February 11, 2025 • 27 mins
Think the economy is run by tech bros and Wall Street suits? Think again. Women now control 85% of consumer spending and 60% of America's personal wealth, making them the most powerful economic force in the market. In this eye-opening episode, we dive into Bank of America's latest report on the "She Economy" and explore how women are outpacing men in income growth, business ownership, and market influence. Plus, we tackle the urgent battle over DEI initiatives in corporate America and reveal how women's collective purchasing power could be the key to preserving workplace equity.
Key topics:
- The trillion-dollar female economy and why it matters
- Why 40% of working women now out-earn their husbands
- How women are driving economic growth across all sectors
- The latest on DEI rollbacks at major corporations
- Strategic ways to use your economic power for positive change
- Which major companies are standing firm on DEI (and which aren't)
Whether you're a corporate leader, entrepreneur, or professional woman, this episode reveals the true scope of female economic power and how to leverage it. Join us for an empowering discussion about women's rising influence in the global economy and what it means for the future of business.
#WomenInBusiness #SheEconomy #DEI #WomenLeaders #BusinessStrategy #CorporateAmerica #WomenEntrepreneurs #EconomicPower #WomenInLeadership #BusinessPodcast
Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. We are not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am literally going back and forth between I'm
grounded, I am one, and like, Iwill cut you.
You know what I've had?
(00:24):
The most relaxing 2025.
How about you?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
yeah, yeah, I feel rested and not stressed at all
centered chill balanced no nochill yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I am literally going back and forth between like I'm
grounded, I am one, and like Iwill cut you no in between.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
No, in between.
Before this, did you watch thehalftime show with Kendrick?
I did yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Yeah, loved it.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And then I saw someone's comment about it that
said and then I saw someone'scomment about it that said
Kendrick is teaching me that I'mnot reaching my full hating
potential, and I was like, yes,yes.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
In this moment.
Yes, it was such strong energy.
It was strong energy, elegantenergy.
Yeah, it wasn't sloppy.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
It wasn't basic yeah, 100%, yeah, 100%.
Well, what are you talkingabout today?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I want to talk about something that's been in the
ether for a while, but I do wantto talk about some of the new
things happening with the DEIbattle.
Let's talk about the two frontsit's happening, on how it's
going to impact you.
More importantly, what you cando, because we all have power,
sometimes in interesting places.
And then I have some FIA news.
(01:58):
Mel, what are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I am talking about the she economy.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I am talking about the she economy, the she economy
.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yes, and the power players that women are in
influencing our economy.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Ladies.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Ladies, who knows the world?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Girls.
So DEI, yeah, so DEI.
This battle has been going onfor at least the last year.
We've had conservativeactivists in boardrooms swaying
shareholders and stakeholders tosay, hey, we're going to
completely walk away from DEIefforts and or roll them back
significantly.
We've seen this at companieslike John Deere, harley Davidson
(02:41):
, the latest being Target, whichI'll talk about in a second.
It's ramping up full steam eversince the Trump administration
came into bear.
There's two things happening.
One is now you have governmentand legal pressure from Pam
Bondi, who's the attorneygeneral, and the Department of
Justice, and they'reinvestigating companies for
(03:03):
potential reverse discriminationclaims which could lead to
criminal probes and or lawsuits.
Now there are many attorneysthat are on record saying they
don't even think that the DOJcan even do this, but the
threats are out there.
Have you seen this?
I have.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, even thoughit might not be something that
(03:23):
they can legally enforce, we'realready seeing organizations
using that as an opportunity towalk away from some of their DEI
efforts.
The other one continues tohappen in the boardroom and
corporate strategy.
Companies are continuing toface pressure from conservative
shareholders and activistinvestors.
(03:44):
We've seen companies likeGeneral Motors, pepsi, amazon.
They've already removed DEIreferences from their public
reports, signaling some quietpullback On the docket this week
in some of the S&P.
We've got companies like Apple,coca-cola, ibm, berkshire
Hathaway.
They're seeing some challengesalready with their DEI programs
(04:07):
and we're waiting to see whatmight happen with that or not.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
A few thoughts on this One, curious why we have so
many followers out there andnot leaders in the business
world.
Just because something camedown as an executive order as a
private company, it doesn't meanyou need to necessarily follow
that.
Stand up for yourself, right.
The second one for me is thecontinuation of listening to
(04:37):
shareholders who don'tnecessarily represent your
customer base.
A good example of that andactually the shareholders Target
just didn't listen to theircustomer base or their
shareholders, who are now suingthem.
When you see companies makedecisions that really go against
their greater good of thesuccess of their business due to
bullying, let's call it what itis.
It's straight up bullying.
(04:58):
It's bullying by theadministration and it's bullying
by some of their conservativeshareholders and it's bullying
by some of their conservativeshareholders.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, I think it also holds true to do you genuinely
value, do you genuinely haveinclusion, belonging equity,
thinking about diversity in alltypes of realm, not just race
and gender right?
Do you value that as a way ofdoing business to your point
(05:25):
Because it reflects yourconsumer base, because it
reflects your employee base, orbecause you know that when you
have these practices, you aremore profitable, you are more
innovative, you are moreproductive?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
In the words of Julia Roberts big mistake, huge
mistake.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Huge mistake, huge mistake.
The good news is we're seeing alot of companies and we'll talk
about this in a second holdtheir ground, basically saying
piss off, this is the way we dobusiness.
And over my dead body nothappening.
Fun fact Costco.
Fun fact the NFL, which isprobably the most bro
organization on the face of theplanet, roger Goodell coming out
(06:06):
and being like we're notwalking away from this.
