For Women Who Refuse to Be Underestimated, Underpaid and Undervalued

I can't pinpoint the exact moment I decided to focus my life's work on women's equality in the workplace. But the signs were everywhere. My note for Law Review at Cornell, where I was Note Editor, argued that single mothers on welfare deserved equal protection under the law. I was in all my friends' business when they weren't making what their male counterparts made. And when I saw how female artists were paid less than men at our festivals, I said something that could have cost me my career. I was shocked at how openly women were underpaid. And flabbergasted that it wasn't, and still isn't, a national emergency. I still am.

Dedicate myself, I did. I remember telling a male colleague what I planned to do with my career. His response was "Why?" followed by a sarcastic "good luck." Not surprising, given he was never exactly known to be an ally. But here's one of the real travesties I still see: women who have the resources to help other women, and default to the patriarchal script instead. I worked hard and made it, so can you. Maybe that’s true. Or maybe that’s exactly how inequality survives.

So when this week's guest on TCOLB, Kelly Mooney, got asked that exact question, why aren't you doing more given everything you have, by none other than Gloria Steinem, she made the right move. She got to work.

With Love & Lady Business,
JJ 

In today’s edition:
1. Gloria Steinem Asked Her One Question, and It Changed Her Trajectory - Kelly Mooney
2. The Fake Offer That Got Him Promoted
3. TJD Power List
4. Lady Bits

1. Gloria Steinem Asked Her One Question, and It Changed Her Trajectory - Kelly Mooney

That's what Gloria Steinem asked Kelly Mooney. Kelly had already built a digital agency and sold it to IBM, then served as an executive inside the company. She had the resume, the exit, the title. And Steinem's question cut straight past all of it.

Kelly is the Founder and CEO of Equipt Women, where she helps women get paid and promoted at the same rate as men. She's also the co-author of Up, a playbook for the unwritten rules of the workplace nobody hands you. In this episode, Kelly and I get into what actually moves a career, and why so much of the advice women are handed keeps them exactly where they are.

Three ideas from Kelly that completely change the way you think of power at work:
→ Why sponsorship, not mentorship, is the real accelerant behind every promotion, and how to tell the difference
→ The exact question Kelly started asking once she had power: "Do I have your support?" And why saying it out loud changes the answer
→ How to spot the unwritten rules shaping your workplace before they shape your paycheck
→ What it costs to keep waiting for permission that was never coming

🎧 Listen to the full episode here: Spotify | Apple | YouTube

2. The Fake Offer That Got Him Promoted

A man in the music business had one goal: become president of a record company before he turned 40. When the promotion didn’t come, he didn’t work longer hours, volunteer for another project, or ask what else he needed to do to prove he was ready. He went to someone at a competing company and asked for an offer. Not because he wanted the job. Because he wanted leverage. He carried that piece of paper back into his company and got promoted to president. Here’s what fascinated me: the offer didn’t make him more valuable. He was already valuable. It made him harder to lose.

Women are usually handed a very different script. Perform. Overdeliver. Be patient. Make yourself indispensable. Eventually, someone will notice and reward you. Meanwhile, plenty of men are not waiting to be noticed. They are creating the conditions that force a decision. They aren’t necessarily working harder. They are playing a different game. I am not telling you to fabricate an offer. But I am telling you to stop believing that excellent work, by itself, will create urgency for the people who benefit from keeping you exactly where you are.

Leverage is anything that changes the cost of doing nothing. It can be another company that is genuinely interested in you. It can be knowing exactly what the market pays for your skills. It can be revenue you control, relationships the business depends on, or expertise that would be difficult to replace. Sometimes it is simply refusing to let an open-ended conversation remain open-ended forever.

Three ways to start building it:
1. Create another option.
Have a real conversation outside your company. You do not have to leave, but you should know whether someone else values what you bring—and what they would pay for it.

2. Know your market value.
Walk into the room with a number supported by evidence. Your compensation should not be framed as a feeling, a favor or a reward for loyalty.

3. Force a decision.
Set a date. “I would like to resolve this by September 1” moves a conversation that “someday” never will.

Companies rarely move because you deserve more. They move when staying still becomes more expensive than acting. One piece of paper changed the math for him. Your leverage may look different. But you are allowed to create it.

REAL TALK
Stop trying to become undeniable.
Become harder to lose.
Want help finding the leverage you already have? Let's talk.

3. TJD Power List: Jennifer Fisher

She Didn't Wait for a Seat. She Made the Thing Everyone Wanted.

She couldn't find the necklace she wanted. So she made it. Jennifer Fisher is the Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Jennifer Fisher Jewelry. The New York Times called her the "Queen of Hoops." Her pieces have been worn by Beyoncé, Michelle Obama, and Rihanna. This year marks two decades in business.

But here's the part worth celebrating, and it's not the celebrity client list. Jennifer didn't launch a brand off a business plan and a pitch deck. In 2005, she wanted a piece of fine jewelry stamped with her newborn son's name, couldn't find anything that felt like her, so she made it herself. Friends asked for one. Then strangers. She built the whole thing out of an authentic need, one real request at a time, on her own timeline. Twenty years later, that instinct has compounded into a full lifestyle brand and a joint venture built to scale it, with Jennifer keeping her name on the door and her hand on the brand.

That's the opposite of the overnight-founder myth. She didn't wait for permission or a perfect moment. She noticed what was missing, made it, and let the demand build the leverage. Which is exactly what this week's episode is about: you don't get handed power. You create the conditions where it accumulates.

Find her work at jenniferfisher.com and follow @jenniferfisherjewelry.
And that is why Jennifer Fisher lands on this week's TJD Power List.

💋💋Lady Bits

🧠 The real science behind well-being isn't bubble baths and gratitude journals. It's this.

🤯 NASA asked a female astronaut if this many tampons was "enough" for a week. Guess the number.

🤦‍♀️ Six grown men were asked to explain how a tampon works. One guessed it was "a shewee for festivals."

💭 The "man or bear" question broke the internet, and the reason women keep choosing the bear should make every man quiet for a minute.

Hi, I’m JJ

Since starting the Justice Dept, we have increased women's wealth by over $100MM in just over 5 years. Want to know what inspires me to do this work, other than making women money? My clients' surprised reaction when we manage to get them much better terms for themselves and their companies, whether via talent agreements, employment, severance, partnerships, asset sales or investments. They often admit that they never thought they could get that result. Not even hoped. This blows my mind. As we know at The Justice Dept. you are all worth everything you ask for and more. Reach out and we’ll show you how!
x TJD