The Mystique of Feminine Buying Power

After observing the crowds at the post-holiday sales, and doing a bit of scouring myself, I thought back to the fact I recently read in a Mintel report:

“Women represent 51% of the population but buy 80% of all products/services.”

The fact itself is certainly not all that shocking. All of the marketers and advertisers have certainly figured it out, and we see it reflected in commercials and malls all the time. The WHY behind this could be interesting. The reasons this statistic must be so are a mixture of ‘surface’ and ‘substance,’ as I see it. The surface reason is that women are - intentionally or unintentionally - often delegated the task of household management, and the majority of purchases (even in “men’s categories”) ultimately fall into the framework of keeping the household together and running smoothly. But I wonder if the reason of substance has something to do with psychological mindset.

This statistic actually contradicts the pop-psych principle that “men like to fix things” (i.e. just buy something to take care of it as quickly as possible), whereas “women like to maximize their solution” (i.e. not just “buy something,” but utilize all resources available to create the best possible solution, or buying the "best something.")

But perhaps, women are simply more likely to use shopping as therapy – and not just in the sense of buying some new shoes after a bad day at work – but as a salve to that urge to make things better. Even purchasing a service like an oil change is a disguised check for the to-do list of an accomplished modern-woman multi-tasker. What do you think? I feel a bit like Larry Summers toeing the waters here, so I would invite other perspectives. Are women more likely than men to rely on money to “smooth the edges of things” and create self-worth and comfort? Or should I gather my things and resign my post at a top university? :)

Future Financing Rules

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s not the grandest time to start a business. But because the Guy and I are always dreaming up new business plans, this article on venture capital caught my eye. Reading things like this makes me realize how long my to-do list is to even be able to articulate what a business plan would look like. The basics of the capital structure are crucial, I’m learning. A few guiding principles I took away:

1) Ensure that you maintain control from investors with a controlling stake.
2) Even Institutional investors may demand a different CEO, even without a majority stake – so be careful about terms.
3) Start-up capital is precious. Do not deplete working-capital reserves until the venture is kicking off positive cash-flow.

In essence, watch your (company’s) back and your bottom line! I guess I’ll just tuck this one away for now….

What Does Henry Kravis Want? & What Can the WSJ Do for You?

Since grad school interviews are around the corner, I know I need to get back into reading the Wall Street Journal everyday again. A one-year subscription came with my GMAT course last year, and I loved it. Now I’m going to have to shell out $89 for the print subscription. If anyone else has faced a similar challenge of keeping up with business news and forcing yourself to stretch your interest and knowledge to a different level – what are good resources? Sometimes I find that checking an online website everyday is too easy to skip. A physical paper works for me. But if there are other blog type offerings that could accomplish the same thing, I’d love to be turned onto them!

Part of the reason I started this blog in the first place was to learn more about managing money and the investing world, so once I break down, I’m going to try to post commentary here on articles I think are good at helping the uninitiated absorb these issues. Starting with a NYT article yesterday: “What does Henry Kravis Want?” on the initial public offering of the private equity firm KKR. I liked it because it was a story, and recognized the businesses involved as such – entities run by real people, executives with varying motivations. I finally better understood what exactly a “leveraged buyout” looks like, and it made the drama of company control vs. steady financing seem more real. Happy Reading… (and imagining your life as one of these private equity big wigs, hobnobbing at the Olympics and above Central Park views, as I found myself daydreaming).

Because it's Friday...

Just for fun... I always love the Forbes lists...this week it's:

The Top Five Highest-Paid Female CEOs:
1) Indra Nooyi at Pepsi – $12.7 Million
2) Andrea Jung at Avon – $12 MM
3) Anne Mulcahy at Xerox – $11 MM
4) Susan Ivey at Reynolds America – $7.2 MM
5) Christina Gold at Western Union – $5.7 Million

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my career vision (business school essays, woo!) and I can't really imagine making that list with what I have in mind. I can see myself running a smaller organization, with a brand I'm passionate about - or even creating a company. But nothing quite that big.

Part-Time Professionals

I recently found out about two really great opportunities for professionals not in the workforce to find flexible part-time work they’re qualified for. (My company actually employs a similar group – but for retirees, which is how I caught wind of the industry.) The two are below:

MomCorps is a company what provides companies direct access to previously untapped segment of exceptional talent – professional women who have opted out of the workforce to care for children. Flexible Executives offers companies qualified candidates for project-based work at discounted rates. Companies can secure top talent for economical rates and professional women can choose stimulating work on their terms and timelines. If you happen to find yourself out of the workforce for a myriad of reasons, kind of nice to tuck away in your for-reference folder…

Why Women Don't Rule the World

I’m going to need a new suit for business school (and later) job interviews. My only suit is from my senior year of college when I was frankly, a bit of a porker, left over from rowing crew and excessive amounts of beer-drinking. Now that I’m marginally svelter, I couldn’t keep the thing up with a belt. So, I started doing research on how much I can expect to spend, and I ran across this bit by Laura Solon, a UK writer from the Guardian and she is just irresistible. Am now convinced that I should raise my children in London, so that they will be just as witty and charming:

Why don't women rule the world? Is it because we live in a patriarchal society that forever perpetuates the glass ceiling? Is it because women don't support successful women? I think it's both, but I tell you what doesn't help women in their cause: women's suits. Hillary Clinton's peach trouser suit. Deborah Meaden's beige number from the Dragons' Den promos. All the ones worn by women in the government. They are awful. Really awful. They are so awful that they could be a contestant on The Apprentice, where they'd annoy Margaret so much she'd swear.

