Watching The View

Suze Orman appeared as a guest host on this special episode about women and money. She said that it is important to know how much money other people make, even though many people think it is rude to ask. She said that until you know how much other people make, you don’t know if you are getting paid what you should be. She said that it is important to remember that “you aren’t what you make.” Joy Behar said that three things that she will never talk about are age, weight, and salary. Barbara Walters said that it is rude to talk about salaries and would not want to tell anyone else her salary. She said that she does not even know how much money Joy and Elisabeth make. Elisabeth said it’s “not that impressive.”

Suze said that it is our fault as women that we don’t make as much as men, because we accept less. Women should not be afraid to negotiate their salaries and ask for raises and should not feel guilty for asking.

Suze also said that women should have separate accounts from their husbands and each couple should also have a joint account for bills. Elisabeth said that she has a joint account with Tim and doesn’t feel like she needs a back-up plan. Suze said that she is sure that Elisabeth is in love and happy, but she needs to be prepared in case something happens. Suze said that having our own accounts makes women feel like adults and women should be given money from their husbands if they work at home and raise the children. She said that it is not an allowance, but rather what women are owed for taking care of the house and children.

The ladies briefly talked about whether a potential first lady should talk about her position on various issues or if voters are put off by that. Michelle Obama, the wife candidate Barack Obama, often mentions little mistakes that her husband makes around the house, like failing to pick up his socks. Joy said that it makes him more endearing like a “sitcom father.”

Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx appeared on the show. Spanx are comfortable slimming undergarments that remove panty lines and can make women a size smaller. Sara came up with the idea because she wanted to remove her own panty lines. She first took a pair of control top pantyhose and cut out the feet. She said that they kept rolling up so she wanted to make something different. She took $5000 of her own money and created a prototype. She wrote her own patent with a book and the internet. She took her idea to several different hosiery companies to convince them to go with her idea, but she faced rejections. She thinks it was because she was pitching to men, who didn’t really understand the importance of the product. She finally got someone willing to take a chance on her idea and she was profitable in her first month.

Sara will be one of the judges this season on American Inventor. Her tips for would-be inventors are (1) invest your money in a prototype; (2) come up with a clever name for your product; (3) differentiate yourself by having unique packaging. Sara said that if you are able to answer the question “Why am I different?” and find a place in the market for your idea, you should go for it.

Women from the “Chicks Laying Nest Eggs” investment group appeared on the show. They got together to do investing together because none of them had any idea about investments and were intimidated by the process. Each month every woman puts $50 into communal pot and then when they have accumlated $1200, they purchase new stocks. If you want more information about their club, you visit their website.

Cathie Black, the president of Hearst Magazines appeared on the show. She started her career with an entry level position as a sales assistant and sold advertising for a now defunct magazine. She said that when her immediate supervisor left the employer, Cathie went into the boss and campaigned for the supervisor job and told him how much she wanted to be paid. Although she didn’t get the full amount, she was able to reach a compromise. She encouraged all women to ask for a raise because the worst thing that can happen is the employer can say “no.” The best time to negotiate a good salary, however, is before you accept the job. She said that if you find something that you like doing, you will be good at it.

The View, Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Suze Orman, women and money, finance, chicks laying nest eggs, spanx, hearst magazines