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New Week, New Headlines: Move Over, Bros: How Women Actually Control the Global Economy & The Missed DEI Opp

• Francesca Ranieri • Season 2 • Episode 5

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Think the economy is run by tech bros and Wall Street suits? Think again. Women now control 85% of consumer spending and 60% of America's personal wealth, making them the most powerful economic force in the market. In this eye-opening episode, we dive into Bank of America's latest report on the "She Economy" and explore how women are outpacing men in income growth, business ownership, and market influence. Plus, we tackle the urgent battle over DEI initiatives in corporate America and reveal how women's collective purchasing power could be the key to preserving workplace equity.

Key topics:

  • The trillion-dollar female economy and why it matters
  • Why 40% of working women now out-earn their husbands
  • How women are driving economic growth across all sectors
  • The latest on DEI rollbacks at major corporations
  • Strategic ways to use your economic power for positive change
  • Which major companies are standing firm on DEI (and which aren't)

Whether you're a corporate leader, entrepreneur, or professional woman, this episode reveals the true scope of female economic power and how to leverage it. Join us for an empowering discussion about women's rising influence in the global economy and what it means for the future of business.

#WomenInBusiness #SheEconomy #DEI #WomenLeaders #BusinessStrategy #CorporateAmerica #WomenEntrepreneurs #EconomicPower #WomenInLeadership #BusinessPodcast

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. We are not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

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Speaker 1:

I am literally going back and forth between I'm grounded, I am one, and like, I will cut you. You know what I've had? The most relaxing 2025. How about you?

Speaker 2:

yeah, yeah, I feel rested and not stressed at all centered chill balanced no no chill yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I am literally going back and forth between like I'm grounded, I am one, and like I will cut you no in between.

Speaker 2:

No, in between. Before this, did you watch the halftime show with Kendrick? I did yes, yes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, loved it.

Speaker 2:

And then I saw someone's comment about it that said and then I saw someone's comment about it that said Kendrick is teaching me that I'm not reaching my full hating potential, and I was like, yes, yes.

Speaker 1:

In this moment. Yes, it was such strong energy. It was strong energy, elegant energy. Yeah, it wasn't sloppy.

Speaker 2:

It wasn't basic yeah, 100%, yeah, 100%. Well, what are you talking about today?

Speaker 1:

I want to talk about something that's been in the ether for a while, but I do want to talk about some of the new things happening with the DEI battle. Let's talk about the two fronts it's happening, on how it's going to impact you. More importantly, what you can do, because we all have power, sometimes in interesting places. And then I have some FIA news. Mel, what are you talking about?

Speaker 2:

I am talking about the she economy.

Speaker 1:

I am talking about the she economy, the she economy.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and the power players that women are in influencing our economy.

Speaker 1:

Ladies.

Speaker 2:

Ladies, who knows the world?

Speaker 1:

Girls. So DEI, yeah, so DEI. This battle has been going on for at least the last year. We've had conservative activists in boardrooms swaying shareholders and stakeholders to say, hey, we're going to completely walk away from DEI efforts and or roll them back significantly. We've seen this at companies like John Deere, harley Davidson, the latest being Target, which I'll talk about in a second. It's ramping up full steam ever since the Trump administration came into bear.

Speaker 1:

There's two things happening. One is now you have government and legal pressure from Pam Bondi, who's the attorney general, and the Department of Justice, and they're investigating companies for potential reverse discrimination claims which could lead to criminal probes and or lawsuits. Now there are many attorneys that are on record saying they don't even think that the DOJ can even do this, but the threats are out there. Have you seen this? I have. Yeah, yeah, yeah, even though it might not be something that they can legally enforce, we're already seeing organizations using that as an opportunity to walk away from some of their DEI efforts. The other one continues to happen in the boardroom and corporate strategy. Companies are continuing to face pressure from conservative shareholders and activist investors. We've seen companies like General Motors, pepsi, amazon. They've already removed DEI references from their public reports, signaling some quiet pullback On the docket this week in some of the S&P. We've got companies like Apple, coca-cola, ibm, berkshire Hathaway. They're seeing some challenges already with their DEI programs and we're waiting to see what might happen with that or not.

