her out along the way. She didn't know who she could count on. The investment advisor-- she had no idea who to trust. And it's funny, because when we were kids, I'm old enough that we all got taken down to the local bank and got our little passbook. And so all of us were told to save money, and all of us had summer jobs and worked. But it was about saving money, not investing for your future. And there's a big difference. That challenge has informed a lot about how I approach things and also my approach to helping other people in terms of their finances. So I listen to 20 hours of customer calls every month as I'm driving to and from work. And so to hear people like my mom what they're going through-- the most memorable call I had, a young sounding voice says he's calling because he's on long term disability. What's this all about? Turns out, he has multiple sclerosis and he's in his 40s. He said on the call, I'm counting on going to get my two daughters through college. I'm investing in this solution in order for you to get my girls through college. They're 11 and 12. It's like, this is real. It makes a difference how we approach our jobs and how we help people. 

Fidelity's Kathy Murphy: Her Dad's Death Changed Her Career Path

Careers

She never planned to wind up in financial services.

one of the things I say often is we need to take our clients issues personally. If they do, they're counting on help them most of the time to help them with their families, goals and dreams. When my dad died unexpectedly, I was 27 then the three youngest kids where freshman sophomore and my mom and dad had the traditional duty, you know, in the house. She paid the bills. He did the investing, like saw up close and personal. What happened when you don't plan enough in the future? My mom had no idea what d'oh! Historically, I was not actually that interested in the career financial service. To be honest with me, I started as a lawyer and doing health care. And then when that happened, like, whoa, when she got closer to retirement, it's like we gotta put a plan together here in order for you to figure out when you can retire, how much you could spend per month etcetera, you know, helping around along the way and the whole ship account. You know, the investment adviser, like she had no idea who to trust, you know, And it's funny because when we were kids. You know, I'm old enough that we all got taken down to the local bank and got our little passbook. And so all of us were told to save money, and all of us have summer jobs and working. But it was about saving money, not investing for your future. And there's a big difference. That challenge has informed a lot about how I approached things and also my approach to helping other people in terms of their finances. So I listen to 20 hours a customer calls every month as I'm driving to and from work. And so here, like people like my mom, what they're going through. The most memorable call I had, Ah, young sounding voice, says he's calling because he's on long term disability. Like what? What's this all about? It turns out he has multiple scores. He's in his forties, he said on the call. I'm counting on you to get my two daughters through college. I'm investing in this in this solution. In order for me to get my girls to college. There, 11 and 12 like this is really you know, it makes a difference how we approach our jobs and how we help

 So why don't you start by telling us your name and your title? Sure. I'm Salle Yoo. I'm the general counsel of Uber Technologies. How do you feel being a woman has influenced your career path? I guess I haven't really thought about it that way, because I am a woman, and so I've lived, you know, the path that I've been given. I think that I've never made choices because I'm a woman. I've been cognizant of certain challenges that are presented because I'm a woman, and that I have to operate differently in certain circumstances. I've also been extremely fortunate. I've had a ton of mentorship from other women. I think that women naturally have a community of support, of expertise and advice. I look at my career and then the career of my husband, and yes, he gets a lot of feedback from his mentors, as well, but really I think that the community of support and a willingness to help each other really exists with women. And that it's been quite meaningful for me in my career. I think that there are several things that I face that are fairly common to all women. One of the reasons why I wanted to pursue partnership at the law firm was that the American Bar Association published a study that showed that within 10 years, minority women at the largest 200 law firms in the US, the chance that they were still at that firm was statistically zero. And that was meaningful to me, because that meant that minority women were not making it into partnership. So that was one thing that kind of propelled me through my career. I wanted to make partner not only for myself, but so that I can figure out how to do it so I can teach other women how to kind of crack that puzzle. 

Minority Women Still Have Big Hurdles in the Workplace

Uber’s top lawyer explains how she's overcome them all.

So what? You're telling us your name and your title? Sure. I'm Sally You. I'm the general counsel of Uber Technologies. How do you feel being a woman hasn't flushed your herb? I guess I haven't really thought about it that way because I am a woman. And so I've lived. You know, the path that I've been given, I think that I've ever made choices because I'm a woman. I've been cognizant of certain challenges that are presented because I'm a woman and that I have to operate differently in certain circumstances. I've also been extremely fortunate. I've had a ton of mentorship from other women. I think that women naturally have a community of the port of expertise on advice. I look at my career and the career of my husband and yes, he gets He gets a lot of feedback from his matures as well. But really, I think that the community of support on the willingness to help each other really exist with women and that it's been quite meaningful for me in my career. I think that there are several things, but I faith that are fairly common to all women. One of the reasons why I wanted to pursue partnership at the law firm was that the American Bar Association published a study that showed that within 10 years, minority women at the largest 200 firms in the U. S. The chance that they were still at that firm were statistically zero. And that was meaningful to me because that meant that minority women were not making into partnership. So that was one thing that kind of propelled me through my career. I wanted to make partner not only for myself, but so that I can figure out how to do it so I could teach other women had it kind of cracked that puzzle.

