“Women, I hear you. And I revere you.
As a woman, and especially as a female CEO, I cherish the dynamic women whose counsel and support have inspired me to persevere throughout my career. And I cherish our own Amy Yoder, who has partnered with me to tell their stories – stories of how women overcame formidable challenges to rise to the top of their respective fields. For this new Copytalk initiative, Amy will focus her incredible talents on interviewing these woman and writing their stories, which we will publish as an ongoing series. Why are we doing this? Because I’m confident that these amazing stories – extraordinary women all – have something of great value to offer you, as well.”
– Maree Moscati, CEO, Copytalk
Judy Hoberman
President of Walking on the Glass Floor and Selling In A Skirt
How did your career path lead you to where you are today?
Judy: Whatever company I work with, I’m always the only female in the company. But when I entered the world of insurance and financial services, I was also a single mom. I had no option but to succeed, and I eventually had three agencies of my own. Then I was recruited to Dallas to build training for a large insurance company, and I stayed there for two years, and I found that it wasn’t the right culture for me.
At that point, I asked myself, “What would I have wanted when I started out?” And the answer was, “A female coach or a female mentor.” So my company, Selling in a Skirt, was born from that thought process.
My mission has always been to help one woman a day, and my philosophy is, “Women Want To Be Treated Equally… Not Identically.”
What advice do you have for women just entering the industry?
Judy: When you’re starting in an industry or a new business or a new company, you have to know why you chose this route. Fintech takes two industries that are not women-centric by design, so you have to be able to have the right mind-set to say, “I’m doing this because of this.”
When I started out in financial services, I had all these men who are very successful that really didn’t want me there. So quite honestly, I wanted to quit every single day.
Every morning, I would drive my kids to school, and then I would complain to myself in the car, but once I got to the client’s home or their office, I was fine. The appointment was always great whether I sold or not.
So one morning, I started my routine, and I looked at my kids, and I remembered that my one and only job in this entire world was to protect my family, so if I could do that for my family, why not other families? So I dropped my kids off, and instead of complaining, I reminded myself that I now have the privilege of protecting families. I created a different path for myself, and my business took off.
You have to remember your why.
Who is your biggest mentor?
Judy: When anybody asks me about the most influential person in my life or a mentor, it’s easy. It was my grandmother, and her name was Sadie L. Flaum. If you asked her name, she always put the L in there. That was her name, Sadie L. Flaum.
Grandma Sadie told me that I could be and do whatever I wanted, and it didn’t matter that I was a girl. Not only did she encourage me to follow my dreams, she actually inspired me to do the same for thousands of other women through my company.
My grandmother was my saving grace. She was a trailblazer for women, and she was a fashionista. She was a feminist way before her time, and she always said, “Judy, follow your dreams and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do what you truly want to do because it may not happen today, but it will happen.” And she was right.
I’m always grateful to her for being the first woman who truly understood me. She was way ahead of her time.
Bio:
Judy Hoberman, President of Walking on the Glass Floor and Selling In A Skirt- International Speaker, Trainer, Coach, Author and Mentor. Her 30 years in business has given her both the knowledge and sense of humor about how men and women sell, work and live differently will enlighten you in learning how both genders can support each other’s successes in a more productive way.
Her audiences, from 10 to 10,000 are engaged with details wrapped in memorable stories that are easily implemented that same day. In 2016 she was a TEDx speaker talking about pre-judging people, something we all do without even thinking. She is the author of “Selling In A Skirt”, “Famous Isn’t Enough”, “Pure Wealth” and her newest book,” Walking on the Glass Floor” is about the soft skills of leadership. A complete training program rounds out the training and development of women in leadership and the men that champion them. As her book was coming off the printing press, Judy completed a program from Cornell University’s College of Business in Women in Leadership and a second program for Women in Entrepreneurship.
She was recently named as a Woman to Watch for International Women’s Day 2019 from Thrive Global.
Judy’s mission…to help One Woman A Day by following an important philosophy-“Women want to be treated equally, not identically” ™