note: 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
Sarah C. Morrison
"I might have become an Ambassador if I had pushed a little harder. I retired as the Consult General for Florence, Italy. But if I weren't a woman I think the State Department would have seen me differently and I would have been promoted more quickly." - Sarah C. Morrison is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Liberia and a retired employee of the Foreign Service.
Susan Stine
"Now when I go running I feel myself tensing up if I pass a bunch of male construction workers - just bracing myself for some rude comment. But really, I didn't become aware of gender discrimination until I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic. It is a very machismo culture there and I couldn't go out at night by myself and really had to think about what clothes I wore on the street. To protect myself I learned how to avoid eye contact. When I came back to the United States I read Sheryl Sanberg's book Lean In and realized that women are viewed differently in the workplace." I also became aware that I wasn't making eye contact with men and had to unlearn the protective habit I had developed in the DR." - Susan Stine is a Returned Peace Corps volunteer and Programs Assistant at the InterAmerican Foundation.