GlamourByLBD Note:  The following article is a contributed article from Susan Wranick, the President of Susan L. Wranik Associates LLC.  I had the pleasure to meeting Susan while attending the eWomen conference.  She is an expert in the area of communication, making it her mission to Make Women’s Voices Be Heard. Look for her articles as an ongoing contributor to www.GlamourByLBD.com. 

More on the hunter/gatherer paradigm. 

Studies in early language development show that female children surpass male children in word acquisition, and that male children, given a limited vocabulary, are more inclined to express themselves physically.  For example, if a child has a toy that a male child wants, he takes it.  End of story.  A female child, on the other hand, will use her words to negotiate a mutually agreeable playing schedule with her playmate. Ever watch them in action?  Fascinating.  Yet, the very language competence that places females at the head of the learning curve in early language development often works against them later in life in business.

 Take the way women ask for a raise.   Women ask, often supporting and justifying, conveying their appreciation - sometimes effusively.  Men simply state their needs.  Take it or leave it.  Is it a gamble?  Yes, but so is any communicative event. In business, and in dealing with men in particular, less is more.  The more streamlined the discourse, the more easily it’s understood.  

 Perhaps the first foreign language we should teach is the one that divides men and women - and that instruction should begin early in life!

 Susan Wranick, MS MA CCC-SLP is a Linguist/speech-language pathologist as well as a speaker and writer who focuses on giving voice to other people’s voices.   Learn more about her company, Susan L. Wranik Associates, LLC at www.speakskill.com. Susan resides in Chevy Chase, MD. 

GlamourByLBD Note:  Women Don’t Ask (book pictured to the right)  is currently on my nightstand.  I highly commend it to your reading!  Click here to learn more about Women Don’t Ask. 

With the beginning of school on Monday, summer is coming to a close at our house.   And what better way to end a great summer than with movies?  This week I have seen three:  I took my son to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince; then it was off to Julie and Julia with my mom and best friend; and just finished watching the DVD of Becoming Jane with Anne Hathaway. 

While I enjoyed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, I think they better hurry up and finish filming the series or the stars are going to finish their senior year at Hogwarts from a retirement home!  It is getting harder to find the characters believable as teenagers! 

I could not help but to laugh out loud throughout Julie and Julia.  And boy, can I relate to Julie Powell’s frustration.  Sometimes I wonder if anyone out there is reading my blog.  Her reminder that we write for ourselves first was a great reminder.  And based on Google Analytics, I do know that someone other than my mother is reading!  However, if anyone out there is reading and would like to say hello, I’d love the company!  Meryl Streep was absolutely perfect as Julia Child…whoda thunk? 

For those of you not familiar with Becoming Jane, it is the true life story of Jane Austen and the inspiration for Sense and Sensibilities.  Somewhat depressing but the scenery was beautiful and Anne Hathaway was exceptional as Jane Austen.  It is remarkable that Jane, who lived such a short life and had a fairly limited life experience, was one of the most prolific woman authors of all time.  Her life reminds me that there are no excuses!  Get writing! 

See you at the Movies!

As you have probably figured out by now, I am pretty passionate about the idea that women should be able to find the best fit for their body type in clothing that makes them look good and feel better.  I am so blessed to have partnered with affiliate companies who offer these very styles!  And today, I add a new one to the list:  Figleaves.com. 

While I have historically found a few great pieces, now I am able to offer an outstanding variety as well!  Figleaves.com has 200+ brands of lingerie, sleepwear, swimwear, menswear & hosiery including full figure, bridal and maternity departments. Customer favorites include Elle MacPherson Intimates, DKNY, Shock Absorber, Wacoal, Wonderbra, Calvin Klein, Lejaby, Moschino, Betsey Johnson and Cosabella, just to name a few.  Worried about finding the right size online?  Figleaves offers FREE Returns!

 Miraclesuit is one of my favorite swimsuits for women over size 8.  Figleaves has the entire 2009 Summer collection.  SCORE! 

Have a safe, happy and restful Memorial Day weekend!

Click here to learn more about the Miracle Suit at Fig Leaves.com

 GlamourByLBD Note:  In watching the news on the financial crisis and talking with my customers, I am finding that everyone is affected in some way or another.  As most of my readers are women, it seemed like a perfect time to have my associate, Irene Moustakas, share with us her ideas, particularly regarding women and credit. 

Women and Credit

Women certainly have come a long way in regards to building independent finances, credit and awareness.  After all, it wasn’t until a few short decades ago that a woman’s income was even accounted for in a home mortgage application - banks just assumed that the woman would likely have children or take care of the parents and would stay at home.  It’s important for women to be aware of maintaining independence and knowledge in anything financial so that educated, solid decisions can be made; relying on anyone else is not an option. 

In my business as a mortgage broker, I’ve witnessed two very different scenarios when it comes to a husband and wife building their credit and financial lives together.  The first is the woman that uses credit and handles credit but whose name and social security number is not tied to it.  This may be the woman that married an already-established man, but who handles the spending and paying the bills in the house.  She’s assuring that credit is being built properly, through good spending and making timely payments and yet she’s not building any of her own credit.  This is detrimental for any future purchases she may need or want to make on her own.  Being an authorized user on a credit card is insufficient and has nothing to do with building credit.

The other side of the coin is the husband and wife team that only carry joint credit and so the one’s actions is always tied to the other’s actions.  I’ve had both men and women come to me with a situation where their ex-spouse stopped paying the bills and so both of their credit scores plummeted.  It doesn’t even have to be as drastic as this - one of them may have simply forgotten to pay the bills, but it still affects both of their credit profiles.  If just one of them had excellent individual credit, then that would at least balance the bad joint credit and that individual person could seek a needed loan at a better interest rate. 

Always monitor your credit - I personally pull my credit report once a year just to make sure nothing is incorrect and to see if there’s anything I can do to improve my score.

©2008 Irene M. Moustakas
About the Author
Irene Moustakas, Granite Financial Real Estate Loans, Inc.

Irene Moustakas is a Real Estate Loan Consultant with Granite Financial Real Estate Loans, Inc. based in Cupertino, CA.  She provides her clients with education, financial guidance and mortgage strategies that coincide with their financial goals.  She is committed not only to her clients’ success but to providing calm support throughout the often complicated and confusing loan process.  Experience her expertise with a free consultation.  Call her at 408.257.1681 or visit her blog at www.loansbyireneblog.com for more information and tips.

Wayne Calloway, a former Chairman of PepsiCo was known for saying “If it ain’t broken, break it anyway!”   This is great advice for companies and careers.  My husband, who was a contractor in the software space for years, noted that he had a much higher level of confidence than many of his full time peers because he constantly had to sell himself.   It forced him to stay current.  In my own 20 year career,  I have gone from advertising to marketing to sales to general management back to marketing and now to a bit of all of it.  I have moved from  salty snacks to the world of internet and now to the world of  video games.  It has been rare that I have stayed in a job for more than 3 years.  This forces you to constantly push yourself. 

There is a notion I love called “Zone Of Development”.  This is the space beyond where you are super comfortable but not so far out that stress becomes unproductive.  This is where growth occurs and it is likely to happen when you are in a new job, or at a new company or doing a cross functional assignment.

Change is good.  It forces you to be flexible, to adjust, and to learn from others rather than just trusting your own functional knowledge.  Don’t just accept change…embrace it and seek it out.

 In addition to being my neighbor and friend, Cammie Dunaway is the Executive Vice President of Nintendo of the Americas.