GirlMogul Blog

Two bits from the news world.

The first is a story in today’s WSJ about Mary Hern an Air Force wife who has managed to raise two children, move four times to follow her husband’s career and start a thriving, portable home based business.  With a background in opera singing and performing, Mary was certain she would always wind up on the stage in NYC.   But love intervened and she married a military man, had a child and started to move around.  Without much of an outlet for her performing abilities, she started to look for other outlets.  She took a training class offered by the military to help military spouses start business using careers they already have.  With experience managing retail stores and customer databases, she was able to land her first client, doing database management and data analysis, troubleshooting and spotting trends in customer data to help her clients.

Determined to do a top flight job, she kept her second pregnancy under wraps from her clients, had her laptop in the hospital and delivered the project, the baby on time and under budget. 

Now, Mary works from home – she watches the kids during the day and her husband takes over at night while she does work.   To combat the isolation of telecommuting – Mary has found an outlet in singing – in church and hopefully soon in community theater.

Way to go Mary on creating a wonderful work-life balance, helping to support your family and being a true GirlMogul.

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“Whether you are talking about education, career or service, you are talking about life.  And life must really have joy.  It’s supposed to be fun.” Barbara Bush – Former First Lady

Just a reminder, girls.  As you design your successful life, don’t forget to have fun.  Be successful, but make sure you like what you’re doing as well.   Go out and have fun if you’re working too hard.  Try to find a way to make work or school more fun – it’s usually free and won’t impact how much you get down.  When we volunteer our time to others there should be a component of fun, otherwise service just becomes another obligation.  So if someone else isn’t helping you have fun, then try and create the fun yourself.

Posted by girlmogul at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"When you are in control of your money, you are in control of your life."

Powerful words to live by GirlMoguls - remember not to be owned by your money - own your money and your destiny.  There is no doubt that money makes the world go round and that as girls and women we need to educate ourselves about the importance of money.  Woe to us if we don't.  Money is, as they say, a means to an end, not the end itself.  It may buy us things, necessary things, luxuries, experiences, education, presents etc.  But most importantly, money in the bank represents options - options to take a different job, to buy a house, to go on a trip, to quit a job, to start a new business, to embark on an adventure.  Loving your money respectfully will help you treat it well and help it grow - and by growing, and make smart choices in how and where you spend it, will allow you to go on great journeys.

Check out more Love Your Money advice at GirlMogul.com.

GirlPower Apparel available at GirlMogul.com

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"For true independence you have to make a job, not just take a job" - Joline Godfrey - writer, business executive

Great reminder for girls of all ages.  To be truly independent, try defining your job into something that plays to your strengths and allows you to make it your own.  If you're just doing your job, most likely you are not developing yourself or it into a critical part of the organization and you run the risk of becoming replaceable.

It's important to tell our daughters that they can't just expect a job to last a lifetime -most of us can't expect that either.  We know things changes, economies, industries, even the very nature of our job description.  If we allow ourselves to be limited by just what is in our job, we run the risk of being  run over by those changes.  So by making a job and starting to define it to be better targeted to our interests and abilities allows us to show our strengths and develop unique attributes, and perhaps develop a unique job that only we can fill - thus helping to ensure that someone will always need us.  So go on, girl, start creating your unique, fulfilling dream job today.  Don't be defined by the simpe job title "Accountant", instead try thinking more along the lines of "I am an accountant who specializes in helping small women owned business get on their feet and grow them." It might be the starting point to better defining a profitable niche to focus on and making a name for yourself, independently, rather that just being another "accountant". 

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Posted by girlmogul at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Free Food for Millionaires - see the WSJ article

Free Food for Millionaires is a  book about an Asian American working class girl who gets herself into Princeton, graduates and finds herself caught up in a lifestyle she can’t afford in Manhattan.  No matter that a Princeton grad should be able to find a good job, it seems that Casey can’t afford to live within her means.  Part of the problem is her associates, free spending investment banking types with trust funds to boot.  Simple, she should get new friends…

The book is interesting because it highlights the dilemma many of our daughters have.  They’re well educated, achievement oriented.  But the cost of living is so high, and so many entry level jobs fail to pay what seems to be a livable wage.  In some cases, encouraging our daughters to go for a higher paying career – banker, lawyer, doctor, may seem to be the case.   But even then, for some many girls with expensive tastes and student loan debt, there seems to be a disconnect between what they could afford when supplemented by the Bank of Parents and what they can really afford when they are on there own.