Yeah. Very nice meeting you. [INTERPOSING VOICES] Very nice to meet you. We're good to go. All right, great. My name is Susan Schwab. I am the former US Trade Representative, great job. I now teach at the University of Maryland. I'm a professor there. I used to be the dean. And I'm on a number of corporate boards and a number of nonprofit boards. How do you feel that being a woman has influenced your career path? [MUSIC PLAYING] When I became the US Trade Representative, I was the third woman-- not the first, not the second. I was the third. It was a ho hum experience for everybody. And that was good, the way it should be. Frequently in negotiating sessions, I'd be the only female in the room. And what that ends up meaning, they remember me long after they've forgotten all of the other white guys on my side of the table. Sort of interesting, I still have people coming up to me 30 years later who were in negotiations. I remember you. It's because I was the only female on our side. To an extent, the trade policy field has been a good one for women. It's not a field that has a very specific path. You can come into the field as a lawyer, as a foreign policy expert, as an economist. There isn't a well-honed old boys' network. And to the extent that there is in the trade policy field, it really helped me. So I'm not sure I can answer your question. 

Ambassador Susan Schwab: Being the Only Woman in the Room Made Me Memorable

Politics

The third woman in our Trailblazers series is Susan Schwab, who served as the U.S. trade representative under President George W. Bush.

Yeah. Very good to go. All right. Right. My name is Susan Schwab. I am the former U. S. Trade representative. Great job. Um, I now teach at the University of Maryland. A professor. There used to be the dean, and I'm on a number of corporate boards and a number of nonprofit boards. How do you feel being a woman has influenced your curb? Oh, that way. When I became the U. S. Trade representative, I was the third woman. Not the first, not the second. I was the third. It was a whole hum experience for everybody. And that was good because you know the way it should be frequently in negotiating sessions, I'd be the only female in the room. And what that ends up, meaning they remember me long after they've for gotten all of the other white guys on my side of the table. Sort of interesting. I still have people coming up to me 30 years later who were in negotiations. I remember you because I was the only female on our side. To an extent, the trade policy field has been a good one for women. It's not a feel that has a very specific path. You can come into the field as a lawyer, as a foreign policy expert is an economist. There isn't a well honed old boys network. And to the extent that there is in the trade policy field, it really helped me. So, um, I'm not sure I can answer your question.

 We're women, we're scientists so we don't have a lot of business experience and we're pitching a company about emotions and often we're pitching to older male investors. So that makes it really hard. Yeah, definitely quite challenging, actually. I'm Rana el Kaliouby. I'm co-founder and CEO of Affectiva. Affectiva is an AI company on a mission to humanize technology. We build technology that can understand all things human. Your facial expressions, your emotions, your voice intonations, your activities, your behaviors, all in the service of making technology more human really. When we spent Affectiva out of MIT, I took on the role of chief technology officer and we hired kind of a seasoned executive to run the company as a CEO. Part of me felt that I wanted to really be the CEO, but I didn't have the kind of the guts to do it. Early 2016, we were re-evaluating our market opportunities and I had a particular view on how we should approach the market. I was starting to see trends around kind of conversational interfaces and smarter devices. And I knew that we had a role within that ecosystem of technology. And so I went to our then CEO and I said, hey, we need to be co-CEOs. And he was like, why should I ever do that? So I wrote down a list of like here are the responsibilities of the CEO. And as I started to do that, I realized that I was actually doing a lot of them, right? I was already the face of the company. I already kind of ran the technology team of Affectiva. And so the more we talked about it, the more I became convinced that I'm ready, that I really should take this on. And so we debated it back and forth and the conversation more from let's be co-CEO to you know what, I actually want to be CEO. I think he saw that. He saw that I was extremely passionate. He'd also been my mentor over the years so I learned a lot from him. And at some point, he said you know what you're ready, let's take this to the board together. I remember I was on a train back from New York to Boston when he called me and said, you know what, I've thought about this you should become CEO. And I almost said, no, no, no, I was joking. I almost reneged on the whole thing. I was that scared, but I persisted. And it's been two and half years and it's been a great experience. Definitely challenging and stressful, but but very fulfilling. And the company is in a much better place. 

How Affectiva Founder Rana el Kaliouby Became CEO

At first she didn't "have the guts to do it."