This is.
This is the way we do.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Jamie Dimon.
Jamie Dimon, I was like, well,that was an unexpected player
showing up in this conversation,but thank you, yes.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Yes, it is.
It is unexpected, and I alsothink that points to the fact
that because they understand thebusiness value of these
decisions and hopefully thehuman value as well.
But I can guarantee you it's abusiness value.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
One hundred percent because they're playing for the
long run.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
This is my thing.
You either are or you've beenco-opting at the entire time of
the things you and I talk aboutall the time I feel like I've
said this a million times is, inthese times where regulations
and protection go away, you willsee very clearly what
organizations will or will notstand for.
(06:55):
It's almost like if you hadTinder and everybody's profile
was a hundred percent honest.
Yeah, right.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah Right, I mean, essentially, it's now their new
Glassdoor profile 1000%.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So, as an employee, what's great is if someone's
saying that they're standing fordiversity, equity, inclusion
and they have the facts to backit up, you know they fucking do
Right.
And if it's nowhere to be found, you know what you're going to
get.
And I think that level ofclarity is a great thing,
Because what happens when thesetype of protections are rolled
(07:31):
back?
The workplace in general foreverybody becomes less fair,
it's less inclusive, it's lessprotective of all employee
rights.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
All of them of all employee rights.
All of them, yeah, becausethese programs and initiatives
help everyone, as you mentionedup front.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
It's every employee.
What you're going to start tosee is a lot more, and I'll go
through some of these just tolist them.
You're going to have fewerleadership opportunities
happening for everybody acrossthe board.
The whole idea of meritocracyis going to be screamed from the
trees.
Listen.
It's going to favorwell-connected candidates.
(08:10):
It's going to favor legacyhires.
It's going to favor people thatwent to the right schools and
that are in the right circles,that are in the right networks.
For instance, there's no way inhell you're going to be getting
into a big four if you didn'tgo to a big 10 or an Ivy school,
if you went to Eastern OklahomaUniversity I don't even know if
that is a thing you're notgetting there.
That's what that means.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
That's what that means, unless you have a
connection, who's a potentialclient Right?
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Right.
Again, it's not a meritocracyCorrect.
It's not a meritocracy Right.
Workplace workforcediscrimination for everybody.
This is at risk.
You're going to have thingslike code switching happening
more and more.
And if you don't know what thisis, Mel and I have been around
for a while.
Let me put it this way when Iwas being raised as a
professional woman in my 20s andin my 30s, I was basically told
(09:01):
to assimilate into a man'sculture.
I should learn how to play golf.
I should be wearing pantsuitsthat had like a leather accent,
so I looked more masculine.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I was told I had to wear a skirt suit because that
was the preference for women ew,not in a place I worked, but
while I was on an interview thatit was recommended, if I came
back for second rounds, that Ichoose different attire that
aligns more with what theyprefer for women, which is
women's skirt suits and men inpantsuits.
(09:33):
We'll bring it back to the 80s,even though it was the early
2000s yeah, this was not thatlong ago, it was not.
Not, it really wasn't, I meanand we also lived through the
separate policies of maternityversus paternity leave, where
women received three months,usually unpaid, and men received
(09:56):
two weeks, and for both, takingthat time meant it would hurt
your chances of being promoted.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
That's the other piece of this and, again, this
is why it impacts everybody,right?
When we think aboutfamily-friendly, when we think
about sandwich generation, whenwe think about inclusive
benefits, let's just go on thatPaid paternal leave, anything
you have to take care of yourolder generation, your younger
generation, like child carebenefits, if you're
(10:25):
neurodivergent or you have adisability accommodation.
If you think about ERGs, if youthink about workers' rights,
like just safety, osha, all ofthese things are on the line.
Ladies, the pay gap we had 20years before we shortened that
pay gap where it was equal formen and women oh, that just
(10:45):
doubled, at a minimum, no way Idon't even need the research.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
We'll see that report in a year.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
It's interesting to watch and I know you're going to
be talking about the shieconomy and I'm so stoked for
that and I realize I'm likeyelling into the microphone,
sorry about that.
I'm like what I don't want todo is, and because I have, I
think there was a day last weekwhere I texted you and I'm like
I just need to nap Cause I wasjust like because you feel so
fucking helpless sometimes,right, and to me last week it
(11:18):
felt like, okay, we have twopeople in charge of everything,
donald Trump and Elon Musk, andthere's no other power dynamic.
But then when you peel back andlook at, is that true?
Yeah, there is a third party,which is you you as an employee
and you as someone that is abuyer of things.
(11:40):
And a couple of things I wantpeople to keep in mind,
especially if you're an employeeright now, as these things may
be rolled back in your companyor may about to be rolled back
in your company.
One is document everything.
If you have a workers' rightsissue, if you have a
discrimination issue, if youhave a harassment issue, if you
(12:01):
have a bias issue and you needto go and lawyer up or you need
to go to HR and complain, thefirst thing they're going to ask
you for is documentation.
So right now, I would bekeeping records of your
performance reviews, yourpromotions, your pay stubs.
(12:21):
If you have any kind ofdiscrimination concerns at all,
start documenting them.
Period Document all of yourgoodness.
Document anything that'shappening, because that's the
first thing anyone's going to beasking for.
Don't wait until you need it,just so you have it, especially
on the plus side, just so youhave it.
If DEI is something you reallybelieve in, is to make sure that
(12:45):
you make that known in yourorganization.
Support ERGs, support internaladvocacy efforts.
