Welcome to Goldivas.com, for women over 50 who are too young to be old.

 

Issue#25 (August, 2010)

How To Ask For A Raise Even Though It’s Not The Perfect Time (It never is!)

You’d probably love it if your boss walked up to you today and said, “I’ve decided to give you a raise, effectively immediately.” Don’t hold your breath. No one wants to spend any more money than they have to. So, you’re going to have to ask for a raise. Here’s my advice on how to do this. First, do your homework on what you should expect in the way of compensation. Be sure to consult Internet salary websites, such as Salary.com or Salary Center on Monster.com.  In the U.S. women are paid 77 cents for every dollar men make.  If you set your sights on what men are paid and expect the same, you probably won’t be disappointed.  Don’t mention gender or need—keep the salary negotiation to what you bring to the business.

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Issue#24 (June, 2010)

Take This Job and Love It: Ten Ways to Shake Job Stress

In his classic, The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran writes, “Always you have been told that work is a curse ... but I say to you that when you work you fulfill a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born.”

Unfortunately Kahlil’s words don’t jibe with a new Australian study that found almost one in six cases of depression among working people are caused by job stress, that nearly one in five (17 percent) of working women suffering from depression attribute their condition to job stress and more than one in eight (13 percent) of working men do the same.  ( more...)

Issue#23 (May, 2010)

Use the Power of Silence

Best-selling author and keynote speaker Connie Glaser is one of the country’s leading experts on gender communication and women in leadership. Exploring communication differences between men and women, Connie offers corporate seminars on effective communications and overcoming barriers to leadership.

It’s often assumed that listening is a passive activity—you sit there and nod your head intermittently until the other person is through and it’s your turn. You may slide in an occasional word to let them know you’re there,  ( more...)

Issue#22 (April, 2010)

Passionate About Health Care

Felicia Santelli started out as an elementary school teacher years ago, but that stopped when she married and had children. Felicia’s husband was an IBM employee who was transferred around to many different locations. They lived in Paris for ten years, then moved on to London for another two years before returnng to the USA. Along the way, Felicia became interested in nutrition, and started extensive reading on the subject.

 

While in London, Felicia attended the Institute of Optimum Nutrition and earned a diploma in Nutrition. Upon her return to the US, Felicia worked as a Nutrition Consultant in a Physician’s office.

 

Later, during what Felicia’s husband calls her “perpetual student” phase, she earned her M.S. degree in Human Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  ( more...)

Work With Passion in Midlife and Beyond

By Nancy Anderson

 

Many women over 50 want to use their skills in work that matches their values, provides intelluctual stimulation, variety and independence. Perhaps artistic expression as well. By the time we have reached this age, we’re better equipped to examine where we’ve been and where we would like to go.

 

Nancy Anderson provides guidelines for us to work on ourselves first so that we can identify and eliminate obstacles that we may be putting up for ourselves, then we can pinpoint our strengths and values, and develop a path to the work that will fulfill us. The author provides a lot of good ideas for this purpose.  ( more...)

Issue#21 (March, 2010)

Reinvention: From Dressing Women To Dressing Houses

Stephanie Singer grew up in the fashion industry. She worked in the New Jersey family business beginning in her teens, and later branched out. Stephanie attended art school in Hartford, and has been a buyer, designer, boutique owner, merchandising consultant and has done just about any fashion-related job you can name.  ( more...)

Issue#20 (February, 2010)

From Missouri To Malawi

Melva Steen was born on a farm in Missouri, the second of seven children. After finishing high school in 1945, Melva planned on a career in nursing. Melva’s father was unhappy about this choice because like many people in those days, he felt that nurses were one step above prostitutes – after all detailed knowledge of the human body and physical contact with strangers were not “ladylike”. Melva’s mother intervened and her father loaned her the $150 tuition.

 

Melva attended the St. Luke’s School of Nursing in San Francisco. By the time she arrived at the school, Congress renewed the Cadet Nurse program, and Melva was able to return her father’s loan because she was elegible to receive free tuition from the program.  ( more...)

Issue#19 (January, 2010)

7 Ways to Reduce Stress at Work

1. Set a timer for stretch breaks
2. Get outside, every day
3. Mentor or help someone else
4. Get coaching
5. Don’t confuse your self-worth with your career-worth
6. Spend time discovering what you really would love to do
7. Make plans to do what you really love, whether as a career or sideline

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Issue#18 (December, 2009)

Make Every Day A Friday – The Joy Of Connecting Who You Are With What You Do

Whether you are looking to make a total career change or just want to improve your satisfaction in your current career, Marina Spence has some great advice for you. Marina’s book, Make Every Day a Friday!: The Joy of Connecting Who You Are with What You Dowas inspired by the changes Marina made in her own life. Her advice is practical and the book is well-written. Many of her principles apply to life in general, not just your work life.  ( more...)

