Funny, Not Funny

By Amanda LaFerriere

Funny, Not Funny is the no punches spared gem that you've been searching for. It takes you inside the minds of women leading startups, technology, and the executive table. LaFerriere fearlessly takes her readers on a wild ride with her raunchy humor, captivating storytelling, and brutally honest insights from women who are making waves in the startup and technology scenes.

 

This book will have you laughing, cringing, and nodding your head in agreement as LaFerriere reveals the heart-wrenching experiences and ridiculous advice that have shaped her career. From personal anecdotes to those of her female colleagues, this book is a refreshing departure from conventional business books.

 

LaFerriere's no-nonsense approach, coupled with her unconventional tactics, will leave you feeling empowered and ready to break down gender barriers at the executive table. With every chapter, you'll be hooked on the entertaining and relatable stories that make this book a page-turner.

 

This must-read is for every woman and male ally desiring to see a change in their organization. It's time to join LaFerriere's counter-culture movement and accelerate the pace of change against gender bias. From poorly behaved women to profound cultural reckoning, you'll be empowered to radically change behaviors and gender representation at the executive table.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amanda LaFerriere
• Release date: May 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798218199166

Book preview

Funny, Not Funny

If you can't join them,  beat them.

Amanda LaFerriere

Rosie Glass Publishing

Copyright © 2023 Amanda LaFerriere

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced,  stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,  in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Rosie Glass books may be purchased for educational, business or sales promotional use.

For information please email [e-mail]

Published in the United States by Rosie Glass Publishing of Kansas.

Originally published in e-book in the United States by Rosie Glass Publishing in 2023.

Paperback ISBN:  979-8-218-20463-1

Ebook ISBN: 979-8-218-19916-6

Published by: Rosie Glass Publishing

Requests to publish work from this book should be sent to: [e-mail]

www.rosieglass.com

PREFACE

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To my dearest daughter Scout, I wrote this book for you, your friends and all the future leaders to come from this point forward.  As my career sunsets, I feel an immense need to level the playing field for you and your generation.  The hours I spent mentoring women 1:1 and trying to lead by example for the organizations I served were some of the highlights of my career, but I want more for you and your friends.  I want you to never think twice about your value or hesitate for a moment to call out ignorance when it’s directed at you or to those you love.  It’s my sincerest hope that through your mother’s truly bad behavior or antagonistic antics, I changed the trajectory of this world enough so that you don’t experience a fraction of the injustice those before you endured.

I want you to never lose your sweetness, kindness and smile that melts the world because someone convinced you it was weak and not strong or because you were forced to endure hardship, inequity or ignorance for simply being your authentic, beautiful self.  If I have helped your journey in some small way, then it was all worth it for me in the end.  If I have helped your generation to feel proud, worthy and equal, then I can exit my career with peace of mind in that accomplishment.  I want you to know I gave my all during my career, sometimes because I wanted to achieve and provide more for our family, but most recently so that nothing or no one could ever place a ceiling over your beautiful head.

You will make me proud not for what you accumulate in life, but for being brave and authentic every day in a way that makes you and those you love happy.  May the world be your oyster and your love pave the way forward on whatever journey you choose.  I love you more than any words ever written in any book–especially this book.

Be you.  The world will adjust.

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

PREFACE

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CONCLUSION

About the Author

Author of Funny Not Funny; Amanda LaFerriere

A

manda LaFerriere is a force to be reckoned with in the world of fintech and startups. With over 25 years of experience leading teams in people, processes, and technology, she is a renowned expert in product development, design thinking, and user-centric product strategy. Her ability to deliver top-line revenue growth through enhanced user experience and customer satisfaction is unparalleled.

As an LGBTQIA technology leader, wife, and mother of two who has worked in Silicon Valley and now resides in Kansas City, Amanda has navigated conservative and male-dominated spaces throughout her life and career. Her intelligence, humor, and no-bullshit attitude have earned her a reputation as a fearless and inspiring leader.

INTRODUCTION

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Right, before you get started reading my advice, let's make one thing clear - I have absolutely no academic credentials to back up the advice I’m about to give you. I’m not your typical certified diversity leader, executive coach, or academic researcher. If that didn’t fully resonate or help you understand, the only wisdom to be gleaned in this book is from my PhD in life and not any Ivy League degree or program to eloquently impress you. But hey, who needs expensive degrees or pedigrees when you've experienced this stuff more times than I care to share?  And when these circumstances present themselves to you over and over during your career, you develop a solid sense of humor and really thick skin about taming the gender bias beast in the workplace.

While I was writing this book, I’d casually shared the idea with other female leaders and found everyone wanted to share a story or author a chapter with me along the way.  So I knew very quickly I had hit a cord that nearly every aspiring career woman understood and had lived.  While some of the stories are embellished (some more than others), I can tell you they all happened to myself or my colleagues multiple times to various friends and colleagues over and over again.  After reading this book, I hope that you will walk forward in your career with a few new ways to combat nonsensical statements made to you or at least get a few good groans or maybe even a laugh or two along the way.  It’s like going to a networking conference, if you learn one or two good things and meet one or two good connections, I always consider it worth my time and hope you do as well!

Has there actually been positive momentum and progress toward equity and abolishing gender bias? Yeah, sure, there has certainly been some headway made over the past few decades, but are we there yet? Obviously not! So, if you're feeling like a feminist warrior or ready to slay the dragon of unconscious gender bias, then this book might just be your golden ticket. I won’t guarantee it will solve all your problems, but I promise it will be informative, entertaining, and maybe even inspire you to take action and challenge the status quo.

There are over 600,000 books or articles that have been written on this topic over the years and new books are being published every day.  They are all pretty eloquent and informative in nature, but let's get real, sometimes it's just too damn hard to take the higher road when gender bias presents itself, especially when it’s staring you dead in the face. As women, we can't just sit idly by and hope that things will magically change on their own. We need to be active role models for the other women in the room, showing them that we're not afraid to speak up and fight for what's right.

And that's exactly why I wrote this book. My career is starting to sunset in the startup world where I still sit at the c suite today.  You might call me a dinosaur compared to all the new talent filtering in every day, but I have the scars of a warrior and the stories to go along with it.  I’ve managed thousands of people and treaded my career through several different verticals, and I’m here to tell you, the technology field may be a bit harder to navigate but gender bias hangs out at every level and in every sector.  I also know you can get all the boring, sanitized, politically correct advice or academic research your heart desires from those stuffy experts out there, but I say forget subtle and discreet. Forget taking the higher path.  Forget about being assertive without being off-putting. It’s time to let your inner warrior out and show up as your authentic self, speak your mind, and stop being afraid to make some dudes uncomfortable along the way.

As an executive at the end of her career, my only regret is that I didn’t shake things up more for the next generation of female leaders working their way to the top of their careers.  So, if you're a badass female leader or aspiring to be one, buckle up buttercup and get ready for some serious truth bombs and inappropriate, provocative advice. Perhaps you can unlock the next generation better than my generation did for you.

CHAPTER 1

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Gold Stars

Man scratching his head because he can't believe he is leading on the leaderboard for paraphrasing his female colleagues

As a new executive at the start up, my first task was to clean up the mess of rogue products that had been partially launched with no strategy or strong Return on Investment (ROI). So basically, I had to be the Grim Reaper of products and kill off 80% of them just to keep the start-up from going bankrupt. No biggie, right?

The real shocker, however, was when I had to communicate this to some of my male counterparts. Every time I