Bossladies Fireside Chat with Joy Cho
This past Sunday, as Santa Monica was coming down from the high of the morning's marathon festivities, we hosted our second Bossladies Fireside Chat at General Assembly with renown blogger and designer, Joy Cho of Oh Joy.
Joy talked us through some of the details of the art licensing process, explained how her business shifted after she became a mama, and shared insights about growing a team and being a boss. She talked about moments when it may be right to say yes to a job that doesn't pay - and when it may not. And she shared that, sometimes, she still feels awkward about shooting photos of herself and putting them on the internet. For those of you who may not know as much about Joy's journey and the growth of her career, you might enjoy this post.
One moment from the evening has been really sticking with me: the very last audience question of the night. Andrea, a blogger in town from DC, shared that her husband is a professional (I can't remember now if he was a lawyer or a physician...), and she mentioned that she feels insecure about introducing herself when she goes to events with him. She said it felt hard to describe her career as a blogger and not feel embarrassed or inferior to her husband's colleagues in some way. (I'm paraphrasing here...)
As the chat came to an end and everyone began talking with one another, I kept hearing this sentiment reiterated. It seems many women have felt inferior when describing their career to their partner's colleagues. I couldn't help but remember a podcast interview with a prominent wedding blogger in which the blogger said people often assume, sometimes verbally, that her husband (a lawyer) is the primary breadwinner for the family-- supporting his wife's "creative endeavors." The reality, she said, was that her company made significantly more than her husband's salary, and she contributed far more to the household expenses.
It's interesting, isn't it, how far off our preconceptions about certain types of careers can be. And yet, these preconceptions govern how we perceive ourselves -- and understand our own value.
A warm thank you to our event sponsors:
venue: General Assembly | wine: Tank Garage Winery | freshly churned ice cream: Smitten Ice Cream | photography: Bree McCool | wallpaper backdrop: Samantha Santana | speaker gift: Lisa Todd | day-of event team: Samantha, Grace, Alice, Kelly, Sarah, Pete, Marlowe, Brian and the rest of the GA staff
This monthly chat series is a collaborative project Bossladies runs in partnership with photographer Marisa Vitale. Our next chat will be in Venice on April 9th with Jihan of Geronimo Balloons. Click here to reserve a ticket.