Issue#17 (October, 2009)

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Writers

 In my line of work, I come into daily contact with all sorts of writing—ranging from the terrific to the truly atrocious. (My own lies somewhere in the murky middle.)

 

Okay, so maybe not everyone is meant to be great writer.  But almost anyone can become an effective writer … and that’s more important. Knowing how to persuade through the written word, express important ideas, and convince people to think your way is a powerful advantage to have.    

 

Effective writing isn’t all that hard to achieve.   ( more...)

National Women’s Law Center

Thursday, November 19 is the date of this year’s National Women’s Law Center Awards Dinner. The Center's annual dinner is one of the largest in Washington. Well over 1,000 people attend, including policy makers and leaders from the women's, civil rights, corporate and legal communities.    ( more...)

Issue#16 (September, 2009)

Beware of Job Search Scams!

If you’ve ever posted your resume on a job board, or replied to a job posting that advertised a great-sounding work-at-home opportunity, it’s only a matter of time before you start receiving scam emails.

Here is an example:

 

Dear sir/madam,

We found your resume on one of the job search & employment sites. According to your profile, you have been looking for a job and we are honored to offer you the position of the exchange operations manager.

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Issue#15 (August, 2009)

Vandana Shiva – Physicist and Eco Feminist

Vandana Shiva was born in India in 1952, and received her Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Western Ontario in 1978. She participated in the nonviolent Chipko movement, organized to save trees in India during the 1970’s.

 

Shiva has fought for changes in the practice and paradigms of agriculture and food, and has contributed intellectually and through activist campaigns. She has assisted grassroots organizations of the Green movement with campaigns against genetic engineering all over the world.   ( more...)

Issue#14 (July, 2009)

Becoming A Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistance is a fast-growing industry and especially helpful for entrepreneurs and small businesses in the current economic climate since they can’t afford to hire full-time employees. Virtual Assistants provide administrative, technical and creative support on an as-needed or on-going basis. It’s a wonderful business model for professional women over 50 who are tired of corporate life and would like to work for themselves.

Melodee Patterson was a computer programmer and systems analyst back in the days of COBOL and mainframes.   ( more...)

Issue#13 (June, 2009)

Is There A Book In You?

Many of us women over 50 dream of writing a book, and some of us actually do! It has become so much easier to publish a book these days, what with the growth of self-publishing and e-books.

 

Mary Kinney Branson wrote her first book at age 25, and has written 17 books since that time. But, Mary had always worked in the corporate world at the same time. After retiring from her position as Marketing Director for a national organization, Mary and her husband Jack are now immersed in writing full-time. They have recently co-authored “ Murder in Mayberry ”, a true crime story about the murder of Jack’s aunt in Madisonville, Kentucky. The story is especially compelling because of the authors’ close connection to the victim, and to the perpetrator who is also a family member.  ( more...)

Issue#12 (May, 2009)

Women of Fire

I hear a whisper of wind that swirls the sparks around me before I hear the whooomp and feel the vibrations of an aerial shell that has successfully ignited and launched. All is the way it should be. I quickly move down the row of mortars and pull off another safety cap. I light another fuse and the fire-cycle is repeated

When I hear the crowds whistle, clap and cheer, I know I have created a unique but brief work of art on the night canvas. I understand I will never get to see the painted sky at the time of creation, because I am the pyro-technician. I am also one of the few women over fifty that work in this field. Pyro work is an art outlet and healthy workout for my brain and body.  ( more...)

The Art of Coaching

It doesn’t seem that long ago that if you mentioned coaching people thought only of sports. When introducing myself as a Coach, it was not unusual for someone to furrow their brow, look at me quizzically, and begin chattering aimlessly about basketball or tennis. Coaching was in its infancy then, and it seemed at the time that it was a disadvantage to tell people you did something that caused more confusion than interest.  ( more...)

Issue#11 (April, 2009)

Born for Freedom

Lina Zilionyte’s book, Born for Freedom , arrived the day after I saw a film, “Red terror on the Amber Coast”, a very touching account of the Soviet occupation of Lithuania from 1944 until 1990, when Lithuania was the first Soviet-occupied country to declare it’s independence. Independence was finally achieved in 1991, and the last Red Army troops left in 1993.

