Leading By My Ponytail: Why Can't I Wear Pink and be President?

By Julie M Ducharme and Karen Walker

If you are an introspective, innovative woman with a thirst for success then you chose the right glass of water. This book is very useful, with lots of practical real world advice from two successful women, Dr. Julie Ducharme and Dr. Karen Walker Lieutenant Colonel, USMCR. It highlights the strength of femininity and the unique value i

• Language: English
• Publisher: JD Consulting Solutions
• Release date: Sep 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781684188833

Julie M Ducharme

Dr. Julie Ducharme has been an integral part of the city of San Diego beginning in 1995 when she was recruited to play volleyball for San Diego Christian College. Julie attended from 1995-1999 and during that time won 2 national titles and broke many other records while playing for the school. While at the school Dr. Ducharme was very involved with the community. She worked as an assistant for San Diego Christian College's PR office specifically with public outreach for the school. Julie designed a float for 4 years for the Mother Goose Parade and 3 years in a row won best float prize. In order to become even more connected with the community of San Diego Julie was an intern in the Mayor's office for Byron Wear. After graduating Dr. Ducharme continued her sports career playing volleyball overseas professionally and finished her advanced degrees. For the last 15 years Dr. Ducharme has been working with corporations, colleges and universities in San Diego and outside of San Diego as well. Dr. Ducharme holds a BA in communication, MBA with a specialization in marketing, and a DBA with a specialization in Leadership. Dr. Ducharme is a public speaker and has spoken with and at many universities across the U.S. and corporations on leadership, business, and marketing. Dr. Ducharme is also a published author with a children's book, Amy the Clumsy Angel, Women in Senior Leadership Positions in Academia, Award winning The Refractive Thinker: Social Responsibility, best paper at the IBAMM conference. She currently is the owner/creator/CEO of JD Consulting LLC, the owner/creator/CEO of Julie's Party People, and president of Synergy Learning Institute. Dr. Ducharme is also a professor/doctorate chair and mentor for the DBA Program at Walden University. She regularly consults businesses and schools in various areas of business, public outreach, curriculum, program design and many other topics in the business and academic arena.

Book preview

Leading By My Ponytail

Why Can’t I Wear Pink and Be President?

Dr. Julie DuCharme & Dr. Karen M. Walker, Lieutenant Colonel, USMCR

Leading By My Ponytail

Copyright © 2016 by Julie DuCharme and Karen Walker

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written ­permission from the authors.

ISBN 978-1-68418-883-3

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword by Vernice FlyGirl Armour

From a Lady in Corporate by Dr. Julie DuCharme

From a Lady in Uniform by Dr. Karen M. Walker, Lieutenant Colonel USMCR

Chapter 1. Doing It in Heels

Chapter 2. Wear Pink and Be Proud

Chapter 3. So I Have Boobs, What’s the Big Deal?

Chapter 4. Single and the Boss

Chapter 5. Married w/Children and Being the Boss

Chapter 6. Speak Softly and Carry a Big Handbag

Chapter 7. Playing with the Big Boys

Chapter 8. Big Girls Don’t Cry

About the Authors

Acknowledgments

A special thank you to our family and friends for your constant encouragement to keep pressing against the status quo. Praise be to God to all glory be given, without him we would be nothing.

Foreword

by Vernice FlyGirl Armour

Pink.

I had three brothers and was the only girl. As a little girl, my mom always called me her little princess (and still does:). I vividly remember getting my first big girl room and there was pink everywhere. I LOVED it! As I continued to grow up and hang with the boys, ride my horses, climb trees and play with Tonka trucks, I gradually moved away from pink. In fact, by the time I had become a young adult, I hated pink. Why? To me, it represented being a girly girl. It was everything that I was trying to distance myself from if I wanted to be seen as strong and equal by the boys.

As a young girl, my dream was to be a police officer that rode a horse downtown! While in college, I was introduced to the military and Marine Corps…again. I ended up joining ROTC after seeing a flyer on the wall that promoted a FREE trip to Mardi Gras. They got me, hook line and sinker! What I discovered was that the military could give me a strategic advantage. I couldn’t become a cop until I was 21, but at 18 I could join the military. And, the military offered training that could help me get into police academy, excel once I was in, and maybe even save my butt once I was out on the street.

Second introduction to the Marine Corps because my Grandfather was a Montford Point Marine. What’s a Montford Point Marine, you ask? In 1942, President Roosevelt established a presidential directive giving African Americans an opportunity to be recruited into the Marine Corps. They were segregated and went through basic training at Montford Point—a facility at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. My dad was a Marine, a crew chief on a CH-46 helicopter and served three tours in Vietnam. So, when I saw the Marine recruiter in the student union building, I was immediately drawn to that awesome Marine uniform!

After three years as a Nashville police officer, I made the decision to become a combat pilot in the Marine Corps. September 11th happened less than sixty days after graduating from flight school. Karen and I served as Marines together at Camp Pendleton and deployed together in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. We weren’t reading about leadership in a book or attending a leadership seminar, we were leading Marines here on home soil and in combat. Karen had a ponytail, I ­didn’t :)

As you can see from the brief history I shared, I grew up and have lived in the boys club for my entire life. In fact, I’m still there as an entrepreneur, speaker, and author. Over 90% of my colleagues are men! I never wanted to be one of the guys, but I absolutely wanted to be a part of the team. That means bringing YOU across the threshold when you walk into that boardroom. After reading this book, I can honestly say the information encompassed inside will arm you with the tools to be able to do just that. So, when Karen asked me to write the forward to this book, I was honored and quickly agreed.

I was just reading an article on the Catalyst website that referenced research that showed companies that had women on their boards lead their companies to higher profits than those that did not have women on them. Leading By My Ponytail highlights the distinctions in women and the way they (we) lead, which make women the not so secret weapon.

From Dr. DuCharme’s seven tips to Dr. Walker’s F-SET, they highlight essential leadership characteristics that, if embraced, will take any woman to the next level