Far better to equip girls with the skills for economic defense and the attitude that life is a happy marathon and not a frenetic sprint, and that luxuries are luxuries – pleasures meant to be enjoyed occasionally as opposed to always.

See GirlMogul.com for more encouragement for raising successful girls.  Girl Power Apparel and Accessories.

Posted by girlmogul at 09:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So I knew there were real rocket scientists out there.  Here’s story on the beginning pay grade for Aerospace Engineers and it features two women in the story – go girl power.  And the thing they like most about their jobs – Getting to work aboard jets once a week.

Starting salary for those with a Bachelor’s degree in engineering is $54,008 – not too shabby and the average for those with more experience - $121,679. 

So it’s not just on a shirt – it’s a real job.  But show you’re support for your girl power here and check out GirlMogul’s Rocket Scientist Shirt

Other rocket science fields to look into:

Astrophysicist

Astronomer

Check out GirlPower Apparel at GirlMogul.com

Posted by girlmogul at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's another tip for raising money savvy kids.  This came via a WSJ column.  Offer your kids a dollar ($1.00) if they drink water (tap) instead of ordering a soda at a restaurant.  You'll save a few cents and they'll probably start drinking a whole lot more water.  And it will be healthier all around.

 Have more tips you want to share?  Send them here - andrea@girlmogul.com

Encourage a Succesful girl today - Shop Girl Power Apparel at GirlMogul.com

Posted by girlmogul at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So apparently Chris Matthew’s isn’t women friendly and has been called on it.  The flap stems over comments made on a morning news show that indicated he thought Hillary Clinton had only gotten to where she was (successful Senator and current presidential candidate), because of her husband’s infidelity.  It was a little unclear as to whether he meant it because of the notoriety attached to her (no such thing as bad publicyt) or because women felt sorry for her and where thus propelling her along.  Hmm – I guess he forgot that she is graduate of Wellesley and Yale Law School (not that these are the end all and be all, but hey – she might actually have a brain, you know). 

Other feminist leaders called for an apology, saying that Matthews has showed a pattern of sexist remarks when it comes to female politicians.  Matthews apologized, saying that he didn’t mean all of Senator Clinton’s accomplishments were due to her husband’s infidelity, just that some of her current popularity may have sprung from the whole Monica-gate. 

So, Chris – do you have a working wife – do her accomplishment stem from being married to you?  Would you say that even if you thought?  Perhaps it would be better for successful women to stay unmarried, so then no one could claim that they rode the coattails of a man?  Is that what you really meant to say?  For someone who makes his living talking you seem to have a hard time getting the message across.  Better luck next time saying what you mean.

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Posted by girlmogul at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Everyone wants to know how to be financially savvy.  Many of us especially want to teach our daughters important lessons about money.  Whether it's so they don't repeat our own mistakes, or that they reap the valuable benefit of our wisdom, we want to make sure our daughter's understand the value of money - if only to dispel the notion of the shopaholic girl, or the girl who expects prince charming to come and pay for everything.  We all know how unrealistic  a goal that can be.  Better to teach our girls to be self-reliant from the get go.  Teaching them handle their money - to indeed love it and respect it is one of the foundations of girlpower self-reliance.

So without further ado - a series of posts about raising Money Chicks - Financially savvy girls.

1. Delayed gratification

So why does the first one have to be the hardest?  Because it's the foundation of all the rest.  Teaching girls about money means teaching them that they can't have everything all at once.  It's something grown ups should practice as well. 

Teach them that spending money now means less for saving. And that spending money on the little things now means less for the bigger things.  Enjoy magazines?  Well the average cover price of a magazine at the checkout line is over $3.00.  Seems like a small bit of cash when you're buying a week's worth of groceries. 

Making your girls pay for it themselves might break them of the habit.  Suggest they take it out of the library instead.  It's free thay way, and they have saved $3.00.  Or, if you're feeling generous, make them a deal.  Tell them can buy the magazine, or if they wait and get it from the library, you'll give them half of the cover price as an incentive to save money. 

Of course they might start to develop an interest in magazines of all subjects (More, anyone) but at least they'll be reading.

