Business is riddled with limiting beliefs and this is a very common one: Will people actually buy from me, and will they support what my business stands for?
Women business owners, in particular, seem to struggle with this one.
Consider this. Here are a few fun facts about buying habits of US women: There are 34,000,000 female consumers in the US today, and data shows that most of those women want to purchase intentionally, meaning they want their money to go to things that matter to them.
Some prefer to shop local, support small businesses, green businesses, and others would like to support women-owned businesses. Along that same line, some want to support businesses that have gender equality represented at the highest level of leadership.
On my latest podcast, I interviewed Kateri Ruiz, owner, and founder of MAIA, a business model that promotes and supports women-owned and gender-equality practicing businesses. Her deepest passion is all about supporting businesses that are bringing gender equality to the marketplace.
Kateri had an epiphany several years ago when she realized that 83% of her household was female, and yet in their home, the products and services that they used were disproportionately created, marketed, and sold by men. She realized that the same could probably be said of most of the households in the US, and she wanted to change that. MAIA’s mission is to disrupt the status quo and drive a female-centered economy.
What is the solution to the gender inequality problem? Well, it’s not simple, and yet there are simple things that we can do to help support women business owners who are trying to make it in a world that still has imbalance between genders.
Kateri also shares her expertise in business operating systems and noting incongruencies within an organization. Particularly when it comes to gender equality and balancing an organization in that way, she suggests that the first step is to identify where those incongruencies lie. Identification is key! Once they are identified, they can be easily solved and remedied, and your business will be all the better for it.
If you are a female business owner, take heart: There are millions of women that want to support you! To learn more about MAIA, check out https://maia.community/
