A girl boss [to me] is a strong woman who owns her sh*t in her personal and professional life and isn’t apologetic about it. She’s not afraid to take risks or be assertive when it comes to her business affairs.
Women have been running things behind the scenes for a long time but aren’t always acknowledged or given credit for it.
We live in a male dominated society where there’s still a massive gender gap when it comes to seeing women in executive level positions or receiving equal pay to men. Women still make a 77 cents to every dollar men earn.
Distinguishing women as “girl bosses” doesn’t take away from them. Using the term “girl” or “female” in front of words such as boss or entrepreneur shouldn’t be seen as a setback or offensive. Women are taking their power back in a non-male bashing way. They’re high stepping and holding their own across the board.
Women that come to mind that are leading that front include Shonda Rimes (the power force behind Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder,) Sophia Amoruso, founder and CEO of Nasty Gal, a global online fashion retail business, who also released a book titled #GirlBoss, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Arianna Huffington, and the list can go on and on. I think it’s important for women to see other women in these powerful positions.
If that means adding “girl” in front of the word boss to distinguish ourselves from male counterparts, then a girl boss I will be.