We're women. We're scientists, so we don't have a lot of business experience, and we're picking a company about emotions and an often we're pitching all older male investors. So that makes it really hard. Um, yeah, definitely. Quite challenging. Actually, I'm Rhonda l Can you be? I'm co founder and CEO of Affect. Affect. Eva is an aye aye company on a mission to humanize technology, rebuild technology that can understand all things human. Your facial expressions, your emotions, your voice, intonation, your activities. Your behavior's all in the service of making technology more human. Really? When we won't affect Eva out of M i t. I took on the role of chief technology officer and we hired kind of a seasoned executive to run the company as a CEO. Part of me felt that I wanted to really be the CEO, but I didn't have the kind of guts to do it early. 2016 we were re evaluating our market opportunities, and I had a particular view on how we should approach the market. I was starting to see trends around kind of conversational interfaces and smarter devices, and I knew that we had a rule within that ecosystem off technology. And so I went to our then CEO and I said, Hey, we need to be cold feels like Why should I ever do that? So I, you know, I wrote down a list of like, here are the responsibilities of the CEO and I started to do that. I realized that I was actually doing a lot of them right. I was already the face of the company. I already kind of ran the technology team. And so the more we talked about it, the more I became convinced that I but that I'm ready. But I really should take this on. And so we debated it back and forth and the conversation more from Let's be co CEO. You know what? I actually want to be CEO. You know, he I think he saw that he saw that I was extremely passionate. He also been my mentor over the years, so I learned a lot from him, and at some point he said, You know what? You're ready. Let's take this to the board together. I remember I was in a train back from New York to Boston when he called me and said You know what I've thought about this. You should become you. And I almost said no, no, no, no, no. I was joking. I almost reneged on the whole thing. I was that scared, but I But I presented and it's been two and 1/2 years, and it was great, you know? Great experience. Um, definitely challenging and stressful, but very fulfilling. And the company's been a much better place.

 Everybody assumes that we have full rights in this country, but we don't. You can still be fired from your job, evicted from your home, or denied access to services like health care because you're LGBT. The laws of the land do not support it in every state. I'm Lisa Sherman, and I'm the President and CEO of the Ad Council. The Ad Council is the country's organization that produces all of the pro-social marketing activities and campaigns, taking on the most important and pressing social issues of the day. I think the biggest challenge I had was being in the closet for the first 17 years of my career and never feeling comfortable that I could be my full self at work. I thought I was going to be committing career suicide. I hid for a long time. I pretended. I had mastered the black art of pronoun puppetry. I would substitute him, he, and we for her and she whenever I would talk about my weekends. I had a picture of my best friend Bob on my credenza. I really, I think, separated myself from my colleagues because I was unable to socialize with them as much. It got to the point where I had been out in every other part of my life, and it started to take its toll on me. And so I knew that I at some point would have to leave, which I ultimately made the decision to leave. But I promised myself that on my last day that I would go and see the CEO, who I'd known my entire career, and tell him why I was leaving. He listened, and it was, for me, the relief of having this huge secret out in the open was incredible. And I decided that I would never at that point, never be in a corporate closet or any closet ever again. And I will tell you, what became very clear very fast was how much energy it took to hide all of those years. When I got to my new job, I was so happy, and I was probably more productive and more creative because I had no secrets. It was amazing. Fast forward probably two months-- I get a call from another closeted gay executive. And he said to me, Lisa, did you come out to Ray on your last day? And I said, I did. Why do you ask? And he said, well, we were having a meeting to talk about benefits, and domestic partnership benefits in particular, and Ray was sitting in the back of the room very quietly, and then he got up and walked to the front of the room and he said, Lisa Sherman on her last day came to my office to say goodbye, told me that you were blocking this policy, and I'm not sure I believed her. But sitting in here listening to you talk, it's clear that she was right and you were going to figure out how to get domestic partnership benefits implemented across this company as soon as possible. And I will tell you that within six months, domestic partnership benefits were a reality to every employee at the company. In some ways for me, while I felt quite guilty while I was there for not having the courage to come out, in that moment, I sort of assuaged some of my guilt because I understood that that one conversation had such an incredible impact. And I think the lesson for me was you just have to speak your truth, and one conversation can make a huge difference. And it's just important to have those conversations. 

Lisa Sherman: "You Just Need to Speak Your Truth"

The Ad Council President and CEO on coming out at work.

Everybody assumes that we have full rights in this country. But we don't. You can still be fired from your job. Evicted from your home or denied access to service is like health care, because your LGBT, the laws of the land do not support it in every state. Lisa Sherman and I'm the president and CEO of the Ad Council. The Ad Council is the country's organization that produces all of the pro social marketing activities and campaigns taking on the most important and pressing social issues of the day. I think the biggest challenge I had, um Waas being in the closet for the 1st 17 years of my career and never feeling comfortable and I could be my full self at work thought I was gonna be committing career suicide. I hid. For a long time, I pretended I had mastered the black art of pronoun puppetry. I would substitute him, he and we for her and she. Whenever I would talk about my weekend, I had a picture of my best friend, Bob on my credenza. I really, I think, separated myself from my colleagues because I wasn't able to socialize with them as much. It got to the point where I had been out in every other part of my life and it started to take its toll on me. And so I knew that I had some point would have to leave, which I ultimately made the decision to leave. But I promised myself that on my last day that I would go and see the CEO who had known my entire career and tell him why I was leaving. He listened and it was for me the relief of having this huge secret out in the Open was incredible and I decided that I would never at that point never be in a corporate closet or any closet ever again. And I will tell you what became very clear very fast was how much energy it took to hide all of those years. When I got to my new job, I was so happy and I was probably more productive and more creative because I have no secrets. It was amazing. Fast forward. Probably two months I get a call from another closeted gay executive and he said to me, Lisa, did you come out to Ray on your last day and I said I did. Why do you ask? And he said, Well, we were having a meeting to talk about benefits and domestic partnership benefits in particular. And Ray was sitting in the back of the room very quietly, and then he got up and walked to the front of the room and he said, Lisa Sherman, on her last day, came to my office to say goodbye told me that you were blocking this policy and I'm not sure I believed her. But sitting in here listening to you talk, it's clear that she was right and you were gonna figure out how to get to Mr Partnership Benefits implemented across this company as soon as possible. And I will tell you that within six months, Mr Partnership Benefits were a reality toe. Every employee at the company in some ways for me. You know, while I felt quite guilty while I was there for not having the courage to come out in that moment, I sort of assuage some of my guilt because I understood that that one conversation had such an incredible impact. And I think the lesson for me was, you know, you just have to speak your truth, and one conversation can make a huge difference. Andi. It's just important to have the conversation

