Hello, I'm Simone Ross, CEO of the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce.

We partnered with PBS12 to bring stories of women in the workforce to a new platform.

These stories are real.

They're raw.

They show both the victories and the challenges women in the workforce are living.

The statistics are clear.

For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 81 women are.

Also women make only 29% of C-suite positions in the U.S. as compared to men.

These numbers are from the 2024 Women in Work report.

Along with the challenges, we're seeing signs of change as well.

In Colorado, we are closing the pay gap three times faster than others here in the U.S..

So how do we keep moving forward?

Well, by learning from one another and sharing our experiences.

And that's how Humanize Women in the workforce was born over the past four months.

We interviewed 12 different women, all in different industries and different places in their careers.

They come from different communities, too.

It's my privilege to share these amazing women with you right now.

In tonight's episode, we hear from Kyle Dyer, Alisha Harris and Debbie Scheer.

First up, PBS 12, host of Colorado Inside Out, Kyle Dyer and owner of Kyle Dyer Storytelling.

My name is Kyle Dyer.

I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, which is right outside of Washington, D.C., and went to the University of Maryland.

So I spent the good first chunk of my life in the D.C. area, but I've lived in Colorado for longer.

Growing up in D.C., you know, the news was always on our house.

I saw all the things that were happening in my town that mattered.

Maybe I didn't understand them at the time, but I knew there was something going on.

So that always kind of interested me.

And to see my dad reading the paper every morning, like I knew there was something about, spreading what's happening in the community, what's happening in the nation, being in D.C..

I was determined, so determined to work in news.

I started, my high school newspaper, with sports page editor.

Editor.

And the chief went to Maryland, where they had a great journalism program.

I was determined to make this happen for me.

My mother, was very the one who was always like, you have to have a summer job.

You have to do this.

You have to do this.

You can't sit around.

You can't just lay around the house.

You have to.

And so I feel like she's kind of pushed me.

She said, you know, every day doesn't have promise, but every day has purpose.

So every day is important to utilize what we have before us.

And I feel like every day in this world of what I do, I'm learning something.

And as long as I'm learning something new every day, it's a great day.

And I feel like we all have that opportunity.

I moved here in 1996, not knowing a soul.

In journalism, you do have to go to small places, small cities and kind of pay your dues.

You know, make your mistakes and learning the craft, and then you move up to a bigger city.

So ever since I left D.C., I would move to someplace I didn't know anybody.

I really never thought that I would stay in Colorado.

When I first moved here, I thought I was just coming for a job.

I thought I would eventually go back home and be with family.

But, my work family became pretty tight.

And then I met my husband, had my own family, have enormous friends who I adore.

And this is home now.

You know, when you talk about career, for me, it's what I do is what I've done for so long.

It's my purpose.

It's what I enjoy to do.

The strong journalists that are into it, starting in school to tell stories to be accurate, to have strong ethics, who will move away from home and pay their dues and really want to learn the craft.

And really, then aside from knowing the craft, they want to connect with the community in which they report.

I think that makes a strong journalist.

So yes, you've got to put in the time.

You've got to be a good writer.

You've got to be curious.

Being definitely a woman on camera in such a competitive field, it's hard.

It's hard.

You've got to believe in yourself.

You've got to work hard.

You need to know why you're doing this and that.

You're doing this for the right reasons, not just to be on TV.

You really want to add to a community.

I definitely have had bosses over the years who have criticized me to my face or roll their eyes in my face.

Yeah, that stinks right?

I'm sure I went home and cried.

I'm sure that got under my skin.

So it's hard.

It's definitely hard, especially on social media.

There are lots of people who can say what they think about you, right?

I do believe that there are there are more fabulous people out there who will support you and embrace you than there are loud, negative people.

They're very loud.

But I think good prevails over the loud and negative negativity in our in our world right now.

I have worked really hard to get where I am.

Sure, it hasn't always been easy, but I've just, believed that it's all going to work out.

I think getting bit on live TV was probably a big thing for me.

I mean, you know, in this day and age, it was kind of a thing that was a tough time because people said lots of tough things and doubted that I would succeed and that I would come back to work.

And, I kind of just pushed that all aside and didn't listen to that and just plowed ahead when I was injured and my mouth was sewn shut for ten days, I couldn't talk and I could only listen.

And then when I had my stitches taken out of my mouth, I could talk again.

People wanted to listen to what I had to say, and I think I was always a good interviewer communicator.

