Sign of the 'Times'

Eugenie Sills says she's heard the question a thousand times, and it frustrates her to no end. "They ask, 'Why The Women's Times?"' she said ... adding that all the emphasis is placed on the word women's "No one asks, 'why Cosmopolitan?' or 'why Glamour?' or 'why the Ladies Home Journal?'"

The reason, she theorizes, is that while most people recognize the need for publications that cater exclusively to women at that national level, many can't extend such thinking to a local market such as Western Mass.

But Sills, 39, thought there would be interest in a publication devoted to women and the issues that impact their lives. And she was confident that she could convince advertisers that women conduct the lion's share of the consuming in this country, and thus should be the target of their marketing efforts.

So she took her pent-up entrepreneurial energies and started The Women's Times in Pittsfield in 1992. Last year, she introduced a separate edition for Hampden County. The monthly publication is thriving, she said, and recently opened its third office in the Springfield Enterprise Center at Springfield Technical Community College.

As the paper's name has become increasingly well known, so to has Sills'. She has become a sought-after speaker on women's issues and entrepreneurialism.

So, as it focuses on Women in Business this month, BusinessWest conducted a wide-ranging interview with Sills, gleaning insight into the issues still confronting women in the workplace; her own thoughts on entrepreneurialism; and about the hard to-answer question - do we still need to call them "women in business?"

Pressing Issues

To that last question, Sills started with a forceful 'no,' but then admitted that maybe the question can't be answered that easily.

She said the time has definitely come actually it passed some time ago - for the phrase 'women in business' to be retired, and for the press and everyone else to focus merely on 'people in business' instead, giving women more due on a regular basis. She said the press often performs a disservice to women by highlighting their companies merely because they are run by women - insinuating that this is the only reason why the company or its manager are worthy of note.

But like others, however, she said the issues facing women are deserved of special attention and debate.

Start with the glass ceiling, and the fact that there are stiff many companies and individuals who have reservations about (if not unwritten policies against) giving people certain jobs or titles simply because they are women. There's the equal pay issue which, while it is still debated by some, is in Sills' mind a very real problem for women today. And then there are lingering biases and perceptions about women which just don't exist for men, she said.

So there is considerable grist for the mill, said Sills, who believes her publication and others like it help by putting discussion of the issues out where people can read and analyze them.

Meanwhile, when talking about The Women's Times and herself as its publisher, Sills begins by talking about what both she and the publication are - and are not.

Usually, she talks more about the latter, because there are many misperceptions.

For starters, says Sills, she is not a fesminist nor even a strong liberal. The publication, meanwhile, is not a mouthpiece for feminists, nor is it a "lesbian rag," as some have tried to label it, especially after it opened an office in Northampton. The paper will write about Gloria Steinem coming to town, she said, but it doesn't preach her message.

What the Times is, she said, is a publication (not a magazine and certainly not a newspaper) about women. It doesn't glorify them or attempt to make them into victims or martyrs or anything else. There are no beauty or fashion tips, no advice columns, no personals, and no lingerie ads. There are simply stories and advertisements about, and directed to, women.

Is there really a market for this? That's a question Sills gets asked all the time. She answers, in part, by referring back to her sentiments about Cosmopolitan and other publications devoted to women. Obviously, women have an interest in reading about other women and the issues that affect them, she said.

And judging by the thickness of those magazines, companies recognize the intrinsic value of advertising in a publication that won't wind up in the hands of many men.

It's still a niche market, she acknowledges, but a fairly lucrative one, although she declined to release specific revenue numbers.

Word Is Out

The publication devotes its pages mostly to news. It tells about what women are doing - the front page of one recent issue was devoted to the issue of women and philanthropy and about what they should do - many issues are dedicated to the broad subject of mental and physical health.

Each edition has a specific focus, but most issues contain stories about women writers, educators, lecturers, and others making what the editors consider news.

"Women have similar interests, but they don't all think alike," Sills said. "That's good ... we want to present different views on things, that's what we do well. A lot of us spend way too much time with people who think like we do."

The Times also delves into the subject of women and business, often highlighting the efforts of specific entrepreneurs, but also shedding light on issues.

One recent edition focused on women who have penetrated the glass ceiling ("Women who make it to the top"), while another centered on those who apparently can't ("What's holding women back?"). In another edition, the magazine gave male executives a chance to talk anonymously about the famed glass ceiling. And with that license to be candid, many were, verifying what most theorized - that in closeddoor meetings, executives and boards of directors discuss whether they can put a woman in a certain position and many times they decide they can't, said Silts.

