Women in Business, Jobs, Women Entrepreneurs, Women in the News: News On Women

YiShaun Yang Wins Creative Child Magazine 2011 Book of the Year Award

YiShaun Yang started her children's book company, AdoraPet, while she was still working as a corporate attorney in a Manhattan law firm.  YiShaun believes that children are full of potential and possibility, and she started AdoraPet to nurture children's dreams and nourish happy minds.  AdoraPet released its first 8 book series for kids ages 2-6 in November 2011, and the books won the Creative Child Magazine 2011 Book of the Year Award. Read more about YiShaun following her dreams and meet her "adorapets", Pima Puppy and Pico Puppy, on adorapet.com.

Documentary Filmmaker Mary Mazzio and her film THE APPLE PUSHERS Gets National Tour

The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund announced the national screening tour of THE APPLE PUSHERS, a new documentary film by award-winning documentary filmmaker Mary Mazzio (pictured left). THE APPLE PUSHERS is the story of five immigrant pushcart vendors who have joined the NYC Green Cart initiative, a program that uses street vending as a way to increase fresh fruits and vegetables in New York City's "food deserts". Laurie Tisch (pictured right), President of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, is the Executive Producer. The film will be shown  in New York (October 21), in Boston (October 24), and a special panel discussion to be webcast in Atlanta (November 2), moderated by CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Read more in the prnewswire press release. Watch a clip:

Laralyn McWilliams Made VP, Creative at "iWin"

iWin, the casual games company, appointed Laralyn McWilliams as Vice President, Creative. Laralyn had been Creative Director on Free Realms at Sony Online Entertainment. Read more in the Business Wire press release.

Women Working Together Create Great Music!

Best friends Lynda McLaughlin and Valerie Gurka pooled their talent and their resources to create LYVA, an original band which plays music that stretches across multiple genres. They also created LYVA Music, a music and entertainment production company that produces music, digital media, and music events. In 2009 they set out to change the world with their music which tells stories of friendships and situations we can all relate to. Hear what they have to say:

Jodie Burke Writes about Sisters in Hollywood

I have written about sisters in the corporate world, but sisters are making their way in Hollywood as well. Jodie Burke (pictured) writes about the sisters in Hollywood in an article in the Los Angeles Times, sisters like Nora and Delia Ephron; Sandra Bullock and her sister Gesine Bullock-Prado; and the five Burton sisters who operate "Five Sisters Productions". Learn more about these amazing sisters and what they are working on in Jodie's article.

Eating Healthy - Thoughts from Author Meg Wolff

Meg Wolff, Author of A Life in Balance: Delicious Plant-based Recipes for Optimal Health and a two time cancer survivor, writes about eating healthy:

"Almost daily, we hear the gloom and doom about the state of our food and how it's affecting our bodies with diseases like diabetes and obesity. But ... what about all of the good things that are happening with food?
 
I recently attended the graduation of the 198th class at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City. Founder and longtime natural foods advocate AnneMarie Colbin said a few words before the 16 students of her six-month chef-training program - including our daughter, Cammie - received their diplomas.
 
Colbin didn't speak for long, but what said spoke volumes. She said the world is ready for these graduating students who represent all that is good that's happening in the world of food and health. And after cheering each graduate on, we were served the most delicious vegan meal I have ever tasted (this is no exaggeration).  
 
It wasn't until I was driving back to Maine the next day that I started really considering all of these good (and GREAT!) things happening around real whole foods that have been happening over the past few years. Because of my own healing from cancer with a whole-foods, plant-based diet, I look at the world through the vegan (or Vegan-ish) lens, and here's some of the good I see:
 
· More people are buying local, and places to do this are on the rise, with more Farmers' Markets popping up everywhere.
 
· A greater awareness of what we're eating and our health is evident in the mainstream - there are more stories about how we can eat better, what we CAN DO to be healthier -  whether we're simply adding more vegetables or going totally vegan. Supermarkets are offering so many more healthy and local choices and organic foods - Whole Foods is the leader with its Health Starts Here program.  
 
· The Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine has been researching and bringing awareness to vegan diets for 25 years. And its sister program, The Cancer Project, offers cooking classes nationwide for people with cancer and classes for reversing diabetes. 
  
· Restaurants are offering better (and vegan!) options nowadays. Healthy restaurants are sprouting up all over the country. And in highly populated places like New York City, there's a vegan restaurant on practically every block (as found on The Vegan Guide To NYC.)  
 