 There's this idea that you have to be something other than yourself. Society often will reinforce this idea that something else is better, which then leads you to think that exactly who you are isn't necessarily good enough. My name is Jotaka Eaddy, and I'm the vice president of policy, strategic engagement, and impact at LendUp. Silicon Valley is very interesting, in that the images of Silicon Valley, in particular at the time that I transitioned into the industry, was largely white men in t-shirts or hoodies that knew how to code. What you saw was not necessarily a representation of myself or people who looked like me. And that was a bit discouraging. So I was afraid, one, of just sort of not fitting in. Number two, I was afraid of the fact that I don't know how to code, so does my skillset really fit into this industry? Do I actually have value add in this industry? I basically took myself out of the opportunity the move forward. And it took some other people to come and just sort of kind of hit me and be like, are you crazy? You've lobbied in the UN. You've helped win major Supreme Court cases. Why can't you be successful in this industry? But that own sort of second guessing, not thinking you're smart enough or good enough, questioning-- am I supposed to be here? Is this place for me? Was something that constantly got in my way. I talked to other women, particularly mentors, and eventually was really pushed by someone I admire greatly, Frieda Kapour Klein, who basically had like a real talk with me and was like, hey, you need to really go and do this. And you have an opportunity to do good and do well. And the industry needs you. And that was something that was extremely transformative in helping me get out of my own way. That has been a real important lesson for myself and something that I often tell other young women. Get out of your own way, and always know that you are enough. 

How LendUp's Jotaka Eaddy Learned to Thrive in Silicon Valley

She says she needed to "get out of my own way."

there's this idea that you have to be something other than yourself. Society often will reinforce this idea that something else is better, which then leads you to think that exactly who you are necessarily good enough. My name is Joe. Take a E T. And I'm the vice president of policy. Strategic engagement and impact at Linda Silicon Valley is very interesting and that the images you know of Silicon Valley in particular at the time that I transitioned into the industry was largely white men in T shirts or hoodies that knew how to code. What you saw was not necessarily a representation of myself or people who looked like me, and that was a bit discouraging. So I was afraid, one of just sort of not fitting in number two. I was afraid of the fact that I don't know how to code. So does my skills that really fit into this industry do I actually have value add in this industry? I basically took myself out of the opportunity to move forward, and it took some other people to come and just sort of kind of hit me and be like, Are you crazy? You lobbying the U. N. You've helped win major Supreme Court cases. Why can't you be successful in this industry? But that own sort of second guessing, Not thinking you're smart enough. Good enough questioning. Do you are am I supposed to be? Here is a place for me. I'm with something that constantly got in my way. I talked to other women, particularly mentors, and eventually was really pushed by someone I admire greatly. Frieda K. Poor Cline, who basically had like, we'll talk with me and was like, Hey, you need to really go and do this and you have the opportunity to do good and do well and the industry needs you. And that was something that was extremely transformative in helping me get out of my own way. That has been a real important lesson for myself and something that I often tell other young women, you know, get out of your own way. Andi always know that you are

 Thank you. So inspiring. My name is Sarah Kate Ellis, and I'm the CEO and president of GLAAD. How has being a woman influenced your career path? [MUSIC PLAYING] I think being a woman has made me work harder, smarter. And for me, it's been a real advantage. I love being a woman. That's a weird thing to say. But I guess I like the camaraderie of other women executives. We have this little club that we call the GSDs-- Get Shit Done, because I always say women get shit done, because we have no choice. We've got to manage kids, we've got to manage a household, we've got to manage a business. You get it done. You don't mess around, and you focus on it, and you move things forward. And I think that's an advantage of being a woman. I think there are advantages to being a woman, and I think that's one of them-- we can do multiple things at multiple times. The biggest obstacle I faced I think in my career has probably been myself-- in my own head, getting in my own way, thinking that I could be less than because I was a woman or that I was gay. And when I started my career, I never was out because I thought it could really hurt my career. So I was very, very quiet about my private life. And it wasn't until I actually came out that I felt that my career really flourished, because then I was being authentic and true. And that showed in the work that I was doing. We're always solving some sort of problem. It doesn't matter what business you're in. And I think that if you bring your authentic self there, you can really have real conversations with people to understand how to move the bar forward. You take your struggle and turn it into a triumph or you turn it into an asset. I do feel a tremendous amount of strength being a woman. 

