Cristina Tamayo

"I have a twin brother and grew up in a Cuban family that was very old school and traditional and quite a bit machista. Having this person that was the same age - the same everything made me aware when my brother got more liberties than I did. And at a young age I would tell my parents that it wasn't fair and they acknowledged what I was saying- and it changed them. There was no room for argument because we were twins.  That shaped me. I was able to to stand up for myself in a very concrete way." - Cristina Tamayo  works for parallel18 and is pregnant. She is expecting a girl.

Pallavi Sastry

pallavi-sastry"Well there's the race layer as well.  Indian woman are marketed to by companies selling skin lightening products, hair straighteners or in ways to make us as sexually repressed as possible so that we are pure and clean slates for our husbands.  When I was a freshman in college someone told me I needed to get back to my initial shape when I entered college because, as an actor, I would be getting off the bus in New York City and competing with every other black woman for the same role. I'm not black. My first agent said to me, "I have to figure out how to market you as something other than the pretty woman who can sing." - Pallavi Sastry is a actor and filmmaker.

Laurence

laurence-med"I have always wanted to be a man and I have always been proud to be a woman. It seems simpler to be a man, you know, I have my dick and my knife and I am ready. But I always knew that there was certain power in being a woman. Women have the skills and capacity to multitask, analyze, to look at problems, measure, assess them - we can even look at anything and know what container it will fit in -  we just know how to get shit done." - Laurence is a European actor and dancer.

April Greene

april-greene0202"My father was one of six boys.  His mother kept having children because she wanted to have a girl, but she never did.  Instead she dressed my father like a girl until he was 5 or 6 years old.  Not sure if this is why he was so gentle. My mother was the more hand's on, no nonsense parent - she worked hard and I don't think she ever had a manicure in her life.  I was less receptive to the idea of sexism and it wasn't until recently when a female friend, who is a welder, was telling me about how her boss was always trying to get her to smile or laugh at his stupid jokes to gain her approval.  She just wanted to get her work done and didn't think it was her job to make the boss feel good or laugh at his jokes.  I had a boss once who used to pass by my desk and tell us to smile - it was annoying." - April Greene is a writes about workplace strategy for PlastArc.

Laura Mignott

female-founder-holiday-bfast0038"When I first got out of Grad School I had a job and was working with this dude. His previous job was cleaning the decks of a ship. So I taught him everything I knew and then he got promoted and became my boss. I realized then that the only way I was going to be able to control the future of my career and get ahead was if I became an entrepreneur. I made a promise to myself that before I was 30 years old I would start my business.  My success has a lot to do with my smile. I'm friendly, I smile and then people want to talk to me." - Laura Mignott is the co-founder and managing partner of Digitalflash and she just launched The Reset, a five star podcast sponsored by Bose.

Susana Martinez

susana-martinez"I grew up in Mexico and my Father worked in construction. There's a lot of machismo in Mexico and my Father didn't think I could work like a man and didn't want me or my sisters to do construction work. He also didn't want me to play sports, except for tennis." - Susana Martinez is a part time student and works as a janitor.

Wendy Piersall

the-scale-collective1013note: While telling me her story of why she started her own business, Wendy broke down and cried.  This is why I am doing me&EVE  - to create a space for women to be seen, heard and respected. "The whole reason I became an entrepreneur was to escape the sexism in the graphic design and marketing industry. The only way I would ever be in control of my destiny was to start my own business.  I went back to work after my second child and my new boss was younger and less experienced than me. I knew I would never be fully valued.  Instead, on my own, I was able to create a six figure income." - Wendy Piersall is an artist and author.  See her work at WendyPiersall.com

Danielle Schäfer

"I hope there is a difference between what Donald Trump says and what he does. I hope he was just talking. Women should be strong and not accept this as a loss. Do your thing and don't let him stop you. I was just traveling in Iceland and the women there protested the 14% wage gap by walking out of their jobs 14% early.  Then the next day they took to the streets with pots and pans. Don't give up." - Danielle Schäfer "I hope there is a difference between what Donald Trump says and what he does. I hope he was just talking. Women should be strong and not accept this as a loss. Do your thing and don't let him stop you. I was just traveling in Iceland and the women there protested the 14% wage gap by walking out of their jobs 14% early.  Then the next day they took to the streets with pots and pans. Don't give up." - Danielle Schäfer

 

 

Arianna O'Hara

"I wish I could have voted. If younger people could have voted the outcome would have been different. In my High School we had a mock trial and Hillary won. Our generation is next to vote and we have hope. After the next four or eight years we will have a chance to change and fix things. We are more progressive and we are more hopeful." - Arianna O'Hara "I wish I could have voted. If younger people could have voted the outcome would have been different. In my High School we had a mock trial and Hillary won. Our generation is next to vote and we have hope. After the next four or eight years we will have a chance to change and fix things. We are more progressive and we are more hopeful." - Arianna O'Hara

Sally Kopstein

hillary-clinton-volunteers0047"I just got married last year. It's a gay marriage.  I was at an event last night at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center and Edie Windsor was there. (United States v. Winsor) She really made it happen here. Things have changed so much about being openly gay." - Sally Kopstein

Marlene Reisman

hillary-clinton-volunteers0005"I worked as a Human Resources executive at a company that had mostly male employees.  Because I am understanding, the men felt comfortable coming to discuss with me their work issues. Being understanding helped me succeed in this role.  I think if I hadn't been a woman, I would not have had as much career success." - Marlene Reisman is a retired human resources executive.

Billie Madley

hillary-clinton-volunteers0086"There's a consciousness about this election that is driving me and awakening parts of me I didn't even realize needed awakening. I have always been aware of feminist issues and was instrumental in launching the current burlesque movement.  The sexiness about performance is also about women's power, beauty and artistry.  There is a strength about women's sexuality, and burlesque is about artistic heroism." - Billie Madley is an actor, burlesque instructor and activist who pledged to wear her "Voting" clothing everyday from September - Nov 8th.

Randi Zuckerberg

the-scale-collective0369"When I worked at Facebook, I was often the only woman in the room. I would set up meetings via email and when I showed up in person I could tell that people were visibly disappointed when they realized "Randi" was a woman, not a man. This experience gave me the empathy, motivation and passion to launch Zuckerberg Media so that I can produce shows and books about smart, tech savvy girls." - Randi Zuckerberg  just launched the show Dot on Sprout and the book Missy President.