 Welcome to this week's edition of Business in Hawaii. My name is Jennifer Dotson, and I am your host. We are broadcasting live from the ThinkTech studios here in downtown Honolulu. If you want to tune in online, join us at www.thinktechhawaii.com. While there, please subscribe to our programs and get on our mailing list. The theme of Business in Hawaii is to share with you local stories of local businesses by local people. Our guests will share with us their journey to building a successful business right here in the Aloha State. In the ThinkTech studio today is Beverly Munson, also known to me as Bev. She is a team leader for Wahine Working Smart, AAUW. Bev, thank you so much for joining us here today. Thank you, Jennifer. I appreciate the invitation to be here. I'm really excited to have you on the show. So, for our audience, I know you, but they don't know you. Can you share with us a little bit about your experience and your background? Sure. First of all, I've been very fortunate to have had a career that's been very diverse and lots of great experiences. My background is in human resources. I'm a graduate of Fresno State University and I have a master's degree from San Francisco State University. My human resources career was mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, my last corporate job before I went into retirement full-time was with Hawaiian Telcom when there was the changeover from Verizon to local management. And in my career, I worked in a lot of different industries including health care, insurance, government. What was most exciting was to be involved in the software and internet industries in the beginning. Another facet of my career was that I was sort of, if you will, in the freshman class of women who were breaking into professional level and managerial careers. And that was a very exciting time. Previously, women had been viewed as being capable of only clerical jobs unless they were traditionally female professional jobs such as nursing, live attendants, that type of experience. So moving into corporate management, I was in that time period where we were sometimes the first. In some companies, I was the first female manager in the entire company. It was a very exciting time to be in corporate America. I think this is a great segue to talk about the topic at hand that we have for this show. So we have titled this show, Wahine Working Smart. We also have a tagline, Ask for the salary you deserve. So tell us and the audience how you got interested in this topic. Well, historically in America, women have been paid less than men doing the same jobs. That goes way back to our original history in the 1700s. In my generation and during my working years, as I said, we were breaking into managerial and high level professional careers. And most of us took whatever salary was offered to us because we were trying to blaze a career trail and prove that we could do these jobs. But over time, we've developed a gender pay gap that is 28% on national average, that varies from state to state. And you might say, well, is that really such a big deal? It actually has a huge impact on families. In that over a lifetime, over let's say a 40 year career, a woman who's making 20% less than her male peers, that's almost a half a million dollars, it's $480,000 in lost income. Now that's not just a female issue though. That's a family losing income. And so how I got involved in this is I felt that for future generations, as I look at my grandchildren and their careers, I want them, when they're having their families, to benefit from that lost income by helping close the gender pay gap. Right. And so I have been learning a lot from you. So in my day job, in my day job, I work at the National Kidney Foundation. But as a volunteer, I am a member of AAUW and I've been able to join your Wahine working smart team. And so tell us a little bit about this program that you have led up and you've had a workshop. I understand there's another workshop coming up. But tell us a little bit about what is Wahine working smart for our audience members that are curious. Yes. Well, first of all, I'm really grateful that you joined the team. And think about it and because then I finish answering your question, I'd like you to tell the audience a little bit about why you got involved. First of all, AAUW is a national organization that works towards advancing education, leadership, and equity for women in the United States. We have a long, multi-century history. And work smart is an AAUW initiative. It is a training program to teach women how to negotiate their salaries. They've did an extensive research study that found that men tend to naturally negotiate when they're in interview situations and women tend to approach that with a little more passivity because they're concerned about coming across this too aggressive and what kind of image that might make. So through work smart, we are trying to teach women how they can negotiate salaries and still maintain their professional decorum in the process and get comfortable with the process of negotiating salaries. It's a two-hour program, the work smart portion. As we talked to women in Hawaii though, we found that women that are in early to mid-career in Hawaii have expressed that they want broader training. So we expanded work smart to wahini working smart and customized it for the local market for the women in Hawaii. And what we have done is we've added segments such as how to maximize your professional network, how to develop a network, how to maximize it, how to understand what protections you have under the law and how to respond in a professional and concrete manner if you're asked an illegal question in an interview but still move the interview