2024

Sarah Lee

CEO, Think Dutchess

“If we can’t appreciate and bring everyone to the table, at an equal level, and respect them equally, you’re going to always have this class system exist.”

In your opinion, what qualities make a “Power Woman”?

In my opinion, what makes for a power woman is somebody who is resilient, has empathy for others, is innovative, takes accountability for their actions and their words, is self-aware, is courageous and has passion.

The polarized society in the US today seems to threaten our democratic values if not our democracy itself. What actions can we take to bring the various factions together?

I think it’s interesting when we use the word polarize means that there’s two ends, right? And the problem with that is if they’re on one end and I’m on the other end and I’m trying to get you close to my end, it’s like it’s like a tug of war, right? You go one side to the other.

I think the one way to get out of that polarization is to almost step off and just be in that unknown space of why, like get out of your comfort zone and ask that person, why? Why do you think this is better, or why do you feel so strongly? And so if you are willing to kind of step off and just say, I’m not here necessarily to change your mind, but I want to understand why you’re on that side, you know? And once we encounter something that is so different, we almost like double down in our safe zone and become extreme because we become extreme versions of ourselves when we double down. So if you’re like left, you become more left and if you’re right, you become more right.

With all the different issues one could focus on (e.g. gun violence, child poverty etc.), is the pursuit of gender equality the most pressing in today’s world?

If we can’t come to a point of gender equality, it’s going to be really difficult to find solutions to other issues. So like issues of gun violence and social issues like childcare, mental illness. If we can’t appreciate and bring everyone to the table, at an equal level, and respect them equally, you’re going to always have this class system exist. And in a class system is a value system so without equally valuing the other gender, it’s going to be hard to find middle ground on any issue.

What do you think is the number one action we as a society can take toward empowering women and gender equality? (e.g. affirmative action)?

So it might be naive, but I think it’s equal pay. And the reason I say that is in a Western society people often tie their value with how much they earn. Right? And if women are earning less than men then it’s hard for the woman to feel empowered. Because, again, there’s a power situation and it’s hard for the man or the male to respect the female counterpart because they’re like, oh, I’m more valued in this organization because I’m being paid more, even though our titles are the same.

Can you tell us a short story in which you encountered a block due to your gender?

I would say from my culture within my family on my mother’s side, all my female cousins are well-educated, but were more groomed to be very educated good wives. When I compared that to the males, they were always applauded for their degrees that they have gotten whereas the women were told not to study too hard. Things like that.

So culturally, I think that’s something I’ve experienced, but professionally it is a combination of age versus gender and I remember early on in my career, my first career job, I worked for the City of New York, and we were looking for underserved areas of, where communities were having a difficult time accessing health care. I had put a spreadsheet together of attributes and neighborhoods and stuff like that. And my boss at the time loved it. Looking back on my career, he was my biggest advocate and I’m very, very grateful to him. So I shared it [the spreadsheet]. And then I went to this meeting where I was supposed to talk about it, and somebody else had copied my spreadsheet, and that person was a male. And he ended up presenting it because he was a little higher up and nobody knew that it was really mine except for my boss. He didn’t say anything at the meeting but afterwards he did acknowledge that this guy totally took my stuff. My boss ended up going to his boss, but unfortunately, that guy’s boss did nothing about it. That was a jaw-dropping moment for me.

There are many studies that support the assertion that a female presence in the boardroom increases the bottom line and leads to healthier work environments. What can we do to continue to support and enhance the growth to and presence of women in high profile positions?

I do think it’s a matter of supporting women leaders and mentoring our future leaders. It’s supporting through networking and opening doors for people and creating opportunities, people who are already leaders, taking the kind of actionable steps of how to endorse them and how to support them. Real actionable steps. So I think that is a way to try to bring more power to these women and have them be able to step into these roles and these positions of influence.

Was there a defining moment or experience in your life that led you to where you are today? What was it?