· The New York Coalition For Healthy School Food is helping to bring healthy plant-based options and education into schools throughout the state. Its Cool School Food Project and other initiatives are being well received. (For anyone looking to fund a worthwhile cause, this is one to check out!)   
 
· Meatless Mondays! This is a newish concept that people are hearing more and more in the past year - an idea whose time has come!
 
· The "Forks Over Knives" hopeful documentary has been making its away into theaters around the country this spring and summer, expanding peoples' consciousness and knowledge about food and our health. Its stars are Caldwell B. Esselstyn, M.D., a former Cleveland Clinic heart surgeon; and T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., a longtime Cornell researcher who conducted 40 years of government-funded research into plant-based diets. The premise of this movie is that 80 percent of what ails America - from diabetes to heart disease to cancer - can be prevented, and sometimes reversed, by following a plant-based diet. The movie features amazing people who have reversed their illnesses.
 
· If you live in New York City or are passing through and haven't been to the Natural Gourmet's Friday Night Dinner - they've brought delicious and healthy to new heights! - I encourage you to give it a try!"

 Check out Meg's blog.

Carol Kinsey Goman Talks About How People "Read Our Voices"

Carol Kinsey Goman, executive coach and change-management consultant and the author of  “THE SILENT LANGUAGE OF LEADERS: How Body Language Can help – or Hurt – How You Lead”, tells us that people not only evaluate our words when we speak, but also “read” our voices. Carol shares these tips with us about how to use our voice:

"The voice conveys subtle but powerful clues into feelings and meanings. Think, for example, how tone of voice can indicate sarcasm, concern, or confidence. Or how an increase in volume and intensity grabs attention because of the heightened emotion (passion, anger, assertiveness, certainty) it signals.
The effect of paralinguistic communication is so potent that it can make bad news actually sound palatable or, conversely, take all the joy out of a positive message. I’ve seen managers give unflattering feedback while still exhibiting warm feelings through their tone of voice – and those who were being critiqued still felt positively about the overall interaction. I’ve also seen managers offer words of praise and appreciation in such a flat tone of voice that none of the recipients felt genuinely acknowledged or appreciated. Blame it on the limbic brain, where emotions are processed. It also plays the primary role in processing vocal cues. Researchers from the University of Geneva in Switzerland discovered that they could tell whether a subject had just heard words spoken in anger, joy, relief, or sadness by observing the pattern of activity in the listener’s brain.
Paralinguistics are important in any conversation, but they are most crucial when your communication is limited to an auditory channel -- as it is on a phone call, a teleconference, or a podcast. From "The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help - or Hurt - How You Lead," here are six tips to keep in mind when your primary mode of communication is vocal:

First Tip – Breathe Before You Begin. Look straight ahead with your chin level to the floor and relax your throat. Take several deep “belly” breaths. Count slowly to six as you inhale and expand your abdomen, then count to six again as you exhale. This simple exercise will help you sound focused and in control.

Second Tip - Modulate Your Voice. Vary your vocal range and tone – avoiding a monotone delivery that sounds as if you are bored. Remember to enunciate and speak clearly. Vary your volume, but always make sure you are speaking loudly enough to be heard. And here’s a tip I learned from a speech therapist: Before you start talking, let your voice relax into its optimal pitch by keeping your lips together and making the sounds “um hum, um hum, um hum.”

Third Tip – Stay Focused. Focus your eyes and attention on one place. If you shuffle papers, check email or let your gaze wander around the room, it detracts from your concentration, and that distraction shows in your voice.Fourth Tip - Stand
Stand, if possible, when you want to convey greater confidence. Standing, or even pacing, will give your voice more strength and conviction.

Fifth Tip - SmileSmile while you are talking – doing so will transmit energy and enthusiasm. If your voice sounds inviting, it will draw people in. And, as my husband (whose was an actor and voiceover professional) reminds me, a key voiceover technique is being able to speak “with a smile in your voice.”

Sixth Tip – Match your listeners. One of the most intriguing aspects of vocal behavior is speech convergence – the way people adopt the speech patterns and voice qualities of those with whom they admire and want to be like. Speech convergence can also be used as a technique to help people understand your message. The more adept you are at altering your speed, volume and tone to match that of the group you are addressing, the better they will hear and accept what you have to say."