Speaker 2:

A few thoughts on this One, curious why we have so many followers out there and not leaders in the business world. Just because something came down as an executive order as a private company, it doesn't mean you need to necessarily follow that. Stand up for yourself, right. The second one for me is the continuation of listening to shareholders who don't necessarily represent your customer base. A good example of that and actually the shareholders Target just didn't listen to their customer base or their shareholders, who are now suing them. When you see companies make decisions that really go against their greater good of the success of their business due to bullying, let's call it what it is. It's straight up bullying. It's bullying by the administration and it's bullying by some of their conservative shareholders and it's bullying by some of their conservative shareholders.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it also holds true to do you genuinely value, do you genuinely have inclusion, belonging equity, thinking about diversity in all types of realm, not just race and gender right? Do you value that as a way of doing business to your point Because it reflects your consumer base, because it reflects your employee base, or because you know that when you have these practices, you are more profitable, you are more innovative, you are more productive?

Speaker 2:

In the words of Julia Roberts big mistake, huge mistake.

Speaker 1:

Huge mistake, huge mistake. The good news is we're seeing a lot of companies and we'll talk about this in a second hold their ground, basically saying piss off, this is the way we do business. And over my dead body not happening. Fun fact Costco. Fun fact the NFL, which is probably the most bro organization on the face of the planet, roger Goodell coming out and being like we're not walking away from this. This is. This is the way we do.

Speaker 2:

Jamie Dimon. Jamie Dimon, I was like, well, that was an unexpected player showing up in this conversation, but thank you, yes.

Speaker 1:

Yes, it is. It is unexpected, and I also think that points to the fact that because they understand the business value of these decisions and hopefully the human value as well. But I can guarantee you it's a business value.

Speaker 2:

One hundred percent because they're playing for the long run.

Speaker 1:

This is my thing. You either are or you've been co-opting at the entire time of the things you and I talk about all the time I feel like I've said this a million times is, in these times where regulations and protection go away, you will see very clearly what organizations will or will not stand for. It's almost like if you had Tinder and everybody's profile was a hundred percent honest. Yeah, right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Right, I mean, essentially, it's now their new Glassdoor profile 1000%.

Speaker 1:

So, as an employee, what's great is if someone's saying that they're standing for diversity, equity, inclusion and they have the facts to back it up, you know they fucking do Right. And if it's nowhere to be found, you know what you're going to get. And I think that level of clarity is a great thing, Because what happens when these type of protections are rolled back? The workplace in general for everybody becomes less fair, it's less inclusive, it's less protective of all employee rights.

Speaker 2:

All of them of all employee rights. All of them, yeah, because these programs and initiatives help everyone, as you mentioned up front.

Speaker 1:

It's every employee. What you're going to start to see is a lot more, and I'll go through some of these just to list them. You're going to have fewer leadership opportunities happening for everybody across the board. The whole idea of meritocracy is going to be screamed from the trees. Listen. It's going to favor well-connected candidates. It's going to favor legacy hires. It's going to favor people that went to the right schools and that are in the right circles, that are in the right networks. For instance, there's no way in hell you're going to be getting into a big four if you didn't go to a big 10 or an Ivy school, if you went to Eastern Oklahoma University I don't even know if that is a thing you're not getting there. That's what that means.

Speaker 2:

That's what that means, unless you have a connection, who's a potential client Right?

Speaker 1:

Right. Again, it's not a meritocracy Correct. It's not a meritocracy Right. Workplace workforce discrimination for everybody. This is at risk. You're going to have things like code switching happening more and more. And if you don't know what this is, Mel and I have been around for a while. Let me put it this way when I was being raised as a professional woman in my 20s and in my 30s, I was basically told to assimilate into a man's culture. I should learn how to play golf. I should be wearing pantsuits that had like a leather accent, so I looked more masculine.

Speaker 2:

I was told I had to wear a skirt suit because that was the preference for women ew, not in a place I worked, but while I was on an interview that it was recommended, if I came back for second rounds, that I choose different attire that aligns more with what they prefer for women, which is women's skirt suits and men in pantsuits. We'll bring it back to the 80s, even though it was the early 2000s yeah, this was not that long ago, it was not. Not, it really wasn't, I mean and we also lived through the separate policies of maternity versus paternity leave, where women received three months, usually unpaid, and men received two weeks, and for both, taking that time meant it would hurt your chances of being promoted.

