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"Undermined, overlooked, underpaid, under-hired, and under-invested in"

Author

Thamina Stoll
February 06, 2025

Hi Sheconomist Insider 👋 It’s Thamina, Founder of The Sheconomist. This is your bi-weekly dose of celebrating the female economy where I help ambitious, purpose-driven women like yourself flip the script on money, career & wellbeing conventions so you can live life on your own terms.

TLDR:

  • 🚺 The greatest challenge young women are facing today

  • 🤳 3-week content challenge

  • 💰 Demystifying startup investing

  • 💜 Meet Tori Dunlap who is fighting the patriarchy by making you rich

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🧪 Freedom Formulas

I asked 7 very successful young women (incl. 2 Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees) with a collective social following of more than 2.2 MILLION 🔥 about what they believe the greatest challenge young women are facing today is.

Here are their answers:

(you may recognize them from previous “Women Making Waves” features - I wanted to curate a selection and add my contextual thoughts)

⭐ Adriana Carvajal: "Overcoming societal conditioning to stay humble and not stand out, which often prevents us from fully embracing our talents, expressing our ideas, and taking bold steps forward."

⭐ Basant Shenouda: “Lack of knowledge on how to network and be resourceful towards their dream career opportunity.”

⭐ Victoria Effer: "[B]uilding confidence and truly believing in themselves. Many younger women struggle with self-doubt, often due to a lack of visible role models in leadership positions. Without these examples, it can be harder to access guidance, knowledge, and networks.”

⭐ Caitlyn Kumi: "Navigating the pressure to meet societal expectations while also finding their authentic path. With the rise of social media, there’s constant comparison, and many women feel the need to have everything figured out quickly—whether it’s in their careers, relationships, or personal lives. Balancing these pressures with self-acceptance and empowerment is a major challenge."


⭐ Katie Kirsch: “Being undermined, overlooked, underpaid, under-hired, and under-invested in.”

⭐ Mariana Kobayashi ☀️: “Young women continue to face challenges in the workplace, particularly concerning equal pay and opportunities. While societal biases persist, it's crucial for women to advocate for themselves and demand the recognition they deserve.”

⭐ Jahleane Dolne: “The tendency to be overly humble. Many of us hesitate to share our accomplishments, hold back from taking the lead, and feel like we have to handle everything on our own, just putting in the work every day. But there’s strength in self-advocacy—it’s powerful to recognize our achievements, celebrate our wins, and ask for support when we need it. Take a step forward, give yourself the credit you deserve, and believe your success is yours for the taking.”

There are some common themes:

1️⃣ Women are taught to “stay humble” and not stand out, gendered societal expectations weigh heavily on them.

2️⃣ Role models are scarce, leading to gaps in networks, access, and guidance.

3️⃣ Women are still underpaid, overlooked, and under-invested in.

If these are the observations of young women who've "made it", this should be a wake-up call.

The problem:

(and this is what I tell all of my mentees)

Nobody is coming to save you.

The solution:

Radical self-advocacy.

Something that each of these 7 incredible women know by now and are passing on to their communities.

Because every time a woman advocates for herself and owns her worth, she sparks progress for all of us.

❣️ Thamina’s Top Picks

✨ This week’s Moodboard

🤫 You can save this image for inspiration and/or share it on social media. Pls tag me @thaminastoll

💸 Cooking up Wealth

VC, angel, SPVs…

In this edition, we’re demystifying startup investing.

The terms and abbreviations above might sound intimidating, but they’re really just different ways to back promising startups and potentially earn higher returns than traditional stock market picks.

Venture Capital (VC) usually involves larger firms pooling money from institutional investors (like pension funds) or wealthy individuals to invest in multiple early- to late-stage startups (called “portfolio companies”. Think of VC firms as the power players that write big checks, take board seats, and often help shape the company’s direction. If you’re curious about these funds, in the US, you generally need to be an accredited investor and commit your capital to a specific VC fund for several years.

My favorite resources to learn more about VC:

Angel investing is more personal. As an angel investor, you’re an individual who uses your own money to invest in startups you believe in, in come cases you may even know the founders personally or develop a personal relationship with them over time. While angels often invest smaller amounts than VCs, they can still gain meaningful equity in exciting ventures. This approach can be riskier in the beginning because unlike with a VC fund, you’re usually always investing at an early stage and you invest in just one company as opposed to diversifying your risk (i.e. via VC). The more individual angel checks you write, the more diversified you become over time.

My favorite resources to learn more about angel investing:

SPVs, or Special Purpose Vehicles, act like mini-investment funds created to back a single company or an investment deal. Instead of committing to an entire VC fund, you can invest in one specific opportunity alongside a group of other investors. It’s a way to diversify your bets in a more targeted way, perfect if you’re super passionate about a particular startup but don’t want the broad scope of a full VC fund.

My favorite resources to learn more about SPVs:

As I’ve mentioned before, I will be a lot more active in the VC and angel investing space in my 30s, and will continue to share resources and keep you updated on my journey.

🌊 Women Making Waves

Tori Dunlap is fighting the patriarchy by making you rich. With over 5 million followers across socials, a #1 money podcast, and a New York Times Bestseller, Tori knows a thing or two about personal finance.

In one sentence: What's your purpose in life?

“Fighting the patriarchy by making women rich.”

It's not bragging if it's based on facts. What's an accomplishment you are proud of?

“SO MANY. Professionally: becoming a New York Times bestseller, helping over 5 million women worldwide, growing a multi-million dollar company with no outside funding. Personally: not weighing myself in 4 years, setting boundaries and keeping them, and reading 15,000 pages last year.”

What financial goal or milestone are you currently working towards?

“Our 2025 revenue goal is $10M as a company — getting to 8 figures would be amazing.”

What is the greatest challenge young women are facing today?

“Having to fight for our rights while having them stripped every other second.”

How do you define success?

“Showing up as the best, kindest version of yourself, even when it's hard.”

What's your favorite woman-owned/-founded brand?

“Sara Blakely is such an inspiration to me, so Spanx is #1 on that list. A company I've angel invested in, Elavi, makes the best protein brownies -- and is led by the two hardest working women I've ever met.”

Follow Tori’s work here:

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In abundance,

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