Announcer: Welcome to Business like 360 with Christy Kaye, where we get to know thought leaders and innovators, trends and impact in the world of business and we see firsthand how business and life have evolved.

(Music) Business Life 360 with Kristi K is made possible by Promedica, a locally owned, nationally recognized, not for profit health care network that has a strong commitment to clinical excellence, providing safe, high quality patient care, and addressing social issues that impact health.

John B and Lillian E Neff, College of Business and Innovation at the University of Toledo Developing lifelong Leaders for the World of Business and by KeyBank, also by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Kristi K.: Welcome to Business Life.

360 I'm your host, Kristi K On this episode, we're talking about women's leadership, empowerment and advancement.

Just how far have women come through the years in business and finances within society and in our communities?

We'll talk with the CEO of one of the nation's largest Girl Scout councils and a senior Girl Scout.

We'll talk with the CEO of the YWCA of Northwest Ohio.

And an amazing golf icon, Juli Inkster, one of the best to ever play the sport who has thrived for decades on the course in a traditionally male dominated sport.

So kick back, relax and come along with me.

This is Business Life 360.

And now let's head out to talk with one of the best golfers to ever play the sports.

Julie Inkster.

Julie Inkster, great to be with you here today.

Juli Inkster: Thanks, Kristi.

It's always great to be with you.

Kristi K.: Thank you.

We always have a great time.

We do.

Yeah.

Juli Inkster: It's like sitting on a green couch just talking.

Kristi K.: That's right.

Every year with the iconic Julie Inkster.

So lucky me.

Yeah.

I wanted to talk to you a little bit.

I was just watching a video about you and some of the amazing accolades that you have had.

The Bob Jones award, all of your wins, all of your victories through the years, the SBA, the Golf Digest Awards.

Does this resonate with you When I say you are the rock star and kind of where your you're places in this world and how many people you've impacted?

Juli Inkster: You know what?

You know, I look back on it and I realize, you know, I've just kind of live my life and I've kind of tried to live it the right way.

I really think winning the Bobby Jones Award really resonated with me as far as an award going and how how much I've maybe made a difference in golf and and people you know, you don't win the award just because you're a good golfer.

You ignored the war because what you do outside of golf and you know I've never I've never really thought of it that way.

But you'll hear in someone like Morgan Press, I'll talk, you know, who's a really good friend of mine about, you know, the influence I had on her.

And you know what?

I realize as you're going through life, how you can help people and impact people.

And, you know, I might just be a little thing, but I think, you know, having my girls introduced me for the Bobby Jones ward, you know, you know, when they start traveling with me at six weeks on tour and and where they are now in their life and and where I am now in my life and with golf in and personal life, it just I don't know, it just kind of hit home that, you know what?

It's been a really good ride.

Kristi K.: We've talked so many times about how you got started in this game of golf and what influenced you the most and kind of what kept you going.

You're such a resilient person.

You're such a determined person.

Was there someone in your life who had similar traits who kind of got you into the sport but also kept you going in the sport?

Juli Inkster: Well, I mean, I my mom and my dad were a big influence on my life.

My mom was a stay at home mom, but and not competitive, but stubborn, resilient.

And I got that from her.

You know, my dad played professional baseball for a few years, so I probably get my athletic ability from him.

But my dad was a worker bee, worked two jobs.

He was a fireman and his days off, he worked in other job.

And at 15 I had two older brothers.

At 15 we had to get a job.

And so I rode my bike up to the golf course.

You know, I didn't play golf, got a job parking carts and pick it up.

The range decided I was a jock.

I played basketball, I played for whatever my brothers played.

I played.

And so, you know, they beat me up a little bit.

But I feel like golf was something I could do that they weren't interested in.

So, I mean, I actually got some lost and found clubs and that's how I started playing.

Kristi K.: I'm a huge proponent of women helping women and women helping girls, not being threatened to do so, not feeling like we can't do that because what if they get more than we get?

Exactly.

How do you feel about kind of that whole notion that women really do need to help girls in our lives, in our world?