Katherine Rosman's Book, If You Knew Suzy, a Tribute to Moms Everywhere

I want to thank Wall Street Reporter Katherine Rosman (pictured) for introducing me to Suzy, her mother. Katherine wrote a book about her mother after her mother’s death, an amazing account of the ups and downs of what on the surface seemed like an ordinary life. But there was nothing ordinary about Suzy. Suzy was typical of a lot of mothers, but that was the beauty of the book to me. There are so many mothers who have led heroic lives that we never hear about let alone celebrate. Katherine’s book, If You Knew Suzy, describes how Suzy touched so many people, some of whom Katherine didn’t even know. Suzy's relationship with accomplished executive and CEO Mary Petrovitch was just one example. Mary grew up with very little and tried to caddie to earn money. If you’ve been to any golf clubs lately, you know how unusual this is even today let alone more than twenty five years ago, but Mary was not to be deterred. It was Suzy who helped Mary be successful, and Mary served as Suzy’s caddie through many tournaments. Mary remembers Suzy as one of the people who showed her what it means to be a leader. Suzy, like most mothers, was a leader in her own right, a mentor as well as a doer, and someone who faced life’s challenges always expecting victory. So here’s to Suzy - wife, mother, mentor and friend. Who could ask for more?

Dori Berinstein Film on Carol Channing To Be Shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York

Dori Berinstein (pictured), Tony Award winning Producer, has a new documentary to be shown Saturday at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The film, Carol Channing, Larger than Life, features the story of the 90 year old actress and singer who is still performing! Read more about the film on ny1.com.

There are a number of other women who have films at the Tribeca Film Festival. Read more...

Cynthia Kocialski Tells "How to Go from an Idea to a New Business" in her Book about Startups

Cynthia Kocialski is author of the new book, “Startup From The Ground Up - Practical Insights for Entrepreneurs, How to Go from an Idea to New Business” and a renowned business blogger of the business web site “The Startup Entrepreneur’s Blog”.

If anyone is knowledgeable about start-ups, it’s Cynthia Kocialski. Cynthia’s background and experience make her uniquely suited to provide important insights for startup entrepreneurs. These experiences include; founding three companies of her own, being involved with more than 25 other startups, as well as had various roles in engineering, technical marketing, and management at IBM and Matrox Electronics. She holds an undergraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Rochester and graduates degrees in Electrical and Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Cynthia’s core experience and insight lie in the fact that she personally witnessed many start-ups. Working on the inside exposes one to the day-to-day inner workings of these organizations. Normally, one might envision a start-up as being founded by several business savvy geeks with talents ranging from technical skills to organizational skills. In reality, however, a start-up is far different than most people might imagine. “I love start-ups and all the wonderful gizmos and gadgets they make,” said Cynthia. “The problem is that most of these wonderful things never make it because the entrepreneur is in love with the technology, and they lack an understanding of the business of technology. It’s one thing to develop something cool, but entrepreneurs need to ask themselves if it actually solves a problem. Cool doesn’t sell. Meeting the needs of consumers and businesses does. In the final equation, it is the business of technology that determines the ultimate success or failure of the product.” Read more about Cynthia's book.

Author Carol Edgarian and her New Book "Three Stages of Amazement" Will Surprise You.

Carol Edgarian, Author, Editor, and Publisher, has written a new novel, Three Stages of Amazement. The novel is about an amazing love complicated by family relationships, money worries, and the unpredictability of life - all the makings of a great story! A working mother we can all relate to, Carol's heroine Lena Rusch is strong but vulnerable, and faces all the work/life challenges seen everyday by women across the nation with grace and courage. Carol not only writes books, but is also the Co-Founder, Editor and Publisher of Narrative Magazine, which encourages and supports writers, and fosters reading and literature in schools and around the world. Narrative sees "the need for great stories and their timeless ability to engage and inspire the readers". Read more about Carol's new book, Three Stages of Amazement.

Relativity Media Announces Lily Collins to Play Snow White

Relativity Media announced that actress Lily Collins is set to play Snow White in its upcoming untitled Snow White feature, based on the Brothers Grimm story. Lily joins Julia Roberts who is cast to play the Queen. Read more in the Business Wire press release. Snow White is one of my childhood's earliest memories. Let's hope this new version lives up to the legend.

Trish Stevens of Ascot Media helping Authors

Ascot Media Group and Reliant Public Relations recently teamed up in an effort provide book authors with publicity at low rates through a new plan they call ‘Author 333.’ Trish Stevens, Owner of Ascot Media, talks about her interest in helping authors.

