On Women and Business
She is described by her longtime friend Martha Stewart as "tenacious and beautifully evocative. Definitely unusual." Charlotte Beers is no stranger to scrutiny. Beers at 64 is still considered one of the most powerful women in the US, featured last year as one of Fortune Magazine's top seven women. Article after article discusses Beers "femininity", "southern drawl", "her beguiling manner" and so on in conjunction with her accomplishments. It is not only that Charlotte Beers has gained enormous success as the CEO of three of the world's top agencies, but rather that this was accomplished by a woman.
Beers is very clear about her position of being a powerful female figure. Often her comments reflect the desire to disregard typical "feminist" beliefs. Beers has been criticized by women who believe that she does not espouse the rhetoric that she is supposed to. "...women's capacity to internalize, to gain insight, to evoke and understand feelings is where all the leverage is in marketing and advertising today. It's not going to be in the rational, the linear. It's going to be in the sense of what people mean versus what they say and the emotional context for their lives."
In explaining why women are successful in advertising she says, "...women are less hesitant, less ashamed, more interested in people's feelings and we'll pull that out of the marketing mix." Women she says add "incredible spice and wisdom and intellect" to the advertising world.
In a discussion with Martha Stewart and Darla Moore, she explains that it is important to cope with male and female differences of working, it gives a company its energy. "I wouldn't want an all-female company." "...A group of men and women in a room create much more energy and results faster because everything in advertising and client relationships is a debate." Beers knows that she is a strong woman and she feels that it is important for women to speak their mind. "I hate the idea that women are more nurturing than men. That makes women nurse-mommy to the company. It's a trap."
Beers has found that women often set their own limits, they fall off early and do not realize what they are capable of. Women expect less money and often remain "silent" about their needs at an organization. "The meek may inherit the earth, but they're not going to get raises." Beers can comes across as unsympathetic to women at times, subscribing to a "tough-love" approach to feminism.
In many ways Beers epitomizes feminism, she is strong, forthright, successful and she says what she believes to be the truth. She believes that woman are every bit as capable as men (they are just different, with a different set of skill sets) and for that reason they should stop whining about what they can't do. She is an icon for what a woman can achieve. Beers has learned how to get along in a "man's world" and she did it by ignoring conventional wisdom.
Beers has cut her own path, she is a brilliant, ambitious, hard working person who has had a tremendous influence on the advertising world. She is an inspiration to anyone who dares to achieve.
Final Quotes:
"It sounds like nurse mommy is coming to run the company, and I don't want the bravery and the natural leadership of women to be obscured by that kind of analysis."
"I think that I'm so driven because I bore easily, I'd work to be the best even if I was a waitress. I guess I'm from the try-harder school."