Juli Inkster: I think it's weird.

I think a lot of times women don't help women and it drives me crazy.

But I think we're getting better at that.

Kristi K.: I hope you're right.

Juli Inkster: Yeah, I know.

You know, the biggest compliment I ever get is someone coming up and ask me a question about either being a mom on tour or can I play a practice round with you or to me, that's the highest honor is when someone does ask you that, because that means that you're open to giving advice and you're open to help grow the game, not only on the golf course, but off the golf course.

Kristi K.: Well, you know, that kind of principle transcends whether it's corporate America or in other sports in grade school, high school, college, that whole principle of really helping others and wanting to mentor them on their journey seems to be like we are all as women, planting those seeds for empowerment, for success, for thriving, and for giving us equity.

Juli Inkster: Yeah, and I don't think there's anything better than being a mentor then than, you know, someone calling you and say, Hey, you know, what do I need to do here?

Or I just think that's the highest honor of that one.

Your your doing something right.

Yes.

And you're opening yourself up.

You're being vulnerable that, you know, hey, I'm going to go I'm going to give you everything I got.

Kristi K.: You know, I want to talk a little bit more that about women and equity in terms of the purse.

You talked before about what is you make and you said your very first check on to her was how much?

Juli Inkster: 22,500.

And as a 23 year old, I was a lot of money.

Kristi K.: Do right here was that.

Juli Inkster: If I were in 1983.

Kristi K.: 83.

Juli Inkster: Yeah and you know it's getting better with people like KPMG and AIG and Chevron.

They're doing a great job of elevating the women's game.

But we have a long way to go.

We we make about 10% of what the guys make.

That's not a. Kristi K.: Lot.

How do we change that?

What needs to happen in order for us to get to the level where women are on equal playing fields and par with with so to speak?

A little bit on there.

well, we need we need more awareness.

We need to play better golf courses.

We need TV revenue.

I mean, we we pay for our TV if we want to be on network TV, the LPGA or the sponsor has to pay for TV.

So it's you know, we're we're we're an organization that stands on our own.

We don't have any help.

We don't have the PGA help, you know, like the Champions Tour does and the Korn Ferry does.

It's it's you know, I and I look at the PGA Tour and the whole live right now, how they're they're competing against.

How do we make more money?

It's like, you know, how do you share more money?

You know, share a little bit.

I mean, you need you know, you get to a point where it's like, you know, yeah, golf has always been a rich man's game.

And, well, they're they're showing it that it is.

Kristi K.: Mm hmm.

Well, I just want to say thank you, Julie Inkster, for being the living legend you are, for being the inspiration you are.

And just for giving us the gift of you.

Juli Inkster: Well, thanks to you for being a rock star in growing your occupation.

And we got it.

We've got to support women right?

And you have always been great at that.

And not only, you know, housing players, you know, you did know them, but you know what?

They're your family.

Kristi K.: They are my family now.

Juli Inkster: And you know what, guys?

When I was a rookie, I stayed in 90% of housing and I still in very close to all of them.

So it's the best.

Kristi K.: Gift that keeps on giving.

Juli Inkster: Exactly.

Kristi K.: Exactly.

Juli Inkster: Thank you.

Thank you, Kristi.

Kristi K.: On this episode of Business Life 360, we're talking about the advancement and empowerment of women in business, in society and in our communities.

And in discussing this, we first must talk about the challenges and barriers facing women today.

How far have women come with us on business life?

3060 is Lisa McDuffie, who is the president and CEO of the YWCA of Northwest Ohio.

Lisa is a change agent, an advocate, a role model, and a true leader in representing the voices of women throughout our region and beyond.

So Lisa, welcome to Business Life 360.

So good to have you here.

Lisa McDuffie: Thank you so much, Kristi.

It's an honor to be here.

Kristi K.: I know first and foremost, we can really put equal pay and the wage gap at the top of the list in terms of some of the barriers for women.

Lisa McDuffie: So, Lilly Right.

Kristi K.: How so?

