WIN Woman Spotlights showcase leaders from across the country/world who embrace the skill of negotiation and advocacy to break down barriers for women: women who are champions for female empowerment within her organization and/or in her personal life.

WIN Woman Spotlights feature women and community leaders whose work aligns with WIN’s mission of elevating more women into positions of leadership. Each Spotlight features women who inspire us as professionals and inspire future generations of women. Today, we would like to highlight Natalie Breen.

Negotiating should be seen as a tool to overcome barriers and solve problems; however, many women of color (WOC) view it as a privilege and often overlook the leverage they have available to them. What can WOC do if they feel cornered into saying yes or feel guilty saying no when what’s being asked of them is not in their best interest? Based on the authors’ respective work in women’s leadership development, including more than 1,000 interviews with professional and executive WOC, an upcoming book, and two decades of research on gender and negotiation, they explore how negotiation tools could help WOC have more agency and be more selective in what they accept — and what they push back on — at work.

It really is just the worst feeling. That dreaded moment - an interaction with someone goes sour. It is something we have all felt. Whether this negative experience is with a family member (our favorite uncle at Thanksgiving) a colleague or boss (Miranda Priestly, from The Devil Wears Prada), or your sweet little toddler, we have all suffered the consequences of going head to head with a fighter. Most of the time these interactions don’t end well. If we are lucky we settle for an impasse or an unhealthy and uncomfortable compromise. Even worse, if the interaction escalates, the relationship can end.

Women still encounter many challenges in the workplace today. Progress towards gender equity has been slow. We still are not paid equally to our male counterparts. We lack sponsorship as well as the same opportunities for advancement offered to men.

To address this inequity, many companies now include gender bias training in their DEI initiatives and recognize the importance of advancing more women to leadership. As professional women in the workplace, we are aware of the challenges of gender bias; yet we are not prepared for the intersection of gender bias and ageism which affects us at every stage of our careers.

We’ve all heard the data before – that when more women ascend to leadership roles, organizations benefit. Companies with a greater number of women in leadership positions are more likely to have improved business performance, higher levels of creativity, innovation, and productivity, as well as greater commitment to diversity. And yet, women are still severely underrepresented in leadership positions.

Today, women account for only 8% of Fortune 500 company CEOs, and 30% of S&P 500 Directors. Apparently there are more CEOs of large corporations in the US named John or David than there are female CEOs.

Women’s Equal Pay Day has come and gone once again. March 15, 2022, was marked as the 2022 Equal Pay Day, a date symbolizing how far into the year women must work to earn what their non-Hispanic White male counterparts earned the previous year.

The gap remains at 83 percent, meaning that women on average, only earn about 83 percent of what a man makes doing the same job. But this wage gap is even greater for most women of color. In 2021, Latinas were compensated just 49 percent of what non-Hispanic white men were paid. The gap hasn't come close to closing in the last 80 years. In fact, due to the pandemic, the gap only became worse.

Every year that International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month come around, we are reminded that for years women have experienced biases, stereotypes, and inequalities in the days past. Sadly, those same challenges still exist for women today - most notably in the working world. Each of these sexist inclinations put women in a box, making it difficult for us to climb the proverbial ladder. Over the years we’ve shattered so many glass ceilings our arms are sore.

The path to women’s equality has been long, starting in the late 1800s with women activists fighting for the right to vote and for equal pay. Then in the 1970s women rallied for inclusion and equality as they faced systemic and societal challenges. Today in 2022, women are still fighting the good fight for equal opportunity. We continue to push past stereotypes and biased obstacles for a world where equality exists and differences are celebrated.

There are many different types of biases that people from across the spectrum face. One type of bias can be particularly sneaky - because we don’t realize we are practicing it right away. Like it or not, every individual has unconscious biases. They are based on our experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes towards certain people or situations.

As women, we can experience what is known as gender bias, when one sex is favored more over the other. In the workplace, this bias can exist at every level of an organization and can hurt women by denying them a voice in certain decision-making processes. Although gender biases can go both ways, women are typically affected by gender bias more than men.

This past summer I was engaged in one of the toughest negotiations I have experienced to date. No, it was not sitting around a boardroom table, or in front of a zoom screen -- it occurred while standing waist-deep in a swimming pool, waiting for my daughter to swim off the steps.

The standoff was with my five-year-old, Sienna, who was struggling with her fear of the water. She was comfortable swimming, provided she was wearing floaties and her face was in no danger of touching the water’s surface. But without the security of the floaties, she refused to go into the water, her body tensing up in a panic, the look of terror in her eyes palpable.

It is often easier to negotiate with our spouses or children than it is with our colleagues or supervisors. In an informal survey conducted by the Harvard Business Review, parents negotiate with their children on average about 6 times a day.

Psychology Today shares that couples in happy marriages tend to negotiate often with one another. When they negotiate, each person has an equal say in the matter and they are demonstrating their commitment to the relationship. Take note that negotiation does not mean a single party or both parties are constantly having to settle or compromise.

