Our economy has become a she-conomy.
Today’s women are responsible for making 85% of household purchasing decisions, and contribute 7 trillion dollars of consumer and business spending. Women own 40% of American private businesses and are the major contributors of brand feedback on social media, a platform that smart companies have quickly embraced as a make-or-break edge in the dawn of the digital marketing age.
Marketers who successfully target this powerful female demographic have long realized that it takes a lot more than “painting it pink” to make a product or service relevant to women. These significant consumers are being recognized and approached holistically as individuals, rather than flattened into traditional stereotypes—a fact that bodes well for all of us.
In my Wall Street career, I was disheartened and disgusted by the flood of big-bank marketing materials that depicted women of means as “clueless” widows or divorcees. Women make excellent investors. Whether they manage their own finances or their family’s, women make smart, savvy decisions about their financial health. I founded my independent wealth management firm, LexION Capital, in part to show women that Wall Street is our street, too.
Innovation and creativity thrive when diverse thinkers come together. Industries benefit from the input of new perspectives. Tomorrow’s leaders, innovators, and changemakers can confidently envision themselves in roles that would not have been imaginable a few generations ago.
As a society, we should feel proud of and empowered by the emerging economic model, one that is moving towards inclusivity and relevance to all consumers. We can all draw inspiration from the evidence at hand of our changing economic culture.