Lisa McDuffie: Today, to every dollar that a man earns, a woman earns $0.82.

And if you are a woman of color, African American, you earn 62.

Sit.

If you are Hispanic 50 cent And when you do that math, what that really equates to is an inability really to economically survive and be competitive in today's world that allows you to live a comfortable life for your family.

Kristi K.: Have you seen progress?

Are you seeing changes in a shift in that?

Lisa McDuffie: Yeah.

Yeah.

So I can talk about some positives because we have to start really with one program at a time, one life at a time.

And so part of what we love to do is help individuals understand the importance of their own personal responsibility as best as possible in building their own economic wealth.

And so even with your paycheck, as difficult as it may be, what can you do to help establish a savings account?

How can we help you?

Budget and manage what you do?

Bring in?

Okay.

How can we help you work on your credit?

And from working on credit.

Then we can eventually talking about, you know, a savings account or even planning for the future.

Mm hmm.

It's all of those things that many of us have come to take for granted.

But when you are an individual who's working really paycheck to paycheck, it's difficult.

Oftentimes to think about how do I begin to save?

And so sometimes that may be $10, $20 a week to try to help you.

And the flip side of that also is thinking, now I'm going to go right back to wealth, because here's the big, big dilemma here.

It's not just the money in the bank.

It's assets, wealth.

It's assets.

So if we want to break the generational cycle of people in poverty, we have to help them and give them the tools to build wealth.

Kristi K.: So another topic as we kind of shift the heavy topic of financial disparity and really working to improve that is violence against women.

And you work in this world every day.

You see this.

Talk to us about how that really is so prevalent in our world and how that truly suppresses women and our rights to kind of move forward in this world.

Lisa McDuffie: Absolutely.

So if you know, seven women, chances are one of them are being domestic violence right now.

Oftentimes people think about it.

And just the mere fact that it's it's cuts and bruises.

There is many other forms of abuse that take place.

You know, it can be emotional and psychological, but a very big form is financial abuse.

And so for women, sometimes they stay in relationships.

Think about what we just talked about.

Think about the very topic we're talking about today.

If we're talking about the wage gap, if a female is bringing in a portion $0.82 on the dollar, African-American, $0.60 on the dollar ladder next.

$0.50 on the dollar compared to a whole dollar.

At the end of the week.

At the end of the month, at what point will that woman choose that?

It may be almost impossible for me to get away from this person that is really providing for the family that's maybe paying the bills.

And so part of what we try to do is in economic empowerment for women and help them understand that there is life outside of financial abuse.

Kristi K.: Now, in addition to that, Lisa, you also have a 24 hour rape crisis center and you are also dealing with those maybe in the middle of the night coming in, mothers with their children, having faced domestic violence situations, their pets may be coming as well.

What is it that we can do for women to help break that cycle and to say, in addition to sort of the financial piece of that, to say some of these controlling behaviors, these abusive behaviors are not okay, and especially for those women who aren't coming to the YWCA and who aren't seeking that that shelter, if you will.

Lisa McDuffie: That's a really wonderful question.

You know, what I would say is one of the most important things is to build awareness.

Not everyone will feel like shelter is for them.

The YWCA provides 24 hour crisis services, which may be a phone call.

And we are literally available at your fingertips to walk you through a safety plan to help you understand the importance of, you know, what you can do to save your life in the lives of your children.

To help you understand the resources we have available, including pet sheltering, so that you don't have to leave your pet behind.

But I'm going to take this also a step further.

You know, we can start with education and providing resources and just opening our doors for women.

But it is critically important that we start very, very young.

And so the earlier we can provide education to young girls and boys, it's crucial.

Kristi K.: Lisa, thank you so much for being in business life.

316 and a. Lisa McDuffie: Pleasure, Kristi.

Thank you.

Kristi K.: We thank Lisa McDuffie for what she does every day to help those dealing with domestic violence, rape, crisis inequity and racism and for her tireless work to advance and empower women.

And now let's head out on location to continue the dialog.

And now let's go meet a leader and a future leader in the world of girl empowerment.