But was I, was I really listening to people?

You know, I think I'm a little more empathetic.

I've interviewed some people that have had some really bad things happen, and, I kind of feel I know what they need.

They just need someone to listen to them.

I care, and I think that listening tool, that skill that I have, I hope more people find it because, yeah, we all have conversations, but do we really listen?

And then that's when the interaction.

That's when the connection comes and it feels so good.

So I feel very proud that I found how to be a good listener.

I'll still always be that person.

People come up to me all the time, but they're always so nice.

Like, oh, I was so sad you were hurt and you're coming back after that.

Because I definitely it was it was hard to talk for a while when I got hurt getting too close to dog, I didn't know.

I think I gave people a great lesson on what to do with animals.

But too bad it had to happen on live TV.

You know what?

Things happen.

Yeah, right.

My thing was kind of a public thing.

We just got to realize it happened, learn from it, and just move on.

It doesn't define me, but it sure is a part of me.

That's part of my story.

I'm grateful for my family, that I have a great family, that my kids are doing well.

You know, they seem to be on the right track.

That's, And when you do start having a family, you do think, how am I gonna do it all?

But you do.

And I feel like every age you have kids when they're babies to.

When they're starting school, then they're middle school.

High school.

You're thinking, how am I going to do it?

But it just all works.

You just have to have faith.

You can love what you do professionally.

You can love your family.

But you have to think about is this is this working for me?

I'm proud.

I have, hopefully made a difference in people's lives.

So here in Denver, where I'm somebody like, I feel like people can trust me in terms of bringing them information and knowing that I'm loyal to this community.

So I'm proud of that.

I'm proud people looks at me this two years ago, I produced my first documentary, directed it.

So that wasn't something that I thought I'd ever do.

So that's pretty cool.

I'm proud of myself that I persevered, and then I've been able to help others to with my work or just in general.

You know, I think there's a big push to be supportive of one another, women in the workplace.

But I still feel like there's a long way to go.

Women can be tough on each other.

I think more than than we want to be.

There should be some competition, healthy.

But come on, we're all breathing the same air.

Let's work together to make stuff happen.

Man or woman?

Woman especially.

We all are different people that can make something great happen.

We need to support one another.

And women especially.

Let's work together.

That is why we were put on this earth.

To not just be individual people walking around, but to acknowledge everyone.

Everyone's strengths, weaknesses, help.

Let's help this person out and work together.

Make good things happen.

Thanks so much, Kyle, for sharing your life and passion of storytelling with us.

Next we have Alisha Harris, owner of Original Account Strategies.

My name is Alisha Harris.

I am the CEO and founder of Original Account Strategies.

We are a web development and graphic design agency.

I initially started this business, during the pandemic.

I was working in restaurants and quickly lost my job.

And needed to change and to adapt.

Especially knowing that in my household I am the major breadwinner.

When I started, it was just me trying to figure out what I could do to be helpful to people.

I got to a breaking point when I was working both the restaurant and my business, and realizing that I was pouring a lot of energy into building something for someone else, but not really giving my dreams a shot.

And I'm really excited that we now have three people and actually an intern starting today.

I really got passionate about being able to create spaces for people like me that I didn't see necessarily front and center in the industry, especially considering the world of graphic design and web development.

There are fewer females, fewer females of color.

I didn't know that it was possible for me.

It's a lot of pressure, but it is also a lot of fun because you know that it is uncharted territory.

Starting a business was actually what forced me to go out and find community.

And then my success came from really rooting into that community of pouring back into people and letting them pour into me.

Without community, I would not have a business that is still standing today.

People don't know what you're doing unless you tell them.

Being more comfortable about speaking about what it is that you're doing, and telling the great things that you're able to bring to the table, has been one of the most important lessons that I have learned, whether throughout my career or in being a business owner, was letting people know how great I am and not being afraid to shy away from that.

Especially as women, we get made to feel smaller or to downsize our accomplishments because it we're told that it sounds like bragging.

I don't think that that's true.

You don't want to be the light that no one can see.

You want to be the light that everyone can see.

And now that I am growing my team, what I set as pricing or commanding, what we're worth or what the value is that we bring.

I have to stand firm for that because it also supports my team.

And so knowing that I'm upfront, it pushes me to really squeeze more of the value out of things and really showcase and highlight what we bring to the table because it's different.

It's not what you're getting from everyone else, and I'm really confident in that.

