Written in Partnership with Amir BakianToday’s women and girls have more opportunities, options, and outlets for creativity and ingenuity than ever before. Companies across all industries prioritize empowering women, and these efforts have spurred advancements for women and girls in areas such as STEM, sports, the arts, and corporate America. The more companies recognize the unique contributions of women and girls, the more opportunities will be available.
Here are some companies taking steps to empower women and girls.
Sideline Prep
GeNienne Samuels, the founder of professional cheer and dance coaching company Sideline Prep, takes empowerment seriously. “Female empowerment, cultivating high self-esteem, and fostering confidence are so important at Sideline Prep,” Samuels says, “We know that at the foundation of everything that we do in life, believing that ‘it’s’ possible for you and that you’re capable of achieving ‘it’ is the most important factor.”
Sideline Prep has gathered a network of current and former professional and semi-professional cheerleaders with years of experience. These coaches work to prepare women for cheerleading and dance auditions with classes and consulting in dance and cheer, poise, style, knowledge, and confidence. “Your power and your confidence comes through in absolutely everything that you do…. A young girl’s success and a woman’s success starts from the inside.” Says Samuels.
Sideline Prep is the top international pro-cheer prep company and boasts representation in 15 NFL teams, 13 NBA teams, and have a 70% success rate with graduates of their Pro Cheer Playbook Program making professional or semi-professional teams.
Drivyn
Currently, 23% of Tesla owners are women, and with the increasing popularity of electric cars, that number is sure to rise in the future. Drivyn is a company that provides in-depth and in-person Tesla driving training. The app combines a proprietary curriculum with expert Drivyn Advisors, who give one-on-one instruction to new, existing, and future Tesla owners. The technologically advanced Tesla can have a bit of a learning curve for drivers unfamiliar with the autonomous abilities of the car and its other intuitive features. Drivyn is also diving into the metaverse, with advanced simulators for electric vehicles, a Raceway Club for drivers, and the first world-class, carbon-neutral race track.
The Drivyn platform provides a way for female Tesla drivers to feel educated and, above all, safe when they are behind the wheel. It was co-founded by a woman, Judith Everett, who believes strongly in the app’s ability to empower female Tesla drivers. “Women are intelligent about smartphones and computers. Self-driving cars have the same type of learning curve,” Everett explains, “Once the skills needed to learn and empower a woman behind the wheel of a fully self-driving car are learned, she is a safe, empowered driver of the most sophisticated vehicle technology on the road today.”
Kidsplosion
Empowering women and girls starts when they are very young. Kidsplosion founder Carlena Evans knows that giving girls the tools and opportunity to succeed in whatever interests them can change the world. Kidsplosion is a program that enables youth to discover interests, develop those interests, and display their gifts in a supportive and creative environment. The program offers a variety of events, summer camps, and after-school programs for children and teenagers worldwide. The variety of programming allows children to delve into a multi-faceted list of interests, from music to cooking, gymnastics, and even hairstyling.
Evans believes every child has the opportunity to work to their potential if only given the tools to do so. “”Women can do and be ANYTHING!” says Evans, “We are strong beyond explanation, with the grace and love to move mountains!” Quoting Beyonce, Evans says, “Who runs the world? — GIRLS!”
Kidsplosion is growing its mission outside of the United States, with programs in Ghana, Uganda, and Dubai.
Marlo Richardson
Marlo Richardson is a walking and talking example of female success. A serial entrepreneur with her hands in various industries, Richardson is a woman who set out to show others how it is done. Her most recent business venture, Braymar Wines, has allowed her to bring custom blends and favorite tastes from her various restaurants to the masses. She is the owner of Stage 21 Bar in Culver City, CA, the president of Marlo Productions, which has produced two theatrical films and also finds time to host a crypto and investing-centered podcast. Richardson isn’t one to rest on her laurels, either. She is diving into the world of the cannabis business, making her one of the few women, and one of the very few women of color, to take on the legal cannabis trade. Richardson has also found time and space to create Business Bullish, a website that provides resources for people to learn financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
“I believe women should be self-sufficient in life,” says Richardson, “We deserve to be able to earn equal wages and have equal opportunities based on our skills and abilities. For so long, women have lacked the opportunity to compete for or apply to executive positions.”
To Richardson, providing opportunities for women within her myriad of businesses is the best way to empower. “Opportunity is the key component in empowering women. I’m not giving them a single thing because they are women. I’m simply opening doors that for so long were shut by many institutions.”