The Times' approach to reporting women's news is to be as objective as possible and report on the subject as if the title on the masthead didn't identify a specific gender. There are no editorials, said Sills, because that's not what the publication is about.

"Our editorial mission is to tell women's stories and share resources," she said. "We do not advocate for women ... my politics and the politics of the editors are of no concern to our readers."

In Good Company

While the magazine is getting some attention in the region, more so in Berkshire County than Hampden or Hampshire County, Sills is becoming a fixture on the local lecture/seminar circuit. As more area groups and colleges focus energies on women and entrepreneurship, Sills' and her own story are in demand.

She told BusinessWest it is a story similar to those told by most women who strike out on their own - one of a desire for the freedom and empowerment that comes with owning one's own business, and somehow finding the ability to overcome fear of the unknown and become willing to accept risk.

Sills was working for special effects master Douglas Trumbell at Berkshire Motion Picture, as director of administration, when she first started thinking about entrepreneurship. After helping create the famous Back to the Future theme park ride, she came to the conclusion that if she were to ever work that hard again, it would be for her own company.

She enrolled in a class at Berkshire Enterprises in Pittsfield, where she acquired additional business and management skills. She was literally on her way to the bank to apply for a loan to open a rental business centering on special occasions, when she decided she didn't really care if it rained on someone else's wedding.

"I determined that I just didn't have a passion for that business," she told BusinessWest. "And I promised myself that if I did this, it would be with a business I did have a passion for."

Believing that she had such a passion for publishing, she spent nine months studying the market to determine if there was a need for a women's publication. With a patchwork of financing, she set up shop in Great Barrington, and has never looked back.

She admitted that it took time to sell potential advertisers on the value of a women's publication, but she says that bridge has been crossed. Today, she's working to create orderly growth for the company and expand visibility in the Pioneer Valley.

As a female entrepreneur and one who started a magazine devoted to women, she is asked about women's issues practically every day. While she shared her views with BusinessWest, she remains reluctant to print them in her publication. As she said, that's not what the Women's Times is about.

While not a feminist, nor, as she said, even an advocate for women, Sills nonetheless has strong opinions on the subjects involving women today.

She said there definitely is a glass ceiling, and will still be one as long as current perceptions about women and their abilities are allowed to persist. She said the problem in the business world isn't women's abilities ... it's perceptions about them that are holding back progress.

She nearly jumped out of her chair when asked to comment on the widely held view that women who take over companies from their parents are somehow not considered pure entrepreneurs.

"When a man does that, it's great, it's part of Americana, upholding a great tradition of taking over the business from one's father," she said. "Men have no problems. When it's a woman, people say, 'it's no big deal ... she took it over from her parents. The reality is that it's not easy for anyone to take over a family business."

There are other lightning-rod issues and perceptions that strike a chord with Sills, including the subject of equal pay. She said that while some men (and even women) think it's a myth, the reality is that studies show that women are paid less (75 cents to the dollar paid a man) for doing the same work.

Meanwhile, another phenomenon, the so-called sticky floor, remains an issue for women, she said, noting that wage scales in occupations dominated by women (teaching, secretarial positions, even nursing) remain far lower than those occupied by men. "When the janitor gets paid more than a nurse, you know there's a problem," she said, "and it's because it's a man who's the janitor and a women who's the nurse."

Women are also still plagued by misperceptions about management and styles of same, she said. While volumes have been written on the subject of whether men and women manage differently, and if so, which style is better, the perception is that women manage too emotionally.

And when women have emotions, they get labeled differently than men who behave the same way, she said, citing the widely held notion that it's okay for men to be aggressive and opinionated, while a woman with the same traits is branded with a term that should be reserved for female canines.

And while she has seen progress, she also knows women still have a long way to go.

End Note

Indeed, when the publication was doing its section on the glass ceiling, both men and women were reluctant to talk on the record for fear of two vastly different kinds of retribution.

The purpose of the segment was to cast fight on what apparently is still debate over whether the glass ceiling exists, said Sills. In the course of interviewing people for the story one freelance writer (also a business consultant) was told that just by doing the story, she was ruining her own business career.

"What does that tell you?" Sills asked.