The company was founded by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan because they had experienced being women executives without a lot of support. They created a community of 20,000 strong, with 60,000 on waiting lists, but don't call them 'girl bosses.'
Two women are at a conference.
The audience was asked how many men call themselves male bosses. They didn't raise their hand.
The phrase 'boy boss' isn't used. The phrase 'girl boss' is only used because we have put women in another category instead of assuming that a woman can be a leader. I don't like the expression because of it. Women in leadership are not something I like to think about. Kaplan said that it was just leadership.
She said, "How can we celebrate women, not tear them down, not infantilize what it is to be a woman leader by calling them a 'girl boss' and really make sure that women can lead and do it in their own way?"
The three-year-old startup has grown from a 200 person group in NYC to a 20,000 strong organization that has raised more than a billion dollars.
There are 60,000 women who would like to join. Kaplan says it's more important to give its members a valuable experience than it is to grow quickly.
The member experience is of paramount importance. She said that it is important for them to make sure that members are really loving their experience because they have only scratched the surface of 5 million women.
Childers said that the mission was born in personal experience.
She said there were differences in the way conversations were running for different people within the organization. She wanted to create a network of like minded women.
The company opened a place for women to meet in person. There are three more in New York, Chicago and LA. They expanded into the U.K. for the first time.
Women’s leadership network Chief surges to unicorn status
All Rights Reserved © 2024
