Books | FemaleBreadWinners

Recommended Reads for Professional Women – 3 Top Books on Happiness

One of the best aspects about being an avid reader is discussing books and sharing recommendations with like-minded friends. I’m a huge fan of great fiction, as you might be able to tell from my Fiction for Female Breadwinners pages. However, to stay current and inspired in my own field I keep up with the best of non-fiction as well. If you are looking for a Christmas present for a professional woman here are 3 book suggestions on achieving that all-too elusive goal of busy people everywhere – true happiness.

Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman. This is deservedly a best-seller within the positive psychology movement. I particularly appreciate the author’s definition of happiness as raising the bar for yourself, not on rating yourself against others. With a western focus on consumerism and comparison, remembering to focus on your signature strengths is vital. When I first started my business, for example, I’d constantly compare myself with what others around me were doing – which of course left me feeling lacking. As I have grown in confidence in my professional path, and distanced myself from those types of interactions, I have become more successful and felt happier on the journey – which really is what any of us want in the end, right?

The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer. This is probably the most spiritual of the books I will recommend, but my dog-eared copy is evidence of how much it resonated with me.The book essentially is a guide for feeling more aligned with your life purpose and using positive intention in your daily interactions. This guide encourages you to let go of the negative assumptions and feelings we have about ourselves and others. Those assumptions and distractions are obstacles to our success and reaching our full potential. I found the book hugely useful when starting my business and I’d recommend it for any challenges you may face.

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert says our beliefs about what will make us happy – more money, more shoes, more sex, are often wrong — a premise he supports with intriguing research, and explains in his accessible and unexpectedly funny book. He was inspired by evidence that paraplegics and lottery winners are equally happy even just a few months after their life change. We overestimate how much happier we will be when we achieve ‘success’ and overestimate how unhappy we will be if faced with a negative situation. We become happiest when we are limited in our choices. For example, if a man you dated was cheap you’d perhaps think twice about dating him again. If however, you husband became parsimonious in his spending – you’d probably accept or even admire his frugality. The lack of choice (because you are already married to him!) means we are conditioned to become happier with a foible that would irritate us in a more flexible situation from which we could escape. A great follow-on read is The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz

Book Reviews – Life Experiences from Women in Male Dominated Fields

I’m a big reader – in fact, many of the professional women I work are also big readers – when they get the time. One of the things I love best about reading is discussing books and sharing recommendations with like-minded friends. I’m a huge fan of great fiction, as you might be able to tell from my Fiction for Female Breadwinners pages. I thought this month, I’d share recommendations for three very different books that feature women who draw from their own life experiences working in male dominated fields to tell it like it is!

Books for female breadwinners Women Work and the Art of Savoire Fair by Mireille Guiliano. Guiliano was the Veuve Clicquot CEO and perhaps is now better known for her best selling book, ‘French Women Don’t Get Fat‘. This entertaining memoir details the challenge she had in taking champagne to the top of the luxury market in the US at at time when even wine was fairly new on most restaurant menus. Being French, she stresses the importance of entertaining clients over meals and enjoying life with a certain je ne sais quoi . A light but enjoyable read and the only career book I know that incorporates recipes throughout!

Books for female breadwinners Self Made Man by Norah Vincent. I hugely enjoyed this record of one New York female journalist’s attempts to live and dress as a man for one year. I found it a sympathetic portrayal of the modern male world and how men behave when they think women aren’t around. To get under the skin of what it means to be a 21st century man, Vincent went undercover in a monastery, frequented strip clubs, infiltrated a men’s therapy group, worked in a testosterone fueled office, and joined a bowling league. A fantastic read I came across by chance, but one that reminded me how fulfilling chance finds can be in an undiscovered book.

Books for female breadwinners How to Succeed in Business Without a Penis by Karen Salmansohn. You’ve got to love this book for the title alone. After a hard day at the office, there are moments when it feels like having a penis would solve all work-related problems. Salmansohn made her name in advertising – an industry that knows that image is everything. The book is very funny, but also practical with sections entitled “Kicking a Woman in her Balls” and “Slipping into the Dressing Room for a Quick Change of Heart”. I’d recommend it for the humor alone as she intersperses stories from her own career and dating life, with quotes from the Book of Tao. Irreverent and highly readable.

With the festive season approaching books make great gifts, check out our offer on “Beyond the Boys’ Club” and “Female breadwinners” – get 2 books for £25.

25 Things Learned from opening a Book Store

I often meet fantastic professional women who talk about chucking in the rate race and ‘running away with the circus’ or taking on whatever their dream job would be.

I used to harbour dreams of running a book store, where I could talk about amazing books with equally besotted bibliophiles. Even in this day and age of the e-reader and declining library memberships, I still love the smell and feel of a book and will often buy a physical copy of a book after I’ve read it on my IPad or listened to a recorded audio version, just so I have the memory of it on my bookshelf.

Well it turns out I’m not alone, and so in a ode to women who follow their dreams, I wanted to point out one of the funniest and most poignant “Top 25″ lists I’ve read in many years. Compiled by a American lawyer who, after putting her kids through school, decided to open a used book store. Entitled “25 Things I Learned From Opening a Bookstore”, the list is fantastically funny, but I was also struck by the hundreds of comments she received of support; others who are inspired by her example and who love good ol’ fashioned books just as much as she does – and as much as I know many of you do. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Do you prefer to read a ‘real’ book?

Women Breadwinners are Tomorrow’s Leaders

It is vital to investigate this shift because the future of the workforce of tomorrow is increasingly female. Female breadwinners, though largely invisible, are more common than people anticipate and on the rise. Only two of the twelve job titles expected to grow between 2008 and 2018 are dominated by men: accountant and construction worker.

In fact, the vast majority of job growth is in fields currently favoured by women, such as teaching, nursing, home health support and customer service. These fields are not as well paid as those previously dominated by men. However, it does indicate that the number of households with a female breadwinner will inevitably increase.

Indeed, the number of women already in this category is a large minority. According to 2010 research from the Pew Centre, 22 per cent of American women are now earning more than their husbands. This is a more than fivefold increase from 1970 when it was just four per cent. Similarly, out of all the cohabiting heterosexual couples in Britain where one partner earns more than the other, it was the woman who was the main breadwinner in 25 per cent of the cases by 2007. This is a substantial increase on the five per cent recorded in 1969. Indeed, Grazia’s Women and Work survey of professional women in 2010 suggest the number is closer to 30 per cent.

We can tell a lot about a couple by the way they interact and how they talk about each other. However, one thing most outsiders can’t discern, if both partners work, is which person earns more. Nor might it seem relevant. Yet earnings can underpin how a couple negotiate, how they communicate, their career aspirations, and how they manage family life. The unchallenged assumption, both in the workplace and in social settings, tends to be that men are the main breadwinners – an assumption that is fast becoming outmoded.

I wrote “Female Breadwinners: How they Make Relationships Work and Why they are the Future of the Modern Workforce” to get under the skin of what goes on for this growing group of women. You can get your copy in our online shop.