The law of women's suits is: it doesn't matter how much a woman spends on a suit, she will almost always end up looking as if she bought it from a Next Seconds shop where it was nestling on a rail between a chenille turtle-neck and a plus-sized taupe thong.
The only way to wear a suit is if a) it's Chanel and b) you're a Parisian woman who weighs six ounces and sleeps safe in the knowledge that if global warming continues and lions start living in France and she's chased by one, she could save herself by hiding in the gap between her fridge freezer and the wall.

Maybe one day I will care about the brand name of my suit. I am going to business school in the next few years, and despite my thoughts on the matter, maybe I *will* lose my soul after all, and become the kind of person who has a comment on the suiting collections at Bergdorf vs. Saks. My actual price-hunting revealed I should probably budget around $400 at least. My two winners:

J.Crew $460 = $225 jacket + $130 pant + $100 pencil skirt
Bannana Republic $400 = $200 jacket + $100 pant + $80-100 pencil skirt

A quick search of Nordstroms.com revealed lots of Solon-described numbers and Bloomingdales.com revealed some sharp Theory and DVF looks that were way out of my price range ($800), and Chanel is just not an option. Any other ideas for finding a great looking suit under $500?

Also, a bit later in the article, Solon talks about her lack of financial knowledge and proposes:

scrapping sex education - just force all teenagers, boys and girls, to wear women's suits and thoughts of sex will all but disappear - and then replace it with finance education.

Cheers to that!

Yeah, Women Still Make Less Money

Today is Equal Pay Day, emphasizing the fact that the Wage gap is real. It feels like a 1920s issue but unless there is increased activism it will be an issue in 2020 as well. I’m certainly not completely resolved on how I feel about some aspects of feminism. I don’t think there is any way to regulate equality down to the hair among groups of people – whether that’s based on gender or income bracket or whatever. Life is full of inequitable situations. But getting closer on the wage gap is a made-up holiday I can support.

You Have 30 Seconds to Sell Me...

Update: My car still works. Holding my breath through the rest of this week...

Also, this is marginally related to finance/careers etc. but I just find it interesting. It’s an article that talks about how to master the “elevator pitch” – the idea that you have to sell someone on an idea in the time it takes you to ride an elevator to your floor. I find it interesting because I’m terrible at delivering “elevator speeches” – these short 30 seconds you have with someone to explain a business idea or make a first impression or get a point across. I think the idea of having an elevator pitch on things you’re passionate about it is really important – even if it’s not business related at all.

As a writer, I enjoy the luxury of spending hours with words on paper. Crossing them out, perfecting them. Contemplating the significance of each word. People are surprised at how bad I am with words in person. I stumble through words, I don’t complete expressions in the right way, I begin saying one thing and fray off into other thoughts. It’s quite comical even.

So maybe I’ll try to practice this week on various topics using some of the tips they record in the article:

An elevator pitch has to be direct, easy to understand, based on hard facts and sprinkled with enough pizazz to get someone to carve out those 30 minutes of their time to hear more. Use basic concepts and simple sentences. Context is compelling.

In Honor of International Women's Day?

Apparently today is International Women’s Day. Honestly. Who makes this stuff up? But in the spirit of this made-up holiday and women supporting women, I’ll try to post about a couple different resources specific to women for getting more financially savvy.

*On My Own Two Feet:
A pretty shallow resource, dedicated to promoting the book of the same title, but the links page was really helpful and I discovered a great new resource for various financial calculators… pretty perfect if you’re a personal finance nerd.

*85 Broads:
More of a career-focused website for women in business, 85 Broads was originally launched by Janet Hanson as a networking group for women at Goldman Sachs. (Goldman Sachs is located at 85 Broad Street, aren’t we punny?) It’s a membership type site you can join, but the blog’s nice, too. For me, a window into another world or a deeper view of what my world could be: https://secure.85broads.com/public/blog/4426

*Suze Orman
When I first started this blog, I caught Suze on CNN. I sense, without having confirmation from other bloggers, that she might be a controversial poster woman for personal finance. I like her, though. Despite other shock jock type characters, she seems compassionate. Plus, we share the whole Suze / Suzy thing.

*Ms Money: And her Blog:
This was a very succinct, visually-appealing site. And it has a no-nonsense way of conveying the real issues of women’s personal finance, without sounding condescending:
Women's long-term financial needs are different from men's because they earn 25% less, average 11 years out of the workforce, and live 5 years longer. Women need unique saving and investing strategies if they want to retire in style.

*Women’s Finance
Less glam of a site, no frills, but helpful link nonetheless.

*Women’s Personal Finance
This seemed like a nice “by women, for women” blog, and I’ll especially highlight a nice “introduction entry” about “What I wish my Mother had told me.

Feel free to add your own fave links in the comments....

Cashmere Mafia

In the middle of the writers’ strike, ABC has unveiled a new show about four driven professional women at the top of their industries (as far as I can make out thus far, a publisher of a major magazine-Lucy Liu, an executive at a national cosmetics company, and two high-powered other people…. consultant? i-banker? It’s a little unclear to me frankly. Hopefully more details will be revealed.) They are all doing well for themselves in the corporate world, but pretty hapless (normal?) women in all other aspects of their lives. I have to admit, as a sometimes-aspiring-businesswoman myself that I support the concept so much that I am willing to dismiss any deficiencies in the writing of the show itself. I don’t think the producers are really trying to instill any moral good in America... it seems to be Sex and the City + more business suits – one review called it "escapist fantasy pretending to be post modern feminist melodrama” – but it’s still refreshing to see images of females in power. I am curious to hear more background on how they got to be where they are. As of yet, their immaculately-made-up poker faces reveal nothing of the strain and perseverance of the corporate ladder climb…. not sure if the interests of realism will be served, we’ll wait to see how this plays out.