Things I Wish Someone Told Me Early about Gender in the Workplace
You live and you learn — hard.
We had a family friend, Mickey from Beaumont, Texas, whose mantra was, “Nobody said it was going to be easy,” and that’s the simple truth of it all. Nothing is easy, but everything you dream of is worth working hard to achieve. But when it comes to gender in the workplace, there are a few things I wish someone had told me when I started out.
People often ask me what it was like to be among the first female grain traders and grain elevator managers, and the question always puzzles me for a moment. I worked as hard as everyone else; gender didn’t play into it.
My dad, a very machismo kind of fellow, instilled in my two younger sisters and me that work is your best friend. If you’re awake, you work. Our family was heavily vested in agriculture, and at a very young age, I, as eldest, began my grain career detailing corn for a local seed corn company. We pulled the tassels from the tall corn stalks, boy or girl, row by row in hot, sticky fields. Gender made no difference.
Eventually, I began working at one of my dad’s country grain elevators, making the first pot of coffee in the morning, weighing grain trucks, testing grain quality, and working my way up to dumping grain trucks. It was a job my dad asked me to do, so I did it. Again, gender didn’t matter when it came to unloading trucks during a busy harvest season. Nor did it when at 16 years old, I spent a summer working the “cutting line” at the local sweet corn canning factory.
I spent my college summers with my dad at the Chicago Board of Trade, where I became a “runner,” running orders into the open outcry trading pits of the day. I was a good runner, and once again, gender had nothing to do with how quickly and discreetly I could slip an order to a pit trader.
But if I had to tell one today’s young professional women anything it would be:
Number one: Gender is a thing.
After graduation from a private women’s college, I experienced my first real introduction to gender issues in the workplace. I was fortunate to land one of the prestigious and limited spots in a formal grain merchandiser-in-training program. In our “class,” there were two females, myself and someone else who did not last long. I remember feeling strange at the training retreats because the other MIT’s, merchandisers-in-training, would ask me what I was doing there. I knew they meant because I was female, but they soon learned I could do the job as well as anyone else, but maybe not get paid the same.
Number two: Things are not always equal. You may earn less than your male counterpoint.
Pay inequality hit me like a slap in the face one day while co-managing a small grain elevator in a neglected, sleepy hamlet on the Illinois River that could make a city-slicker weep with despair. My co-manager was a rich kid from the West Coast, and one day, with actual tears in his eyes, he said to me, “Can you believe we are working in this terrible place for only $27,000 per year?!” I choked, but with my best poker face, replied, “Yes, crazy isn’t it?”
The truth is, until that moment, I felt great about the cool $17K I was pulling in per year. I mustered the nerve to call the head boss at headquarters, and without hesitation, he said to me, “He makes more because he’s a man.” That was years ago, but unfortunately, similar disparities still exist today. Worse, they can create a gap in earning potential over the lifetime of a woman’s career.
Fortunately, if we learn to negotiate and are unafraid to move on to secure better opportunities, we can mitigate that gap a bit. I gained a wealth of experience and a life-lesson on the Illinois River, namely that I deserved equality, and it was up to me to get it since that organization wasn’t progressive or interested in change. I eventually left the company to a much larger position and salary.
Fast forward a few years, and I am trading grain in Iowa for a mid-sized, midwestern grain company. One day, an executive from the home office unexpectedly walked in and told us he is closing the office. They could make more money with the same expenditure in another location, where he happened to own a ski chalet. Except for a few men, most of us would lose our jobs.
Number three: You may encounter closed, backward-thinking minds.
During my exit interview, the executive said to me, “I’m sorry you’re losing your job, but I’m doing you a favor. You should get married and have a couple of kids and stay home.” I was flabbergasted, and the only words I could utter were, “How old are you?” He seemed stunned and answered, “I’m 36.” I wondered how someone so young could have such a closed, backward mind. At 8 am that day, I had a great job; by 10:30 am, we were drinking Bloody Mary’s at the bar in our office building.
The day of the Iowa debacle, I called a friend who had just gone to work for a European firm that owned grain facilities in the US. I immediately was hired by the same firm. I left the Bloody Mary’s behind and was happy to be one of two traders in a barge-loading facility on the Mississippi River. Soon after, the industry had a slump, and the other trader and I were in fierce competition to keep our job; there could be only one.
Number four: You can compete and win. Don’t be shy.
The stakes were high but straightforward, the best performer, bottom line, would win. The race was on. The office climate became formidable, the rivalry heated, but in the end, I kept my job. It didn’t occur to me not to complete. I knew I would have to persevere, but I would prevail. The firm promoted me quickly to a new location and significantly increased my responsibilities.
We all work hard, and many of us do very well, but we can soar when we have help. I was fortunate to find an informal sponsor of sorts in my favorite boss, for whom I worked for years. Mentors are beneficial, but there is a fundamental distinction between a mentor and a sponsor. A mentor has the knowledge and shares it with you; while a sponsor has power and will help you.
Number five: Find a sponsor. Prove you have the right stuff.
My sponsor had confidence in me, and he had power. He gave me increasingly more responsibilities and high visibility projects that caught the eye of the big boss. Next, I found myself the general manager of a significant grain export facility, a three-shift, three different union shop on the Eastern Seaboard. We unloaded “Colt” trains, 100 cars at that time, blended the grain, and loaded ocean-going vessels around the clock.
In addition to managing, I also bought the grain by rail and coordinated all the logistics. It was exhilarating, terrifying, and rewarding at the same time. Gender did come into play, with the crew. At first, they were not comfortable with a woman as a general manager; this was a first, in the country. Once I found “enhanced” pictures of me taped to the time clock. We worked through it. It was not easy, but in the end, we made that elevator hum. My boss supported me, and I proved I could do the job well.
It’s up to you.
At the end of the day, we all have our hopes and dreams. We want to be happy and successful at work and at home. If you are starting out in your career, hopefully, these five tips will help you. If you are well into your career, you can probably relate to many of these scenarios, and hopefully, you’ll find the reminders valuable. It’s amazing to reflect that 100 years after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, there’s still work to do.
Equality is wonderful, but we’re not there yet, and that’s the sad reality. So, it’s also important to understand that ultimately it’s up to you. Work hard, stay authentic, and persevere. Keep the faith. As Mickey often said, “Nobody said it was going to be easy.”