GLAAD CEO: 'I Think Being A Woman Has Made Me Work Harder'

CEO and president of GLAAD Sarah Kate Ellis explains how being a woman helped her career.

Thank you. My name is Sara Kate Ellis, and I'm the CEO and president of glad how has being a woman influenced your group? I think being a woman has made me work harder, smarter and for me, it's been a real advantage. I love being with you. That's a weird thing to say. But I guess I like the camaraderie of other women executives. You know, we have this little club that we called the GSDF get shit done because I always say women get shit done because we have no choice. We've gotta manage kids. We've got to manage a household. We've gotta manage a business, you know, you get it done, you don't mess around and you focus on it and you move things forward. And that's I think that's an advantage of being a woman. I think there are advantages to being a woman, and I think that's one of them. We can do multiple things that multiple times the biggest obstacle I've faced, I think in my career's probably been myself, my own head, getting in my own way, thinking that I could be less than because I was a woman or that I was gay. When I started my career, I never was out because I thought it could really hurt my career. So it was very, very quiet about my private life. And it wasn't until I actually came out that I felt that my career really flourished because when I was being offended and true, and that showed in the work that I was doing, we're always solving some sort of problem. It doesn't matter what business you're in, and I think that if you bring your offense itself there, you could really have real conversations with people. To understand how to move the bar forward, you take your struggle and turn it into a triumph where you turn it into an asset. I do feel a tremendous amount of strength being a woman.

 Pleasure meeting you. What do you-- want me to look directly at you? OK, great. My name is Kay Koplovitz, and I am the co-founder and chairman of Springboard Enterprises and the Springboard Fund. How do you feel being a woman has influenced your career path? In my career, I faced many situations where women were not accepted. At Augusta National Golf Club, where I had a contract, women were not allowed to go to the second floor club. That sounds simple, but you're excluded from the club of people who are running something that's important in television coverage. You just find your way around things. I was never thinking that it was going to be a barrier for me. I was going to find a way around it, because I knew, to be successful, I would have to. And so I never really looked at it as a barrier, I just looked at it as something I-- you know, a challenge. I think it was very natural for me to expect myself to be successful in business. I at one time produced television for WTMJ in Milwaukee. And I realized that people thought that I had perhaps reached the pinnacle of my career, because they had never had women producers. And they just didn't quite understand that wasn't it for me. That I didn't want to be the manager of the TV station. That I didn't want to be the President of the Milwaukee Journal that owned the TV station. I wanted to be the president of NBC. You know, you have to draw the picture for yourself of what you believe you want to really do and not let other people define you. It's one success after another that really gives you confidence, I think. 

Here's What the First Female Network President Has to Say About Gender Barriers

Kay Koplovitz founded USA Networks in 1977.

a pleasure meeting you and I. What do you want me to look directly at? You okay. My name is Kay Koplovitz and I am the co founder and chairman of A Springboard Enterprises and the Springboard Fund. How do you feel? Being a woman has influenced your group in my career? I faced many situations where women were not accepted. At Augusta National Golf Club, where I had a contract, women were not allowed to go to the second floor club. That sounds simple, but you're excluded from the club of people who are running something that's important and television coverage. You just find your way around things. I was never thinking that it was going to be a barrier for me. I was going to find a way around it because I knew to be successful. I would have to, and so I never really looked at it as a barrier. I just looked at. It is something I, you know, a challenge. I think it was very natural for me to expect myself to be successful in business. I at one time produced television for W G. M. J in Milwaukee, and I realized that people thought that I had perhaps reached the pinnacle of my career because they had never had women producers, and they just didn't quite understand that. Wasn't it for me that I didn't want to be the manager of the TV station, but I didn't want to be the president. The Milwaukee Journal, that old the TV station. I wanted to be the president of NBC. You know, you have to draw the picture for yourself of what you believe you want to really do and not let other people define you. It's one success that for another, that really gives you confidence, I think.

