Women’s News: Julie Harris, Goldman Sachs Managing Director, Talks Female Role Models And Improv Comedy

As women continue moving into the higher ranks of jobs traditionally filled by men, they have to figure out how best to pave the way for others.

Julie Harris, a managing director at Goldman Sachs, spoke to Michelle Clark at the Glass Hammer this week about what she’s learned as a woman working in a male-dominated field.

“I never had a lot of senior level female role models until I came to Goldman Sachs,” Harris told Clark. “So I had to be that senior role model. You have to learn that the way you carry yourself matters, and you can’t lose sight of who you are in the process.”

Harris, who is actively involved in the LGBT network at Goldman Sachs, also revealed that she tries not to let gender inequality affect her job performance or goals: “I’ve always picked industries where I knew I would be judged on my performance and where you got by on what you delivered.”

In a 2008 interview with the Kellogg School of Management alumni magazine(Harris received her MBA from Kellogg in 1995), Harris explained that her background in improv comedy provided her with one of the mantras she lives by: “You won’t learn if you don’t try.”

Amen to that, Julie.

Read More:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/27/julie-harris-goldman-sachs_n_3509919.html?utm_hp_ref=women&ir=Women

A Message From The Creator

Women’s News: Elena Raouna, Miss British Beauty Curve 2013, Has A Message For Young Women

The Huffington Post  |  By Nina Bahadur

The winner of the Miss British Beauty Curve 2013 competition has an important message about body image, which she’s determined to share with women around the world.

Elena Raouna, 22, was crowned the winner of the British pageant for plus-size young women after entering the competition on Facebook. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Raouna stressed that “you don’t have to be size zero to be a model, and you can be pretty and plus size at the same time.”

“My confidence has grown over the years and hopefully I can inspire other plus-size girls to be confident in their own skin,” she added.

Raouna is not the only notable plus-size woman encouraging young girls of all sizes to celebrate and accept their bodies. In April, plus-size model Jennie Runk was celebrated in the news for appearing on the main page of the H&M website modeling swimwear. In a piece for the BBC, Runk wrote of the media attention: “This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to accomplish, showing women that it’s OK to be confident even if you’re not the popular notion of ‘perfect.’… There’s no need to glamorise one body type and slam another.”

Raouna hopes to use her new platform to help girls struggling with their self-esteem, and Tweeted her appreciation for the positive messages she has received:

“If I can give girls who struggle with their weight the confidence that everyone is beautiful in their different ways, inside and out, then that is great for me,” she told the Mail.

Read More:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/27/elena-raouna_n_3512021.html?utm_hp_ref=women&ir=Women