Showing posts with label melinda knight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label melinda knight. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Friday, May 10, 2013
The Women Inventorz Network Segment on Fox 32 Good Day Chicago Gets Syndicated
Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News
The power of our network and women coming together
with awesome products is strong!!! Our
segment on Fox 32 Good Day Chicago went so well, and was so well liked that it
was syndicated in 9 major stations across the nation. The products that were showcased were
literally promoted to millions of viewers.
There will be many of these opportunities coming our way, so stay
tuned.
myfoxny.com (New York City, Market #1)
KTTV/FOX 11 (Los Angeles, Market #2)
FOX 32's "Good Day Chicago" (Chicago,
Market #3)
WPWR/My 50 Chicago (Chicago, Market #3)
WTXF-TV (Philadelphia, Market #4)
KDFW/FOX 4 (Dallas, Market #5)
WRBW Orlando (Orlando, Market #19)
WJBK-TV/Fox 2 (Detroit, Market #11)
KSAZ/FOX 10 (Phoenix, Market #13)
WTVT/FOX 13 (Tampa, Market #14)
KMSP-TV (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Market #15)
WHBQ-TV (Memphis, Market #49)
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Warren Buffet Says Women are the Key to American Prosperity, Women Inventorz Network believes it too!
Fortune Magazine article 2013
Warren Buffett with the late Katharine Graham of the Washington Post at his 50th-birthday party in 1980
(Fortune)
In an exclusive essay the Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500)chairman and CEO explains why women are key to America's prosperity.
In the flood of words written recently about women and work, one related and hugely significant point seems to me to have been neglected. It has to do with America's future, about which -- here's a familiar opinion from me -- I'm an unqualified optimist. Now entertain another opinion of mine: Women are a major reason we will do so well.Start with the fact that our country's progress since 1776 has been mind-blowing, like nothing the world has ever seen. Our secret sauce has been a political and economic system that unleashes human potential to an extraordinary degree. As a result Americans today enjoy an abundance of goods and services that no one could have dreamed of just a few centuries ago.
But that's not the half of it -- or, rather, it's just about the half of it. America has forged this success while utilizing, in large part, only half of the country's talent. For most of our history, women -- whatever their abilities -- have been relegated to the sidelines. Only in recent years have we begun to correct that problem.
Despite the inspiring "all men are created equal" assertion in the Declaration of Independence, male supremacy quickly became enshrined in the Constitution. In Article II, dealing with the presidency, the 39 delegates who signed the document -- all men, naturally -- repeatedly used male pronouns. In poker, they call that a "tell."
Finally, 133 years later, in 1920, the U.S. softened its discrimination against women via the 19th Amendment, which gave them the right to vote. But that law scarcely budged attitudes and behaviors. In its wake, 33 men rose to the Supreme Court before Sandra Day O'Connor made the grade -- 61 years after the amendment was ratified. For those of you who like numbers, the odds against that procession of males occurring by chance are more than 8 billion to one.
When people questioned the absence of female appointees, the standard reply over those 61 years was simply "no qualified candidates." The electorate took a similar stance. When my dad was elected to Congress in 1942, only eight of his 434 colleagues were women. One lonely woman, Maine's Margaret Chase Smith, sat in the Senate.
Resistance among the powerful is natural when change clashes with their self-interest. Business, politics, and, yes, religions provide many examples of such defensive behavior. After all, who wants to double the number of competitors for top positions?
But an even greater enemy of change may well be the ingrained attitudes of those who simply can't imagine a world different from the one they've lived in. What happened in my own family provides an example. I have two sisters. The three of us were regarded, by our parents and teachers alike, as having roughly equal intelligence -- and IQ tests in fact confirmed our equality. For a long time, to boot, my sisters had far greater "social" IQ than I. (No, we weren't tested for that -- but, believe me, the evidence was overwhelming.)
The moment I emerged from my mother's womb, however, my possibilities dwarfed those of my siblings, for I was a boy! And my brainy, personable, and good-looking siblings were not. My parents would love us equally, and our teachers would give us similar grades. But at every turn my sisters would be told -- more through signals than words -- that success for them would be "marrying well." I was meanwhile hearing that the world's opportunities were there for me to seize.
So my floor became my sisters' ceiling -- and nobody thought much about ripping up that pattern until a few decades ago. Now, thank heavens, the structural barriers for women are falling.
Still an obstacle remains: Too many women continue to impose limitations on themselves, talking themselves out of achieving their potential. Here, too, I have had some firsthand experience.
Among the scores of brilliant and interesting women I've known is the late Katharine Graham, long the controlling shareholder and CEO of the Washington Post Co. (WPO)Kay knew she was intelligent. But she had been brainwashed -- I don't like that word, but it's appropriate -- by her mother, husband, and who knows who else to believe that men were superior, particularly at business.
When her husband died, it was in the self-interest of some of the men around Kay to convince her that her feelings of inadequacy were justified. The pressures they put on her were torturing. Fortunately, Kay, in addition to being smart, had an inner strength. Calling on it, she managed to ignore the baritone voices urging her to turn over her heritage to them.
