The Broad Experience

A year ago, the first rumblings were heard in the press about a business book by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. No one could have predicted then that 'leaning in' would become a catchphrase, and Sandberg's book a cultural phenomenon. In this show, produced last April, I sat down in a Greenwich Village apartment with 5 women from generations X and Y to discuss Sandberg's blockbuster, 'Lean In'. At the time the book had only been out a few weeks. It's now been on the New York Times Bestseller List for 51 weeks. Six women, wine, Middle Eastern food, and lots of opinions. Tune in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How OK is it to show your emotions at work? Traditionally, not very. Some of my guests say that's changing. Others say we still work in male-dominated companies where crying or getting angry will damage your reputation - if you're female. Tune in for some good meltdown stories, a few facts on the science of tears, and some sage advice on not letting workplace eruptions get you down.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ad industry draws plenty of women, but hardly any of them end up making the creative decisions that influence the marketing messages we see every day. In this episode of the show we ask why so few women end up in top creative roles at ad agencies, and talk to Kat Gordon, founder of the 3% Conference, about what she's doing to try to change the status quo.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You've heard it before: women aren't funny. Or at least not as funny as men. Well it turns out if you're a senior woman in a corporation, perception is reality. Always a devotee of the self-deprecating joke, I was surprised to learn from my guest, professor of linguistics Judith Baxter, that these self-directed barbs don't go down well when women deploy them in board meetings. Tune into the show to find out what happens when senior men and women use banter or otherwise joke around at work. Ponder why this form of office communication works for men, but not their female counterparts. And laugh. Or grit your teeth, depending on your level of frustration.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Success - we all want it. But what, exactly, does it mean? Career coach Kathy Caprino and mindful leadership coach Emily Bennington are my guests on this show. Both women are authors, and both have corporate careers behind them. Kathy and I discuss why some of us seem to expect success to come almost instantly when we launch a new project or entrepreneurial venture - and what the reality of such a launch entails.Emily talks about her entry into the work world as a wildly ambitious twenty-something set on corporate domination. She wanted the title, the promotion, the money. What she hadn't bargained on was just how stressful she would find her ascent. After years of striving she had a change of heart, and changed her definition of success.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liz O'Donnell, author of Mogul, Mom & Maid, tackles some of the ground Sheryl Sandberg didn't touch on in her women-in-the-workplace bestseller, Lean In: the home front. O'Donnell says it's difficult to lean in to your career when you're the one with most of the responsibilities at home. Things seem to be a bit easier in Europe. Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper says everyone he knows, male and female, expects both halves of a couple to work and to share childcare. What that means is that pretty much no one is 'leaning in'.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second show in the Tips for Success series, we're sticking to a creative theme. A lot of women dream of starting their own business. My guest actually did it. She's Alexandra Ferguson, CEO of the company of the same name, prolific maker of pillows and makeup cases with cheeky sayings that sell in the US and around the world. She started sewing in her living room five years ago. These days she works out of a small factory space in Brooklyn and has more then ten employees - and growing. But getting to where she is now has involved plenty of ups and downs. She offers some great tips and caveats in this episode about business, creativity, and working with your mother.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To an outsider, being a professor can look like a great job (I'm thinking vigorous intellectual engagment, flexibility, and long vacations). Often it is, and not just for those reasons. But just because you work in a center of higher learning doesn't mean everything that goes on there lives up to humanity's highest ideals. From maternity leave to work/life balance to getting promotions, life in the ivory tower is often tougher for women. We look at the statistics, talk about why women are still lagging men on the employment front, and get into a sobering discussion about sexual harassment in the scientific community, which, like other STEM fields, is trying to attract more women. 15 minutes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show I explore women's attitude to money, something I've reported on quite a bit over the years and still find fascinating. Many women still have an ambivalent relationship with money - it's tied up with their feelings about themselves and how they do, or don't value themselves. I interview Natalia Oberti Noguera, CEO of the Pipeline Fellowship, and financial behaviorist (yes, that's a thing) Jacquette Timmons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show we look at world of women lawyers. Big Law, as it's known in the US, is well known for having few women at the top. And when they do gain partnership, women are paid less: female partners at law firms are paid just under $500,000 a year on average, as opposed to $734,000 for men. Neither sex is on the breadline, clearly, but a lot of female lawyers today never thought they'd be contending with some of the persistent gender issues they are. Still, lawyers are like many other women in the workplace - many have the same tendency to assume their hard work should simply be recognized and rewarded accordingly. It rarely is.We talk about:Why female lawyers flee large firms after relatively little time on the job.Why working hard is never enough.How some lawyers are claiming authority and pushing to increase the number of women in leadership.The job/family balancing act, and what it's like growing up with a lawyer for a mom.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.