What Message Do Your Actions Send?

Written by mochynka | Mar 8, 2016 5:14:28 PM

Today women are celebrating and speaking up across the world to recognize all that women have accomplished and all the battles that women still have to overcome.

As a 100% woman owned business, I have reasons to celebrate how far women have come. I don't frequently think about how women are still battling unfair wages, lack of representation, or any sort of discrimination. Those of you that know me would likely agree. I am not a activist on this topic by speaking about it frequently. Instead I choose to lead by example, something my parents have done my entire life, and something the children and adults I interact with on a daily basis do as well.

Growing up, I was never told I was limited because of my gender. My mother is a strong, confident, at times bossy woman and my father, while possessing many of the same characteristics himself, adds supportive into this mix. My father supported my mother when she chose to continue working after having her first child, he chose to support her decision to stay home after having her second. He also supported her dream of returning to school to become a lawyer when the youngest (twins) of their five children entered the first grade. There was and is no such thing as a gender role in our home.

When I decided to open Pinnacle, I was rewarded by the SBA for being a woman owned business. I qualified for loan programs by gender alone. But why? The fact is, I qualified because there are still prejudices, differences, and injustices for women, especially in the workplace.

When I thought about today being Women's Day, I thought about my recent battle with being treated as an equal. My husband and I have been applying for financing for a new facility over the past month. When setting up interviews with banks and architects, I told him, "I want to go alone." I wanted to see how each institution would treat me as the decision maker. His response was, "You will figure that out either way". He is right. Either the person will look past me and to my husband, or look at me as the primary decision maker. It doesn't take long to figure it out. And it is even more upsetting when the sexist comments come from a woman. But it does help me recognize, we are not equal... not yet. But we do have a lot of people, men and women, working toward a less prejudice climate.

There is a difference between chivalry and chauvinism. My husband knows this. My dad knows this. I hope that my sons learn this.

So it is up to us to lead by example. To teach our sons and daughters that men and women are equal. To teach my athletes that I can build things, clean things, be a mom, be a coach, run a business. I can do whatever I dream to do. And so can my athletes and children that are learning by observation.