 I'd rather go hide. I'd rather just not do not be in that situation. Those hallway conversations and those networking opportunities really can drive your business forward. It's just something I have to-- I always continue to focus on and always push myself. [INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC] So for me, I think the biggest challenge I faced in my career, which has both been personal and professional, has been that I am an introvert. And I started to really understand, as I started to get my first sort of management roles, it wasn't something that came naturally to me. Which, many other things did. I was lucky. But this didn't. My very first really understanding that I was fairly introverted and that it was required in leadership skills was how tired I was when I got home. I started to realize that I was working really hard. This job isn't that much harder. I don't know what's different. I was starting to manage teams. And I started to realize it just took a lot of energy for me to be on. So one would think someone leading a community team would not be introverted, as really the whole corpus of that is that people are willing to put their opinion out there and be out there, meet both online and offline often. I'd say the other thing I really have focused on is hiring teams of people that really dial up those skills that I don't have. When you're in leadership, there's definitely multiple axes that you have to look at. So both managing your team and your people, your stakeholders, and then managing up. If you aren't innately capable of being out there and talking, you're not going to win. You're not going to drive your strategies. And you're not going to deliver on the mission that you've set out. You can have the best mission and the best data in the world. But if you can't talk about it or win people over or sell people, you can't make moves and get things done. So it's part of the business. It's part of being a leader. If you are someone who feels like that, it's totally workable. Just get out there and start talking about it. Because you'll feel better once you know other people feel really similarly. [INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC] 

Can You Be a Leader and an Introvert?

I'd rather go Hide does not not be in that situation. The hallway conversations and the networking opportunities really could drive your business forward. You know, it's something I have to I always continue to focus on and always pushed myself. So for me, I think the biggest challenge I've faced in my career, which is both personal and professional, has been that I am an introvert. Um, and I started to really understand as I started to get my first sort of management roll. It wasn't something that came naturally to me, which so many other things did. I was lucky, but this is my very first really understanding that I was fairly introverted and that it was required in leadership skills. How tired I was like a home. I started to realize that I was working really hard, like this job, that much harder. I felt what's different. I was starting to manage teams. I started to realize it just took a lot of energy for me to be. So one would think someone leading a community team would not be introverted that a really. The whole corpus of that is that people are willing to put their opinion out there and be out there meet both online and offline. Often, I'd say the other thing. I really have focused on its hiring teams of people that really style up those skills that I don't. You know, when your leadership there's definitely multiple access, sees that you have to look at so both managing your team and your people, your stakeholders and then managing up you are neatly capable of being out there and talking. Um, you're not gonna win. You're not gonna drive your strategies. You're not gonna deliver on the mission that you set out. You could have the best mission in the best data in the world, but you can't talk about it or win people over. People can't make you know, make moves and get things done. So it's part of the business part of being a leader. If you are someone who feels like that, it's totally workable. Just get out there and start talking about it because you'll feel better once you know. Other people feel really similarly

 Yes. OK. Why don't you tell us your name. Muriel Bowser, I'm the mayor of Washington DC. How do you feel being a woman has influenced your career? [MUSIC PLAYING] If you'd asked me that a few years back, I would tell you that I didn't think it was a big factor. Still, I think that Washingtonians want a great mayor-- a female mayor or a male mayor. They want somebody who's going to be honest, somebody who is going to reflect their values. Now, if you ask me about the impact on campaigns and how women leaders are treated differently, that's a long conversation. But there are some differences, but I approach them the same way. I do my job, and I deliver for the people of DC. And that's how they're going to judge me. The biggest obstacles are people who will try to put you in a box or try to discourage you from moving ahead. And so I think that a lot of people-- if you're under 40, if you select a nontraditional path, if you're a woman, you always have people who doubt and will try to dissuade you. It's especially clear when you may be one woman in a field of men, and so it becomes easy to see differences. And that became very clear to me. I don't know that I would say that I changed anything about what I did or how I approached my work, but I am aware. The obstacle for me has been putting that kind of what I call the static or the noise to the side and focusing on what I think is best. 

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Discusses What It's Like Being a Woman in Politics

okay. A Muriel Bowser. I'm the mayor of Washington, D. C. How do you feel of being a woman in your career? If you'd asked me that, you know, a few years back, I would tell you that I didn't think it was a big factor. Still, I think that Washingtonians want a great mayor, a female mayor or a male mayor. They want somebody who's gonna be honest, somebody who is going to reflect their values. Now, if you ask me about the impact on campaigns and how women leaders were treated differently, that's a long conversation. But there are some differences. But I I approached them the same way I do my job and I deliver for the people of DC, and that's how they're going to judge me. The biggest obstacles are people who will try toe, put you in a box or try to discourage you from moving ahead on. So I think that a lot of people, if you are under 40 if your select a non traditional path you're a woman, you know you'll always have people who doubt and will try to. It's especially clear when you know you may be one woman in a field of men, and so it becomes easy to see different, and that became very clear to me. I don't know that I would say that I change anything about what I did, our our approach, my work. But I am aware the obstacle for me has been putting that kind of what I call the static or the noise to the side and focusing on what I think.

