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AUGUST FOCUS: CONFIDENCE |  ISSUE 3 OF 5  | 8.16.21
Good morning and happy Monday! Special thanks to Emily Barske for taking over last week’s newsletter while I was out on PTO.

If you’re like me and weren’t able to attend or tune in to the Business Record’s Women of Influence event earlier this month, we’re running their acceptance speeches this week. They are all inspiring, so I hope you take a moment to watch them.

Have a great week!

– Emily Blobaum, Fearless editor

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WOMEN OF INFLUENCE
Watch speeches from the 2021 Women of Influence
Emily Abbas

"Don’t limit your life’s experiences only to things you can master or win."
Marta Codina

"Hardships and experience make us stronger. They aren’t something to be embarrassed by."
Rosalind Fox

"We must all continue to lift others as we climb."
Hannah Inman

"The way to make true and lasting change that is better for our community is by coming together in collaboration and partnership."
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Sonia Parras Konrad

"We do not want women to be like us, we want them to be better."
Virginia Croskery Lauridsen

"There’s a star of the show. But no production is possible without the contribution of every single company member."
Suzanne Mineck

"It is my hope ... we are relentless in making space for others to uncover and know the power and impact of their own voices."
Janice Lane Schroeder

"To give to others, it will come back to you in immeasurable ways."
Tiffany Tauscheck

"We become the care, the love, the grace we receive from others."
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Left: New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. Center: Actress Mayim Bialik. Right: Singer and businesswoman Rihanna.
In the headlines
KNOW YOUR WORTH: FEARLESS STORIES AT WORK, BY
Empowering Others to Succeed: Betty Lee
"I’m driven to do more to help underserved people understand how money works. If you give them a sense of financial security, the more they have to give back to their communities." – Betty Lee, managing director, Principal.

Having experienced past financial hardships of her own, Betty now makes a point to emphasize the "why" of money decisions, helping people—particularly those with limited access and means—understand the importance of budgeting, paying down debt, and saving.

And she’s an advocate outside of work, fighting for the underserved. She feels it’s her job to speak up and do more.
READ THE FULL STORY>
"KEEP YOUR HEAD UP AND YOUR VOICE LOUD – YOU NEVER KNOW WHO IS LISTENING."
DAVINA SOONDRUM
Worth checking out
Iowa child care crisis continues despite legislative pushes (Iowa Capital Dispatch). 2021 best employers for women (Forbes). Small talk is even more awkward these days. Here’s how to deal with it (The Lily). I’m a trans runner struggling to compete fairly (New York Times Opinion). Who wants to return to the office? (FiveThirtyEight). This photographer shines a light on Muslim-American women athletes (NPR). The persistent joy of Black mothers (The Atlantic).
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Do you know a Fearless Iowa woman?
Fearless is a Business Record initiative with women-centered content and events designed to help women and the companies and allies who both value and support them. The elements of this brand can be simplified into one goal: We want to help empower Iowa women to succeed in work and life.

In doing so, the team behind Fearless is always looking for stories to tell about Iowa women.  

We believe that everyone has a story to share and that we cannot progress as a society unless we know about one another. We share stories through featuring women in our reporting, featuring guest contributions and speakers at our events.


Do you know of any women or nonbinary Iowans who have a great story to tell? Do you have a story you'd like to tell us about yourself? Let us know below.
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ICYMI
On Leadership: The leader's role in civil discourse
BY SUZANNA DE BACA PRESIDENT & GROUP PUBLISHER, BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS CORP.
Recently I had a conversation with a CEO friend who confessed he was struggling with a member of his leadership team who openly expressed his political views at work and on social media. Not only were the leader’s views divergent from his own, he was afraid politics in the workplace were creating disruption. Should he fire the individual? Or create a policy forbidding political discussion?

I am fascinated by the topic of how we exist in and lead organizations in a world where political and economic views become increasingly polarizing, and it has come up a lot lately, so I probed for information. How was the leader’s performance? Stellar, he said. Was this person a dedicated team member? Yes. Was he harassing others or just expressing his view? He assured me that he simply talked about politics, and didn’t threaten anyone.

With those basics out of the way, I next asked him about his company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. He assured me the organization had a robust plan and was doing everything it could to create an inclusive culture. He seemed surprised when I pointed out that a truly inclusive culture involves not only respect and equity for people from different races, genders, orientations or abilities -- it also includes respect for all individuals’ political points of view, even if the leader does not personally agree.
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