Do Female Managers Earn Less Under Female CEOs? | Meet America’s Best Employers–And The Women Running Them | And More

Plus: Partners In Business And In Life: 15 Couples On How They Balance Working Together With Their Relationships

What do you think of when I say “best employer”? Do you picture a four-day work week, a robust remote work policy, or unlimited time off? (“Yes to all” is an acceptable answer there.)

After interviewing Vera Bradley cofounder Barbara Bradley Baekgaard for the Forbes list of America’s Best Midsize Employers (more on that in a second), my definition of a best employer has gotten far more whimsical. Baekgaard told me about how “keep[ing] the F in Fun” is her guiding principle–leading to a corporate culture that is warm, inclusive, and boasts low turnover. 

Forbes compiled this list of best midsize employers alongside data provider Statista; you can find our full methodology here. There’s a ranking of the best large employers, too–and that list is below my signature. In the meantime, don’t sleep on this great analysis of what corporate culture means when the office isn’t center stage from my colleague Jena McGregor.

Cheers!
Maggie

P.S.: In case you haven’t yet seen, nominations for the 2022 Forbes 50 Over 50 are officially open! Nominate yourself or an over-50 woman you admire today.

ICYMI: Stories From The Week

It may seem logical that top female managers would benefit from having a female CEO at the helm of their organization, but a new analysis of pay data from America’s largest 1500 employers found that companies with a female CEO may lack the incentive to invest in other female managers.

The NFL has hired former Attorney General Loretta Lynch to defend it against a lawsuit from ex-Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores, tapping the first Black woman to serve as U.S. attorney general to combat Flores’ racial discrimination claims.

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is giving away her $46 billion fortune faster than anyone in history: In February alone, five organizations announced gifts from Scott totaling $181.5 million. The largest donation, $133.5 million, went to Communities in Schools, a non-profit that helps keep at-risk children in schools.

Sarah Paiji Yoo, the cofounder and CEO of refillable cleaning products startup Blueland, announced this week that her company raised an additional $20 million in growth capital from led by female-founded Prelude Growth Partners, a New York based growth equity firm focused on consumer brands.

A complicated Olympics has continued to be… well, hard to watch. In women’s figure skating, 15-year-old Russian phenom Kamila Valieva has been allowed to compete despite testing positive for a banned drug, and Olympic officials said Wednesday that her results will carry an asterisk until the doping case is fully resolved. And (spoiler alert) early Thursday morning, Mikaela Shiffrin failed to finish the second leg of the alpine combined skiing event—her final solo event at the Games, which means she will leave Beijing with no individual medals.

Check List

#1: Follow Nathan Chen’s lead and put down your phone. The Olympic gold medalist says he left his phone at home so he could focus on his performance in Beijing. Here’s why, and how, this move likely helped his focus, and how you can do the same.

#2: Don’t let disdain for your job impede your job search. There are the signs that it’s time for a career change, and then there are the signs that your misery is preventing you from putting your best possible foot forward to a new employer. Here are three behaviors to look out for (and to avoid in interviews and cover letters).

#3: Think of your financial plan like you think about cooking. Just as some of the best family recipes are simple, easily explained to loved ones, and compiled with consideration for everyone’s spice tolerance, so too are financial plans. Avoid financial planners and plans that use jargon or financial products you don’t understand and which fail to factor in your risk tolerance.

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