 So are you ready to go? Yes. Excellent. I'm Michelle Johnson. I'm the superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy. And my rank in the Air Force is Lieutenant General. How do you feel being a woman has influenced your career path? [MUSIC PLAYING] I didn't really think of it that way. I don't wake up every morning and saying, I'm a woman. That's different, right? I just am. This is who I am. For women in the '70s, the doors were starting to open, but it was-- they weren't completely open yet. So we didn't really know what was possible. You tried to make possible. It was a bit of a shock to be in the second coed class at a service academy, and to be suddenly feel like the other. Probably the crucible of going through that when I was 18 to 22 years old helped kind of fortify me for other times when I'm other for other reasons. Having the resiliency to say I can get through this and I can't be distracted by being treated as other, especially in flying. One of the forgiving things is the airplane doesn't care, right? It doesn't care what you look like or sound like or where you came from. But if you allow the other people's reaction to change oneself, that could be distracting, and it could undermine in your performance on the very thing that you want to do well at. People often say women have to work harder and try harder. I think it's just sometime overcoming other people's expectations. But my own father was in tears when I got my pilot wings. He said, I could never imagine my daughter wearing jet pilot wings. I said, but Dad, you said we could do anything. And he said, but I just couldn't imagine it. So I think that's part of not-- of only having maybe mothers in certain roles or sisters in certain roles has made it difficult for some people to even picture someone in different packaging, doing the work we do. 

How This Woman Went from Being the 'Other' to Being a Trailblazer

Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson explains.

Yes. I'm Michelle Johnson. I'm the superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy and my rank in the Air Force is Lieutenant General. How do you feel being a woman hasn't your curves e didn't really think of it that way. They don't wake up every morning is saying I'm a woman different, right? I just I am who I am for women. In the seventies, the doors were starting to open, but it was they weren't completely open. Yet we didn't really know what was possible to try to make possible. It was a bit of a shock. It would be in the second grade class at a service academy to be suddenly feel like the other. Probably the crucible of going through that when I was 18 to 22 years old helps kind of fortify me for other times when my mother, for other reasons, having the resilience to say I can get through this, and it can't be distracted by being treated other, especially in flying, whether the forgiving things that the airplane doesn't care doesn't care what you look like or sound like or where you came from. But if you allow the other people's reactions to change of oneself that could be distracting, and it could undermine the new performance on the very thing that you want to do well, people often say women have to work harder and try harder. I think it's just some time overcoming other people's expectations. But even my own father was in tears when I got my pilot wings, he said. I could never imagine my daughter wearing jet pilot wings, But Dad, you said we could do anything and he just couldn't imagine it. So I think that's part of nut of only having a maybe mother's in certain roles or sisters in certain roles has difficult for some people to even picture someone in different packaging doing the work we d'oh!

 If I could just have you give your name. OK. And your position in the company. OK. Hi, I'm Sandi Peterson from Johnson & Johnson, and I'm the group worldwide chairman. How do you feel being a woman has influenced your career path? [MUSIC PLAYING] I think it's influenced it a couple of ways. I'm of the age that, for many years, I was the only woman in the room. I was the only woman with children. But I also think it's made me much more empathetic towards people who are different and wanting to bring in different voices to figure out how to solve issues and problems. Over time, it's been easier for people, particularly women, to show up as their full selves at work. I remember when I started working. You had to sort of pretend you were an automaton. You didn't have a personal life. And that doesn't happen anymore. And so I think one of things for me that I get jazzed about every day is when I show up at work, and I help other women be successful. And it's as important to me as it is what I do in terms of building businesses and making them profitable and growing market share. It's about enabling other women to become their full potential. [MUSIC PLAYING] I always say every day until 50% of the people in the company that I'm responsible for from top to bottom are female, we haven't done our job because we don't reflect the environment and the society in which we live in. We still have a lot of work to do. But it's a lot nicer now, and it's a lot easier when you walk into a room and half the people in the room are diverse of some way, shape, or form. The other thing I think is really fun to see is that a lot of men who were under the ages of 35, they want to have time with their kids too. They want to have time to support their spouses. And they don't want to be just working and not being able to make that work for them as well. So I actually think having more women in the workplace makes it better for men in the workplace too. [MUSIC PLAYING] 

How Having More Women in the Workplace Benefits Everyone

I could just have to give your name. Can your position in the company. Okay. Hi. I'm Sandy Peterson from Johnson and Johnson on the group worldwide. Chairman. Do you feel being a woman is influential? I think it's influenced it a couple of ways. You know, I, um I'm of the age that I for many years I was the only woman in the room. I was, you know, the only woman with Children. But I also think it's made me much more empathetic towards people who are different and wanting to bring in different voices to figure out a solve issues and problems over time. You know, it's been easier for people, particularly women, to show up there full cells at work. And I remember when I started working, you had to sort of pretend you were an autumn Aton. You didn't have a personal life, and that doesn't happen anymore. And so I think one of things for me that I get just about every day is when I show up at work and I help other women. To be successful has important to me as it is what I d'oh in terms of building businesses and making them profitable and growing market share. It's about enabling other women to become their full potential. I always say every day until 50% of the people in the company that I'm responsible for from top to bottom or female, we haven't done our job because we don't reflect the environment in the society in which we live in. We still have a lot of work to do. But, you know, it's a lot nicer now, and it's a lot easier when you walk into a room and half the people in the room, um, our divers in some way, shape or form. The other thing, I think is really fun to see is that a lot of men who are under the age of 35 they wanna have time with their kids to They wanna have time to support their spouses, and they don't want to be just working and not being able to make that work for them as well. So I actually think having more women in the workplace makes it better from there