Push for transparency.
If you're a person of privilegein a certain situation and you
see something happening, saysomething.
Advocate for someone.
I can't say that enough,because we're already hearing
and seeing things happening inthe workplace.
(13:06):
Don't be silent.
And the last thing is vote withyour wallet, mel.
I know you're going to talkabout this in a second, but
support brands that are publiclycommitted to DEI so we continue
to have workplaces that supportthis, and the easiest way you
can do that is with your wallet.
I have not shopped at Targetfor the last three weeks and I'm
(13:31):
the most basic ass white womanyou've ever met in your life and
I am going a little bonkers,but I will not do it.
I will not do it.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Listen, there are plenty of thrift stores where
you can get the same dopaminehit.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah, super fair.
Listen, super fair.
You know what I realized?
It's on the makeup, like I likegoing there and like just
picking up a $10 like blah blah.
You know what I'm saying?
It's just that it's thatthere's nothing wrong with
thrift store.
You know nothing wrong withthrift store.
So things to keep in mind as itrelates to DEI watch what's
(14:04):
happening in your boardroom,watch what's happening with the
DOJ and, more importantly, getyourself into a position of
power which you have with yourwallet and at work.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
There was an article that came out from Bank of
America report recently thatnoted that women are officially
the economy's power players andthat we're outpacing men in
income and spending growth.
And one of the questions I haveout there is are women the key
to the next economic boom?
I think yes, because we'veofficially entered the she
(14:37):
economy.
Have you heard of it?
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I haven't, but I'm very, very curious.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Girl power.
Okay, here are the five thingsyou need to know about this One.
This projection about womenreally being the leaders in our
economic growth, not just in theUS but globally started back in
2019 with a McKinsey reportcalled she Economy.
But I'm going to say I wentdown a little rabbit hole this
weekend and I found an evenearlier report talking about
(15:06):
this and the future of women'spurchasing power.
Can you guess who was studyingthis back in 2014?
The future of women's purchasingpower, the purchasing power of
women.
Who is doing some research onthis?
Speaker 1 (15:19):
I guess I was thinking it'd be like I don't
know why Sheryl Sandberg iscoming to mind.
I know that's not right.
I know that's not right.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
No, and she was a front for Zuckerberg.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I understand, I understand, like the big ladies
movements, the big ladiesmovements Very inspirational.
But I know God, I swear to God,I just want to like lean out.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Dove, dove Beauty no, but good guess.
I mean that would be a goodguess, right?
I'm sure they had their ownresearch, but it was McCormick
Spices.
They had a whole report out onthe purchasing power of women
back in 2014 that I was like,ooh, this is interesting, but a
lot's changed since 2014 and alot's changed since 2019, when
(15:57):
McKinsey started to highlightthis.
And then I went even deeper,because I noticed that
Nationwide put out a report tofinancial advisors and I think
2023, about why you're going toneed to start adjusting for your
future core clientele, whichare women, and what kind of
financial advising do they need,because they're a very
(16:18):
different kind of clientele.
I was like, yes, we are.
We are very different and we'vebeen paying the pink tax for so
long.
We deserve to finally be inthis position.
So five big areas of what we'reseeing.
First, income growth.
Women are experiencing fasterincome growth than men,
contributing significantly toeconomic expansion.
(16:39):
According to research from agroup called Girl Power
Marketing, women control morethan 60% 6-0 of all personal
wealth in the US Really, yes,and 40% of US working women now
out-earn their husbands 60% ofall wealth.
(17:01):
Women, women.
In the US, but the, the richestpeople are like bro bros.
Well, those are who you see inthe news, but just because they
have the highest concentrationamongst that little bro circle,
that doesn't represent all ofamerica.
So when you think of thecollective power, of women's
spending power, yeah, yeah, yeah, we have it 60.
(17:23):
Power in numbers, ladies.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
It's not even like a slight majority that feels I
feel like I feel very confident.
It's a majority, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yeah, power in numbers, spending power has
increased.
With increased earnings,women's spending has surged,
making them pivotal consumers inthe market.
In fact, forbes noted back inMarch of 2024, a reference from
a TechCrunch report that womencontrol.
Guess what percentage ofpurchases women control?
(17:51):
Just purchases in general, justpurchases in general made in
the us 70, 70, 70 73.
Well you're, you're much closerthe first time 85, 85 of
purchases across variouscategories in the us alone, so
not even globally.
We control the global economyas well, by the way.
Additionally, women areprojected to control 75 of
(18:15):
discretionary spending by 2028.
Yeah, that's not too far.
I wonder why all our rights arelooking to be dismantled.
My tinfoil hat don't mind meguys.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
All right.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
TechCrunch has called it the unlocking of the
trillion dollar female economy,and the Girl Power Report notes
that women are the primarydecision makers for things like
new homes, personal computers,vacations, healthcare, new cars
where we put our bank accountsfood and pharmaceuticals.
(18:48):
We are the primary consumersfor those big things in every
household.
That resonates with me.
Does that resonate with you?
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yes, I, literally I'm just going through the roster
of like what I buy versus whatmy husband buys.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Yeah, absolutely Like who does the research?
Who does the decision-making?
Robbie jokes all the time thatI'm the decisive one.
Nope, we're taking that He'lldo the research and I'm like, no
, it's this.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
We're good you get over that 60% of the wealth and
then 85% of the purchasing, like85%.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Well, women carry the load there's.
So when you break, I mean, Icould probably write a thesis on
this like a whole, but like wecarry the mental load for
households, the majority ofwomen are carrying that load.
