Brooke Baldwin, a veteran journalist who anchored the mid-day edition of CNN Newsroom for more than a decade published her first book entitled "HUDDLE ~ How Women Unlock their Collective Power" in 2021.
When I saw this book in Barnes & Noble, it grabbed my attention from the moment I read the inside sleeve, explaining how Brooke embarked on a journey through America, taking a closer look at a nationwide phenomenon of women harnessing one another's power.
Over the last couple of years women have come together more than ever before in huddles, or movements, that have been splashed across the headlines like #MeToo, Times Up, women running for public office, mothers against gun violence, demonstrating on the front lines of protests, and gathering in C-suite corner offices.
She took each of these situations and showed me how women collectively are now recognizing their power of coming together, and making a difference.
In 2017, when Alyssa Milano embraced the #MeToo hashtag on her social media, after the sexual accusations came out about Harvey Weinstein, a declaration of solidarity was formed as almost a million posts with that hashtag appeared within two days. The movement then spilled over to Facebook where about 4.7 million users shared 12 million posts in less than 24 hours.
While working in a male dominated industry, Brooke shares how climbing the ladder of her career was often lonely and competitive as she often reported on the world's most powerful men. Which caused her to examine friendships, self-care huddles, and women who band together in male dominated industries.
For her research she delves into groups of women making seismic change together in other areas with women Athletes fighting for equal pay, teachers rallying to improve their working conditions and Black Lives Matter.
While reporting on the Pandemic and a deeply divided nation for her day job, she finds that huddling is now more relevant than ever. Her call to action with "Huddle" is for women to be more deliberate about leaning on female friends and colleagues to unlock their collective power, even if it is done virtually.
This book presented a 'call to action' for me, as I read about the different male dominated industries where women were shaking things up, but one area that wasn't mentioned was the demographic of women of wealth. It has almost been the best kept secret that women are gaining access to more financial assets than every before.
According to McKinsey & Company, American women in 2020 controlled $10.9 trillion dollars in assets, and that number is expected to increase to $30 trillion in financial assets by 2030. This potential wealth transfer of such magnitude approaches the annual GDP of the United States. But yet less than 15% of the wealth managers in this country are women.
To me this is a huge disconnect!
Are women of wealth stepping into their power, and making sure they have the best financial experts on their team, to help them maintain their wealth, expand their assets and achieve their goals? Are those experts solely looking out for their best interests?
Last year I launched VIP Wine, Women & Wealth events with the theme being "Own Your Power" as a first step in creating a Women of Wealth Huddle. Up to this point women have come together for philanthropy and charitable efforts, but what if that focused shifted?
What if affluent women came together and unlocked their collective power.
What changes could be made and how much more can be achieved together?
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