 

Born for Freedom is presented as an account of a fictional character, Lucy, and is a composite of actual characters from that generation. The book traces Lucy’s life starting in 1961, living with her grandparents in a small village in southern Lithuania, through her emmigration to the USA, and events in her life until 1991. The book is a lengthy one, though it moves along, and the events that take place keep you interested all the way through. This book was particularly fascinating for me, since all of grantparents came from Lithuania.  ( more...)

Issue#10 (March, 2009)

Five Success Tips for Self-Employed Women

I have been my own “boss” most of my life. It is such a privilege to set my own work schedule, to discern whom it is I work with and for, and when I work. To work independently has also been my greatest challenge, for in the freedom that self-employment brings, there are also potential pitfalls. At times my office has been in my home. The worse case scenario was a desk in the corner of the kids’ playroom/laundry room. Horrors! Other times it has been in a more professional setting, my favorite being an upper room in an old Victorian house that had been beautifully transformed into offices.  ( more...)

50+ Entrepreneurs Are Starting Businesses In Record Numbers

In these difficult economc times, women over 50 may find themselves out of a job, or perhaps not happy with their current job and wanting something more. For wharever the reason, many of us are starting our own businesses, or at least thinking in that direction. The trend is so prevalent that the SBA now has a website devoted to 50+ entrepreneurs, http://www.sba.gov/50plusentrepreneur/ - where you’ll find a wealth of information and free or low-cost help and resources.  ( more...)

Issue#9 (February, 2009)

Expanding The Possibilities

Nancy Duff Campbell and Marcia D. Greenberger, co-founders and co-Presidents of the National Women’s Law Center., have spent their working lives on issues that are critical to women of all ages, and some of special interest to women over 50. The National Women’s Law Center - http://www.nwlc.org/ - (NWLC) was founded in 1972, and has expanded the possibilities for women and girls in this country. The Center uses the law in all its forms: getting new laws on the books and enforced; litigating ground-breaking cases in state and federal courts all the way to the Supreme Court; and educating the public about ways to make the law and public policies work for women and their families.

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Issue#8 (January, 2009)

Science and Saddles

Beverly Harrison is a busy woman - most of us women over 50 are busy, but this is a woman who never slows down. The day I visited her shop, she was working on reflocking (replacing lambswool stuffing) a saddle, and she was in constant motion the entire time we talked. Beverly is a forth-generation resident of Lafayette, Colorado – her great grandparents made the journey out west in a covered wagon. She grew up with horses, and when she was in her teens, Beverly taught herself the finer points of repairing saddles, since she often purchased used saddles for her own use. Beverly has been active in the horse community for many years, participating in horse shows and dressage competitions.


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Issue#7 (December, 2008)

Starting A Second Career With Tea & Cheesecake

Wy Livingston started baking cheesecakes at the tender age of 13, while she lived with her mother in St. Louis, Missouri. Later, when Wy attended the University of Colorado, she found that baking cheesecakes and selling them was a good way to earn extra money to pay for books. Wy majored in political science in college, but she did find herself hanging out with the culinary people in her spare time. After college, Wy entered a management training program with Fedex, and later moved on to her current position as Senior V.P. for a mortgage company.  ( more...)

Issue#6 (November, 2008)

An Excellent Resource For Working Women

I’ve discovered an outstanding website for working women, Womens Media.com, and the blog that is part of Womens Media, Women’s Lunch Talk. I highly recommend this website, and encourage all of you to take a look. Working women of all ages would benefit from this forum, but women over 50 will especially appreciate Nancy Clark because she is one of us. Nancy writes about various topics relevant to women at work, her advice is useful and her solutions workable.  ( more...)

Issue#5 (October, 2008)

Of Particular Interest To Women…

Rita Henley Jensen, an energetic and inspiring woman over 50, is the Founder and Editor In Chief of Women’s eNews , a non-profit, daily online news service covering issues of particular interest to women.

 

Rita grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where her father was the business editor of the local newspaper. Later, when she was a single mother on welfare with 2 small children, Rita enrolled in Ohio State University.

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Capabilities and Mobility at the DNC

By Kathryn Arbour

Our week on the streets of Denver during the DNC in August brought us stories, insights and business. We had shopped our idea of setting up a mobile wheelchair repair unit to the Denver Host Committee, which accepted our proposal in the spring. Capabilities set up shop just a couple of blocks from the Convention Center at the 16^th Street Mall, a pedestrian mall in the heart of the city.   ( more...)

