by Janine Nicole Dennis | Nov 9, 2015 | Advice, Business, Diversity & Inclusion, Entrepreneur, Featured
A few month’s ago, I was searching for articles on female entrepreneurship. I needed statistics and facts around this topic. I was beyond pleasantly surprised to find this Entrepreneur article called: The fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in America. This article not only summarized the state of entrepreneurship for females, but it highlighted a statistic- even I was not aware of. The statistic was: The number of African-American owned businesses grew 322% since 1997. So, while entrepreneurship by females in general grew 74% from 1997 to 2015, black women blew that statistic away.
.jpg)
Image of Biddy Mason Courtesy of Wikipedia
I believe there are many reasons for this rapid increase in female entrepreneurs and even more so for black women taking this leap.
In this episode I will share the following:
- What I believe is contributing to the rise in females becoming entrepreneurs in general.
- What factors may be contributing to the rise of the businesses owned by African-American Women?
- What does this mean for the future of work?
- Great statistics, but is there room for improvement?
If Entrepreneur can put this topic on blast, so can I. We are going to explore all sides of female entrepreneurship this week.
To get your palate wet for this week’s discussion, check out these articles for more insights:
Who Runs the Business World? Women!
Turning Corporate Lemons Into Entrepreneurial Lemonade
From HR to Entrepreneurship: Honor the Journey
Businesswoman Janine Truitt Talks About the Lessons of Entrepreneurial Dreams
I’m calling out all mompreneurs, womeneurs, solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, boss ladies, and even aspiring female entrepreneurs to join me on Thursday at 11pm EST/10pm CST/8pm PST for “Ask Czarina Live”.
Good News! I promised you that I would be posting the replays of “Ask Czarina Live” to “The Aristocracy of HR” You Tube Channel for those of you not ready to take the Periscope plunge. Fortunately, I have been enlightened that an app named Katch.me exists. Katch.me saves all of my Periscope episodes so I can share and download my episodes. If you’re on Katch, you can check out “Ask Czarina” replays there. Otherwise, I am happy to announce that my replay from last week is up on “The Aristocracy of HR” You Tube Channel.
As usual it will be fun, fresh, and insightful. I look forward to seeing you there.
Want more? Click here to watch the latest “Ask Czarina” episode. Subscribe to “The Aristocracy of HR” You Tube Channel to be notified when new episodes are published.
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Nov 5, 2015 | Data and Analytics, Featured, HR Innovation, Society and HR
I was at IBM Insight last week and as per usual it was an awarding experience. There is a shift going on in business and technology that I find both interesting and exciting. It is a shift that is about partnership over competition. Big name technology companies are partnering with new school app developers and tech startups to provide consumers with better products, experiences and customer service.
Image courtesy of IBM.
You may be thinking: “How will this all be done?” The surge of cognitive technology is leading the way in allowing for better insights that allow for a better understanding of people. Cognitive technology allows us to get to the root of people’s behaviors, motivations, needs, and wants. The compilation of this information around these things allows companies to provide a personalized experience and resolution to some of the most pressing human issues.
For instance, we all know the dreaded unexpected breakdown of appliances. They are costly and unwelcomed. Whirlpool is focused on the connecting everything that is important to us through mobile-optimized appliances. This means that you could receive notification telling us that a part in our machines is going and have that information sent back to Whirlpool for troubleshooting.
Image courtesy of IBM.
Box is working with IBM’s Watson Analytics to synthesize the information you house in Box to provide real-time analytics for end users. I know it frustrates me to have unstructured information and data that is either hidden or lost in the systems I use. To be able, to have insights derived from the files you save with Box is a tremendous capability for individuals and business owners.
Courtesy of IBM.
The Internet of Weather
How about all of these catastrophic weather events we’re experiencing? The Weather Company is on the heels of being acquired by IBM for their Internet of Things division. At the conference, they described an app that could be used during hurricanes not only for timely push notifications based on minute-to-minute news surrounding a weather event; but also the app has the ability to function as a flashlight and alarm to alert authorities to people who may be stranded during a catastrophic weather event.