Luhv+
Women who seek out career development and community with other female creatives are bound to find their road to success just a little more supported. Luhv+, created by life coach Shaun Crumméy, is an app that looks to buoy professional growth through community building, masterminds, and career development resources. Crumméy has a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in communications and multimedia at Seton Hall University. He is also a system strategist podcast host of Luhv + AM Affirmations, Insights & Inspirations, and author of Becoming More Effective in Less Time, available on Amazon.
The Luhv+ app helps career professionals, new entrepreneurs, and burgeoning executives transition into their roles or further grow careers that may have become stagnant. By taking a personal development approach, Crumméy hopes that lives will be elevated through the Luhv+ program.
“At Luhv + we encourage women to recognize themselves as beautiful amazing beings and to shine their light onto the world,” says Crumméy. “Luhv + empowers both girls and women to become the greatest version of themselves while creating a life they love to live. Women are extremely important to our communities and the world at large.”
McGroarty & Co.
Women have long climbed the corporate ladder to often find themselves met with a glass ceiling that is tough to break. However, the more women enter the corporate space, the easier it will become to shatter that ceiling. Female-led McGroarty & Co., a boutique business consulting firm, has taken on the task of elevating HR, leading project management training, and transforming organizations.
Alexandra McGroarty, founder and author of “Bridging The Gap: Reducing Gender Bias in the Workplace,” has years of experience in HR and has taken her experience global, consulting throughout North America, South America, EMEA, India, Malaysia, Australia, & APAC.
“While the number of women in senior leadership positions has grown in the last 5 years, women are still underrepresented at every level of corporate America,” says McGroarty, “In my work, it is not only a passion of mine, but a mission to help empower women in the workplace.”
Through McGroarty & Co., Alexandra has implemented engagement, retention, and diversity measures for client businesses that focus on the employee lifecycle from talent acquisition to the development of colleagues. It is a new era for the workplace, and McGroarty & Co. is making sure this new era features female ingenuity and contribution.
Centennial Pharmacy
Even before the pandemic, online pharmacies and home delivery of medications increased. Now, in this new post-pandemic world, many are finding that the convenience and cost savings of medication-at-home is impossible to pass up. Lindsay Dymowski, President of Centennial Pharmacy, is leading the way in this space. With over 15 years of experience in the pharmacy industry, Dymowski seeks to drive collaboration and get the attention of payers. She knows it’s not just dispensing medications that define a pharmacy’s success. It’s how well you can support an organization’s goals to better health outcomes with patient-centric pharmacy care.
“The best outfit you can wear is confidence and courage,” says Dymowski, “Confidence gives you the power to speak to a room full of people, but courage gives you the power to keep talking when they don’t laugh at your first joke.”
Along with building her female-led pharmacy, Dymowski has presented at national conferences, received media coverage throughout various outlets, designed continuing education curriculum, and currently sits on several boards committed to the advancement of the practice of pharmacy.
ShopThing
Women have always been at the forefront of retail. From the first female millionaire, Madam CJ Walker, to entrepreneurs such as Maggie Adhami-Boynton, who created one of the world’s first live video commerce platforms. Adhami-Boynton’s company, ShopThing, is an IOS live shopping app that uses live social media streaming to allow shoppers to to shop luxury fashion from brands such as Burberry, YSL, Chanel and Dolce and Gabbana at a more affordable price that fits their budget. The company leadership team is 75% female and 100% persons of color.
“As a female founder in the tech sector, where the typical workforce is made up of only 31% women, it is extremely important for me to mentor, guide, and grow the next generation of women in tech,” explains Adhami-Boynton, “Part of the ShopThing DNA is to empower women and girls to build careers in technology and to feel comfortable in a male-dominated sector.”
Adhami-Boynton has been a force to be reckoned with in the tech space. Before founding ShopThing, the Harvard University Master’s graduate helped scale one of Canada’s most awarded mobile app agencies, Plastic Mobile, as Vice President of Operations. She became a member of the Havas Worldwide executive team following their acquisition of Plastic Mobile in 2015. She intends to continue to make female empowerment a cornerstone of her business.
“Today, we boast an impressively diverse workforce with over 76% women, and as ShopThing continues to expand, transforming the e-commerce landscape, those opportunities will only continue to grow,” she says, “Our app will soon empower anyone to become a retailer with just the click of a button.”
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