A woman in a hard hat is still a pretty rare sight. Not as rare as it used to be, for sure, but I think we can all admit that we still see an awful lot of “MEN AT WORK” signs as opposed to the rather more inclusive “‘PEOPLE AT WORK” when driving past a construction site.

Construction is just one of many industries still heavily dominated by men. We could certainly list them out but I think we all know the old adage that men prefer working with things and women with people. Men also dominate the highest positions of power in the Fortune 500 companies and tech companies though women are catching up rapidly and even overtaking in traditionally male-dominated industries such as law (for the first time, women made up the majority of graduating law students in 2016) and medicine (the Association of American Medical Colleges reported that, in 2017, more women than men enrolled in medical school).

Another industry that is traditionally run by men is commercial real estate...

...and that is the industry at the center of our discussion with Joe Killinger, Founder of theRRD, a real estate technology company based in Dallas, TX. Joe was kind enough to invite Tatjana Luethi, Co-Founder of MixR to join a discussion with Sturai Yusufi of Commercial Brokers International and Angie Grimes, Managing Director at Her Nexx Chapter about female empowerment organizations and organizations that are helping women in professional roles.

MixR is proud to be part of a group of organizations that is helping, supporting, and empowering women in professional roles through a user-friendly platform that encourages leadership and community at all levels. One of the frequent topics that we hear about in our mixrs is exactly what Sturai mentioned:

that there is a sense of comfort that comes with being able to talk with other women in one’s organization.

This feeling that we’re not alone is important not only for the most obvious reasons of relieving literal loneliness but also because it allows us to talk in very specific language about small accomplishments or offer support in a unique and intimate way that might not be as available or comfortable to a woman when talking with a man in a business environment.

Sturai continued, saying that we really do need look to men “especially in industries where you have a big discrepancy between the number of men and women. That’s where it’s even more needed. There is such a small number of women leaders doing an amazing job empowering women, starting leadership groups and mentorship programs, etc but if men don’t take a similar approach also and create room for that dialogue and conversation, the amount of progress that is needed won’t happen at a pace we want it to. It’s good to have a collaborative conversation.”

We couldn’t agree more as one of our fundamental tenets at MixR, along with decentralization and transparency is collaboration. Angie from Her Nexx Chapter, rearticulated what Sturai had said, sharing that her organization “is about women connecting, mentoring, nurturing and flourishing together. Everyone has a voice and a story to share, and it’s really important to have a safe space where we can do that in community. Online is great but I’m also really starting to see the value of community connection in a very physical and present way, and I think we’re shifting into a more natural ecosystem when we balance those things.”

And here we see yet another two of our central tenets: physical connection and safety.

MixR is a safe space and does not sell any of our user’s information.

We know that there is no value in creating community where safety goes out the window whether it’s online or in person, and so we take that very seriously online as well as in our group events in Los Angeles.

We had a great time talking with Joe, Sturai, and Angie about how we’re all doing our bit to promote and empower women in whatever leadership role they may be, whether it be in the home, in a community, in an office, or simply on the street.

Please watch the full chat here, let us know your thoughts...