Here’s my story: In 2007, I had an idea for a media company called The Women’s Book. Like a phone book, it was intended to be a one-stop-shop to connect inspiring women to each other and local resources to advance their careers and businesses. 
I began networking to get the concept off the ground by attending events to meet a wider range of women leaders and organizations. I also shared the idea with people in my existing network, both women and men, to get their insights and advice about the concept.
Some of these people agreed to build mutually beneficial collaborations and others agreed to invest sponsorship and advertising dollars in the business. These connections helped me to create a successful and well-known company with followers across the U.S. and publications and events reaching four markets.
Coming together
The success of the company prompted our recent merger with Smart Business that will grow our newly branded publications and events, Smart Women, into more markets.
Smart Women seeks to showcase the advice and achievements of local businesswomen, and to recognize inspiring male advocates and effective women’s programs.
It will combine networking events and content like this series to address issues especially relevant to advancing women in business and ultimately the economic vitality of entire organizations and communities.
Breaking barriers
This series is important because while many women have broken through barriers to achieve high levels of success, there are still a variety of societal norms and issues such as unconscious bias that foster perceptions that women are not as smart and capable as men.
These issues perpetuate pay inequality, generate lower investments in woman-owned businesses and create a disproportionate representation of women leaders in places such as C-suites and corporate boards.
Providing a strategic advantage
Smart business leaders know that diversity and inclusion at all levels of their organization provides a strategic advantage because it fosters better-informed decision-making.
Emerging research shows that businesses with greater representation of women in top leadership posts, including corporate boards, experience a higher return on equity, return on sales and return on invested capital. This positive impact can also be seen in overall inclusiveness and equal opportunity for everyone.
It is simply good business to have smart women at the table sharing their unique insights, advice and strategy to impact the success of the organization in a variety of ways.
We hope the Smart Women series proves insightful to help you better understand and address issues impacting the advancement of businesswomen. Use these powerful connections to help grow and redefine your success through strategies used by inclusive businesses and progressive women who are thriving in today’s economy.
