Encouraging and inspiring- thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the tidbits! I'm glad I'm not alone. I've experienced a lot of gender and age discrimination and have found that taking a classy approach is always best in the end. Personal integrity comes first.

Thanks Laura Su

Over at Design*Sponge we might try to help women set up small local business women meet-ups. If you're interested in setting one up in your area just shoot me an email via D*S: designsponge.blogspot.com

Grace

Thanks Grace. I look forward to reading more from you on this subject. As a woman just starting out in this design blog business I really appreciate the insight.

I hope to hear more from you on how to attract advertisers. Thanks!
Victoria

I need to ask this- what exactly is the business that you are describing here? Selling ads on a Blogger site? I think we need more clarity on this.

Is Grace supposed to be telling us about what it's like to be a design journalist? How to turn being a blogger into a "business"? I read Design Sponge weekly, and I don't really understand how it qualifies as a business, exactly. Selling ad space on a free website is hardly a new concept.

I'd find this Slate entry a bit more educational if it were about an actualy business, or if I could understand how Grace is relating her experiences to "business". Maybe I'm being a bit obtuse here, but it seems to me that a site like Something Awful (www.somethingawful.com), or even Maddox (maddox.xmission.com) have more to say about how a website written for fun starts to become a true business.

There are plenty of design blogs out there, and plenty of them sell ads. I'm not seeing, yet, how this story unfolds into one about business. I suppose I shall keep reading and hope the answer comes.

grace,

first i must say that i absolutely love your design sponge site, and it is one of my regular reads! i am ever so slowly chipping away at starting my own business, and i never imagined that gender would play a part in how people would interact with me and my business in this day and age. thank you for your insight and encouragement to women business owners everywhere!

I'm glad you have persisted! Hopefully these types of people are few and far between, and your work has proven them all wrong.

I too am a young woman running my own (meaning just me) design firm. I actually avoid giving out my age just because it does tend to cloud people's thinking. I also agree with being honest about being small. My clients are well aware of this fact, and understand that I am juggling multiple clients. So far so good (fingers crossed).

Finally, I moved to London early this year, and they just had a huge ruling on age descrimination. No company, client, etc can ask your age or even make a reference to it.

Thanks again for doing what you do!

hi grace!
i'm enjoying your posts here so much. i really struggle with the business side of my work (it just doesn't come naturally to me at all!)-- so this is VERY interesting and helpful.

as a 20-something industrial designer, surrounded by TONS of guys - i can definitely relate to you. i've been surprised by comments that will be made without even a thought that they are totally inappropriate. things like "well just tell them what you look like, and they'll get it done faster!" even thought this comment was in jest, i was shocked!

anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences with us, it's extremely helpful to hear how your dealt with these situations. (also very inspirational, congrats on everything!)

love your blog too btw!

This article is indeed insightful and useful -- I am just beginning, so I haven't encountered these problems within the business world yet, but I certainly have encountered a lot of people who think I do nothing but sit around and watch television all day, just because I work from home.

Thank you for the advice.

While I was in a different field from yours, I can totally relate to your situation. I started my work-life as a radio DJ- I can't tell you how many times I'd call up the program director after sending in tape/resume to be told, "thanks, we already have our female dj." Like, women are some oddity.

As a woman in a male dominated business- first radio, then rock criticism, I learned the best thing you can do is to be as smart (or smarter) than the people you're dealing with; ie just stick to the facts when working and/or pitching ideas to male editors. Have all your information memorized and at hand. This is of course relatively easy when you're pitching a profile or review- if you don't know anything about the topic, why would you pitch it? Yet, there were times when I'd get a stunned reaction from someone who couldn't believe that I, a female, knew anything about (a) heavy metal (b) guitarists (c) Punk (d) take your pick...The one thing I've never done and heartily recommend never to do, is to play up your femiminity- you need to show them that your brains are working- start using other stuff and you lose credibility. Yeah, you can flirt, but keep it at a very low level.

So you sit there time and again proving to them that you know your material/genre/etc., It's frustrating because you know that writers who own penises (penisi?) never have to do that to an editor or program director.

In the end the only thing you can do, is to be the absolute best that you can be- to NOT ignore sexist remarks, but to address them in a non confrotational manner. You could say, "would you ask this same question to a man?" Or something a bit more low-key. That said, I once lost a writing gig when the editor found out that he wasn't dealing with a male "rock writer." How do I feel about that? "Whoop-de-doo."

I've got enough nat'l, int'l and uber large metro bylines that this is just a stupid move on his part.