Partnership > Competition
It is interesting to see the market moving in a direction where being competitive means partnering with a competitor to disrupt the market and provide a better product overall. Companies that you wouldn’t dream of seeing on the same billboard let alone working together realize that innovation in a vacuum is no innovation at all. The reality is: Customers want more. Whether it is quality of customer experience or a better product- very few companies are able to upkeep the supply of new, exciting and efficient products. In return, they are collaborating with other businesses or competitors to leverage their respective market strengths and technology to create new or increased value.
Why Should HR Practitioners Care?
With all these new ways of collaborating and doing business, HR needs to be looking at new and creative ways to deploy individuals and teams to get the work done. Additionally, it is a wake up call to all of us to remain aware of the changing business climate. We need to be aware of shifts in business and be prepared to pivot how we serve in our organizations. You can’t be a part of the conversation, if you don’t know what’s going on. It is equivalent to the moments in which a person comes in on the tail end of a conversation and arrives at an incorrect conclusion because they were otherwise occupied or absent from the majority of the conversation. We have a duty to become knowledgeable not only in the practice of Human Resources, but in business, market shifts, changes in customer behaviors and sentiments. It is near impossible to be a true partner to the C-Suite when you don’t know enough to craft a solution.
How do you see these competitive partnerships impacting what we do in HR?
Want more? Click here to watch the latest “Ask Czarina” episode. Subscribe to “The Aristocracy of HR” You Tube Channel to be notified when new episodes are published.
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Nov 4, 2015 | Advice, Featured, Life
There’s lots of buzz lately about the effects of social media use on children as well as adults. In the span of 2-3 weeks, I have encountered two stories of social influencers who are no longer interested in “keeping up appearances” on social media. In both instances, social media drove two young women to do things that they felt they wouldn’t have done otherwise.
The first of two stories is coined by a young woman who goes by the name: “Jasmine”. The name of her article is: “My ‘Perfect’ Life On Social Media Is Putting Me In Debt”. “Jasmine” recently admitted to going into debt while attempting to maintain her social persona on Instagram. Although she cites that her life is rather mundane, she paid handsomely to portray a more luxurious lifestyle than she currently lives in real life. Her social exploits have gotten so out of hand that she expressed some trepidation in sharing what she has done with her parents.
In a more recent instance, Essena O’Neill makes a bold statement saying that social media is an “illusion”. Essena goes onto share that she was often consumed by the need to accumulate “likes and views” and as such began to measure her self-worth by these means. She is now launching a call-to-action for other teens and people to become “game-changers” instead of a bunch of made-up online personas.
Without giving away to much, my opinion is: there are key concepts that contribute to this illusion that social media is destroying lives. The first concept is: everything should be done in moderation- especially social media. To be fair, there is nothing “moderate” about being a social influencer. However, it is completely up to you to figure out what your cadence should be on social media. The second concept is: is it the tool or the operator of the tool who is to blame in this argument?
In this episode I will share the following:
- Is social media evil or is the operator at fault?
- The difficulty I have in understanding this new age of vanity.
- It’s time to separate fact from fiction with regard to social media.
- Getting social influencing right from the start.
I don’t know that we will reach a verdict on the evils of social media, but I am hoping to have some great dialogue on this topic. Join me on Thursday at 11pm EST/10pm CST/8pm PST for “Ask Czarina Live”.
A friendly reminder: I promised you that I would be posting the replays of “Ask Czarina Live” to “The Aristocracy of HR” You Tube Channel for those of you not ready to take the Periscope plunge. Unfortunately, Periscope has a bug that is preventing my broadcasts from properly being saved in my gallery, so I am currently unable to share my shows in both places. They are working on it and I will let you know when I am able to do it. For now, you can continue to view replays on Periscope, within the 24-hour window allotted,
As usual it will be fun, fresh, and insightful. I look forward to seeing you there.
Want more? Click here to watch the latest “Ask Czarina” episode. Subscribe to “The Aristocracy of HR” You Tube Channel to be notified when new episodes are published.
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Oct 27, 2015 | Career, Featured, Society and HR, Work/Life
I am coming at you from IBM Insight in Las Vegas. I promise you I will be back to churning out more than just Ask Czarina Live posts soon, but I am on the move a lot this month. Before I proceed, I want to thank everyone who joined me last week. It was great to have you and I am inviting you to join me this week and bring a friend.
Which brings me to our topic for this week’s Ask Czarina Live. This week’s topic is: The State of Working Parenthood.
