All tagged Gender Roles

Celebrating Diversity and Difference at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Denmark — A Poem About Challenging My Identities, Norms, and Stereotypes by Julie Taeko

Celebrating Diversity and Difference at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Denmark — A Poem About Challenging My Identities, Norms, and Stereotypes by Julie Taeko

Julie Taeko
Female Empowerment, Empowerment, Women Leaders

This past February 2019, I was very fortunate to attend a conference on International Women’s Day at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Denmark called “Fight the myths about gender at International Women's Day 2019.” Not only were there fantastic speakers such as Nima Sophia Tisdall of Blue Lobster App, who was recently featured by the Obama Foundation, but also we all participated in a GenderLAB experiment, where we were asked to identify our various, unique identities and the stereotypes that surround them. For example, I distinctly remember writing down that “I am a woman, but I cannot cook, and I don’t want to be a housewife.” This innovative and compelling exercise, stimulated my creative juices and got me thinking about other areas where norms, identities, and stereotypes all collide.

Venturing Into Silicon Valley's Top Technology Companies — Part 2 | シリコンバレーのトップテクノロジー企業の冒険

Venturing Into Silicon Valley's Top Technology Companies — Part 2 | シリコンバレーのトップテクノロジー企業の冒険

Julie Taeko
Entrepreneurs

Over the course of 5 days in early August 2017, 6 Kyoto University undergraduate students, my Professor — Chihiro Suematsu— and I, visited 6 top technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. We were fortunate enough to visit my former colleagues and extended network at Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Airbnb, and Google.

I’d like to express my deep appreciation to our countless hosts, both this year and last year, as well as my professor for making this Silicon Valley trip a reality.

10 Captivating Facts About Re-mix Co. Female Founder

10 Captivating Facts About Re-mix Co. Female Founder

Julie Taeko
Female Entrepreneurship, Female Empowerment, Japan, Entrepreneurs

An Interview with Japanese Business Owner, Ritsuko Tominaga

Ritsuko Tominaga has one of the most fascinating life histories that I have ever heard. A sole proprietor and business consultant with 4 employees at Re-mix Co., Ritsuko is a middleman or middlewoman who creates unique and innovative OEM goods, or Original Equipment Manufacturer.

This entails meeting with clients such as department stores, to deeply understand their goals and stated desires, before meeting with an appropriate manufacturer to explain the clients' goals. With her unique background of working at her grandfather's sweets factory — Olympia Confectionary — from a young age, Ritsuko knows what is and isn't possible to manufacture.

Women for World Peace Japanese Speech Contest｜日本語弁論大会

Women for World Peace Japanese Speech Contest｜日本語弁論大会

Julie Taeko
Expat Life, Japan, Female Empowerment, Life

After hours upon hours of preparing and practicing the presentation, I finally presented the following speech about “My Future Aspirations” to an audience of over 50 people, including the local mayor. The Women for World Peace (WFWP) NGO organized a half day of festivities for us, replete with a sushi bento for lunch, two spectacular performances, an awards ceremony, and light dessert with the judges at the end.

Enjoy part of my presentation (on albeit, a shaky camera).

Baking Her Way to Success — A Deeper Look into the Life of Miki Yamamoto

Baking Her Way to Success — A Deeper Look into the Life of Miki Yamamoto

Julie Taeko
Japan, Female Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurs, Female Empowerment

A positive, curious, and successful business woman, mother, and wife, Miki Yamamoto epitomizes the ideal blend of managing both a career and family. In 2011, Miki made her childhood dream — to start her own business — come true, when she opened a stylish bakery in Kameoka called Patisserie Perle or パティスリーペルル.

Impeccably designed, her store features exquisite, ready-made gift boxes and spectacularly-designed goods. Plus, Miki's baking skills even earned her 4th place in a national competition in Japan. With over 10 years of experience, a nationally-recognized baking award, and a year of apprenticeship in France, Miki is a top-notch baker in Kyoto's backyard of Kameoka.

A Captivating Role Model for Future Female Entrepreneurs in Japan

A Captivating Role Model for Future Female Entrepreneurs in Japan

Julie Taeko
Female Entrepreneurship, Women Leaders, Japan, Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurs II

On a sunny day in Tokyo, I visited Kazuyo Saka's high-end women's fashion store called Kana. A warm, sociable, social-media friendly Japanese entrepreneur, Kazuyo struck me as a woman I could truly look up to as an inspirational role model.

Kazuyo always had a profound love for fashion, and quickly began working for a small design company right after finishing school, similar to entrepreneur Yukiko Yamamoto. While there, she developed a keen sense of discovering high-quality and inexpensive raw materials, and finessed her design skills.

Pioneering Female Founder from the Japanese Tech Scene

Pioneering Female Founder from the Japanese Tech Scene

Julie Taeko
Women Leaders, Female Entrepreneurship, Female Empowerment, Entrepreneurs II

Towards the end of 2016, I wrapped up my final interview of the year with Japanese female entrepreneur Chika Tsunoda, a Keio University graduate — one of the top business universities in Japan. Within a mere 40 minutes, I learned about her views on what makes an entrepreneur successful in Japan and the best advice she ever received.

In 2013 at the age of 28, Chika Tsunoda began her Anytimes technology business with neither a background in technology, nor programming friends. As such, she started from humble beginnings of crowdsourcing employees in order to create exactly what she wanted — an online skill share platform to connect users who need services such as housecleaning or cooking with local talent.