Speaker 1:

That's the other piece of this and, again, this is why it impacts everybody, right? When we think about family-friendly, when we think about sandwich generation, when we think about inclusive benefits, let's just go on that Paid paternal leave, anything you have to take care of your older generation, your younger generation, like child care benefits, if you're neurodivergent or you have a disability accommodation. If you think about ERGs, if you think about workers' rights, like just safety, osha, all of these things are on the line. Ladies, the pay gap we had 20 years before we shortened that pay gap where it was equal for men and women oh, that just doubled, at a minimum, no way I don't even need the research.

Speaker 2:

We'll see that report in a year.

Speaker 1:

It's interesting to watch and I know you're going to be talking about the shi economy and I'm so stoked for that and I realize I'm like yelling into the microphone, sorry about that. I'm like what I don't want to do is, and because I have, I think there was a day last week where I texted you and I'm like I just need to nap Cause I was just like because you feel so fucking helpless sometimes, right, and to me last week it felt like, okay, we have two people in charge of everything, donald Trump and Elon Musk, and there's no other power dynamic. But then when you peel back and look at, is that true? Yeah, there is a third party, which is you you as an employee and you as someone that is a buyer of things. And a couple of things I want people to keep in mind, especially if you're an employee right now, as these things may be rolled back in your company or may about to be rolled back in your company. One is document everything. If you have a workers' rights issue, if you have a discrimination issue, if you have a harassment issue, if you have a bias issue and you need to go and lawyer up or you need to go to HR and complain, the first thing they're going to ask you for is documentation. So right now, I would be keeping records of your performance reviews, your promotions, your pay stubs. If you have any kind of discrimination concerns at all, start documenting them. Period Document all of your goodness. Document anything that's happening, because that's the first thing anyone's going to be asking for. Don't wait until you need it, just so you have it, especially on the plus side, just so you have it.

Speaker 1:

If DEI is something you really believe in, is to make sure that you make that known in your organization. Support ERGs, support internal advocacy efforts. Push for transparency. If you're a person of privilege in a certain situation and you see something happening, say something. Advocate for someone. I can't say that enough, because we're already hearing and seeing things happening in the workplace. Don't be silent. And the last thing is vote with your wallet, mel. I know you're going to talk about this in a second, but support brands that are publicly committed to DEI so we continue to have workplaces that support this, and the easiest way you can do that is with your wallet. I have not shopped at Target for the last three weeks and I'm the most basic ass white woman you've ever met in your life and I am going a little bonkers, but I will not do it. I will not do it.

Speaker 2:

Listen, there are plenty of thrift stores where you can get the same dopamine hit.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, super fair. Listen, super fair. You know what I realized? It's on the makeup, like I like going there and like just picking up a $10 like blah blah. You know what I'm saying? It's just that it's that there's nothing wrong with thrift store. You know nothing wrong with thrift store. So things to keep in mind as it relates to DEI watch what's happening in your boardroom, watch what's happening with the DOJ and, more importantly, get yourself into a position of power which you have with your wallet and at work.

Speaker 2:

There was an article that came out from Bank of America report recently that noted that women are officially the economy's power players and that we're outpacing men in income and spending growth. And one of the questions I have out there is are women the key to the next economic boom? I think yes, because we've officially entered the she economy. Have you heard of it?

Speaker 1:

I haven't, but I'm very, very curious.

Speaker 2:

Girl power. Okay, here are the five things you need to know about this One. This projection about women really being the leaders in our economic growth, not just in the US but globally started back in 2019 with a McKinsey report called she Economy. But I'm going to say I went down a little rabbit hole this weekend and I found an even earlier report talking about this and the future of women's purchasing power. Can you guess who was studying this back in 2014?

Speaker 2:

The future of women's purchasing power, the purchasing power of women. Who is doing some research on this?

Speaker 1:

I guess I was thinking it'd be like I don't know why Sheryl Sandberg is coming to mind. I know that's not right. I know that's not right.

Speaker 2:

No, and she was a front for Zuckerberg.

Speaker 1:

I understand, I understand, like the big ladies movements, the big ladies movements Very inspirational. But I know God, I swear to God, I just want to like lean out.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.

