Michelle Jordan ventured across the Atlantic Ocean decades ago in pursuit of her personal version of the American dream.
The 21-year-old England native, armed with a university degree and a background in public relations, stepped off the plane in New York City with visions of clients yet to be won and challenges yet to be conquered. The first agency she interviewed with offered her a job—with a catch.
“The gentleman who offered me the job let me know right away that he wouldn’t pay me as much as a man,” says Jordan, president of Newport Beach-based Jordan LLC. She wasn’t offended, she explains: Managers back then often expected that young women would marry and leave the work force to raise a family, so there was no point in paying more than they had to.
Jordan says she’s seen a significant shift in companies’ attitudes toward women in the decades since de facto bias was more or less part of the landscape.
“For years, the conventional thinking told women to model the male version of leadership,” she says. “But women and men are wired differently. Now, to their credit, many companies are recognizing the unique ways women contribute to an organization’s success.”
This week’s Business Journal list ranks the top Women-Owned Businesses in Orange County (see related story, page 1; list, page 16; data drill, page 49).
Key Leadership Traits
Studies back up Jordan’s observations. Women tend to approach situations from a more holistic perspective than men, which can lead to innovative solutions to problems, according to the Gender Intelligence Group, a New York-based organization that examines gender-specific issues in the workplace.
The Pew Research Center, which studies social and demographic trends, finds that generally women’s multitasking abilities and conflict-management skills are tied to successful business outcomes.
Jordan, whose firm specializes in brand strategy and communications, daily sees these qualities play out with her clients—more than half of whom are female executives and business owners.
“Women are problem-solvers, collaborators,” she says, adding that they often also work well in groups. “We tend to be very empathetic, which makes us great relationship builders and communicators.”
One of Jordan’s clients is Teacher Created Materials, No. 13 on this week’s list and founded by Rachelle Cracchiolo in 1977 in Huntington Beach. It’s one of the country’s top names in educational publishing, received a Family-Owned Business Award from the Business Journal in 2011, and has produced award-winning supplementary Pre-K-12 educational materials. Forty years ago, though, it was a single woman at the kitchen table.
Cracchiolo’s only marketing tool was herself. She grew her business by focusing on building strong connections with fellow teachers and teacher supply store managers. It was her ability to develop relationships that made the difference in the fledgling company’s success, says her daughter Deanne Mendoza, the company’s executive vice president of sales. “She’s open, honest and kind, but not a pushover. You always know where you stand with her. People respect that.”
Cracchiolo’s other daughter, Corinne Burton—herself a former elementary school teacher who left the classroom 15 years ago to join the company—serves as president. She grew up in the business, and after years of observing her mother interact with others, she learned that the ability to see situations from multiple perspectives is crucial for growing a client base, she said.
That philosophy is sound, if the company’s growth is an indicator: It’s grown in the past decade from 49 employees to 175 full-time employees, 250 freelancers, and 15 former editors who still work on projects for Teacher Created.
Women Invest
A Gallup poll of more than 11,000 Americans shows that women are perceived by employees and customers as more effective at engaging people.
Mari Kurtz, president of Cal Pac Sheet Metals Inc. in Santa Ana, No. 99 on this week’s list, and Kristen Allison, chief executive and president of No. 37-ranked Burnham Benefits Insurance Services in Irvine, both say they’ve made engaging with and investing in employees the cornerstone of how they do business.
When Kurtz’s husband died unexpectedly in 1998, she knew she faced an uphill battle to helm his company. “Over the years, I’ve had men openly doubt me because I’m a woman, and they assume I know nothing about this business,” she says. “But I’m like Dory,” she adds with a laugh, referring to the character in the 2003 animated movie “Finding Nemo.”
“‘Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.’ So I did—and I do.”
As president and chief executive, Kurtz had a vision for the company: She wanted to see it grow. “I hired the right people. I listened to my instincts. Then I took the company profits and reinvested them in the business—bought machinery, paid good wages, invested in the latest technology.”
The belief in her vision brought the company from a $900,000 business a decade ago to $9 million in sales, and also earned her one of the Business Journal’s Excellence in Entrepreneurship awards in 2011.
Kurtz acknowledges that as company leader, her vision shapes the whole organization. “You have to have be honest, manage things well, and be able to shift gears easily. And you have to be OK with letting other people be the experts sometimes—people feel valuable when they know they are valued.”
Allison, meanwhile, moved to Southern California from Ohio as a young woman with $900 in her pocket. “I started as a Kelly girl (temporary worker),” she says. She joined the insurance industry and was quickly brought up through the ranks, earning a vice president position by age 28.
In 1995 she acquired the benefits practice of John Burnham & Co. and formed Burnham Benefits, now the largest female-owned employee benefits insurance brokerage in the western United States. The growth in part resulted from Allison’s willingness to reinvest profits in the company, she says.
“I looked at it this way: I could take the profits now or put them back into the company, grow the company, and have a larger return down the road.”
Allison hired people whose expertise would shape the company and expand its reach. She invested deeply in the people she hired and created an environment of open and frequent communication. She says she strives to get to know her team on a personal level. “I’ve always been curious about others. I like understanding what makes people tick.”
Her commitment to employees has created an office culture where work-life balance is fundamental, she says. “Not every decision is about the dollar. I think that women can see how certain actions have repercussions down the road. When you invest in your people and understand what is important to them, it comes back to you—they’re more loyal, committed and successful.”
Tips for Tomorrow’s Leaders
Female millennials alone are projected to make up approximately 25% of the global work force by 2020, according to a Price Waterhouse survey, and some will be headed toward leadership positions.
“For younger women coming up the ladder,” Allison says, “I encourage them to create a network. Join professional associations. Take leadership positions. And be yourself, be authentic. And don’t be afraid. You have what it takes.”
Kurtz echoes that thought. “As a woman, you need to conquer the internal conversations that may undermine you. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Listen to your heart—but not your feelings. Your heart is your core, your values.”
That also goes for women’s lives in cyberspace in and out of the office.
Jordan offers this: “Just realize that if you’re managing your reputation, the toothpaste is out of the tube. In our rapidly changing world, the internet makes or breaks people in minutes. The way news moves today, you need to think twice about everything you post online.”
Women have made inroads into leadership equality in the 40 years since a bright-eyed English girl came to America. The Pew Research Center points out that 26 women serve as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies today in the U.S.—5.2%. Twenty years ago, there were none.
Closer to home in Orange County, a University of California-Davis analysis says that 9.5% of executives at the county’s major publicly held companies are women and that women hold 10.5% of corporate board seats.
Jordan predicts, “And it will just get better from here.”