"I honestly love what I do – it’s never a job, it’s more a challenge – a challenge to get some really deserving and talented people the attention they deserve. There are many different levels of service in the plans we offer at Ascot that are geared for first-time writers up to NY Times best-selling authors – we tailor each plan to suit the needs of the individual in order to get them the most ‘bang for their buck!’ I am especially excited about our latest plan, the Author 333. By teaming up with Reliant Publishing we believe we have come up with a plan that is going to be a phenomenal success. A plan, I might add, that is already proving successful after just two editions...It is so simple yet so effective. We write a 6-line ‘Teaser’ about the book and, with the author’s approval, we distribute it to tens of thousands of media personnel who have the ability to contact the author directly since his/her email and phone number are included... We are very encouraged with the results so far and trulybelieve it’s a win-win all around. Again, this plan helps ALL authors – male or female, best-sellers or first-time writers, non-fiction and fiction writers. I would say that the ratio of male to female authors that we handle is pretty much 50-50 so I like to think women have definitely found that our services have helped them in achieving their dream."

Nancy Dubuc, President of Lifetime Networks, announces Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore and Patty Jenkins to direct the Lifetime Original Movie "Project Five"

Nancy Dubuc (pictured), President and General Manager of Lifetime Networks, announced that Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore and Patty Jenkins have been signed to direct the Lifetime Original Movie Project Five, an anthology of five short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on people's lives. Jennifer Aniston, Marta Kauffman, Paula Wagner, Kristin Hahn, Kevin Chinoy and Francesca Silvestri will executive produce the Sony Pictures Television production. "We are proud to be partnering with this amazing creative team on a project of such importance and impact for women," said Helen Verno, Executive Vice President of Movies and Miniseries, Sony Pictures Television. Read more about it in the prnewswire press release.

Amercian Folk Art Museum Displays Quilt Collection of Joanna Rose

Joanna S. Rose has been collecting red and white quilts for years. The American Folk Art Museum has mounted part of her collection at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. The quilts are a peek into our history, so many beautiful designs, even wedding quilts made by a loving mother. Over 600 quilts will be on exhibition until Wenesday, March 30, 2011. As you can see by the picture we took, it's an amazing display.

Sharon Brening Wins Gold Medal for "I Saw an Eagle Fly"

The Western Artists of America Annual Show and Sale, held at the Pearce Museum in Corsicana, TX, awarded the Gold Medal for Best Oil Painting to Sharon Brening for her painting, "I Saw an Eagle Fly". This is the first time the gold medal has been awarded to a woman. Sharon has been painting since she was eight years old. Her studio is located in Peoria, Arizona. Read more about her accomplishments in the prweb press release.

Auto Executive Anne Doyle asks What are We Waiting For?

Marney Rich Keenan, lifestyle columnist for detnews.com, writes about Anne Doyle (pictured) former Executive of Ford Motor, and her new book "Powering UP! How America's Women Achievers Becomer Leaders". Anne believes that it is through women using their "collective power" rather than their individual power that they will move into more leadership positions. Helping each other is key for this change to take place. Read Marney's article. Listen to Anne describe her book:

Clare Vanderpool wins the 2011 Newbery Award for Children's Literature

The 2011 Newbery Medal, awarded for contributions to American literature for children, went to Clare Vanderpool (pictured) for her book,  Moon over Manifest. In addition to the winning medal, honors were awarded to Jennifer L. Holm for her book, Turtle in Paradise; Margi Preus for her book, Heart of a Samurai; Joyce Sidman for her book, Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night; and Rita Williams-Garcia, for her book, One Crazy Summer. Congratulations to all these women! Read more about it.

What do You want for Christmas?

Since there are so few jobs to post about, I thought I would put together my Christmas Wish List (to the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas" - sing along)

On the First day of Christmas, I'd really like to see a Woman President of the United States!

On the Second day of Christmas, I'd really like to see

2 Women on every Board,

And a Woman President of the United States!

On the Third day of Christmas, I'd really like to see

3 CFO's,

2 Women on every Board,

And a Woman President of the United States!

On the ...

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, I'd really like to see

12 more Women Chief Executives,

 11 more General Counsels,

10 more Women Governors,

9 more Women College Presidents,

8  more Women Senators,

7 more BlogHer Conferences,

6 more Women on Wall Street,

5 Women on the Supreme Court!

4 more in the House of Representatives,

3 CFO's,

2 Women on every Board,

And a Woman President of the United States!

Happy Holidays to everyone, and please share your holiday wishes with us!

National Book Awards 2010 Go to Women for Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young People's Literature

The National Book Awards 2010 were awarded to Jaimy Gordon (pictured) for Fiction, Patti Smith for Nonfiction and Kathryn Erskine for Young People's Literature. Read about these women and their books as well as the other winners and finalists on nationalbook.org.