So now I'm here on location.

I'm here with Girl Scout Autumn Bates, who is in western Ohio, and the CEO of Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, Amy Sproles.

And we're looking at talking to them today to hear more about the Girl Scout movement, what it's doing for girls, and how far the movement has come since 1912, which is when Juliette Gordon Low first founded Girl Scouts of the USA.

So thank you so much for being with me today.

My pleasure.

Aimee Sproles: It's so exciting to be here.

Thanks for having us.

Kristi K.: Absolutely.

And so, Autumn, let's start with you.

Talk a little bit about what you have done with Girl Scout and how long you've been in Girl Scouts.

Autumn Bates: So I've been a Girl Scout for 13 years.

I started because my mom wanted me to get involved, but I really stayed because the joy I had and wanted to keep going.

Kristi K.: What do you think are some of the biggest issues that are facing girls today, like pre-teen girls and teenage girls that you see?

Autumn Bates: I would say bullying is a big part in the community and also around the world.

Bullying is very strong and really impacts girls, I would say, in a negative way and positive way.

It's girls that, you know, get bullied and don't know what to do, but they can go to Girl Scouts and help them find that courageous side of themselves to stick up for themselves or, you know, if they see bullying, say something, you know.

Kristi K.: Now, when we talk about some of the programing and some of the things that Girl Scouts has really evolved into, if you will, what have you seen through the years you've been involved with Girl scouting for 15 years, 20, all told.

Aimee Sproles: Almost 20 years this year.

You know, Girl scouting started in 1912, like you said, with Juliette Gordon Low.

And when it started, women couldn't vote.

They couldn't own property.

Right.

So it was a very different time.

And we've tried through the years to model after her.

So she was wanting girls to have experiences that they weren't otherwise having and really grow in their skill and leadership and being community problem solvers.

And so that changes as girls grow and change and as times change.

And so we have been relevant with girls as they have grown and changed as social media has entered the realm, we've adopted cyber bullying training for girls to help them really understand how to have a strong sense of self and how to ask for help when they need it, how to watch out for problems with cyberbullying.

And we know girls today one in five experiences being targeted by cyber bullies, which is incredible.

The mental health impacts of that we're seeing really reverberate with young women.

We really want girls to have the resilience that they need to really stand up for themselves, to be community problem solvers and to stand up for others.

Kristi K.: And I always have felt like Girl Scouts of the USA has had their finger on the pulse of what girls need.

And you've experienced that with your programing and some of the things that you've done.

I know you've gone to camp.

Yes.

And had some great experiences.

Autumn Bates: There on the camp.

Yes.

Camp is so much fun.

It's like you're in a whole new world.

You're you have, you know, your friends you have at home and you know the place that you're used to at home.

And then you go to camp and it's like, wow, like this is bigger.

Like you meet so many girls and you get that feeling from being away from home.

Now that I have went to camp, I feel like leaving high school this year.

I will I will be prepared to be on my own in college and not have to ask my mom, Well, how do you do this?

How do you do this?

Because, you know, I just have to trust myself that I can be the best girl and Girl Scout that I can be.

Kristi K.: Yeah.

You really had to step out and push yourself, which I think that whole leadership skill set, Amy, is really, really prevalent in girls scouting from a young age.

Aimee Sproles: We start with girls at every age, and we make sure that the experience really wraps what I like to call the secret sauce of the Girl Scout leadership experience, which is making sure that even at five and six years old, Girl Scout bases know that they have voice in their experience.

So it's girl led that they get to help each other.

They have cooperative learning and they get to actually do it themselves, so they learn by doing.

So those three things are really the secret sauce and the Girl Scout leadership experience.

It looks different for a five and six year old to a senior in high school, but every girl has that experience baked in to learning STEM or entrepreneurship, or going to camp and learning how to protect the world or to seek challenges.

So when she when she was young, she started out learning to be away from her mom.

But then what other challenges maybe did you experience while you were at camp?

Kristi K.: And I know, Amy, the programing through the years has certainly changed.