forward in a positive direction. We also have Ann Ibaia who is a retired HR executive from General Electric and she does a great segment on maximizing your executive presence. And this is for women who are maybe in their first managerial job but they're having to talk to senior executives, the real decision makers in an organization and how they can communicate with that person in a way that that person will understand what they're talking about and the information they're presenting. It's a very interactive program. We spend a lot of time practicing. We spend a lot of time in small group workout sessions. We do online research in the class and it's overall just a great day, a lot of fun. It is a lot of fun and I really enjoy working with our team and you mentioned Ann Ibaia. We also have another team member, Hope Bennett who I absolutely love because she is an attorney by background and she brings up amazing experience and also examples, case examples of how we need to really pay attention to Hawaii specific employment law. So now you moved here to Hawaii to work and you worked at a local company. I'm wondering if your experience working in that local company helped you sort of tailor this program to be more Hawaii specific because you did name it Wahine Working Smart which is a take on women working smart at the AAUW national level. Tell us about your experience working on the mainland and how it compared to working here for a Hawaii corporation. The big contrast is it wasn't so much California versus Hawaii but working in the software and internet industries which by the nature of what they do is at warp speed because there's so much competition and so much new technology being developed all the time versus in Hawaii there is a pace of doing business where you can not be as you still have to make decisions and get things done in an expedient and efficient manner but it's not at warp speed. You actually can take your time and think about long term bigger picture results as opposed to maybe fighting a fire that's right in front of you all the time. That's not to say that doesn't happen in Hawaii but it's the way people collaborate in Hawaii is really delightful and there's a huge wealth of energy and information and expertise in this state that can really be capitalized on. So I'm wondering how that now relates back to salary negotiations. So you've talked about the culture, you've talked about maybe some of the ways that we do business here in Hawaii. Salary negotiations is not easy no matter where you are. Tell us about some of the examples or some of the feedback, some of the testimonies you've heard from the participants in these workshops, these Wahine working smart workshops. What have people told you? What are some of the stories they've shared with you? Well first of all we have been very pleased to get some positive feedback and the feedback that I love the most is that people are actually using what we teach. It might be helpful if we talk about a little bit what we teach in the salary negotiation part. It's a methodology so it's very simple to understand and it's very simple to apply. The first part is researching what your salary would be, what is a competitive salary, or the position that you're in or applying for. Then learning how to set a competitive range for your years of experience and your particular expertise in a job. And then developing a communication, for lack of a better word, a script if you will, but to think, not just a scripted out, but to think about what it is you want to say and what you want to communicate so that the person you're speaking with about your salary will understand what you have to offer. And then that's where the practice comes in. Now the feedback we've received from the participants is that probably the number one thing we hear repeatedly is that going through the program gave them the confidence, gave them the tools and the methodology. So they learned how to go about through this process, but then it also gave them the confidence to have salary conversations and be more comfortable with it. And recently on Saturday, Hope and I had breakfast with a group of five of our most recent grads and they've all changed jobs since they took the course in May. They all were successful in negotiating salaries higher than they were originally offered. Well this is fantastic. And so before we break, because we are going to come back and hear more about this, could you just give us again a really short summary of what is Wahine working smart and the topic that we're talking about and then we'll go to break. Bev tell us a little bit. Wahine working smart is a free four hour program. The next one's going to be November 16 from 9am to 1pm. It'll include morning refreshments and lunch. It is an impact hub and it will include all of the topics that we've been talking about. Plus lots of opportunity to practice with your peers in the job market. Fabulous. And again, this is Bev Munson, our guest today on Business in Hawaii. We are going to take a short break. I am Jennifer Hudson and I am your host. We'll see you back here shortly. Aloha. I'm Winston Welch, host of Out and About. It's a show that we have every other Monday on Think Back Live Here. We explore a variety of topics that are really interesting. We explore organizations, events and the people who fuel them in our city, state, country and world. We've got some amazing guests on here like all the shows at Think Tech. So if you want to catch up on stuff, tune into my show every other Monday and other shows here on Think Back Live. It's a great place to learn about stuff, to be informed. And if you have some ideas, come on my show. Let's talk about it. See you later. And Aloha. Aloha. Stan