I won’t spoil what I will share this Thursday, but I had a lot of hustling to do to be able to not only make it to Vegas for IBM Insight, but to be able to go to my speaking gig later in the week.
As a business owner, professional and mom of 3 who also happens to be in the midst of picking up steam as a speaker- my travel is picking up and responsibilities at home remain the same. I know all about the opportunities in front of me and I know what I stand to gain. At the same time, I am forever calculating the risks and cons to what I do. As such, I am calling all working parents and that includes stay-at-home moms and dads. I’ll explore the following:
- Why I stopped making a distinction between these two groups of parents even though society continues to drive a hard line.
- Whether it is easier now or in past generations to be a parent.
- What I do to release present day parenting pressures making life bearable for everyone involved.
- Is work-life balance attainable?
- Is the request for “more flexibility” new or are we in a time and place where it is more accepted?
In addition, I will be exploring a few articles that summarize the state of working parenthood. Here are the links to the articles, should you be interested in checking them out in advance:
Kids of working moms are better off
How working moms define success
What workers around the world want: More flexibility
Stay-at-home moms are on the rise
Join me on Thursday at 11pm EST/10pm CST/8pm PST for my second “Ask Czarina Live”. Last week I promised you that I would be posting the replays of “Ask Czarina Live” to “The Aristocracy of HR” You Tube Channel for those of you not ready to take the Periscope plunge. Unfortunately, Periscope has a bug that is preventing my broadcasts from properly being saved in my gallery, so I am currently unable to share my shows in both places. They are working on it and I will let you know when I am able to do it. For now, you can continue to view replays on Periscope, within the 24-hour window allotted,
As usual it will be fun, fresh, and insightful. I look forward to seeing you there.
Want more? Click here to watch the latest “Ask Czarina” episode. Subscribe to “The Aristocracy of HR” You Tube Channel to be notified when new episodes are published.
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Oct 20, 2015 | Business, Featured, HR Innovation, The Aristocracy of HR
If you haven’t been bitten by the Periscope bug yet, let me coax you to join me this upcoming Thursday, 10/22 as I kick off my weekly Periscope show: “Ask Czarina Live”. This will be an opportunity for me to tackle topics both in the HR realm and some things that may be a little bit more mainstream. Either way, I’m looking forward to connecting with you (my readers) and others on a different level.
To date, I have braved my way through over 20 Periscope videos. I can assure you each have been recorded with the same spirit and heart as this blog. I’m not claiming to be a “guru”,”ninja”, or ” a professional who will teach you how to make a million dollars in one day”. What I can promise you is information and dialogue that is truthful and helpful. Sound too simple? Then, this may not be the show for you. That’s all I have. I am willing to share what has helped me to be successful in various aspects of my life- in the hopes that it may help you as well.
Whether it is sharing my thoughts on keeping it together during crazed days of parenting to the latest world of work headline, I will be spending 30 minutes with you every Thursday sharing my thoughts and taking your questions. There are so many topics and so little time to capture it all in blog posts. Sometimes you just want to chat with good people about ideas and things going on in your life in real-time.
If you like what you see here or even on The Aristocracy of HR You Tube Channel, you will enjoy this show.
Here’s an idea of the format:
1) 15 minutes of dialogue around my topic of choice.
2) 15 minutes Q&A on any topic you choose to probe me about.
This week’s topic is: What Would It Take For An Employer To Keep You?
There was a recent article by Inc.com called: “Do These 8 Things and Your Employees Will Never Want to Leave“. It simply lists 8 actions that employers should take to retain their employees. It’s an interesting read and worth exploring on Periscope to see if any of it matters a lot or just a little. There are many valuable points in the article and yet there is at least one that makes me uncomfortable. We will explore why and I hope to hear your thoughts and rebuttals as well.
Join me on Thursday at 11pm EST/10pm CST/8pm PST for the first ever “Ask Czarina Live”. In addition to viewing it on Periscope, within the 24-hour window allotted, I will be posting the replays of “Ask Czarina Live” to “The Aristocracy of HR” You Tube Channel for those of you not ready to take the Periscope plunge.
It’s going to be fun, fresh, and insightful. I look forward to seeing you there.
Want more? Click here to watch the latest “Ask Czarina” episode. Subscribe to “The Aristocracy of HR” You Tube Channel to be notified when new episodes are published.