It seems as though we've seen adventure programs more so than ever, entrepreneurship.

And you alluded to some of those.

But tell us more about how the programing has really evolved to meet the needs of girls.

Aimee Sproles: Like right today we do a lot of STEM programs that look very different than when I was a Girl Scout.

I remember doing computer coding when I was a Girl Scout.

Girls today are doing computer coding, but the languages are totally different.

They're learning to explore STEM careers.

They're learning mechanical engineering, they're learning how to create a roller coaster.

The just the different things in STEM that are exciting to girls and relevant to girls and really piqued their interest.

Same with entrepreneurship.

So yes, we've sold cookies for over a hundred years, but the core of the cookie program for girls is learning how to run a business and so as we have really powered that, it's moved from being kind of creating that business locally to now having an online shop and knowing how to create digital marketing for your cookie business, how to interact with your customers.

It's just a really empowering program and a program that delivers a lot of confidence for girls.

Kristi K.: When you're on business life three six So we do something called Quick Hits, which helps our viewers to get to know you a little bit better.

So are you ready?

Yes.

All right.

So Artem, who is one role model that you have?

My mom.

Great.

Okay.

For both of you, let's start with you.

Out of the top skill that you've learned in Girl Scouts.

Autumn Bates: Probably to be brave.

Kristi K.: Love it.

And what about you?

Aimee Sproles: I would say confidence, for sure.

Kristi K.: Mm.

And favorite Girl Scout Cookie.

You knew this was coming out of the.

Autumn Bates: Lemon ups.

Kristi K.: 11 out.

Yes.

Love those.

What about.

Aimee Sproles: Thin Mints Frozen.

Kristi K.: Okay, I'm going to have to second that on the Thin Mints.

Yes.

And open boxes and empty bags for me.

Amy, the most exciting Girl Scout adventure you have ever been on.

Aimee Sproles: I think the most exciting adventure would definitely be our high ropes and challenge course and going with girls and seeing them conquer their fear.

Kristi K.: Same with you at home?

Yes.

So, Autumn, what makes you laugh the most?

Or who makes you laugh the most?

Autumn Bates: Oh, I would say my best friend makes me laugh the most.

And also the girls that I met at Girl Scout camp four years ago.

They still make me laugh to this day.

Kristi K.: Oh, wow.

That's so great.

Autumn Bates: Yeah.

Kristi K.: And last question, Amy, what is your hope for teen and preteen girls today as we look to the future for them?

Aimee Sproles: You know, my hope is that they know that the world is available to them, that whatever they aspire to, they have within them to achieve and that there is a seat at the table in every industry and every sector, whatever their interest is, that they can go out there and do it.

Kristi K.: Well, you two are empowering me, so I appreciate you being on Business Life 360 and thanks so much for all you're doing.

Thank you.

In many ways, women have advanced in society and have contributed to the empowerment of girls in our world.

Yet, as we've heard, as a girl and a woman in today's world, it takes tenacity, confidence, courage and resilience to continue to grow, lead and thrive and to achieve equal pay.

And I must say it is young women like Autumn who give us all hope as they pave the way for even younger generations of girls.

And that's a wrap on this episode of Business Life 360.

So glad you joined us to learn more about the exciting leadership innovation and advancements taking place here in our region and beyond.

I'm Christi Gay, and I'll see you on the next Business Life 360.

Announcer: Connect with Kristi K on LinkedIn at Kristie Kaye Hoffman.

And hear the business Life360 conversation on FM 91 on Thursday mornings to watch previous episodes and more.

Visit our website at WGTE.org/B360 and join Kristy for her new podcast, Business Life After Hours Business Life 360 with Kristi Kay is made possible by Promedica, a locally owned, nationally recognized not for profit health care network than has a strong commitment to clinical excellence, providing safe, high quality patient care and addressing social issues that impact health.

John B and Lillian E Neff, College of Business and Innovation at the University of Toledo.

Developing lifelong Leaders for the World of Business and by KeyBank, also by viewers like you.

Thank you.

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