I met Kay in 1973 and quickly saw that she was a person of unusual ability and character. But the gender-related self-doubt was certainly there too. Her brain knew better, but she could never quite still the voice inside her that said, "Men know more about running a business than you ever will."
I told Kay that she had to discard the fun-house mirror that others had set before her and instead view herself in a mirror that reflected reality. "Then," I said, "you will see a woman who is a match for anyone, male or female."
I wish I could claim I was successful in that campaign. Proof was certainly on my side: Washington Post stock went up more than 4,000% -- that's 40 for 1 -- during Kay's 18 years as boss. After retiring, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her superb autobiography. But her self-doubt remained, a testament to how deeply a message of unworthiness can be implanted in even a brilliant mind.
I'm happy to say that funhouse mirrors are becoming less common among the women I meet. Try putting one in front of my daughter. She'll just laugh and smash it. Women should never forget that it is common for powerful and seemingly self-assured males to have more than a bit of the Wizard of Oz in them. Pull the curtain aside, and you'll often discover they are not supermen after all. (Just ask their wives!)
So, my fellow males, what's in this for us? Why should we care whether the remaining barriers facing women are dismantled and the fun-house mirrors junked? Never mind that I believe the ethical case in itself is compelling. Let's look instead to your self-interest.
No manager operates his or her plants at 80% efficiency when steps could be taken that would increase output. And no CEO wants male employees to be underutilized when improved training or working conditions would boost productivity. So take it one step further: If obvious benefits flow from helping the male component of the workforce achieve its potential, why in the world wouldn't you want to include its counterpart?
Fellow males, get onboard. The closer that America comes to fully employing the talents of all its citizens, the greater its output of goods and services will be. We've seen what can be accomplished when we use 50% of our human capacity. If you visualize what 100% can do, you'll join me as an unbridled optimist about America's future.
This story is from the May 20, 2013 issue of Fortune. 
Friday, October 23, 2009
Q/A with Womentorz Owner, Melinda Knight
Q-Have you always been an inventor?
A- No, but I have a design background and am always thinking of creative and new ways to solve problems. The AttachaTray is definitely the first time that I took an idea and ran with it. Because of my success in business in general, I felt comfortable exploring other avenues to invest my time and resources. I definitely inherited my father’s entrepreneurial spirit and always look to him as an example when I have choices to make.
Q- When did the inspiration hit you to invent your laptop tray?
A- The inspiration for the AttachaTray came while I was working out at the gym and was thinking how nice it would be to be able to get some exercise while keeping up with my businesses. The gym I go to has WIFI, and I knew that if I could get it made, it would be the perfect place to showcase it. I spent the next month or so studying the equipment and making sure there wasn’t something already on the market similar to my idea.
Q- Tell us about your family?
A- My husband Brent and I have been married for over nine years and have two children, Payton age 5 and Rylie age 2. We have lived in Edmonds for the past seven years and have no intention of leaving anytime soon. We are quite the home bodies, so usually our nights are spent watching movies and relaxing. I think it’s because of the daily stress in our business lives that the thought of going out is completely overwhelming.
My husband is very supportive with all of my ventures since I’ve been able to prove myself to him over the years. It isn’t unusual for him to get a little scared at first, but he comes around eventually. I appreciate that he believes in me.
Rylie is quite the ham and always puts a smile on our faces. He has a lot of personality! Everything is dialed to the highest volume in everything that he does. Payton is our sweet and energetic child who loves to cuddle. He loves ice skating and is quite the pro at it already. I have no idea why he decided that was the sport he wanted to go in since Brent and I have never discussed it, yet alone put ice skates on. He’s been at it though for over a year now.
Q- What is one of your goals?
A-I would be nothing without my family. We are a very close unit that is supportive and loving. It breaks my heart when I’m not able to give them the attention they deserve all of the time. My goal is to do a better job of balancing my time.
Q- What are your hobbies/interests?
A- I used to be an avid football and rugby player, but that was a LONG time ago. Sports were my passion back before I had a family. I met my husband while playing football actually. I was also asked to play on a professional women’s football team in Seattle, but turned it down due to my heavy work schedule at the time. The name and the ownership of the team has changed, so I’m not completely sure how they are doing now.
My love for sports has been replaced with a love of interior design. My passion is definitely in making spaces beautiful and working with clients to fulfill their dreams. I wish I was able to take on more projects, but it keeps me from my children and my other businesses that are more lucrative. I have a tough time taking pay for something that I love to do.
Q- What makes Womentorz different than what is already available out there?
A- That’s the thing-there isn’t anything out there like Womentorz. There isn’t anything out there for inventors in general let alone for women inventors. We are providing a marketplace where buyers can go to one place to see all of the latest inventions by women instead of a website here and there that they most likely don’t even know exists. We are providing the missing link between buyers and sellers with our investment in marketing, public relations and advertising. This is an opportunity for women to come up with even more inventions because they know they don’t have to worry about getting their product to market. All they have to do is please the buyer who will be the determining factor to their success.
Q- What do you see in the future for Womentorz?
A- Eventually, I also see Womentorz being an investor in some of these ideas. Jen and I have so many ideas in areas we can take Womentorz. The boundaries are limitless!
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