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A small group of local women entrepreneurs gathered at Downers Grove South High School on Wednesday to network with students and discuss ways to bridge the gender gap in the business world.
The event—a vendor show to promote women's entrepreneurship—was conceived by South High seniors Maddie Kuerschner and Jackie Clifford as part of a state competition for DECA, an organization that prepares student leaders for careers and education in marketing, finance and other business area.
Of the nearly 180 DECA members at South High, only 40 are female. The number was so striking to Kuerschner and Clifford that they decided to make it the focus their state research paper.
"Women are still very much a minority in the business world, even though there are so many opportunities for them to be successful," Kuerschner said. "We were really interested in exploring that topic, and also finding ways to promote women's entrepreneurship in our school and community."
As part of their project, Kuerschner and Clifford decided to organize a vendor fair that would allow women business owners to share their success stories with students.
"We wanted an event that would highlight successful women and encourage students who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs after high school," Kuerschner said. "I think the main goal was just to inspire girls and show them the opportunities that are out there."
Nine women from eight local businesses attended the event, and even more offered their support during the planning process, Clifford said.
"We thought it was going to be really difficult to find female business owners in the area, but we ended up finding so many great women," Clifford said. "Everyone was so nice and encouraging when we told them what we were doing."
One attendee, motivational speaker Mary Kay Slowikowski, attended her first DECA event more than 20 years ago. She said she was so thrilled to hear about Kuerschner and Clifford's efforts, she jumped at the chance to participate.
"When I first started my business 25 years ago, it was a difficult time for female entrepreneurs," Slowikowski said. "But times have changed and there are now so many opportunities for women. An event like this is just a good, positive thing for young girls."
Slowikowski knows all too well the obstacles associated with being an entrepreneur. She was moved to tears as she discussed her long struggle with panic attacks and agoraphobia prior to becoming a public speaker.
"There are so many things that life can throw at you, but you can never give up on your dreams," Slowikowski said. "That's what I want to tell these girls today. I want them to know that they deserve to be successful and happy."
DECA sponsor and business teacher Stacey Polen said she "couldn't be prouder" of Kuerschner and Clifford for putting together the vendor show.
"These young women have done an incredible job promoting the idea of women's entrepreneurship and opening their classmates' eyes to a world of possibility," Polen said.
Kuerschner and Clifford, both 17, are already well on their way to becoming entrepreneurs themselves.
Kuerschner has already been accepted to Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, where she plans to pursue a career in fashion merchandising. Clifford is still undecided, but will likely attend DePaul University. She hopes to one day own her own wedding planning business.
Both girls credited DECA with preparing them for the next chapter in their academic careers.
"We've learned how to network and put ourselves out there, which is a huge thing, but we've also learned how to manage difficult situations," Clifford said.
Although the girls are graduating at the end of the school year, they hope the vendor show will become an annual tradition at Downers Grove South.
"It's something that's so important for the school and community to support, so we'd love to see it continue in the future," Kuerschner said.
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Raphael Ortiz
10:40 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
I appreciate that there are groups out there that try to encourage people to get more involved and pursue greater opportunities for themselves. But, I disagree with the continued notion that women are still the minorities in business and that there needs to be more affirmative action to elevate them.
I have been in the workforce for about 10 years now, and in the two companies I have worked at, EVERYTHING is geared toward developing and promoting women. There are networking groups, managerial training programs, quotas, awards, outings, newsletters, social groups, women and minority only internship programs, all geared toward helping only women advance through the ranks of the company. And I'll tell you, it really works well. Mid-level management at my current company is about a 2-1 ratio, and new hires are probably a 3-1 ratio of women to men. This is the new trend.
I also just read that women outpace men in college at a rate of 140 for every 100 men, and for advanced degrees, like 160 to 100. This isn't equalization, it's a "our turn at domination" mentality.
Enough already. Stop promoting the image of the helpless mousey girl trying to compete with rough and tumble boys, that's an old fiction. I truly hope I never have sons, because they will have a hell of a time in this society.
Ricky W Kracker a.k.a. Diggy Swagga
5:15 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Great comment. So-called "Minorities," including women, are now the majorities in our society. Now they're just milking it (no pun intended) as much as they can...
Patricia Gronlund
11:58 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Congratulations to Maddie and Jackie on a wonderful project. I believe you will both have much success in the future.
Maddie
6:17 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
In regards to Raphael and Rick's comments, our goal was not to "milk" the minority in women's business. Our goal was to show our peers the opportunities they have in the business field. If you actually do your research and look at statistics, women are obviously the minority in the business field. It's not that we are discriminated against, it's that most women do not think of their probable success within the business world. I hope you do not have boys Raphael because I can't imagine the ideals you would teach them based on this comment. It's people like you two that motivate people like us to support causes such as this. While yes, these may be your opinions, I feel sorry for you two that you feel the need to undermine an event that Jackie and I, seventeen year old girls, worked so hard to put together. So thank you.
Ricky W Kracker a.k.a. Diggy Swagga
9:52 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
How are we trying to undermine? Raphael said he appreciates what you are doing. I was merely commenting on his GENERAL comments about how so-called minorities are really the ones with all the opportunities available these days. Grow some thicker skin missy, the world's a whole lot tougher than two dudes on the internet.
Jeff Tandy
9:25 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
Maddie, I don't think Raphael was criticizing your program, and he did start of by saying that he respected what you and the organizers are doing. I happen to agree with some of his general observations that the media is doing a continued disservice to men and women by perpetuating the notion that women are in a perpetual need of boosting.
Your program seemed to be narrowly focused on the goal of letting women know that there is a true gap in individual women in the small business arena and your program served to provide real life examples and mentors as to how women can succeed in that arena.
But, I don't think the criticism was at you, but rather at the undertones in the article, and one quote, that implies that women are still struggling for equality in the business world. That is a fiction, both from numbers in companies and college attendance. It's really indisputable. And, I do feel bad for young men because they are going to suffer from the inequalities that were prominent decades ago.