Patricia Coe is senior director of c-store headquarter sales at Advantage Solutions. She recently wrote this guest column for CSP, a leading trade publication covering the convenience store industry. CSP will hold its second annual Convenience-Store Women\u2019s (CSW) Event from November 4\u20136 in Charleston, S.C.<\/p>\n
When I was in junior high school, my friends and I successfully petitioned the principal to eliminate the home economics class requirement for girls. Having combined our voices to land a victory, we were thrilled.<\/p>\n
We were unprepared, however, to answer the principal\u2019s next question, \u201cWhat class alternative are you proposing, joining the boys in shop class?\u201d<\/p>\n
But because his question was delivered with sarcasm, we immediately responded, \u201cYes, of course that\u2019s our proposal.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the first time I took a position to reject a gender-based norm. I won that round, but I learned that it\u2019s easy to call \u201cfoul\u201d; it takes foresight to propose meaningful alternatives.<\/p>\n
Early in my business career, I led a sales team to deliver double-digit revenue growth for six consecutive years while containing costs in the sales and marketing budgets. I was also consistently asked to be \u201cthe cheerleader\u201d for all of our soft initiatives. I\u2019d bristle every time, then look around the room at my unresponsive male colleagues and do it anyway.<\/p>\n
One day, I declined and suggested offering the opportunity to more junior associates who could benefit from the leadership experience. By distributing the responsibility to shape the company\u2019s culture to middle managers and their teams, the term \u201ccheerleader\u201d quickly vanished from the vocabulary.<\/p>\n
In both instances, sharing my experience with other women helped me navigate a path forward to reject a gender-based assumption of my interests and aptitudes. Although the business environment has evolved, the measure of equality and gender parity in the workplace often still begins with representation.<\/p>\n
Women in the convenience-retail industry are underrepresented throughout the talent pipeline \u2014 from entry level to the c-suite. Women of color are virtually non-existent. Despite the lack of visibility, an event such as Convenience-Store Women signals that it\u2019s time for leaders to address gender diversity in the industry.<\/p>\n
It will take allies like the senior vice president at Advantage Solutions marketing<\/strong>, who placed me on a National Association of Convenience Store (NACS) committee where I worked my way up to a board position, to pave the way for real, lasting change. It will take events like Convenience-Store Women (CSW) and others to raise awareness and educate. It will take the collective voices of our employers, as well as a forum to share how our organizations are building more equitable workplaces to drive change.<\/p>\n At Advantage Solutions, I\u2019m proud of our progressive diversity agenda and our women leaders who are in visible and substantial levels of decision making. For our industry to start looking like some of our own companies, let\u2019s acknowledge our collective obligation. Then let\u2019s get to work.<\/p>\n For women in the convenience industry, it\u2019s time to \u201ccall in\u201d our male allies and partners, as well as women from all levels of their career journeys at retailers, distributors and suppliers. To begin, let\u2019s recognize and activate the champions among us who actively address bias and enable women\u2019s career momentum. Let\u2019s leverage our ability to create a powerful and inclusive culture where diversity and equity thrive, business goals are met or exceeded and companies become employers of choice for women.<\/p>\n We have a long way to go, but when a couple of 15-year-old girls can successfully eliminate a sexist academic requirement, progress is possible. When we use tactful language to address microaggressions in the workplace, it\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n Now, with an industry event titled, \u201cConvenience-Store Women,\u201d it\u2019s time to begin measuring outcomes for women\u2019s representation, leveling the playing field by uncovering inequities in pay and promotion, and doing the hard work to put the \u201cI\u201d in DE&I for all of us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Patricia Coe is senior director of c-store headquarter sales at Advantage Solutions. She recently wrote this guest column for CSP, a leading trade publication covering the convenience store industry. CSP will hold its second annual Convenience-Store Women\u2019s (CSW) Event from November 4\u20136 in Charleston, S.C. Rejecting Gender Norms Early On When I was in junior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2808,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"mrktblog-category":[43],"class_list":["post-2809","mrktblog-posts","type-mrktblog-posts","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","mrktblog-category-people"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Call to Action for Inclusion and Equity<\/h2>\n