The new role of women in business

In the Community
When the first issue of Wasatch Woman Magazine showed up on her doorstep, the founding editor was elated.

"I was so excited, it was like Christmas. I thought, ‘It will take off like crazy.’" Starting a business is always an undertaking, but is starting a business as a woman harder? 

Barbara Vineyard is the founding editor for Wasatch Woman Magazine and has experienced the excitement and worries of owning her own company. 

Many businesswomen feel that they are undervalued or not respected-the US Census Bureau shows that women on average make 77 cents to the dollar of their male counterpart’s.
 
This has not stopped women from trying to be essential players in the business world.

The Small Business Association (SBA) conducted a demographic review of women in business in 2006. They found that, "Women constituted nearly 47 percent of the labor force in 2004."

According to the SBA, women are also more likely to continue with the responsibilities of a household when in a dual-income relationship. 

Laurie Ann Thomas of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UVSC said, "Barriers have broken down; women do not have the same problems with respect that they once did." The SBDC supports many women who are starting businesses. There efforts must be working, Thomas said, because there are so many women that want to begin a company. 

According to Thomas, nearly 60 percent of women coming to the SBDC want to begin a home-based business while the other 40 percent want to begin a large company. Statistically speaking, women are finding great success in owning their own business-according to the SBA, between the years 1997 and 2002 there was an increase of 19.8 percent of women-owned firms. 

Some women feel respected in the business world while others do not. The difference Dr. Warren Farrell said might lie within them. How one dresses, acts and presents their self changes how others will perceive them. Farrell, author of Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap — and What Women Can Do About It said that women often work less hours and choose jobs that are psychologically fulfilling but do not pay as well. Because of this trend, he said that proving discrimination from a statistic is like using the horizon to prove that the world is flat. 
Ferral also explained that if one looked at the so-called, high-powered women who hold jobs comparable to male counterparts, women often have higher pay. "Feel powerful and happy that you have control over your own life," Dr. Farrell said in an interview for the New York Times. "It’s better than feeling like an angry victim of discrimination."

Wasatch Woman Magazine is now 2 years old. Vineyard has seen it transform from those beginning months. Success for Vineyard is to "become a location that women, whatever they are involved in, can connect to all groups. It has a ripple effect to many if not all in the state. I would like to be able to give back more then we are taking." There are still hard days owning the magazine. Vineyard advised any woman that wants to start her own business, "Women can be successful but they have to be willing to put in the time and effort. You have to decide ‘This is what I want,’ and jump in."