Speaker 2:

Dove, dove Beauty no, but good guess. I mean that would be a good guess, right? I'm sure they had their own research, but it was McCormick Spices. They had a whole report out on the purchasing power of women back in 2014 that I was like, ooh, this is interesting, but a lot's changed since 2014 and a lot's changed since 2019, when McKinsey started to highlight this. And then I went even deeper, because I noticed that Nationwide put out a report to financial advisors and I think 2023, about why you're going to need to start adjusting for your future core clientele, which are women, and what kind of financial advising do they need, because they're a very different kind of clientele.

Speaker 2:

I was like, yes, we are. We are very different and we've been paying the pink tax for so long. We deserve to finally be in this position. So five big areas of what we're seeing. First, income growth. Women are experiencing faster income growth than men, contributing significantly to economic expansion. According to research from a group called Girl Power Marketing, women control more than 60% 6-0 of all personal wealth in the US Really, yes, and 40% of US working women now out-earn their husbands 60% of all wealth.

Speaker 2:

Women, women. In the US, but the, the richest people are like bro bros. Well, those are who you see in the news, but just because they have the highest concentration amongst that little bro circle, that doesn't represent all of america. So when you think of the collective power, of women's spending power, yeah, yeah, yeah, we have it 60. Power in numbers, ladies.

Speaker 1:

It's not even like a slight majority that feels I feel like I feel very confident. It's a majority, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, power in numbers, spending power has increased. With increased earnings, women's spending has surged, making them pivotal consumers in the market. In fact, forbes noted back in March of 2024, a reference from a TechCrunch report that women control. Guess what percentage of purchases women control? Just purchases in general, just purchases in general made in the us 70, 70, 70 73.

Speaker 2:

Well you're, you're much closer the first time 85, 85 of purchases across various categories in the us alone, so not even globally. We control the global economy as well, by the way. Additionally, women are projected to control 75 of discretionary spending by 2028. Yeah, that's not too far. I wonder why all our rights are looking to be dismantled. My tinfoil hat don't mind me guys.

Speaker 1:

All right.

Speaker 2:

TechCrunch has called it the unlocking of the trillion dollar female economy, and the Girl Power Report notes that women are the primary decision makers for things like new homes, personal computers, vacations, healthcare, new cars where we put our bank accounts food and pharmaceuticals. We are the primary consumers for those big things in every household. That resonates with me. Does that resonate with you?

Speaker 1:

Yes, I, literally I'm just going through the roster of like what I buy versus what my husband buys.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely Like who does the research? Who does the decision-making? Robbie jokes all the time that I'm the decisive one. Nope, we're taking that He'll do the research and I'm like, no, it's this.

Speaker 1:

We're good you get over that 60% of the wealth and then 85% of the purchasing, like 85%.

Speaker 2:

Well, women carry the load there's. So when you break, I mean, I could probably write a thesis on this like a whole, but like we carry the mental load for households, the majority of women are carrying that load. They are making all of these decisions every single day, small, minor decisions, and not to say men don't make these decisions for themselves, but oftentimes this is the work deferred to women, and so we are leading in the spending power. And an interesting point from the Scurril Power report was, although we make 85% of these major purchases, 91% of women feel that advertisers don't understand them at all because they market to men. 50% of products that are marketed to men are actually purchased by women.

Speaker 1:

This is absolutely true. If you want a great example of this, look at the Old Spice campaign, because Old Spice before it was a funny commercial ad with that really hot guy that's on the horse and all this good jazz. 10 years ago, old Spice was just like an old man, grandpas, old man brand. They realized that women were the ones buying deodorant, buying aftershave for all of their husbands. And so what did they do? They put a super hot guy in the commercial. And what happened? Yeah, smart.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, their sales went up. They understood their customer. There you go, All right. The third thing educational attainment. More women are attaining higher education levels, equipping them for diverse roles across multiple industries. More women are getting advanced degrees than men Makes sense industries. More women are getting advanced degrees than men. Labor force participation is the fourth item. There's been a notable rise in women's participation in the workforce, enhancing overall economic productivity. One area of growth is launching startups. Women are becoming bigger players in the startup space, even though they're not funded as often as men.

Speaker 1:

No.