Issue#4 (September, 2008)

Audition – A Memoir

I can’t remember a time when Barbara Walters wasn’t on television. Reading about her interviews in this book is a trip back to the history of the 60’s and 70’s. Sexism was blatant in those times, as women over 50 will remember. Barbara endured a lot of mistreatment from her male colleagues in those days, although there were exceptions, notably Hugh Downs.

This book, although long, is very readable, and Barbara’s warmth and compassion come through. Her writing style is conversational, as though she were interviewing herself. We learn about her childhood and the family’s lifestyle that alternated between luxurious living quarters, trips to Europe and meeting famous people, to tiny rent-controlled apartments as Barbara’s father, Lou Walters, made and lost fortunes. Barbara’s older sister, Jackie, was mentally challenged, and that lead to resentment and guilt on Barbara’s part. Her writings about her spouses, parents, sister and daughter are very touching.  ( more...)

Capabilities – Two Women Join Forces to Provide Health, Mobility, and Independence

Things were very hectic when I sat down with Pam Pressel and Kathryn Arbour at Capabilities store and corporate offices in Westminster, Colorado – Capabilities was selected as the vendor of choice for mobility equipment repair services at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Denver. There will be a mobile unit strategically placed in an ideal position not far outside the convention center. This location will not only be good for business, it promises to be a great people-watching opportunity as well. Kathryn has already promised to send us a write-up of tales from the DNC front for Goldivas next issue.   ( more...)

Issue#3 (August, 2008)

Fighting for Our Rights

Cathy Hazouri is the Executive Director of the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is based in Denver. She supervises 8 full-time employees and a number of permanent part-time volunteers. Cathy works to maintain a statewide presence for the ACLU throughout Colorado. She regularly visits the ACLU Chapters in Boulder, Ft. Collins, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo, in addition to making 3 or 4 trips annually to outlying parts of the state. Cathy is the Colorado ACLU’s chief spokesperson. She gives talks at colleges and various other organizations, and speaks to newspapers as well.

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Two Books to Give to Your Daughter (But, read them first)

In The Company Of Women – Indirect Agression Among Women: Why We Hurt Each Other And How To Stop. Pat heim, Ph.D., Susan A. Murphy, Ph.D.,MBA, with Susan K. Golant Buy this book from Amazon.com


Rumors of our Progress have been Greatly Exaggerated – Why women’s lives aren’t getting any easier and how we can make real progress for ourselves and our daughters. Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney
Buy this book from Amazon.com

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Issue#2 (July, 2008)

Mom & Daughter CPAs

Aware of the need to support herself after high school, Sandy Collins was enrolled in a secretarial program at Humboldt State College in San Francisco. After taking the bookkeeping course that was part of this program, Sandy decided to take an accounting course. This was 1958, and Sandy, being a woman, had to get special permission to be enrolled in the regular accounting class. After “aceing” the course, Sandy was encouraged, by the Head of the Business School, to continue in the Accounting program. One of Sandy’s instructors was a woman who was also very supportive.  ( more...)

From The Fast Lane To The Bike Lane

Gloria Smith founded WomanTours in 1993, after completing an 80-day cross-country bicycle trip that was organized by other women. Gloria found the experience so exhilarating, she couldn’t wait to go on the next tour, but the other women were not doing any more trips, so Gloria began sending out letters to friends and organizing shorter trips herself. In 1996, Gloria had the idea of organizing a cross-country bicycle trip for women over 50. It took two years of planning to put this all together, but the response was enthusiastic and in 1998, WomanTours ran 2 cross-country trips.   ( more...)

Issue#1 (June, 2008)

One Woman, Many Careers

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Margaret Heffernan Speak at the Denver TiE Women’s Forum. Margaret is an entrepreneur, Chief Executive and author. She was born in Texas, raised in Holland and educated at Cambridge University. She worked in BBC Radio for five years. As a television producer, she made documentary films. She also produced music videos. Leaving the BBC, she ran the trade association IPPA, which represented the interests of independent film and television producers. In 1994, she returned to the United States where she worked with software companies trying to break into multimedia. She then joined CMGI where she ran, bought and sold leading Internet businesses, serving as CEO for InfoMation Corporation, ZineZone Corporation and iCAST Corporation.  ( more...)

10 Steps to Escape the Job World and Create The Life You Really Want

"Turning Interests Into Income" expert Valerie Young abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at www.ChangingCourse.com offering resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. Her career change tips have been cited in Kiplinger's, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today Weekend, Woman's Day, and elsewhere and on-line at MSN, CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. An expert on the Impostor Syndrome, Valerie has spoken on the topic of How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are to such diverse organizations as Daimler Chrysler, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Harvard, and American Women in Radio and Television.  ( more...)