 Thank you. [INTERPOSING VOICES] All right. OK. Cool. Good morning. I'm Anna Maria Chavez. I'm the chief executive officer for Girl Scouts of the USA. How do you feel being a woman has influenced your career path? [MUSIC PLAYING] You know I think being a woman, being a mother has really influenced the way that I look at things. I had two amazing women who mentored me. My grandmother who taught me at a very early age the importance of education because she never was able to receive an education. And then my mother who was one of the first women to run for public office in southern Arizona. As an adult when I transferred my skills to the law, I had seen her take on so many things, even without a law degree. So as a lawyer, I thought, well, private education I should be able to do so much more for society. As a young woman growing up in southern Arizona where there wasn't a lot of resources, when I think back and people asked me, so did you have obstacles, did you have barriers? I'll be honest. I have lot of adults who kick down a lot of barriers for me. That's why I'm so grateful and honor to be the head of the Girl Scouts because I give girls hope everyday. It was the 100th anniversary of Girl Scout Houston, Texas. I was looking out the audience and had brought to Houston the young woman who I introduced to Girl Scouts. She was a positive force in her school. She did everything she could to help her Girl Scout sisters. Irene is a bright girl who is, unfortunately, faced some challenges. And at the end of the year, the Girl Scout year, I learned that through all of this, Irene, since the age of nine, had been homeless. A couple of years later, she was traveling all over the country speaking on behalf of youth and she had become a national spokesperson for kids like her. Her life had been changed because Girl Scouts and I'm on stage and it hit me I was being a role model how powerful is that. There are going to be other women that are going to follow you, they're going to have it a little bit easier because you broke through that barrier for them. 

The Girl Scouts CEO Is Kicking Down Barriers for Young Girls

She tells us how in our new series “Trailblazers”.

Thank you. All right. Okay. Good morning. I'm Ana Maria Chavez on the chief executive officer for Girl Scouts of the USA. How do you feel? Being a woman has influenced your group? You know, I think being a woman, being a mother, really influence the way that I look at things had two amazing women who mentored me. My grandmother, who taught me a very early age, the importance of education because she never was able to receive an education. And then my mother, who was one of the first women to run for public office in Southerners as an adult. When I transferred my skills to law, I had seen her take on so many things, even without a law degree. So as a lawyer, well, private education, I should be able to do so much more for some fighting as a young woman growing up in southern Arizona, where there wasn't a lot of resource, is when I think back and people ask me So did you have obstacles? You have barriers. I will be honest. A lot of adults who kicked down a lot of bears for May. That's why I'm so grateful and honored to be the head of the Girl Scouts because I get girls. It was the 100th anniversary. Look out in the audience and had brought to Houston. Young woman went introduced a Girl Scout. She was a positive force in her school. She did everything she could to help her Girl Scout sisters. Irene is a bright girl who has, unfortunately facing challenges. And at the end of the year, the Girl Scout year. I learned that through all of this I win. Since the age of nine had been homeless. Couple of years later, she was traveling all over the country, speaking on behalf of youth. And she's becoming national kid liquor. Her life has been changed. His girl. I'm on stage and it hit me. I was How was that? They're going to be other women that are gonna follow you. They're gonna have a little bit easier because you broke through that very

Trailblazers

Cora’s Molly Hayward: Out to improve the world since age 10

Latest episode

Fortune introduces the newest season of Trailblazers.

Episodes (18 episodes)

Cora’s Molly Hayward: Out to improve the world since age 10

Ignite’s Anne Moses: Fighting to get more women into political office

The Riveter’s Amy Nelson: Moms 'seen as a distressed asset' at work

Zilingo’s Ankiti Bose: Building a successful startup as a woman in India

Thinx CEO on the Importance of Good Benefits for Working Parents

Fidelity's Kathy Murphy: Her Dad's Death Changed Her Career Path

Minority Women Still Have Big Hurdles in the Workplace

Ambassador Susan Schwab: Being the Only Woman in the Room Made Me Memorable

How Affectiva Founder Rana el Kaliouby Became CEO

Lisa Sherman: "You Just Need to Speak Your Truth"

How LendUp's Jotaka Eaddy Learned to Thrive in Silicon Valley

GLAAD CEO: 'I Think Being A Woman Has Made Me Work Harder'

Here's What the First Female Network President Has to Say About Gender Barriers

Can You Be a Leader and an Introvert?

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Discusses What It's Like Being a Woman in Politics

How This Woman Went from Being the 'Other' to Being a Trailblazer

How Having More Women in the Workplace Benefits Everyone

The Girl Scouts CEO Is Kicking Down Barriers for Young Girls