A panel of eight women business leaders and entrepreneurs in Westchester and Fairfield counties shared the hardships and joys of achieving success recently in Rye.
Among the messages was out with the dolls and in with the moon launch for young girls.
The Women with Drive luncheon hosted by Westfair Communications and the Westchester County Business Journal ”“ privately held and woman-owned ”“ offered hundreds of women opportunities to network and ask questions on topics ranging from social media as a marketing tool to managing stress. The event, held at the historic Wainwright House on Stuyvesant Avenue, was sponsored by Mercedes-Benz of Greenwich (Conn.) and White Plains Hospital.
Panelists included Fran Pastore, founder, president and CEO of the Connecticut Women”™s Business Development Council; Anne Janiak, executive director of the Women”™s Enterprise Development Center Inc.; Bridget Gibbons, CEO of Gibbons Digital Consultants in Bronxville; and Kecia Palmer-Cousins, co-owner of G&K Sweet Foods L.L.C. based in Peekskill.
The event began with moderator Elizabeth Bracken-Thompson, principal in Westchester-based public relations firm Thompson & Bender, sharing U.S. Census data that illuminate improvements made in employment statistics and annual revenue for women-owned businesses.
Women-owned businesses employ 7.7 million people, which is 40 percent more than three of the nation”™s largest employers ”“ McDonald”™s, IBM and Walmart ”“ combined, Bracken-Thompson said. Women-owned businesses generate revenues of $1.3 trillion, and over the past 15 years, they have seen a 58 percent increase in revenue, she added.
While serving on the National Women”™s Business Council, Pastore has seen the number of federal contracts granted to women-owned businesses increase, but that number still falls short of the 5-percent mark.
“For about 21 years, there has been an unwritten law that women should receive 5 percent of all government contracts,” Pastore said. “President Clinton put in place a 5-percent rule that has never been met.”
But through the women-owned Small Businesses Administration procurement program, women have received more government contracts over the past two decades, and researchers have been holding the federal government accountable by keeping track of recorded statistics.
The event shifted to a question-and-answer session in which women were asked to share about the greatest obstacles they faced in starting their businesses and how to maintain a work-life balance.
Palmer-Cousins, who said she has two kids and a husband, emphasized the importance of maintaining a work-life balance.
“My kids were part of a 150-choir concert,” Palmer-Cousins said. “There was also a minority women business enterprise project seminar going on at the same time. ”¦ I told my children, ”˜I”™ll have your father there. I”™ll have your babysitter there. They”™ll be the cheerleader for you. Mommy will be five blocks away trying to earn us money, so we can keep up the lifestyle we are accustomed to.”™”
She said her children understood because she has taken them to work with her work, and they see what she does and how important it is to let her take care of business.
The event ended with questions from the audience about how to get past the gender barrier.
“We get more women ”“ our daughters, our nieces, our granddaughters, or friends”™ daughters ”“ into the field of STEM,” Pastore said, referencing the science, technology, engineering and math acronym. “When we encourage young women to go into the field of economics and finance and technology and engineering, they are then going to have a seat at the table.
“It starts at the very beginning stages when we buy Legos for boys and Barbies for girls,” Pastore said. “We need to buy Erector Sets for girls and Barbies for boys.”