They are making all of thesedecisions every single day,
small, minor decisions, and notto say men don't make these
(19:46):
decisions for themselves, butoftentimes this is the work
deferred to women, and so we areleading in the spending power.
And an interesting point fromthe Scurril Power report was,
although we make 85% of thesemajor purchases, 91% of women
feel that advertisers don'tunderstand them at all because
(20:06):
they market to men.
50% of products that aremarketed to men are actually
purchased by women.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
This is absolutely true.
If you want a great example ofthis, look at the Old Spice
campaign, because Old Spicebefore it was a funny commercial
ad with that really hot guythat's on the horse and all this
good jazz.
10 years ago, old Spice wasjust like an old man, grandpas,
old man brand.
They realized that women werethe ones buying deodorant,
(20:32):
buying aftershave for all oftheir husbands.
And so what did they do?
They put a super hot guy in thecommercial.
And what happened?
Yeah, smart.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah, their sales went up.
They understood their customer.
There you go, All right.
The third thing educationalattainment.
More women are attaining highereducation levels, equipping
them for diverse roles acrossmultiple industries.
More women are getting advanceddegrees than men Makes sense
industries.
More women are getting advanceddegrees than men.
Labor force participation isthe fourth item.
(21:01):
There's been a notable rise inwomen's participation in the
workforce, enhancing overalleconomic productivity.
One area of growth is launchingstartups.
Women are becoming biggerplayers in the startup space,
even though they're not fundedas often as men.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
No.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
But what the report noted is women actually will
launch their startup with lesscapital and there are more
conservative borrowers than men,according to Forbes, and they
contribute more than 37% ofglobal GDP today and that's
expected to grow.
And then, according to thatTechCrunch article, from 2023,
women make up roughly half ofthe US working population and
(21:45):
when they adjust that forself-employment, women are the
workforce majority.
And, according to the Bank ofAmerica report, which just came
out a few weeks ago, women'semployment growth has been
greater than the average for thepast two years, outpacing the
national average.
Last, I'm going to coverentrepreneurship.
So women are increasinglyleading businesses, driving
(22:06):
innovation, job creation.
That Girl Power report notedthat one out of every 11
American women owns a business.
That one out of every 11American women owns a business.
Look at us we do too.
Hey, according to a CNN article, in 2024, after the pandemic,
there was a massive surge inwomen entrepreneurship and women
(22:27):
have formed new businesses atrates that outpace the market,
and in traditionallymale-dominated industries like
construction and manufacturingmale dominated industries like
construction and manufacturingIn 2023, 49% of new business
owners were women, versus 45%being men.
And to put that in perspectivefor you back in 2019,.
That number for women wassomething like 29%, so it's
(22:50):
almost doubled.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
This is what happens when you fund women.
It helps us all, and we dosomething about it.
A 20% jump in four years isinsane, and what happened there,
though for I'm sure for a lotof people was pandemic money
right Flowing in, potentially,or investment flowing in, and
what do women do?
They start something, theybuild something, they produce
(23:14):
something, and, by the way, thatends up being real money.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, Real money.
Real money creating real jobs,creating real economic growth
for the US and globally.
Women guys I don't know whatelse to say here, but it's clear
that empowering women in theworkforce as entrepreneurs is
only going to help everybody.
(23:41):
I'm going to leave you with aquote from Fortune.
It really resonated with me andI hope it resonates with others
.
But, going back to your power ofthe wallet, listen, the
majority of Fortune 500companies are led by men, but
it's women that can make orbreak those companies.
It's not their board, it's nottheir shareholders, it's their
consumers, and the majority ofconsumers, as all of these stats
(24:05):
show, are women.
So, women, if you can't speakpublicly or if you feel unsafe
to do that, you can speak withyour purchasing power, and you
should do so.
Hey, National Women's Month iscoming up.
What?
March 1st?
Maybe?
(24:25):
That's the day of only spendingin places that support women.
I'm just going to call it now,okay.
As Fortune notes, if you'relooking for someone to thank for
the economy's resilience at themoment, women might be a good
place to start.
That's my soapbox.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Eighty five percent purchasing power.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Eighty five percent.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Can we do some FEI?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
news I think we have.
Yeah, let's cover some FEI news.
Let's end on a positive.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Listen, it's the Mr Rogers thing.
Right, Look for the helperswhen you're feeling like, oh my
God, look for the helpers.
There are always helpers, rightand even better, be a helper
with your purchasing power.
And so if you're wonderingabout US companies that are
upholding strong commitments todiversity, equity and inclusion,
(25:17):
here they are.
I'm going to list them, mel,you're going to list them.
Some of these we're watchingjust because it's on a it
changes every day, folks.
As of now, monday February 10th,at 1219 PM Pacific Standard
Time, these are the companiesthat are.
So it's Apple, costco Goddamn Ilove Costco Elf Beauty, goldman
Sachs, jp Morgan Chase, JamieDimon.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yeah, I love that.
Loved his comeback for that.
Yeah, didn't see that coming.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Microsoft, salesforce , patagonia, nice fleece, ben
and Jerry's, nike, my alma mater, just do it.
Intel, linkedin, unilever,johnson and Johnson and, just in
time for the football, the NFL.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
I love it.
I love it.
I'll add to that Pinterest wason that list.
Very nice, love Pinterest.
Nasdaq was on there, delta wason that list too, and Cisco.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Very nice Love to see it.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
I love to see it too.
I hope they stand the ground insupporting it, because we need
companies that are going to beleaders in this space to push
back and reinforce the value.
