As mentioned in About Me, I was inspired by Ellevest CEO Sallie Krawcheck’s interview on Trevor Noah to start this blog (I can’t link to actual video because we can’t watch Comedy Central in Canada!).

Some of the things she said that really resonated with me:

• The gender pay gap is still there. As a manager, I definitely see gaps between male and female employees, and I do my best to narrow that gap given everything else is equal, I.e. performance. I have also time and time again see male employees ask for raises or negotiate salary a lot more often than females would. Also, I do see male tend to think they’re performing really well vs females that tend to worry if they are doing enough. I know that last one is not directly contributing to the pay gap, but in a world that rewards confidence I think it does end up contributing, especially if you mix that with unconscious bias in the work place.
• The boys club. Especially working in IT, I personally have survived some of that – I felt like I had to make it into the “trusted circle” or I won’t get enough recognition or promotion. Although at my level and I think there’s a bit less of that going on nowadays, but if you look at the executive level (and I’m talking about below the C-suite), there is still room for improvement.

•  “The research shows that we’re not lowering our standards in business in order to promote women and people of color. We actually hold them to a higher standard. That white men are actually promoted based on potential. I think that young man is going places. Let’s give him a chance. Whereas women and people of color are promoted based on what they’ve achieved.” This is true and dear to my heart. I’ve had to work harder than my male peers to be promoted (sure I might be biased, you say), and when it comes to interviews, I definitely feel like men gets hired based on potential, whereas women must already have achieved something or had direct experience.

Lastly, if you go to the Ellevest website, they also tell you why investment specifically designed for women. Studies show women tend to be less confident with their investment, or they want to invest in something more socially responsible.

And I’ll close with friend *Jane’s story – her oldest kid is almost 4 years old, and neither her nor her husband has started a RESP for him. She asked us and a few friends what we do for our kids, and *Joe ended up walking her thru the whole account opening process for TD e-series, as well as the portfolio strategy. I’m glad we’re able to do that for her, because otherwise, where do people turn to help for investment advice? Going to the bank and talk to their financial advisors right? In another post I’ll explain why that’s not for the best of your interests.

*I am not affiliated with Ellevest and is not benefiting from talking about them. This post’s intentions is to explain why I was inspired to start this blog.