Today, March 8th, is International Women's Day, a day to celebrate women and how far we have come toward equality and autonomy. It's also a day to contemplate how much still needs to be done to further equal rights for women, both in the United States and around the world. Even President Obama is quoted in The New York Times as saying that there are "opportunities that are still beyond reach for too many young women and too many of our brothers and sisters - too many of our sisters and mothers and aunts..."

Each year, there is a theme. Themes are not global, however. Each nation that participates in the movement can choose their own individual theme. The theme adopted by the UN and its members this year is "Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All". In light of this day and its theme, I thought it would be fitting to publish excerpts of an interview I did a while back with Carol Evans, president of Working Mother Media. Ms. Evans has been a working mother of young children herself. She has seen the social trends and the obstacles that have affected women over the 30 years she has been associated with Working Mother, a publication that, according to Evans, "is all about serving women, minorities  people in general in either finding support for their lifestyle within the companies they work for or finding ways to give themselves the best ideas and solutions for their own personal lives."

Entrepreneurial Women Still Struggle

Evans believes that women, as entrepreneurs, have come a long way. She believes that women have become more savvy, now knowing how to find capital to start their businesses and hire the employees needed to make those businesses thrive. She sees that there are more women entrepreneurs today and that the businesses they are starting are larger and more encompassing than they once were. But Evans still feels there's a long way to go. She says, "It’s still hard for women to get as much capital as male entrepreneurs. It’s hard to scale up because they have so many other financial commitments with their families, and women’s businesses tend to stay smaller than men’s due to less comfort going out to ask for the money." Even Evans had a tough time herself in obtaining capital when she bought Working Mother Media in 2001. "The big difficulty for me was getting capital, getting the more male oriented financial system to believe in me as a woman."

Working Mother: A Supporter of Women

Evans loves the magazine business and is particularly proud to be associated with Working Mother, a publication that has strived since its inception to bring the issues facing women in the workforce to the forefront. An example of how the magazine, that just celebrated its 30th anniversary, has changed America is its yearly 100 Best Companies campaign. The prestigious list has been around since 1986. Evans says that it, "helps companies to not only understand what working mothers need, but it helps to push companies to excel in their support and understanding of working mothers,  and that all goes to the support of our Working Mother readers. It’s a nice circle - it’s like a circle of change!

Views on the "Mommy Wars"

Carol Evans has a lot to say on the subject of the long-standing war between stay-at-home moms and working moms. According to her, "I think the mommy wars are somewhat exaggerated by the media. A lot of moms are working in a corporation one year, another year they’re working from home. Another year, they’re gonna go get back on the corporate ladder. I think what’s important is that they have choice in their career and that their careers are multi-faceted. So I think that what a lot of what happens is that the mommy wars are a product of our own self-doubt." That self-doubt comes about when women become insecure about what the other has or what she knows. Evans points out that working mothers often feel bad about not knowing what's going on in the neighborhood, while stay-at-home moms may find themselves feeling inadequate because they aren't up on career issues. But in the end, "We shouldn’t be battling each other; it just doesn’t get us anywhere.", says Evans. In my opinion, truer words have never been said.