I'm still upset about Target.
Womp, womp, I guess you knowAll right Mel Well lovely to
(26:30):
talk with you today.
Lovely to talk to you too,friend.
Listen, this episode wasproduced, edited and all things
by us myself and Francesca.
Our music is by Pink Zebra andwe love that you join the
conversation with us everysingle week.
Please follow us on all thesocials, join our community on
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(26:50):
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Speaker 1 (27:05):
All right, Be well, friends, take care.
Bye, thank you.
I am literally going back and forth between I'm
grounded, I am one, and like, Iwill cut you.
You know what I've had?
(00:24):
The most relaxing 2025.
How about you?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
yeah, yeah, I feel rested and not stressed at all
centered chill balanced no nochill yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I am literally going back and forth between like I'm
grounded, I am one, and like Iwill cut you no in between.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
No, in between.
Before this, did you watch thehalftime show with Kendrick?
I did yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Yeah, loved it.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And then I saw someone's comment about it that
said and then I saw someone'scomment about it that said
Kendrick is teaching me that I'mnot reaching my full hating
potential, and I was like, yes,yes.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
In this moment.
Yes, it was such strong energy.
It was strong energy, elegantenergy.
Yeah, it wasn't sloppy.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
It wasn't basic yeah, 100%, yeah, 100%.
Well, what are you talkingabout today?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I want to talk about something that's been in the
ether for a while, but I do wantto talk about some of the new
things happening with the DEIbattle.
Let's talk about the two frontsit's happening, on how it's
going to impact you.
More importantly, what you cando, because we all have power,
sometimes in interesting places.
And then I have some FIA news.
(01:58):
Mel, what are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I am talking about the she economy.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I am talking about the she economy, the she economy
.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yes, and the power players that women are in
influencing our economy.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Ladies.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Ladies, who knows the world?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Girls.
So DEI, yeah, so DEI.
This battle has been going onfor at least the last year.
We've had conservativeactivists in boardrooms swaying
shareholders and stakeholders tosay, hey, we're going to
completely walk away from DEIefforts and or roll them back
significantly.
We've seen this at companieslike John Deere, harley Davidson
(02:41):
, the latest being Target, whichI'll talk about in a second.
It's ramping up full steam eversince the Trump administration
came into bear.
There's two things happening.
One is now you have governmentand legal pressure from Pam
Bondi, who's the attorneygeneral, and the Department of
Justice, and they'reinvestigating companies for
(03:03):
potential reverse discriminationclaims which could lead to
criminal probes and or lawsuits.
Now there are many attorneysthat are on record saying they
don't even think that the DOJcan even do this, but the
threats are out there.
Have you seen this?
I have.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, even thoughit might not be something that
(03:23):
they can legally enforce, we'realready seeing organizations
using that as an opportunity towalk away from some of their DEI
efforts.
The other one continues tohappen in the boardroom and
corporate strategy.
Companies are continuing toface pressure from conservative
shareholders and activistinvestors.
(03:44):
We've seen companies likeGeneral Motors, pepsi, amazon.
They've already removed DEIreferences from their public
reports, signaling some quietpullback On the docket this week
in some of the S&P.
We've got companies like Apple,coca-cola, ibm, berkshire
Hathaway.
They're seeing some challengesalready with their DEI programs
(04:07):
and we're waiting to see whatmight happen with that or not.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
A few thoughts on this One, curious why we have so
many followers out there andnot leaders in the business
world.
Just because something camedown as an executive order as a
private company, it doesn't meanyou need to necessarily follow
that.
Stand up for yourself, right.
The second one for me is thecontinuation of listening to
(04:37):
shareholders who don'tnecessarily represent your
customer base.
A good example of that andactually the shareholders Target
just didn't listen to theircustomer base or their
shareholders, who are now suingthem.
When you see companies makedecisions that really go against
their greater good of thesuccess of their business due to
bullying, let's call it what itis.
It's straight up bullying.
(04:58):
It's bullying by theadministration and it's bullying
by some of their conservativeshareholders and it's bullying
by some of their conservativeshareholders.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, I think it also holds true to do you genuinely
value, do you genuinely haveinclusion, belonging equity,
thinking about diversity in alltypes of realm, not just race
and gender right?
Do you value that as a way ofdoing business to your point
(05:25):
Because it reflects yourconsumer base, because it
reflects your employee base, orbecause you know that when you
have these practices, you aremore profitable, you are more
innovative, you are moreproductive?
Speaker 2 (05:36):
In the words of Julia Roberts big mistake, huge
mistake.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Huge mistake, huge mistake.
The good news is we're seeing alot of companies and we'll talk
about this in a second holdtheir ground, basically saying
piss off, this is the way we dobusiness.
And over my dead body nothappening.
Fun fact Costco.
Fun fact the NFL, which isprobably the most bro
organization on the face of theplanet, roger Goodell coming out
(06:06):
and being like we're notwalking away from this.
This is.
This is the way we do.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Jamie Dimon.
Jamie Dimon, I was like, well,that was an unexpected player
showing up in this conversation,but thank you, yes.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Yes, it is.
It is unexpected, and I alsothink that points to the fact
that because they understand thebusiness value of these
decisions and hopefully thehuman value as well.
But I can guarantee you it's abusiness value.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
One hundred percent because they're playing for the
long run.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
This is my thing.
You either are or you've beenco-opting at the entire time of
the things you and I talk aboutall the time I feel like I've
said this a million times is, inthese times where regulations
and protection go away, you willsee very clearly what
organizations will or will notstand for.
