I had coffee recently with a work friend of mine whom I’ve not seen for a few years. It was fun to catch up but then he said something that gave me food for thought (beyond the blueberry muffin I was finishing up):

“So you don’t want to conquer the world anymore, ha?”

We’d been talking about our careers and in particular, about mine. When we worked together way back when, in my pre-mommy era, I was fairly unabashed about announcing to people that what I wanted to do was run a large company some day. I’m not sure many took me seriously, but that’s what I was aspiring to. Then, even before my daughter was born, I learned more about myself and what I was passionate about and decided that big company world isn’t for me. Instead, I would build many smaller businesses, create new things, go out and talk to thousands of women and share with them some of my ideas about kicking some butt in your work and entrepreneurial life.

My ambition was different but still, it was HUGE. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night, when Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire primary, my life got more complicated.

Until then, it seemed to me — perhaps naively, but hey, I’m a busy working mom with not a lot of time for in-depth political analysis — that her campaign was floundering and her chances of remaining a front-runner for the Democratic nomination were small. I hadn’t decided who I’d vote for, but I felt relieved that I would not have to face the tough question of whether I would vote for her.

I don’t normally talk about politics or blog about my political views — Pundit Mom does it much better — but I’ve been thinking about this issue so much that I feel it would be wrong of me to not share it here with all of you.

I am not a big fan of Hillary Clinton. I don’t feel she is authentic or honest, and those are qualities I care a lot about. I did have the chance once to be in a room with her and about 10 other women, and what I saw there only confirmed my feelings. I wasn’t a great fan of her husband, and if she is elected, he is going to be a big factor for policy and direction.

But even more than that, what really bothers me about the potential of her winning is the fact that the United States, the greatest democracy in the world, keeps electing Presidents from the same two families. We had Bush 1, then Clinton 1, then Bush 2, and now we’re faced with a real chance for Clinton 2. I think this sends a dangerous message to the rest of the world and I am not aware of any other great Western democracies which have had the same two families in charge for this long. Is our pool of qualified Presidential candidates truly this narrow that we have to keep going back to the same family?

On the other hand, for the first time in history, we have a front-runner for the Democratic nomination and possibly for President who is a WOMAN! That is absolutely, incredibly, amazingly exciting, groundbreaking and important. Hillary Clinton stands a really good chance of breaking the highest glass ceiling there is and the impact of what that would symbolize is pretty incredible.

And here I come to the question which is occupying me more than I’d expected:

Should I vote for Hillary Clinton BECAUSE she is a woman? Read the rest of this entry »