Equal pay for equal work. It’s a simple concept, and it’s a drum we beat daily as women business owners. We want to lead by example and be the change we want to see in a world where women-led businesses should be valued in every way the same as men.   

We make 82 female cents to every male dollar for the same job with the same hours in this country. In Iceland?  87 cents.  South Korea? A deplorable 65 cents. Globally? 77 cents. The gap is even wider for women of color (61 cents) and mothers (71 cents). Those numbers are unbearably and incredibly grim.

Not. Good. Enough.  Frankly, this day insults us for its mere existence because it reflects the need to bring awareness and, more importantly, change. Women's Equality is not a celebratory day. On the contrary, we should be universally shocked and embarrassed that it has to exist in 2021 (same with ‘top women’ lists).

 Sign a petition, donate what you can, learn more about it or share this with everyone you know. It may get us one step closer to closing this ridiculous, discriminatory gap.  Maybe one day, we’ll make the same (2059, according to the internet), and we won’t have to pat ourselves on the back for a mere token of a day.

We’re aware of the tone and controversy of this post. That’s the point; we should all share in this outrage. We may even be labeled and disregarded as angry bit*@!&es. But ask yourself this. How much would they earn if two men owned Food Shelter and regularly ran home to pay the sitter, kiss their kids, throw a load of laundry in, and start dinner while on a conference call? As business owners and working mothers, we are both lucky enough to have supportive partners who share the responsibilities of home and childcare but imagine if we didn’t. Then imagine if we also got paid the same.