(06:55):
It's almost like if you hadTinder and everybody's profile
was a hundred percent honest.
Yeah, right.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah Right, I mean, essentially, it's now their new
Glassdoor profile 1000%.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So, as an employee, what's great is if someone's
saying that they're standing fordiversity, equity, inclusion
and they have the facts to backit up, you know they fucking do
Right.
And if it's nowhere to be found, you know what you're going to
get.
And I think that level ofclarity is a great thing,
Because what happens when thesetype of protections are rolled
(07:31):
back?
The workplace in general foreverybody becomes less fair,
it's less inclusive, it's lessprotective of all employee
rights.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
All of them of all employee rights.
All of them, yeah, becausethese programs and initiatives
help everyone, as you mentionedup front.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
It's every employee.
What you're going to start tosee is a lot more, and I'll go
through some of these just tolist them.
You're going to have fewerleadership opportunities
happening for everybody acrossthe board.
The whole idea of meritocracyis going to be screamed from the
trees.
Listen.
It's going to favorwell-connected candidates.
(08:10):
It's going to favor legacyhires.
It's going to favor people thatwent to the right schools and
that are in the right circles,that are in the right networks.
For instance, there's no way inhell you're going to be getting
into a big four if you didn'tgo to a big 10 or an Ivy school,
if you went to Eastern OklahomaUniversity I don't even know if
that is a thing you're notgetting there.
That's what that means.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
That's what that means, unless you have a
connection, who's a potentialclient Right?
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Right.
Again, it's not a meritocracyCorrect.
It's not a meritocracy Right.
Workplace workforcediscrimination for everybody.
This is at risk.
You're going to have thingslike code switching happening
more and more.
And if you don't know what thisis, Mel and I have been around
for a while.
Let me put it this way when Iwas being raised as a
professional woman in my 20s andin my 30s, I was basically told
(09:01):
to assimilate into a man'sculture.
I should learn how to play golf.
I should be wearing pantsuitsthat had like a leather accent,
so I looked more masculine.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I was told I had to wear a skirt suit because that
was the preference for women ew,not in a place I worked, but
while I was on an interview thatit was recommended, if I came
back for second rounds, that Ichoose different attire that
aligns more with what theyprefer for women, which is
women's skirt suits and men inpantsuits.
(09:33):
We'll bring it back to the 80s,even though it was the early
2000s yeah, this was not thatlong ago, it was not.
Not, it really wasn't, I meanand we also lived through the
separate policies of maternityversus paternity leave, where
women received three months,usually unpaid, and men received
(09:56):
two weeks, and for both, takingthat time meant it would hurt
your chances of being promoted.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
That's the other piece of this and, again, this
is why it impacts everybody,right?
When we think aboutfamily-friendly, when we think
about sandwich generation, whenwe think about inclusive
benefits, let's just go on thatPaid paternal leave, anything
you have to take care of yourolder generation, your younger
generation, like child carebenefits, if you're
(10:25):
neurodivergent or you have adisability accommodation.
If you think about ERGs, if youthink about workers' rights,
like just safety, osha, all ofthese things are on the line.
Ladies, the pay gap we had 20years before we shortened that
pay gap where it was equal formen and women oh, that just
(10:45):
doubled, at a minimum, no way Idon't even need the research.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
We'll see that report in a year.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
It's interesting to watch and I know you're going to
be talking about the shieconomy and I'm so stoked for
that and I realize I'm likeyelling into the microphone,
sorry about that.
I'm like what I don't want todo is, and because I have, I
think there was a day last weekwhere I texted you and I'm like
I just need to nap Cause I wasjust like because you feel so
fucking helpless sometimes,right, and to me last week it
(11:18):
felt like, okay, we have twopeople in charge of everything,
donald Trump and Elon Musk, andthere's no other power dynamic.
But then when you peel back andlook at, is that true?
Yeah, there is a third party,which is you you as an employee
and you as someone that is abuyer of things.
(11:40):
And a couple of things I wantpeople to keep in mind,
especially if you're an employeeright now, as these things may
be rolled back in your companyor may about to be rolled back
in your company.
One is document everything.
If you have a workers' rightsissue, if you have a
discrimination issue, if youhave a harassment issue, if you
(12:01):
have a bias issue and you needto go and lawyer up or you need
to go to HR and complain, thefirst thing they're going to ask
you for is documentation.
So right now, I would bekeeping records of your
performance reviews, yourpromotions, your pay stubs.
(12:21):
If you have any kind ofdiscrimination concerns at all,
start documenting them.
Period Document all of yourgoodness.
Document anything that'shappening, because that's the
first thing anyone's going to beasking for.
Don't wait until you need it,just so you have it, especially
on the plus side, just so youhave it.
If DEI is something you reallybelieve in, is to make sure that
(12:45):
you make that known in yourorganization.
Support ERGs, support internaladvocacy efforts.
Push for transparency.
If you're a person of privilegein a certain situation and you
see something happening, saysomething.
Advocate for someone.
I can't say that enough,because we're already hearing
and seeing things happening inthe workplace.
(13:06):
Don't be silent.
And the last thing is vote withyour wallet, mel.
I know you're going to talkabout this in a second, but
support brands that are publiclycommitted to DEI so we continue
to have workplaces that supportthis, and the easiest way you
can do that is with your wallet.
I have not shopped at Targetfor the last three weeks and I'm
(13:31):
the most basic ass white womanyou've ever met in your life and
I am going a little bonkers,but I will not do it.