Energyman here. You can see me every Tuesday at 3 p.m. here on Think Tech Hawaii. We're not on Friday anymore, so don't be looking for me on Friday. I'm on Tuesday at 3 p.m. here on Think Tech coming to you live and direct from the beautiful studios in downtown Honolulu's Pioneer Plaza. So please join me and we'll talk everything about hydrogen and clean energy, not only for Hawaii, but for the whole wide world. Aloha. Welcome back. This is Business in Hawaii. My name is Jennifer Dotson and I am your host. With us today in the studio is Bev Munson, Team Leader, Wahini Working Smart, AAUW. Welcome, Bev. Thank you, Jennifer. So here we are after the break. I was wondering if you could tell our audience a little bit about the work you're doing now. Well, I am volunteering in a couple of capacities with AAUW. I not only head up the WorkSmart team, which we've been talking about, and in a few minutes I'd like you to tell the group what you do with the WorkSmart team and a little bit about your background because I think they'd like to know that and it's important to share that. I also, we have a book discussion group where we read books on women's issues that are important to women today and it's more of a, it's not just a normal book club, but it is actually a format of educating ourselves on issues that are affecting women. In addition to that, I have in the past worked on the Public Policy Committee for the State Chapter of AAUW. A couple of years ago we were able to take the lead in passing some very important legislation to try and close the gender pay gap. One problem is when people are asked their salary history and they've been paid less than their peers in the same job, that salary history then causes that lower salary to be imported from one job to the next. So I am happy to say that in Hawaii now that question is no longer allowed in a pre-employment interview or on an application form. Employers can ask what a person's salary expectations are, but the history is relevant because salary history has no direct relevance to what the person brings to the next job. So I've worked on that and that involves meeting with legislators, it involves writing written testimony, it involves going to the legislative hearings and giving testimony and answering questions and trying to help educate legislators as they consider different bills. Now, Jennifer, I've been saying that I'm going to ask you to tell everyone about your background and I think it's important for you to share your story about how you became involved with AAUW. Oh, Bev, you're too kind and now you're turning the tables on me. It's like the interviewer gets interviewed. So you're very skilled in your negotiations, I must say. I've been very, very fortunate to work with you and AAUW, but also very fortunate to get involved with this organization. And before I received a grant from them, and I'll tell the audience a little bit about this grant, I actually was familiar with them. I had heard about them in the past. I was involved as the president of the Junior League of Honolulu and we shared an affinity for women's empowerment and in fact shared an office in the historic AAUW home in Makiki. So I was familiar with AAUW, but never did I ever imagine that at the age that I am in the career that I am at the point in my employment that I am, that I would receive a grant. And this specific grant is called a Leadership and Professional Development Grant. It is given out by AAUW. I had no idea and I applied and I spoke about how as a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization, unfortunately nonprofits don't have a lot of money for professional development. And I know you're an HR and you believe very strongly in professional development. Now maybe in the private sector you might have resources and a budget for professional development, but most nonprofits unfortunately we just don't have money to go to the staff that will be used for professional development. That is something that I've been very creative about and looking for alternatives. So I came across the AAUW website. They were also very good about advertising about this leadership and professional development grant on social media. And so I looked it up and I applied and I received $4,000 to apply to anything I needed in terms of professional development. What I ended up using it for was to attend a conference. It's an international conference of fundraising professionals. It was held in San Antonio this past spring and thousands of fundraisers from all around the world gather to hear the best speakers, the best workshops, the best seminars to really make us better fundraisers. And the reason why that is important is because I don't only fundraise for the National Kidney Foundation, which is an important mission. And we save lives and we do so much work in terms of kidney disease and preventing kidney disease and raising awareness about organ transplantation. But I also volunteer as a fundraiser for my kids schools. So as a PTA member, I am responsible of working together with other parents, all volunteers to raise money so that the school has better programs for my child. So the fact that I received a $4,000 grant from AAUW, I was so pleased at my age to receive this opportunity. Because I know a lot of times professional development is reserved for maybe younger staff members because you want to boost them up. But to make someone who is at my point in career to be better, I feel like I really was able to amplify my skills to do more good work for the community. And so I'm very grateful that AAUW also included as part of that grant membership, this amazing organization. And that's how I met you. And that's how I was able to get involved with Wahine working