Sherry Richards, Publisher
“I think women should rule the world.” |
Success, trouble and good news comes in threes. This issue marks
the third anniversary of A Woman’s View. Like every new
business, we’ve enjoyed, suffered and celebrated some of
each.
We’ve printed 36 editorials on issues we believe are essential
like ethics, environmental awareness, literacy and domestic violence.
We’ve marked the special days that punctuate life - Mother’s
Day, Valentine’s, Christmas - with commentary that embraces
tradition and recognizes our shared experience. We’ve
introduced 118 women who own their own business, 36 with positions
of major responsibility in business and 45 in government,
education and social services. A butcher, a baker and a
candlestick maker have all graced our pages, plus engineers, chemists,
potters and painters. The presidents of Coldwater Creek,
Verizon, and Avampato Museum and Sharon Rockefeller were proudly
featured. We’ve recognized 36 “Women in the
Wings” the quiet community contributors. We’ve promoted
women’s groups, like womanSong, Altrusa, Mothers and More,
Pen Women and a host of women oriented non-profits like the YWCA,
EVE and Master Gardeners.
Pat Lawrence,
Senior Writer/Editor
So this is where
Pat’s ideas come from. |
Responding to women’s wide-ranging interest, we’ve
written scores of articles on women’s health and, from asparagus
to ZONTA, presented humorous and informative articles for women
to enjoy and incorporate. And, of course, we have been a voice
for animals.
We’ve struggled with the issues that confront other woman-owned
and new businesses- identifying our market, finding advertisers,
maintaining production values, meeting payroll and paying bills.
We battled computer glitches, deadlines, personnel problems and
advertisers who didn’t pay. We smile, grind our teeth
and hope they develop lifelong zits. We trusted too much
and tried to be nice and people took advantage. We’re still
nice but we’re getting smarter. We’ve grown
from 20 pages to 32, expanded distribution from two counties to
eight and added color to our pages.
Anne Hopkins,
Sales Associate
“I love my advertisers.” |
There were losses and disappointments. Many of the retail
enterprises started by women failed from lack of capital, inadequate
resources and insufficient support. The Woman’s Commission,
a bright promise of advocacy and assistance for businesswomen,
folded in a few short months. The utter absence of interest, support
or funding reiterated by the clueless director of our state’s
Economic Development office was a shock. Women start far more
new businesses in the state. The nonexistent special programming
and assistance directed to women start ups should be a major concern
for a state floundering for economic growth.
Carrie Stanley,
Sales Associate
She’s always on the job. |
Women are a rich natural resource, one with exponential
potential and the greatest possibility of return on investment.
Until women are designated as a focus for development, the state
will remain mired in immobility.
Cathy Jeffrey,
Sales Associate
Is that phone
permanently attached? |
Perhaps more importantly, the women of West Virginia are selling
themselves achingly short. We applaud the entrepreneurial
spirit of women who make businesses with cookery, crafts or national
at-home sales organizations. But, with a slight change in educational
direction and a broader vision, the same woman who can make that
business a success, could change the world. A recurring
theme in interviews with successful women business owners is knowledge.
Successful women went back to school, took evening classes, special
classes, sought additional information, insisted on getting the
knowledge they needed to achieve their dream.
Ruami Dyck,
Research Consultant
Always thinks she
knows it all. |
West Virginia women let their lack of confidence and education
limit their goals.
Fear of math and science keeps women in the kitchen, in low paying
jobs and in labor-intensive enterprises that rely on a fickle,
retail market.
We need to dream bigger. We need to dream different. Of
the 10 fastest growing occupations, eight are science, math or
technology related, but women aren’t graduating in these
fields. Computer science and engineering have the highest starting
salary and the lowest percentage of women. The U.S. imports foreign
professionals to get the jobs done. These are occupations
West Virginia women could be seeking. These are fields where West
Virginia women could be succeeding.
Kelly
Decarlucci,
Sales Associate
“I’m new, but
just watch me!”
(Not pictured) |
Over the past three years, we’ve met women who amazed and
inspired us, motivated and humbled us. But the painful moments
have been meeting women who should have been contenders, who have
great gifts and great hearts but no faith in themselves and no
foundation to support their dreams.
After three years, we’ve found out what’s happening
in our state. Women are what’s happening. We can’t
wait to see what they will do next.
Send an Email About This Article