I will not do it.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Listen, there are plenty of thrift stores where
you can get the same dopaminehit.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah, super fair.
Listen, super fair.
You know what I realized?
It's on the makeup, like I likegoing there and like just
picking up a $10 like blah blah.
You know what I'm saying?
It's just that it's thatthere's nothing wrong with
thrift store.
You know nothing wrong withthrift store.
So things to keep in mind as itrelates to DEI watch what's
(14:04):
happening in your boardroom,watch what's happening with the
DOJ and, more importantly, getyourself into a position of
power which you have with yourwallet and at work.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
There was an article that came out from Bank of
America report recently thatnoted that women are officially
the economy's power players andthat we're outpacing men in
income and spending growth.
And one of the questions I haveout there is are women the key
to the next economic boom?
I think yes, because we'veofficially entered the she
(14:37):
economy.
Have you heard of it?
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I haven't, but I'm very, very curious.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Girl power.
Okay, here are the five thingsyou need to know about this One.
This projection about womenreally being the leaders in our
economic growth, not just in theUS but globally started back in
2019 with a McKinsey reportcalled she Economy.
But I'm going to say I wentdown a little rabbit hole this
weekend and I found an evenearlier report talking about
(15:06):
this and the future of women'spurchasing power.
Can you guess who was studyingthis back in 2014?
The future of women's purchasingpower, the purchasing power of
women.
Who is doing some research onthis?
Speaker 1 (15:19):
I guess I was thinking it'd be like I don't
know why Sheryl Sandberg iscoming to mind.
I know that's not right.
I know that's not right.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
No, and she was a front for Zuckerberg.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I understand, I understand, like the big ladies
movements, the big ladiesmovements Very inspirational.
But I know God, I swear to God,I just want to like lean out.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Dove, dove Beauty no, but good guess.
I mean that would be a goodguess, right?
I'm sure they had their ownresearch, but it was McCormick
Spices.
They had a whole report out onthe purchasing power of women
back in 2014 that I was like,ooh, this is interesting, but a
lot's changed since 2014 and alot's changed since 2019, when
(15:57):
McKinsey started to highlightthis.
And then I went even deeper,because I noticed that
Nationwide put out a report tofinancial advisors and I think
2023, about why you're going toneed to start adjusting for your
future core clientele, whichare women, and what kind of
financial advising do they need,because they're a very
(16:18):
different kind of clientele.
I was like, yes, we are.
We are very different and we'vebeen paying the pink tax for so
long.
We deserve to finally be inthis position.
So five big areas of what we'reseeing.
First, income growth.
Women are experiencing fasterincome growth than men,
contributing significantly toeconomic expansion.
(16:39):
According to research from agroup called Girl Power
Marketing, women control morethan 60% 6-0 of all personal
wealth in the US Really, yes,and 40% of US working women now
out-earn their husbands 60% ofall wealth.
(17:01):
Women, women.
In the US, but the, the richestpeople are like bro bros.
Well, those are who you see inthe news, but just because they
have the highest concentrationamongst that little bro circle,
that doesn't represent all ofamerica.
So when you think of thecollective power, of women's
spending power, yeah, yeah, yeah, we have it 60.
(17:23):
Power in numbers, ladies.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
It's not even like a slight majority that feels I
feel like I feel very confident.
It's a majority, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yeah, power in numbers, spending power has
increased.
With increased earnings,women's spending has surged,
making them pivotal consumers inthe market.
In fact, forbes noted back inMarch of 2024, a reference from
a TechCrunch report that womencontrol.
Guess what percentage ofpurchases women control?
(17:51):
Just purchases in general, justpurchases in general made in
the us 70, 70, 70 73.
Well you're, you're much closerthe first time 85, 85 of
purchases across variouscategories in the us alone, so
not even globally.
We control the global economyas well, by the way.
Additionally, women areprojected to control 75 of
(18:15):
discretionary spending by 2028.
Yeah, that's not too far.
I wonder why all our rights arelooking to be dismantled.
My tinfoil hat don't mind meguys.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
All right.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
TechCrunch has called it the unlocking of the
trillion dollar female economy,and the Girl Power Report notes
that women are the primarydecision makers for things like
new homes, personal computers,vacations, healthcare, new cars
where we put our bank accountsfood and pharmaceuticals.
(18:48):
We are the primary consumersfor those big things in every
household.
That resonates with me.
Does that resonate with you?
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Yes, I, literally I'm just going through the roster
of like what I buy versus whatmy husband buys.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Yeah, absolutely Like who does the research?
Who does the decision-making?
Robbie jokes all the time thatI'm the decisive one.
Nope, we're taking that He'lldo the research and I'm like, no
, it's this.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
We're good you get over that 60% of the wealth and
then 85% of the purchasing, like85%.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Well, women carry the load there's.
So when you break, I mean, Icould probably write a thesis on
this like a whole, but like wecarry the mental load for
households, the majority ofwomen are carrying that load.
They are making all of thesedecisions every single day,
small, minor decisions, and notto say men don't make these
(19:46):
decisions for themselves, butoftentimes this is the work
deferred to women, and so we areleading in the spending power.
And an interesting point fromthe Scurril Power report was,
although we make 85% of thesemajor purchases, 91% of women
feel that advertisers don'tunderstand them at all because
(20:06):
they market to men.
50% of products that aremarketed to men are actually
purchased by women.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
This is absolutely true.
If you want a great example ofthis, look at the Old Spice
campaign, because Old Spicebefore it was a funny commercial
ad with that really hot guythat's on the horse and all this
good jazz.