Speaker 2:

But what the report noted is women actually will launch their startup with less capital and there are more conservative borrowers than men, according to Forbes, and they contribute more than 37% of global GDP today and that's expected to grow. And then, according to that TechCrunch article, from 2023, women make up roughly half of the US working population and when they adjust that for self-employment, women are the workforce majority. And, according to the Bank of America report, which just came out a few weeks ago, women's employment growth has been greater than the average for the past two years, outpacing the national average. Last, I'm going to cover entrepreneurship. So women are increasingly leading businesses, driving innovation, job creation.

Speaker 2:

That Girl Power report noted that one out of every 11 American women owns a business. That one out of every 11 American women owns a business. Look at us we do too. Hey, according to a CNN article, in 2024, after the pandemic, there was a massive surge in women entrepreneurship and women have formed new businesses at rates that outpace the market, and in traditionally male-dominated industries like construction and manufacturing male dominated industries like construction and manufacturing In 2023, 49% of new business owners were women, versus 45% being men. And to put that in perspective for you back in 2019,. That number for women was something like 29%, so it's almost doubled.

Speaker 1:

This is what happens when you fund women. It helps us all, and we do something about it. A 20% jump in four years is insane, and what happened there, though for I'm sure for a lot of people was pandemic money right Flowing in, potentially, or investment flowing in, and what do women do? They start something, they build something, they produce something, and, by the way, that ends up being real money.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Real money. Real money creating real jobs, creating real economic growth for the US and globally. Women guys I don't know what else to say here, but it's clear that empowering women in the workforce as entrepreneurs is only going to help everybody. I'm going to leave you with a quote from Fortune. It really resonated with me and I hope it resonates with others.

Speaker 2:

But, going back to your power of the wallet, listen, the majority of Fortune 500 companies are led by men, but it's women that can make or break those companies. It's not their board, it's not their shareholders, it's their consumers, and the majority of consumers, as all of these stats show, are women. So, women, if you can't speak publicly or if you feel unsafe to do that, you can speak with your purchasing power, and you should do so. Hey, National Women's Month is coming up. What? March 1st? Maybe? That's the day of only spending in places that support women. I'm just going to call it now, okay. As Fortune notes, if you're looking for someone to thank for the economy's resilience at the moment, women might be a good place to start. That's my soapbox.

Speaker 1:

Eighty five percent purchasing power.

Speaker 2:

Eighty five percent.

Speaker 1:

Can we do some FEI?

Speaker 2:

news I think we have. Yeah, let's cover some FEI news. Let's end on a positive.

Speaker 1:

Listen, it's the Mr Rogers thing. Right, Look for the helpers when you're feeling like, oh my God, look for the helpers. There are always helpers, right and even better, be a helper with your purchasing power. And so if you're wondering about US companies that are upholding strong commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion, here they are. I'm going to list them, mel, you're going to list them. Some of these we're watching just because it's on a it changes every day, folks.

Speaker 1:

As of now, monday February 10th, at 1219 PM Pacific Standard Time, these are the companies that are. So it's Apple, costco Goddamn I love Costco Elf Beauty, goldman Sachs, jp Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love that. Loved his comeback for that. Yeah, didn't see that coming.

Speaker 1:

Microsoft, salesforce, patagonia, nice fleece, ben and Jerry's, nike, my alma mater, just do it. Intel, linkedin, unilever, johnson and Johnson and, just in time for the football, the NFL.

Speaker 2:

I love it. I love it. I'll add to that Pinterest was on that list. Very nice, love Pinterest. Nasdaq was on there, delta was on that list too, and Cisco.

Speaker 1:

Very nice Love to see it.

Speaker 2:

I love to see it too. I hope they stand the ground in supporting it, because we need companies that are going to be leaders in this space to push back and reinforce the value. I'm still upset about Target. Womp, womp, I guess you know All right Mel Well lovely to talk with you today.

Speaker 2:

Lovely to talk to you too, friend. Listen, this episode was produced, edited and all things by us myself and Francesca. Our music is by Pink Zebra and we love that you join the conversation with us every single week. Please follow us on all the socials, join our community on LinkedIn. We're on Instagram, you can find us on TikTok and on YouTube, and if you like what our content is, please like and subscribe and share with five friends, because it takes five minutes and we'd be really appreciative if you did that.

Speaker 1:

All right, Be well, friends, take care. Bye, thank you.