The year of the women. That’s what I keep hearing from Congress to women business development council in my community for the state of Connecticut.
Women are rising up with an empowering feeling to express our voices. I just attended the 1st annual women empowerment series at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. Crazy right? Hardware and empowerment does not seem to go along with women. But, there were some amazing women who are undoubtedly empowered that sat on the panel including Sandy Cleary, SLS Group Holdings and Casey Finn, The DIY Playbook moderated by Dara Trujillo, CMO, SLC Holdings. Gone are the days where women and hardware mentioned in the same sentence is odd.
From a business to business standpoint, I believe more than ever there are women entering the hardware business to business industry than ever before. Whether it’s Casey Finn who won an Emmy Award as a producer of a major DIY network and gave it all up to chase her passion as a blogger in the “fixer up” world; or, Sandy Cleary who found her way in her mother’s basement and grew her business to $135 million dollar business. Women are a growing force that will take the home improvement hardware industry to the next level. Okay, I admit that is my opinion. But, I do believe we will be a force to be reckoned with!
What makes me say that? I am responding to encouragement that I see all throughout the industry. More and more there are women speaking up and speaking out participating in sessions like this one at the National Hardware Show. While we recognize that this is a male dominated industry, we also recognize there is room for us. We are taking our place at the table and moving this business forward.
So, when I hear that this is the year of the woman, I smile and think this is only the beginning!
Sonya Ruff Jarvis, is the Managing Member of Jarvis Consultants and the Founder of the eRetailer Summit and JC Event Group. Sonya has spent most of her career visiting headquarters across global industries. An expert in the field, Sonya has been published in numerous retail industry b-to-b publications. Sonya shares her experiences in her upcoming book series: Mindful Minutes, A Marketer’s Journey through Business: is now available on AMAZON
Sonya has a M.B.A. in Marketing. She is married and has a daughter and they live in Fairfield County Connecticut.
Follow Sonya on twitter at @jarvisconsult or @eretailersummit.