Reflections

Susan B. Anthony is a great example of a social entrepreneur. Photo by Mickey Glitter

This post was written as a part of PDMA's Conference on Social Product Development and Co-Creation.

Cherie Blair, British barrister and author of Speaking for Myself, discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with being a woman in a male-dominated field at the We Own It Summit in June, 2011. The Summit is a gathering of leaders to explore and enhance women’s participation in high growth entrepreneurship.

I know what you’re thinking: you already have a pretty solid grasp of what sex and gender mean. But bear with me, because it’s the finer points here that make a difference with regard to entrepreneurship. I was recently asked for my thoughts on how to create a movement of women entrepreneurs in the next generation, and gender, not sex, is a key part of my argument.

Whole worlds get made from seemingly so little. Stephanie Wier and Bob Dassie perform at the 2009 Phoenix Improv Festival on the Herberger Theatre Center stage. Photo by Kevin McShane

You and five people step on the stage with nothing, trusting everyone in the room to listen and give what they can to the performance. Together, you are there to write, stage and perform a one act play that has never been done and will never be seen again. You shade your eyes from the stage lights so you can see the audience, you try to make eye contact.

Like the grass that grows up through the cement cracks, the performing arts in Phoenix is determined to thrive. Photo by Nina Miller

In my work in theatre, design and improv, I have seen many an artist move along to "greener" pastures. The temptation to go where a community is apparent and thriving has hit all of us, but what about our own community in Phoenix? What challenges do we have in Phoenix that other cities don’t have, and what are the gifts that those challenges give us?

Audrey Iffert leads a presentation at Phoenix's Community Jobs Forum on how entrepreneurs play a large role in bolstering the U.S. economy through job creation.

You might not be able to tell from looking at me in four-inch heels today, but growing up, I worked construction.
 
My dad is a self-employed contractor. I was one of only four employees in a job that called for all hands on deck. In fact, when my dad was reroofing a house, I was reroofing a house; when he was installing ceramic tile, I was installing ceramic tile; and when he was sanding drywall, I was sanding drywall.

In his essay, "The Heritage of Storytelling" Robert Fulford states, "We humans are all storytellers, or story-listeners, or both."

I have distinct memories of sitting by the campfire as a child. My front feeling slightly singed by the flames that my brother stoked ever higher and my back feeling cold and exposed to the darkened forest that lay beyond fire light.  I loved being there.

Let's start our own March Madness at ASU - a tournament of entrepreneurship victory stories.

Sweet sixteen.  College basketball has given a whole new meaning to this phrase.  Sweet sixteen is no longer the purview of adolescent girls on the verge of womanhood.  It’s the first round of a frenzy-inducing basketball tournament appropriately nicknamed March Madness.  As I write, the nation is in the midst of March Madness.  But why?