Why this film, why now? Pioneers in Skirts®
Teaming up with my daughter
Daughter-Mother Team
As a working woman do you ever wonder, “Why is this so difficult? Why don’t I know what to do? Why can’t I make this work for me?”
Many of us have – and not just at the beginning of our career. Throughout our careers our personal lives, our experiences, and our skill-sets evolve – and women (in general) seem to question our strengths and our abilities.
But when my daughter came to me with these same questions…
I was determined to raise a confident and well-educated woman. She has never been spoiled by her family…well, not too much, and most certainly has felt the support we all need from our family and friends.
Ashley is my pride and joy. She grew into a self-confident woman. She knew she could do anything. She’s a hard worker, reliable, and has earned the many opportunities that come to her in her career.
But when she came to me with these same questions…why don’t I know how to deal with these unfair situations?…why is this always such a battle? — I was devastated. Ashley is seeing the same challenges and issues in her workplace as I did in mine!? This can’t be! Women have come a long way…haven’t they?
I decided to team up with my daughter to find out why….to produce an investigative documentary called Pioneers in Skirts.
A journey that’s taking us around the country
Pioneers in Skirts is a feature documentary that shows every woman how to #BEaPioneer in pursuit of her career. The film follows filmmaker Ashley Maria as she investigates why she is experiencing obstacles and challenges unique to women of the past. In the film, Ashley travels the United States speaking to women and men about their experiences and interviewing other young women who are going through their own unique setbacks.
Learn more at PioneersinSkirts.com.
Ashley Maria is a “Millennial” as well as an award winning filmmaker, and I am a “Baby Boomer” who turned my corporate marketing experience into a consulting practice. We each contribute a special generational insight to the questions we ask.
Meet some of our friends who get it…
[wpspoiler name=”Rosalie Robinson: How Pioneers in Skirts inspired my journey. ” style=”wpui-android”]
If you told me two years ago that I would be trying to develop a business, I would have nodded politely and probably said, “Oh, really?” Then promptly shifted the conversation as I wrote you off as a well-intentioned but overly optimistic advisor. Eleven months ago I hung out my shingle, Consilium Human Capital, LLC. I have worked, invested sweat equity, and continue to build a successful business that helps individuals, business owners, and executives make better decisions about people.
I became my own “well-intentioned” advisor because I realized I had a dream to make a positive difference for people and to do it happily.
My journey began with a group of women who had faced some rather interesting life challenges. Somehow, our individual journeys connected us. We each have that “Pioneering” gene that prompted us to unplug from the corporate “matrix” and create a path that we hadn’t traveled before. Our individual dreams continue to be ours alone, but are also shared by each other. Cheering and cherishing each other probably sounds a little corny, but that camaraderie and connection came through us sharing our stories, our vision, and our dreams.
That’s exactly what inspires me about Pioneers in Skirts!
The film is creating a backdrop, the history of where so many women have been, while simultaneously providing a canvas for women today to document where they are and dream of being.
I love the practical aspect of this important work – sharing the success stories of what has worked so other organizations and people can take it and use it. Best part, and even more valuable, is the relationships this team continues to forge and help foster across the globe. Amazing work Ashley & Lea-Ann! Amazing women that you’re engaging! It’s a perfect time for society to get engaged. I feel truly privileged to be a part of Pioneers in Skirts.
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[wpspoiler name=”Darin Dillehunt: This is what a pioneer means to me.” style=”wpui-android”]
From ordinary daily choices to the enormous once-in-a-lifetime dilemmas women face, all of our decisions have one thing in common; every choice we make directs us closer to, or further away from being the woman we desire to be.
Pioneers in skirts know the choices, know their challenges, and are prime examples of how women, when we work together, can move mountains.
Internal and external pressures try to convince us that we are not doing well enough; regardless of how far we’ve come. Everyone’s a critic, everyone’s raising the bar a little bit higher – either passively, like that friend who constantly floods your Facebook feed with pictures of their perfectly balanced life, or actively, like, say, my mother.
The more conscious we are in the choices we make, the clearer we become on WHO we are, fundamentally. Pioneers in Skirts exhibits the empowerment behind our freedom of choice.
Life is unscripted, and Pioneers in Skirts is a guideline for how to become the best possible version of yourself. These woman show you how to make confident decisions, know who you are and what you want, handle setbacks with as much grace and aplomb as you can muster (which, some days is more than others). Above all else, Pioneers in Skirts shows you how to hold your head high.
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[wpspoiler name=”Suzette Cotto: How I ended up pioneering my own career.” style=”wpui-android”]
As a baby boomer woman in my 50’s, I have experienced first-hand the changes and challenges of being a woman in the workplace. In 1959, my mother graduated valedictorian of her high school earning an interior design scholarship to the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. She graduated in 1961 and went to work with an exciting design firm on 5th Avenue. She then met my Dad, the building’s maintenance super, got pregnant with me, and walked away from it all.
As a young girl, I knew because of conversations with my Mom, I had to make choices. I ranted in sixth grade that I was never going to get married and never going to have children because I wanted a career. I believed I couldn’t have both and had to choose one or the other. I went so far as to refuse to play with dolls. I had my Mom as a prime example. She left 5th Avenue with four kids and a bad marriage.
My Mom – 1961
I know she had to make hard choices and had zero support from anyone – I watched as things unfolded. As soon as my youngest brother was in kindergarten, she began working part time designing upscale kitchens for an architect. From there, and a move to Texas, she went on to modify architectural plans for home buyers who didn’t want the cookie cutter tract plans the builders were offering.
My mother became the first woman certified by the Texas Institute of Building Designers. At 42, she started her own successful interior design firm. She became an officer and mentor in the National Kitchen and Bath Association. She brought kitchen and bath design to the curriculum of our local college and taught there for 10 years. She’s 72 and still working. I remain amazed.
I had to make my own way
When I started out in my career I was not satisfied with society’s career choices for me — teacher, beautician, nurse or stewardess. There was no pre-paved path for me. I’ve had a succession of jobs that allowed me to experience and grow as a woman in business. I took jobs other women didn’t want. I worked my way into technology jobs that were traditionally reserved for men. I managed operations for multiple markets and states. I won awards, I made progress.
I had to work hard at balancing being a single parent and having a job that put food on the table and that fed my soul too! And all along I thought I couldn’t ask for help. I thought as a woman, I couldn’t be needy and asking for help made me weak. I know better now.
Today, Suzette Cotto is CEO of Innovate Social Media based in Houston, TX. She is passionate about creating pathways of communication that grow small business with digital media fueled by symbiotic human relationships.
I have a passion for making available the ah-ha moments of other women and to bring that village as an organized resource of learning tools to our daughters. I am here with Pioneers in Skirts to confront the realities of being a working woman. I am here to help create economies of scale and to leave a legacy. I am here to keep the women of our future from seeing decision and choice as it relates to our professional lives not as a personal sacrifice, but as a conduit to creating exciting “what ifs!”
My Mom today!
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