10 years ago, old Spice wasjust like an old man, grandpas,
old man brand.
They realized that women werethe ones buying deodorant,
(20:32):
buying aftershave for all oftheir husbands.
And so what did they do?
They put a super hot guy in thecommercial.
And what happened?
Yeah, smart.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah, their sales went up.
They understood their customer.
There you go, All right.
The third thing educationalattainment.
More women are attaining highereducation levels, equipping
them for diverse roles acrossmultiple industries.
More women are getting advanceddegrees than men Makes sense
industries.
More women are getting advanceddegrees than men.
Labor force participation isthe fourth item.
(21:01):
There's been a notable rise inwomen's participation in the
workforce, enhancing overalleconomic productivity.
One area of growth is launchingstartups.
Women are becoming biggerplayers in the startup space,
even though they're not fundedas often as men.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
No.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
But what the report noted is women actually will
launch their startup with lesscapital and there are more
conservative borrowers than men,according to Forbes, and they
contribute more than 37% ofglobal GDP today and that's
expected to grow.
And then, according to thatTechCrunch article, from 2023,
women make up roughly half ofthe US working population and
(21:45):
when they adjust that forself-employment, women are the
workforce majority.
And, according to the Bank ofAmerica report, which just came
out a few weeks ago, women'semployment growth has been
greater than the average for thepast two years, outpacing the
national average.
Last, I'm going to coverentrepreneurship.
So women are increasinglyleading businesses, driving
(22:06):
innovation, job creation.
That Girl Power report notedthat one out of every 11
American women owns a business.
That one out of every 11American women owns a business.
Look at us we do too.
Hey, according to a CNN article, in 2024, after the pandemic,
there was a massive surge inwomen entrepreneurship and women
(22:27):
have formed new businesses atrates that outpace the market,
and in traditionallymale-dominated industries like
construction and manufacturingmale dominated industries like
construction and manufacturingIn 2023, 49% of new business
owners were women, versus 45%being men.
And to put that in perspectivefor you back in 2019,.
That number for women wassomething like 29%, so it's
(22:50):
almost doubled.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
This is what happens when you fund women.
It helps us all, and we dosomething about it.
A 20% jump in four years isinsane, and what happened there,
though for I'm sure for a lotof people was pandemic money
right Flowing in, potentially,or investment flowing in, and
what do women do?
They start something, theybuild something, they produce
(23:14):
something, and, by the way, thatends up being real money.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, Real money.
Real money creating real jobs,creating real economic growth
for the US and globally.
Women guys I don't know whatelse to say here, but it's clear
that empowering women in theworkforce as entrepreneurs is
only going to help everybody.
(23:41):
I'm going to leave you with aquote from Fortune.
It really resonated with me andI hope it resonates with others
.
But, going back to your power ofthe wallet, listen, the
majority of Fortune 500companies are led by men, but
it's women that can make orbreak those companies.
It's not their board, it's nottheir shareholders, it's their
consumers, and the majority ofconsumers, as all of these stats
(24:05):
show, are women.
So, women, if you can't speakpublicly or if you feel unsafe
to do that, you can speak withyour purchasing power, and you
should do so.
Hey, National Women's Month iscoming up.
What?
March 1st?
Maybe?
(24:25):
That's the day of only spendingin places that support women.
I'm just going to call it now,okay.
As Fortune notes, if you'relooking for someone to thank for
the economy's resilience at themoment, women might be a good
place to start.
That's my soapbox.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Eighty five percent purchasing power.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Eighty five percent.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Can we do some FEI?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
news I think we have.
Yeah, let's cover some FEI news.
Let's end on a positive.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Listen, it's the Mr Rogers thing.
Right, Look for the helperswhen you're feeling like, oh my
God, look for the helpers.
There are always helpers, rightand even better, be a helper
with your purchasing power.
And so if you're wonderingabout US companies that are
upholding strong commitments todiversity, equity and inclusion,
(25:17):
here they are.
I'm going to list them, mel,you're going to list them.
Some of these we're watchingjust because it's on a it
changes every day, folks.
As of now, monday February 10th,at 1219 PM Pacific Standard
Time, these are the companiesthat are.
So it's Apple, costco Goddamn Ilove Costco Elf Beauty, goldman
Sachs, jp Morgan Chase, JamieDimon.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yeah, I love that.
Loved his comeback for that.
Yeah, didn't see that coming.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Microsoft, salesforce , patagonia, nice fleece, ben
and Jerry's, nike, my alma mater, just do it.
Intel, linkedin, unilever,johnson and Johnson and, just in
time for the football, the NFL.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
I love it.
I love it.
I'll add to that Pinterest wason that list.
Very nice, love Pinterest.
Nasdaq was on there, delta wason that list too, and Cisco.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Very nice Love to see it.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
I love to see it too.
I hope they stand the ground insupporting it, because we need
companies that are going to beleaders in this space to push
back and reinforce the value.
I'm still upset about Target.
Womp, womp, I guess you knowAll right Mel Well lovely to
(26:30):
talk with you today.
Lovely to talk to you too,friend.
Listen, this episode wasproduced, edited and all things
by us myself and Francesca.
Our music is by Pink Zebra andwe love that you join the
conversation with us everysingle week.
Please follow us on all thesocials, join our community on
LinkedIn.
(26:50):
We're on Instagram, you canfind us on TikTok and on YouTube
, and if you like what ourcontent is, please like and
subscribe and share with fivefriends, because it takes five
minutes and we'd be reallyappreciative if you did that.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
All right, Be well, friends, take care.
Bye, thank you.
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