Keep the negativity on the down-low. Don't listen to people who say that you can't do it; you want this, you know how to do this, so why shouldn't you be doing this? No is not an allowable word.

regardless of your age, your gender, your skin color, the clothes you wear, the way you decided to wear your hair on a certain day: you will inevitably come up against the things that grace is talking about... it's unfortunate that, if you're working in an industry where, yes, things are cute and things are 'feminine' (or maybe you're just cute & feminine), that you will, conversely, "shock" people when they find that you run all aspects of your business all by your lonesome. Not just the 'cute' parts, but the finances, the invoicing, the ordering, the shipping, the marketing, everything. It sure would be great if we lived in a world where no one had to struggle against adversity... or would it? I find that those skeptics fuel my desire to work harder and to be - not a 'woman small business owner' but a 'business owner'... period. I hope that everyone else out there, starting their own thing, can do the very same: if you don't put yourself up on the same level as other business, who else will? (and thanks to grace, for keeping the conversation going...)

I've been working for myself many years now and can totally relate. It's both hilarious and disheartening to get those good 'ole boy responses, but also motivational. The challenge keeps me going! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! I'm a "girl" who jumped from a large ad agency two years ago to start my own shop with two male colleagues and discovered that our owner gender-mix gave us a competitive edge. I'm always surprised by the # of men who want to work with men and women who want to work with women. Go Grace! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so, so much for all of your comments and stories (and emails outside of the comment section). It was been so inspiring and comforting to hear everyone's tales of frustration and triumph.

Grace

*ps: regarding advertising, i'm the most unlikely ad sales person. i've never actually sought out advertising. after print press people just seem to email asking if they can advertise. it's been a sort of afterthought, but i think that's the way it should be for a site focused on design, not advertising. i approve all ads and advertisers and try to keep things as small as possible.

go grace!
you're such an inspiration!
i read your blog daily for years before starting my own blog + i was surprised + delighted that you actually responded to my email inquiries promptly + thoughtfully + kindly. people like me are amazed in a good way that you can do so much all by yourself, because we aren't able to!
i love your positvity!

Do I smell a book in your future? I think so! Your site is a DAILY (as in multiple times a day) read! Thank you so much for bringing great design into my home; it's hard to come by in central Ohio. As a textile design student at Ohio State and future small business owner I applaud your efforts. Good luck in your endeavors and continue to inspire!

Thanks so much guys! The real inspiration has been reading the emails and comments from all of you. Thank you for sharing your stories :)

ps: tune in to design*sponge tomorrow- we're going to try to connect biz ladies to form local meetups!

Grace

Thanks for the wonderful insights, Grace! My sister and I are considering putting up our own business and while we've carefully studied and looked at every aspect of it, we haven't thought of the possibility of encountering gender discrimination!

Grace! You've done it again... I've heard and am hearing a lot of the same.

But, imagine being a woman in business with a typically male first name! Cmon, Evan Rachel Wood get more famous already.

Cool post. From the comments, it's clear that you're not alone in your feelings about gender discrimination. In 2006, it's a sad commentary. Keep doing what you're doing -- it's clear you're doing something right!

www.SimplifyThis.com

It's so amazing how many different people don't believe in your abilities due to your gender. I've taken Human Anatomy classes and no where in there does it state that the female brain is any different from the male brain.

I started a women's home improvement company to show women that this exact fact isn't true but still today when I walk into certain stores I get "little lady'd" up and down. I especially love it when they tell me I can't do a project that I've already done 15 times. That I need to hire someone.

Hi Grace

Totally true, people don't want to admit that a woman can run her own business just the same as a man or even better.

I also find that most contacts prefer to speak to me direct and find it refreshing that they can do this.

It all adds to that personal touch that clients in our industry look for.

Keep it up girl.

Ann
Cakes By Ann
http://www.cakesbyann.co.uk

More power to you---being 23 year old young lady running the website shows you are a go getter! and that is a good thing!

Hello:

My name is Deborah Atwood and I have started a new business www.sugarenterprises.com and if you will email me at mswebdeb@yahoo.com I will send you a $10 gift card free to go shopping with.

There are thousands of items from bath, to outdoor, to men’s tools, to Angels, to about anything that you might ever want.

I wish you love, peace, and happiness in the New Year!

Thanks

I love this article! My daughter, Anna Nicole, is a designer and she's in her 20's. We're working together. When we first started going out to handle business, I noticed the way some people treated her... almost like she's a kid. But, after I gave her a few pointers, that behavior stopped. People respect her now. I told her to speak with authority and to always keep eye contact while talking to someone. She used to be very nervous about handling business, and I think contractors could tell she wasn't comfortable. But she doesn't have that problem as much anymore. One thing that does crop up from time to time is the fact that she's African-American. If we're at a trade show or someplace like that, and we have an assistant with us who isn't African-American, people assume the assistant is head of the company. They look totally surprised when my daughter tells them she's the designer.

Anyway... thanks so much for sharing your experiences. This would make a fantastic topic for Oprah. I sure wish someone would pitch it to her producers... 'cause I'm sure a lot of young women business owners are facing similar challenges.

- Dorez
Jahqoi.com