From working to narrow the wealth gap, to healing communities, to fighting for free and fair elections, to inspiring the masses, Black women have been pushing forward change. Obviously, this push has not been limited to the last two years as Black women have historically always been at the forefront of social movements.

This Black History Month, we are showcasing women who are making strides for the Black community through their inspiring careers or perseverance to fight for the common good. These women inspire us to step out of our comfort zone and “be the change we want to see in this world.”

Over the years, there has been a growing awareness that negotiating pay is crucial for women. Despite the increase in awareness, according to a report by Randstad, fifty-seven percent of women have never negotiated their pay. By not negotiating, women are on track to lose out on up to $407,760 over the course of their careers.

But what keeps us from asserting our worth? I did not negotiate for my first salary, because I did not know that I needed to. I also felt that if I did, they would rescind the job offer and I would be penniless. Any money is always better than no money, right? I was not alone in these thoughts. Many women feel the same way. The idea of negotiating salary is rife with confusion, especially if you’ve never held a corporate job before or if you do not have the guidance of a mentor.

Cultivating a sense of self-worth takes time and understanding of oneself. If you do not understand yourself or how valuable, worthy, and important you are, every negotiation will make you feel like a fish staring at Mt. Everest wondering how you're expected to climb it. Stop letting self-doubt occupy your mind. Step into a world of possibility.

Going into 2022 we’re embracing ourselves and all our quirks. We’re reframing our negative thoughts and shedding the “I’m not good enough” belief.

Every year WIN rounds up our favorite books. This year, we’ve scoured the internet to find the best titles for business, professional development, leadership, and negotiation - all written by women. These twenty-six titles will leave you inspired and ready to take on 2022. Whether you’re looking for a last-minute gift for a loved one or are wanting to find something new for yourself, below you’ll find our top picks.

Nothing is more powerful at holding us back than fear. And for many women, the idea of negotiating causes a great deal of anxiety.

When things like bias are stacked against us, it can be very easy to develop these feelings. Perhaps it is because we feel a bit like imposters or perhaps we dislike how "confronting" negotiating can feel. No matter what the reason, by not facing our fear we are continuing to lose out on the value we could have claimed.

Fear is a very physical response. When you are afraid, stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released. You begin to breathe faster and your heart rate increases. Recognizing this response and understanding how to regulate it is a real and attainable superpower.

Certainly, with time and practice, the common feeling of uneasiness can be overcome. We wanted to dive deeper into these fears. So we asked three of our WIN coaches what they found to be the common fear that is often associated with negotiating and how women, in particular, can overcome that fear.

Climbing the proverbial ladder in the workplace has never been easy for women, especially minorities and women of color. For many years, women weren’t even afforded the opportunity. In an effort to empower ourselves, we fought to create systems and workplace environments that would deconstruct outdated notions and benefit the next generation.

Now more than ever before women are at the precipice of change.

Thanksgiving is a more complicated holiday than we grew up having been taught in school. Far from a sunny story of peaceful feasting and cross-cultural encounters, Thanksgiving has a fraught history and rarely gives credence to its painful implications for the Native American population.

Now, exactly four hundred years later, as we celebrate what has turned into a national day of mindfulness, a day of Gratitude, as we come together in small groups and large to express our appreciation for family, friends, freedom, health, etc, we must acknowledge that rarely is the cup either half empty or half full. In actuality, it is both.

Since the inception of the #MeToo movement in 2006, women have been encouraged to speak up about the injustices they face in the workplace. #MeToo emboldened us to use our voices and trust that our concerns will be addressed. Though there has been some backlash to this, what’s most important to note is that we’re told it’s in our best interests to speak up, but when we do, is anyone listening? Is anyone taking action on our behalf?

When Simone Biles stated in her emotional testimony before Congress, “we have been failed”, she was referring to the lack of action taken by the FBI who heard her story and those of her fellow gymnasts, yet did nothing. This example of ignoring women who speak up about their injustices is not an isolated event. Whether it’s sexual abuse and harassment, gender bias or ageism, there is a pattern of women speaking up about their experiences, yet having their concerns fall on deaf ears.

When one stops and actually thinks about it: the fact that some women must work through the end of October of the following year to earn the same amount as a man doing the same job, is a crime. It is hard to believe that, on the verge of 2022, we are living in a country where women are still suffering from such pay inequities. As of March of this year, due to the global pandemic’s disproportionate effect on women, dire projections show it will be at least 135 years before women reach equity.

To bring awareness to this issue, WIN’s Executive Director and CEO Daniella Kahane spoke on a panel this week on Equal Pay, hosted by our partner organization WomenWerk. Alongside Ronda Carnegie, the Chief Innovation Officer of The Female Quotient, and Genaira L. Tyce, Esq., Labor & Employment Law Partner, Akerman LLP, and moderated by Nekpen Osuan Wilson, Founder of WomenWerk and WIN Coach and Trainer. This panel of phenomenal professional women discussed salary negotiation, organizational culture in the workplace, and how women could move the needle forward for themselves around pay equity.