The Black Lace Incident of 2010

I bet you could relate to my story.

One weekend in 2010, while I was working as a junior analyst (then the only woman at a hedge fund trading desk), I snagged a bargain at a Williamsburg street sale.

I picked up a black lace blouse with a bow tie at the neck and thought, “Why not rock it between a camisole and blazer at work? I won’t be showing any skin, and it’s cute.”

Well, let’s say the reception was far from kind.

All day, I faced snickers and not-subtle jabs from the guys at the office.

I felt humiliated.

More than just a jab at my sometimes-clunky-fashion sense, it felt like an attack on my right to be a person — a hot-blooded human who’s more than her effortfully constructed business casual exterior — someone who might dare to hint she is alive and a vibrant sexual person.

That's when I knew I wouldn't stay there.

(Within six months, I voted with my feet and chose to intern for Golden Seeds, an angel investment group that only funds women-owned companies.)

That experience of sexual harassment in the workplace, as frustrating as it was, brings me to an incredible conversation I had with Cindy Gallop.

Cindy Gallop is a high-powered ad executive turned viral TED speaker and now a sex-tech entrepreneur who's all about destigmatizing sex *AND* having more women and women-led companies thrive financially.  

Now, I'll be upfront with you: This podcast episode may scintillate you, blow your mind open (like mine), and even upset you for its directness. 

We cuss. 

We discussed openly and shamelessly: 

• Women at any age can relish having (more) money and sex

• How confidence in the bedroom can spill over into confidence in the boardroom 

• Ending rape culture and the culture of enabling workplace sexual harassment 

• A vision that upturns our socialized norms about sex and how that can change how we relate to each other and share power in the workplace

Or download today and listen later when the kiddos aren't around 😉