Ever since watching Lauren and Whitney intern at Teen Vogue on The Hills and all the competition and planning that went into Paris, I wanted to be in Marketing. Not fashion, not events… Marketing. And it seems I am not the only one.

A recent study found that female marketer leadership is at an ‘all-time high’, with women making up 64% of the industry. This positive representation of women shows no sign of changing, with 21% of women saying they’d consider a career in marketing vs. 16% of men.

This month, consider pushing the hard cold facts that make people think out their position and possibilities in the workforce. I’ve rounded some up for you:

More Stats + Facts

Women in the workforce:

  • 42% of all businesses in the U.S. are women-owned.
  • Women of color account for 50% of all women-owned businesses in the U.S.
  • Women-led businesses employ 9.4M workers and generate $1.9T in revenues annually.
  • States with the most women-owned employer firms are Hawaii, Virginia, and Colorado.
  • Over 1,800 new women-owned businesses are created each day in the U.S.
  • 1 in 3 female entrepreneurs has experienced sexism as a business owner.
  • The top priority of women-owned businesses is to get more funding and financial help.
  • The average loan size for women-owned firms is 50% lower than for male-owned.
  • Only 2.4% of venture capital funding goes to female founders in the U.S.
  • 31% of women business owners have school-aged children at home. Marketers in the workforce:
  • There are over 4,646 marketers currently employed in the United States.
  • 47.8% of all marketers are women, while 52.2% are men.
  • The average age of an employed marketer is 36 years old.
  • The most common ethnicity of marketers is White (66.9%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (12.8%), Asian (9.7%) and Black or African American (5.4%).
  • Marketers are most in-demand in New York, NY.
  • The technology industry is the highest-paying for marketers.
  • New York, NY pays an annual average wage of $80,006, the highest in the US.
  • In 2021, women earned 92% of what men earned.
  • 10% of all marketers are LGBT.
  • Delaware is the best state for marketers to live.
  • Marketers are 72% more likely to work at private companies in comparison to public companies.

Women to Know If you went to school for marketing or advertising, these names may sound familiar to you. I often think back to these women and the movements they started to help inspire my work today.

Mathilde C. Weil

Way back in 1880, Mathilde founded the M.C. Weil Agency in New York. She opened for business years before J. Walter Thompson, often cited as establishing the first advertising agency, entered operation. Yet, little is known about Mathilde, which indicates the adversity she must have overcome as a businesswoman in the 1800s.

Helen Lansdowne Resor

Hired by J. Walter Thompson, Helen formulated the iconic ‘a skin you love to touch’ ad for Woodbury’s Facial Soap in 1917. Her ability to entice customers with ‘risqué’ (though tame by modern standards) print advertisements makes her a key figure in copywriting development. She finished her career as Vice President of the J. Walter Thompson company and was a lifelong supporter of female empowerment and representation.

Bernice Fitz-Gibbon

Bernice, born on a farm in rural Wisconsin, worked her way up from a local newspaper secretary to being one of the key marketing figures at Macy’s. Credited with introducing fashion show demonstrations into department stores, she later founded her own advertising company and, in the mid-1950s, was known as the highest-paid woman in marketing.

Caroline Robinson Jones

Caroline was the first person of color to rise to the position of senior copywriter at the J. Walter Thompson Company before assuming the role of Vice President of Zebra Associates in 1968. She used celebrity endorsement to develop KFC’s famous ‘we do chicken right’ slogan in the 1980s and worked with Mcdonald’s and Toys R Us.

Mary Wells Lawrence

Mary trained at Macy’s under Bernice Fitz-Gibbon in the 1950s to become their fashion advertising manager. Later in her career, she founded her own company: Wells, Rich and Green. Mary developed marketing campaigns, including Flick your Bic, Plop Plop Fizz Fizz for Alka-Seltzer and the world-famous ‘I ♥ N Y’ tourism slogan and logo with graphic designer Milton Glaser.

Information from One2Create

Despite the strides women are making in the marketplace and in the marketing industry, hurdles like pay gaps, DEI and caregiver stigmas will undoubtedly continue to drive conversations about equality in the workforce.

How are you going to help make an impact?

To your success,

Taylor Ion

Marketing Director Charleston AMA

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