Interesting perspective from Anne Meaux, a French business consultant, whose clients include international billionaire businessmen. Apparently older women are stigmatized in business. I find that there might be initial prejudices, but one just keeps talking and then they realize you know a lot more than the 25 year old and the added maturity doesn't hurt either. I think in my own experience most people are surprised at my innovative thinking and fresh perspectives. I guess because I'm always learning and experimenting.
STRONG WOMEN
Meaux is now 59, and alongside her thriving PR business she runs Force Femmes, an association which helps women aged over 45 to find work after years out of the labour force.
The organisation is born of her own experience of seeing her mother struggle when her father - a doctor and the family's sole earner - left home when Meaux was a teenager.
"What happened to my mother had a strong impact on me. If Force Femmes had existed at the time.. she could have had a decent life," Meaux said.
"We are here to help women be realistic about their potential."
Older women are still unfairly stigmatised in the world of business, Meaux believes, but her advice to them is the same as it is to all women in her field: be bold, and be inventive.
"People tend to stigmatise (older women). I don't believe in that... You need to break down the walls and come up with tailor-made solutions."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/07/womensday-meaux-idUSL6N0M027V20140307
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