As of a few days ago, the Barbie brand under toy company Mattel has
undergone one of the biggest changes in its history. Introducing new Barbie
dolls that actually reflect the women today. With new body types, hair
textures, and a variety of skin tones, Barbie is making a statement that they
want to be relevant and a positive role model for young girls.
After coming under growing scrutiny in recent years for creating
unrealistic body standards and contributing to the specific criteria of who is
beautiful, Barbie needed to make a change. This video from TIME
magazine explains what the Barbie brand is doing to make positive change and
align their brand with the criticizes of women around the world.
Even with the new variety of dolls available to consumers, I believe Barbie
still has not shown a full range of what women look like. However, one
must consider the operations behind producing such a variety of products.
Retailers now need to make space for the new dolls and their corresponding clothes
for each body type.
Regardless, the Barbie brand decision to change is a great step towards promoting healthy body image and everyone is beautiful in their own unique way. Check out the video to learn more about Barbie company and the changes being made.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are a dynamic duo, known for their hilarious humor and great real life friendship (#friendshipgoals). These two women are not only gifted with the ability to make you cry laughing, they use their platforms as celebrities to stand up for women and the sexism we see in the media. Check out this video for some good laughs and great advice to women.
Both Fey and Poehler have come out with their own memoirs filled with not only funny childhood stories but about the challenges of being a women in comedy. I strongly recommend listening to their audio books instead of reading the physical copies. Both women narrate their own books, making each chapter even funnier than if you simply read it.
Love this Ted Talk! Not everyone knows exactly what they want to do in college, and that's perfectly okay. Don't settle for just any job, find what your passionate about and turn it into your career!
"The things we have in our head that we think are impossible, are just milestones waiting to be accomplished."
Many times when I think of successful businesswomen my mind goes to top executives in the United States like Marisa Mayer of Yahoo or Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo. But what about other parts of the world? An recent article in Forbes magazine noted that women leaders specially in the field of entrepreneurship is much more common in Asia than in the Western part of the world.
According to Forbes Magazine, HSBC Private Bank release a study showing that "two in five entrepreneurs in Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China, or about 40%, are female with nearly half under the age of 35. In Hong Kong, the numbers are split nearly even, with women entrepreneurs making up 48%" Women in western countries only made up 31% of entrepreneurs.
The article does not go into why there is a such a difference in the statistics. I cannot help but wonder what the root cause creates this difference in the world? Is there just a greater window of opportunity in places like Hong Kong? Do countries in Asia have business culture that encourages and pushes for entrepreneurship?
1. Decide what type of thank you note to send. Three common types of thank you notes are; Typed notes that are printed, put into printed envelopes, and mailed, emailed notes, and hand-written notes. Notes sent through snail mail are preferred by most formal companies but sometimes due to time constraints an email will have to do.
Bonus Tip: You can always do more than one. For example send an email the day of and a handwritten note a week later.
2. Make it personal and sincere. Reference the interview you had with them. Maybe you really enjoyed learning how they started their career or you have the same alma mater.
Bonus Tip: If more than one person interviewed you, you will need to send a personal note to each.
3. Be concise. Express your appreciation and reiterate your interest and qualifications.
4. Proofread. I cannot emphasize this step enough! You can have an amazing interview and completely botch it with grammar errors and spelling mistakes. I recommend having a peer look over it as well.
5. Follow up. Don't worry if you don't receive a reply, often the people interviewing you receive 100's of emails a day and frankly just don't have the time. If two weeks go by with no news feel free to reach out again.
We could all use a little inspiration to kick off our new year. Sheryl Sandberg the current COO of Facebook and author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead shares her three pieces of advice for women aiming to reach the top in the workplace in this TED Talk.
Sanberg's coined phrase "lean in" has caught on in the discussions about women in the workplace. To lean in, in the words of Sandberg, means to not pull back when it comes to your professional career when you want to start a family. This challenges the idea that women cannot achieve their professional ambitions and be a mother at the same time. Take a look at this video for her simple advice on how to do both.
2. Ditch the soda! As tempting as that soda machine is in your cafeteria, nothing good can come of it. (See suggestion #1)
3. Schedule your workouts! I use to just workout whenever I felt like it but then I started to make excuses, "I won't have time to do my hair", "I only have 30 minutes", "I want to sleep in", and the list goes on and on. So I decided to make a change and began blocking out time on my calendar for workouts. The result has minimized my long list of excuses and has increased the time I spend at the gym.
Bonus Tip! You only need 10 minutes for an insanely effective workout! Also you can work out anywhere with a floor (no equipment or gym needed)! Check out this free 10 minute workout and there are many more online.
4. Meal Plan! When I first heard of meal planning, I thought it was the strangest thing. How could I possibly know what I want to eat a week from now? That's crazy! Then I realized planning out my meals helps me to buy only exactly what I need (Cost Savings!). It also helps me make healthier choices because I have no excuse to order pizza or eat something else I would regret. Every Sunday I make my grocery list and plan out my meals for the week. Pick any day of the week and make it your meal planning and prep day! Always allow for some flexibility.
Bonus Tip! Here is a template to help get you started!
5. Find a workout buddy! Working out with a friend can make it a lot more enjoyable, plus you can keep each other accountable!
