By Krista Tedrow On a muggy evening in 2015, I sat at the Ottumwa Applebee’s across from one of the most intriguing women I had met in my short career. “What brought you to Ottumwa?” I asked. She broke a tortilla chip in half and chewed thoughtfully for a moment Read more…
By Emily Kestel We’ve all been to business industry conferences where schedules are packed-to-the-gills with sessions on strategies, innovations and words of wisdom. The first-ever FemCity Des Moines Beyond Business Conference went, well, beyond that. The conference, which was geared toward women and gender-nonconforming business members and entrepreneurs, mostly focused Read more…
In latest Business Record survey results, see what 20 Iowa businesses and organizations are offering By Emily Kestel, graphics by Lauren Burt For decades, women have generally worked in environments designed by men, for men. Standard office temperatures are based on the metabolic resting rate of a 40-year-old man. Mandatory Read more…
By Emily Kestel, Fearless editor Call it what you want – a “labor shortage” or a “reassessment of work in America” – but companies are finding that in order to attract and retain current employees throughout the Great Resignation, they’re going to have to expand their benefits offerings. Many employers Read more…
By Emily Kestel, Fearless editor The theme of this year’s Women Lead Change Central Iowa Conference was “Joining Voices: Leaders for Equity.” One way I like to practice equity is by sharing knowledge. In this case, sharing knowledge looks like sharing the highlights of my nine pages of notes. Before Read more…
By Emily Kestel, Fearless editor In 2016, David G. Smith and W. Brad Johnson published their first book, “Athena Rising: How and Why Men Should Mentor Women.” A year later, the #MeToo movement dominated the headlines and Smith and Johnson found themselves being pulled into conversations about how men can Read more…
By Emily Blobaum, Fearless editor The topics of mentorship and professional development have consistently been at the top of the list of issues that Fearless readers are interested in. So we thought, who better to talk to about mentorship than the Business Record’s Women of Influence? During September’s Fearless Friday Read more…
Takeaways from theSkimm’s “Back to ‘Normal’ Power Panel” By Emily Blobaum, Fearless editor Last month, theSkimm co-founders and co-CEOs Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg hosted a virtual panel about what the return to normal needs to look like for working women. Panelists were Tina Tchen, now ex-president and CEO of Read more…
By Emily Blobaum, Fearless editor A few weeks ago, I published takeaways from Iowa State University’s Women’s Week series. Last month on the other side of the state, the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa hosted a similar series, focusing on topics including work-life management, women in Read more…
This summer, I traveled 1,453 miles across the state to ask 12 women the same questions: When was a time that you were fearless? What does being fearless mean to you? What does it look like? What does it feel like? In doing so, I’ve had a lot of time Read more…