smart. And so please again remind our audience today we're talking about Wahine working smart. We have a tagline here. Don't leave money on the table. That's right. Negotiate for the salary you deserve. When I received the grant it actually coincided with the point in time that I started my new job at the National Kidney Foundation. So tell us and tell the audience here about what is Wahine working smart? What are you covering in the workshop? And some of the maybe tips and tricks that you feel are important for those of us who are negotiating salaries because it's not easy. It isn't easy. As I said before, one of the segments of the program that we spend some time on and this is the beauty of the internet being in our phones and we can just quickly look up something. We actually have each participant look up either their current job or jobs that they're aspiring to in the workshop to start figuring out what is a competitive salary for people with their experience and expertise. And then how to take that and set a target salary that they're going to aspire to either when it's time to talk about their salary and their current position or when they're interviewing for new positions. And then to practice the delivery of the messaging. So one of the things that a lot of people don't know how to do is that they don't recognize that when they're in a job interview, that's their marketing campaign. They're there to sell the person that's interviewing them and the company that they're interviewing with what they have to offer, what they can contribute in that job and to the organization as a whole. And we find, I know, as someone who's interviewed thousands of people, there are very, very talented people out there who are really smart and have a lot to offer that they don't know how to communicate it. Because before they go into an interview, they just think about how nervous they are, how they're worried about whether they're going to get the job or not. Instead of what is it that if I have only 15 minutes, I want this person to remember about what I bring to the table, what I have to offer this organization, what I can do to improve their organization's performance. And that's what we do in the program, along with the other things we've talked about previously. Okay, so you're an HR executive. Like you said, you've interviewed a ton of men, women for these positions to join your company. Let's say I'm a candidate and I'm really interested to join you. I've done well in my interviews. Now we're at the point in time where we need to negotiate a salary. So it's both ways, right? I have a number in my mind because as a working mother, I need to support my family. I have a mortgage to pay. I have to buy groceries. I have electricity bills and a car payment, all of these things. So I have a number in my mind. Here's my question for you. Let's say you have a number in your mind as well. Because you have your budget. You as an HR executive have your marching orders to fill this position. What if those numbers don't match up? My number is higher than your number. Your number doesn't match my number. And I feel that I've been offered a salary that's lower than what I would like. What are we going to do here? Does this workshop actually teach us what to do? And if so, share with us a little bit of those details. I'm glad you've asked that question because it's a really important question and it's a critical part of the workshop. It's not always just about salary, not just about base salary. There are many components to compensation. One can be that there might be bonuses involved. The other might be paid time off. The other might be the benefits package. So let's say for example, you have a number in mind because in your current job, you have to pay a certain amount for health insurance for yourself and your family. And so you know that okay, you have the expectation you're going to have to spend that much. But then I might sit down with you and I might say, well, Jennifer, let's look at the whole package before we talk about salary further. At my company, we actually provide a health insurance plan for you, your spouse and your children under the age of 26 at the total cost of $50 a month or $100 a month as opposed to maybe the $300 of your paying. Well, that closes the gap a little bit more. You might also say, Jennifer, in your position, you'll start with three weeks paid time off. And oh, by the way, we have a personal time off program. So it's not just vacation you can use it for. But you have that time to use for if your children are sick or you want to take time off or whatever. Well, so it sounds like it really is a negotiation and the more practice that we can have the better. So this workshop, I understand provides those opportunities. I feel like we can just go on and on about this topic for our audience. If they don't have time to attend this workshop in person, can you share with them where they can go online to take this educational opportunity for free? That's right. AAUW has an online version of WorkSmart. It takes two hours, but you can do it in small segments. AAUW.org. That is fabulous. For a busy working mom like me, I love those resources. Thank you so much for being my team leader at AAUW. Thank you for sharing this important information with our audience. We are actually out of time. So I would like to say to our audience, thank you again, Bev Munson of AAUW for joining us. And a great big thank you to the great production staff here in the Think Tech Studio. If you would like to be a guest on this show, please like us, subscribe, and leave a comment below. This is Hawaii, airs every Thursday at 2pm. We look forward to seeing you here next week. I am Jennifer Dotson. Mahalo.