Check out GirlMogul's Girl Power Apparel- Encouraging successful girls

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I promised I would keep watching and I am.  With its relentlessy upbeat soundtrack and the glossy loves how can one not be hooked - I want a townhouse like that, shoes like that, etc.  But is the show getting better, more reflective of the social dilmenas women face?  Perhaps - though the Modern Man story was certainly sounds like a throwback.  Once again, I think that perhaps some men out there might be happy that women are able to be partners... Or are men in general so insecure that they feel threatened every time a woman in power shows up? 

The one true note - the two laptop in bed couple - Zoe and Eric both in bed, working on their laptops - now that is something I can relate to - that's probably the most telling scene in defining the dual career couple these days - work spills over into everything.

So still not sure if the show qualifies to make it onto the GirlPower list - anyone else want to vote?

 GirlMogul.com - Encouraging Successful Girls with GirlPower Apparel, accessories, and books

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It’s how you deal with failure, not how you deal with success, that determine who in the end, really makes it. - Jane Pratt - Magazine Editor

Just remember, we'll all fail at some point, maybe a lot.  Sometimes it's simply the fact that we win more than we lose that keeps ahead of the game.  We learn from both winning and losing, but we tend to remember more from our mistakes!!

So share this with a girl you love, and keep trying!

GirlMogul.com -Encouraging Successful Girls with  Girl Power Apparel, gifts and accessories.

Posted by girlmogul at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cashmere Mafia -  GirlPower show or not?

A new show?  Yes, it’s debuting in the wasteland of the TV Writer’s strike.  This season was especially hopeful for fans of the girl power genre, with the Bionic Woman, the Sara Connor Chronicles, and now the debut of Cashmere Mafia.

But so?  Is it worth the wait?  Check out Mommy Track’d’s view of the show.  They’re disappointed and on one hand I can’t disagree.  There’s stereotyping, there’s the flames of the Mommy Wars being fanned, as well as the usual working mom dilemma of making it to the school play and missing the field trip.

Is it unrealistic? Yes – these women are at the top of their professions so they probably don’t have the money worries many of us do.  They have really cool jobs and cool clothes and always have matching shoes.  They work hard, but they’re always meeting for lunch or drinks or something (oh how I wish I could see my friends more).

All that aside, I think the fact that a show actually mentions the Mommy Wars and acknowledges the struggles is a step in the right direction.  GirlMogul will keep watching.

So is this a GirlPower Show or not - let us know?

Check out GirlMogul’s new line of GirlPower Apparel

More about GirlMogul

Posted by girlmogul at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 Hi Girls - Just wanted to let you know that GirlMogul.com is rolling out it's new line of Girl Power Apparel and here's one of our cool new designs - we call it Geek Chick and it proclaims your love of computers - and there is nothing wrong with that.  Show the world that you can be a computer geek, a technologist and pretty in pink too!

Posted by girlmogul at 09:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"A good education is another name for happiness."

Rose "I picked this one because I love to learn. I know it’s sometime kind of geeky to love school, but I do. But sometime, I love to find out things that you can’t learn in school.  Sometimes it’s just a random fact that comes across at you – it could be on TV, in a book, in a newspaper, or it could come from someone else (then it’s probably a good idea to check out and see if it’s true.)

I also like the fact that just by watching you can learn – like watching seeds you planted turn into a plant, or how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.  Of course sometimes you learn by doing, like the time, my grandfather taught me to row a boat – it’s not as easy as it looks, let me tell you.  But now I know, and I won’t forget.

So sometime learning is in school, but a lot of times it comes from all over the place – we just need to be open to it and watch for it.  And remember the lesson. "

Posted by girlmogul at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 Introducing a the GirlMogul GirlPower line of clothing and gear - first up, to celebrate a possible historic moment - the Future Leader of the Free World shirt - in infant, girl and adult sizes - perfect for expressing your belief that a woman can be president....

Avaliable at the GirlMogul CafePress Store. For more great girlpower stuff and check out GirlMogul.com - Encouraging Successful Girls!

Posted by girlmogul at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

GirlMogul is proud to introduce the Future Leader of the Free World - in Woman, Jr and Girl sizes, celebrate the historic potential of sending a woman all the way to the White House.  Or simply flaunt your ambitions for the world to see.  Go to the CafePress GirlMogul store

 Check out www.girlmogul.com for more great GirlPower shirts

Posted by girlmogul at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)