WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?

FILTHY RICH AND FEMALE

In the intriguingly titled book 'Millionaire Women Next Door', Thomas J. Stanley starts by quoting the words of a man he met following a book presentation.
" …Women in business… the few who succeed are anomalies…unmarried, unkind, uncaring, uncontrollable, unliked, undesirable, unattractive, unwanted…
Women… no business being in business."

Wow! I know Thomas J. Stanley's book found the opposite to be true, and gives much evidence to the contrary, yet this is a widely held perception by both men and women.

In an article in The Economist, it states "The rich world's quiet revolution: women are gradually taking over the workplace. At a time when the world is short of causes for celebration, here is a candidate: in the next few months women will cross the 50% threshold and become the majority of the American workforce. Women already make up the majority of university graduates in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries and the majority of professional workers in several rich countries, including the United States. Women run many of the world's great companies, from Pepsico in America to Areva in France."

This dramatic demographic shift from women doing menial and repetitive work, to controlling corporations and being major financial players is increasing at a breathtaking rate. Countries resisting placing women to the fore, notably Arab nations and the Japanese, do so at their own economic peril.

When my husband asked what I was writing about, I told him it's an article on female millionaires. His instant response was 'Why don't you just be one instead of writing about it?' Good question, blowed if I know the answer!

Or do I? I've just read Kate Cobb's article 'Succeed in 2010'.  Sounds good to me. The suggested three step process made me focus. I take heart too from Julia Moore's brief audit of female enterprise, if we are in the Post Recession Phase (this was UK news headline this morning) then surely the 'Time is Now'.

MAKE MINE A MILLION


Women rarely talk about how much money we make or how much money we can make. We're prepared to take emotional risks, but shy away from financial ones.
 Nice girls don't talk about it, let alone do it. As the above quoted article states, it's a quiet revolution. Why?

Why is this the case for women in general and me in particular? The median age for women with seven figure assets is 49 - that's lucky for me!

Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919), the first woman millionaire, made her fortune from a highly successful line of hair and beauty products for black women. She acknowledged
 " There is no royal, flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it for if I have accomplished anything in life, it is because I'm willing to work hard."

I can work hard, I'm sure we all can and do. I can write, but I don't come close to JK Rowling's wizardry to be the first female billionaire author. Nor do any of my fellow female scribblers, or if they have they're keeping it very quiet, lest I send begging letters.

So what's holding me/us back?

Do I need to work harder, or do I need to work smarter? Deborah D'Alessandro who runs the wonderful Esprit Seminars for women entitled 'Nurturing Passions into Careers' gives great advice on how to move forward.

So with all these wonderful women behind me and you, this most certainly could be the year.

I leave you with the words of wisdom of one of the lesser known philosophers, the Jedi Master, Yoda.

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."