I’ve been asked that question before and I don’t know exactly. I think part of it is the way I was raised. Children learn language much faster. And my mom had a little bit more difficulty learning English. I was the translator for my parents. And so when you’re a young child, like six, seven, eight years old, and then all of a sudden you’re put to be a translator and you’re exposed to all these kind of more adult conversations, you’re kind of put into this adult situations. I think that gave me the kind of confidence to navigate the adult world once I became a young adult.

Have you seen changes in the political landscape for women over the past few years? If so, what are they?

So I would say internationally, worldwide, I think it’s in the last ten years, we’re seeing more and more countries giving women the right to vote. So I think there’s only like six countries and they’re all in the Middle East, that women still do not have the right to vote but pretty much everywhere else in the world, in the past ten years, women have been given the right to vote. As a result, I think we’re seeing internationally more women leaders. You know, to that end, most recently in Mexico, that election, it’s their first female president in Mexico [Claudia Sheinbaum].

So she’s the first female Jewish, president. She went to school. She was educated in the US. I think things like that kind of circle back to elevate women and get them exposure so that there are candidates out there to be in a boardroom, or even lead a country.

If you could have someone else’s job for a day, who and what would it be? Why?

I think I would like to have Anna Wintour’s job. Just to get to be exposed to that fashion industry! I’m sure her day-to-day life is full of stuff, like when you watch The Met Gala. How do you put that guest list together? I just want to be a fly on that wall in that room because can you just imagine the conversations. Like who’s an up-and-comer and who’s on their way out, you know.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

So the best advice I’ve been given, or one of the best advice I’ve ever been given, is to listen to your inner voice, to really quiet yourself and listen to that, because any decision you make, you will not regret if you listen to your inner voice.

What is your favorite book (fiction or nonfiction)?

I did just finish a book just a couple weeks ago, a new book called The Women by Kristin Hannah. It’s about nurses that served in Vietnam and it was so good. It’s one of those books that you finish and it stays with you for a few days. Women, while they didn’t see combat during Vietnam, they were in Vietnam and the quality of their experience was that of the soldiers who did see combat. There were so many women, but they were forgotten when they came back after the war and they weren’t given the same level of services and support; basically forgotten. I really enjoyed that book.

What do you most value in your friends?

I value honesty. I think without honesty, you can’t have trust. And without trust, you can’t have those deep, meaningful relationships. I want my friend to tell me, hey, that lipstick color looks horrible on you, or that guy’s terrible for you. That kind of thing. I just want them to be honest. Because when you’re honest with your friends, you know where they stand. I can trust them because they’ll always be there for me when I need them. And I think when there is trust in a relationship, you could be out of touch with that friend for years, but reconnect with them and you can start off where you left off because there was that love of honesty and trust.

Which trait do you most uncomfortable in yourself? In others?

The biggest one in myself that I often struggle with is my impulsiveness. I’m very impulsive. And, in part of that is just because of my love for life, my curiosity. But sometimes when I make those quick decisions, it puts blinders on my eyes where I don’t see the consequence of that action. I don’t see how it might impact people around me in the immediate. I’ll see it after the fact, but I won’t see it in that moment. So that is something that I’m always trying to be like, okay, just calm down a little bit and you know.

I think that’s a trait that I see myself I’m constantly struggling with that I wish I was less impulsive, but it’s also a trait that annoys me. Like, so my mom, you know, I don’t know whether it’s because of her mental condition, where she is now or just that she’s older, is that she’s incredibly impulsive. She’s more impulsive than I have known her to be. And I’m always, like, so upset with her because I’m like, but you just told me you wanted this, and then now you want that. Kind of thing.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

I think beauty is overrated. So while I do believe that we should find beauty in many things in our world, right? I think oftentimes because we have eyes on those who can see are very probably very visual. Right? We often overemphasize what is beautiful. And then depreciate things that are beautiful, but not necessarily to everybody.