career
The housewife stereotype has long since shattered - it's all about leaning in, breaking the glass ceiling, closing the wage gap and more.
Forever With Us
It was a cool fall day October 24, 2019. While the air felt brisk in the early morning hours, the sun was shining like a promise there would still be some warm days ahead. Today though was not to be like any other day I had experienced in my 48 years of life.
By Christine McPherson5 years ago in Viva
What My Mother Taught Me. Top Story - June 2021.
"Ping - Ping - Ping", with a heavy baby sledge hammer in hand, my mother beats the cherry-red horseshoe into the correct shape and size until it loses its glow. "Chich" is the sound of the shoe being thrust back into the glowing coal embers of the forge, heating it up to a warm glow, for another round of hammering. Once my mother is satisfied with her customization of the horseshoe, she plunges it into a metal pail at her feet that is filled with water: "Sssssss" the metal violently hisses as a thick blanket of steam quickly rises up, engulfing my mother, to where I can barely make out the image of her wearing jeans, a worn out T-Shirt, and heavy leather apron; from my vantage point just a few feet away, as I play with one of the farm's numerous dogs.
By Meko James 5 years ago in Viva
The Fear of the Woman Who Doesn't Work
It's been nearly six months since I graduated college, and I'm starting to feel a bit panicky. Job listings have become a blur on my laptop screen. Sometimes I don't know if it's from staring too hard or trying to hold back tears. I scroll past retail positions—not out of a sense of entitlement but from too many side-swipes with customers who made me cry in break rooms—but I feel the pressure starting to mount.
By Jillian Spiridon5 years ago in Viva
A Look at The Female Quotient: Its Mission, Founder Story, and Partnership with Vocal to Celebrate Motherhood. Top Story - May 2021.
Of all the gratifying aspects of my career - of which there are many - it is a wonderful thing indeed to have built and maintained such a rich and meaningful network of relationships. Even more rewarding is to keep finding ways to work, all these years later, with the incredible individuals that I originally ‘came up with’ – particularly the women with whom I have, for obvious reasons, established a noteworthy and crucial kinship.
By Laurie Weisberg5 years ago in Viva
I Object!
Kelly walked into the courthouse, briefcase in hand and head held high. Today was the day. She felt like a grown-up for the first time, her mind swimming with every detail of the case, and her heart pounding to the rhythm of justice. She was so prepared she felt like a million pieces of information could bust out of her at any moment. Looking around as she proceeded through security, she didn’t see her client. That’s ok, it was still early, incredibly early in fact. She took a deep breath and continued on in search of Room 212B.
By Emily Cameron 5 years ago in Viva
Rebirth — from a Year of Chaos, Grief, and Uncertainty
On February 5, 2020, I raced through a blinding snowstorm in the middle of the night to be at my mother’s hospital bedside. I wasn’t sure she’d still be alive by the time I got there (a five hour drive turned into a seven hour drive by the snow). I’d last seen her two weeks earlier, writing in the Gratitude part of my journal, “Grateful Mom is still around to visit.”
By Jana Van der Veer5 years ago in Viva
A Gender Equality At Workplace
A problematic situation that I would like to address and change at work equal gender rights. Gender rights are a significant issue in the workplace because sometimes people are not treated right in the workforce. Research has shown that women are underrepresented at each level, and ladies of shading are the most underrepresented gathering of all, lingering behind Men (Schooley,2019). I would use the Kotter eight-stage model to help gain awareness of gender equality and make a good vision of the change to coordinate the activity and create effective systems to help the group accomplish it. The Kotter eight-stage model reflects upon, lighting a fire for change, getting the right people on board, painting a compelling picture, communicating the change widely, removing obstacles and empowering people to change, achieve and celebrate quick wins, keep it moving, and making changes stick (Richard,2014). Lighting a fire can reflect on influencing others that Gender equality is an issue in the workplace. Workshops and presentations can help internal stakeholders understand the problem and what changes will need to be made.
By Maulik Borsaniya5 years ago in Viva
To The Women who still inspire me today ....
Dear Isabel Pauley... In late 2015 I met you. You were an ADA in the Major Crimes Unit of the Chatham County District attorney's office. My probationer, L.P. was an unmedicated mess (not her fault). It was her mother. For months, her mother would cover up her part in L.'s issues, and her missing daughter. The adult probation office didn't notice that a little 15 year girl was at an adult offenders home. When I found out and called them they didn't care. Terry McMurry then with the Thunderbolt Police department would check on L. P. on his way home, just to make sure she was safe. (Thank You Terry, you helped me save her life. To Sean Clayton the now Chief of Thunderbolt..You getting Chief of Police was something done right. You should be ashamed of Kevin Diagou, I am. You and I worked the N. A. case together until Feb 2016. You don't know but I tried to get him on an EM and Judge Colbert wouldn't. You might remember that N. A,'s brother was killed and N. A. was shot himself. We could have prevented that. I tried. )
By Justice for All5 years ago in Viva
My Journey in Construction Technology
I’ve spent the past 13 years of my life using cutting-edge technology to optimize construction. It may not be surprising to hear that construction is one of the least digitized sectors of the world economy, second only to agriculture. However, McKinsey Global Institute stated that “the construction sector is one of the largest in the world economy, with about $10 trillion spent on construction-related goods and services every year.” Grace Ellis, of Autodesk, reported that “23% of [construction] firms report they are taking steps to improve jobsite performance with lean construction techniques, tools like [Building Information Modeling], and offsite prefabrication.” I am working hard to be the change I want to see. I work for a company that is owned by Stanford graduates. There is a world-renowned Stanford professor on our board of advisors along with one of the top people at Amazon Web Services. With all of that talent and knowledge, it can still sometimes feel like we are taking two steps forward and one step back. It’s progress, but it is a steady fight. When I started my journey in construction technology, we were in the thick of the great recession. I was a year away from graduating from UC Berkeley and took an internship at a well-established structural engineering firm. That internship changed the course of my future. I was fascinated by a little-known program at the time called Revit. It was like the easy button to all the heartache I had experienced with AutoCAD and this structural engineering firm was implementing it on all of their projects. I had to be a part of it.
By Jennifer Thomas5 years ago in Viva
