In the middle of the World Economic Forum at Davos, you may come across an intimate oasis of women who are connecting, doing deals, having a great time, and enjoying a bit of respite from the huge majority of men wandering the town in gray suits. And you’ll see The Girls’ Lounge founder Shelley Zalis enjoying every minute of it.
She got the idea for the Girls’ Lounge in 2013 while walking the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. Women were the vast minority there, and she saw them craving a “safe” space to relax from the overly male vibe.
The concept emphasizes mentorship and women working together to create change, and has now connected 17,000+ professional women globally at major conferences around the world including Davos, SXSW, CES, and more. Hear her powerful story on this episode of #GlambitionRadio.
Shelley’s aim is to create the largest community of corporate women and female entrepreneurs transforming workplace culture.
As the first female chief executive ranked in the research industry’s top 25, Shelley changed the game, helped elevate feminine values in the workplace and has devoted herself to becoming a mentor and role model to women and leaders in her industry. Her motto is “when you put women in any equation, the equation gets better,” and I couldn’t agree more.
Shelley left the corporate world to pioneer online research. She created OTX (Online Testing Exchange), which in nine years became one of the largest and fastest growing research companies in the world. She soon started mentoring women in the research industry and then in 2015, Shelley launched The Female Quotient, committed to advancing gender equality in the workplace through collaboration, activating solutions for change, and creating measurements for accountability.
On the show, we also discuss:
* What “heartbeat” moments are and how Shelley’s led her to resign from her job and rewrite the corporate rules (we all need this reminder to follow our heart)
* How she went from hearing that “it wasn’t the right time for her idea” to doing it anyway… and becoming the only female CEO in the top 25 of her industry
* The story behind how she coined the term “the power of the pack” (I love this)
* The three pillars of The Female Quotient (Hint: A woman alone has power, together we have impact)
* How seeing so many organizations doing the same thing separately led to her seeing the power in collaboration (when women work together magic happens)
* How The Female Quotient plans to roll out to university campuses in 122 countries to further connect women leaders
* And, a touching story on how a young lady from Rwanda changed her life, and just weeks ago got to present her with a Matrix Award (she begins with this beautiful full-circle story)
On this episode of Glambition Radio, Shelley and I also discuss why it’s important to have purpose in your DNA, why we need to bring femininity to the workplace with no apologies, and why it’s important to discover your strength and your personal genius.
You really don’t want to miss this episode. So listen to this episode of Glambition Radio now (or download it for later).
xo Ali
P.S. I would love your review! If you enjoy what I share in this episode, please leave a review and comment on iTunes. I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