And I believe in my team as well as myself, and I have to be the one that is continuously putting forth that message so that other people can also see that and respond to that.

My mom was a really hard worker, the way that she was always willing to be that pillar of strength for us, which means keeping steady job, making sure that we had health insurance and, you know, all those like, little things that allow you to function as a as a full human or as a little child.

She was also our biggest cheerleader and our biggest fan, and I think that my mom knew that she wanted to be there for us.

And even though she wasn't the most vocal, she showed us love in a lot of different ways.

That is something that I always think about when I am the face of something, or presenting myself to someone, is that other people are depending on me in this way.

I don't want to speak for all females, but for me, I have approached things with more hesitancy than a male would.

There's a certain amount of risk in adventure that I absolutely adore that is just like inherent to my soul.

But when it comes to thinking bigger or dreaming bigger, I think a lot of times I get in my head.

This could only ever be a certain size, could only ever do a certain thing.

I've learned to take some influence, both from daring women in my life, but also some of the men who allow themselves to think without boundaries, and to think that this could be something bigger than what it is.

I am also frequently one of the younger people in some of the different conferences or events that I attend, and for me, that was also another really hard hurdle to overcome was this idea that I'm not qualified or I don't have as much experience and that I don't know what I'm doing because I'm so young and have had this success, I can't change, I can't change my age.

And one of the biggest things that allowed me to both have my business and live my life in a way that I enjoy.

The act of balancing.

It's not balance.

It is not a fixed point, but it is something that is always changing and adjusting and shifting.

When we think of like a flower in the breeze, it's shifting, it's moving, it's adjusting.

Life is not fixed.

It's always moving and it's always changing.

And I think that that's what work life balancing is.

It's making room for things and knowing that there's different seasons where I might be working a lot more, but also seasons where I might be playing a lot more.

I think we we get told as women that there are certain general benchmarks, I guess, that you're supposed to be hitting.

You're supposed to have this type of relationship.

You're supposed to have these people surrounding you.

You're supposed to be at this stage in your career, it can be really hard to drown out that noise, especially when it's coming at you from lots of different sources.

Right?

You've got different types of media, you've got reinforcement from family kind of pigeonholing you into this role.

That's one of the dangers, is not realizing that you're living someone else's dream.

If you know me and my husband, I am someone who is often daydreaming.

I'm thinking about how do we make things better, how do we improve this very future forward?

And here's someone who has a gentle way of bringing me back into, well, what do we need to do?

How do we get it done?

I'm so thankful for him and the support that he gives me, especially when it comes to thinking of being a female and not really falling into that traditional household role.

His support is really fantastic, and I find that both he and others that I surround myself have different patterns of thinking, which is so helpful.

My career trajectory has never been in a straight line.

I worked in costume design.

I worked on backcountry trail crews.

I worked in construction.

I worked in restaurants.

I'm willing to try new things.

I'm willing to test them out, and I'm willing to really give it my best effort to see if it might fit.

But there comes a point when I know that it's not a fit.

I have stayed at different places for far too long, or stayed in situations that I know were not right for me because I was scared to let go.

Scared to make that shift.

So I think hindsight.

I would give myself the advice to trust myself a little bit more, and to listen to my intuition and to listen to my gut and know that if I've given my best effort and I've made my best attempt at making something work, and I know that it's not right to give myself permission to let go and to do something different.

One of the things that I think is not talked about is sacrifice or the ability to give one thing up if it's not for you.

So, like for me, I don't want to have children and I'm okay with that.

I can give back to my community in other ways.

I think this idea of having it all, and of not acknowledging some of the hardship that comes along with it, can be really damaging.

It can be damaging externally because something always ends up falling, or it can be damaging internally because you're not realizing your true passion.

I think that women haven't been given that permission, so we kind of have to take it for ourselves.

We have to just say what it is that we want, and also be unapologetic about what it is that we don't want.

Thank you, Alisha, for giving us a glimpse into your life as a small business owner and leader.

In our final interview, we have comedian and auctioneer Debbie Scheer.

My name is Debbie Scheer and I am the co-founder of Debbie Scheer Speaks.

I am a benefit auctioneer.

I'm a professional MC and a humorist, or as many people prefer, the name comedian.

So I was VP of Education and Training.

My now ex wife and I had adopted our first child, and the salary of a nonprofit employee versus the cost of daycare was such that we decided I would stay home.

So I left my job and ended up staying home with my son.

And I was home for about, I can't remember 3 or 4 years.

And my then wife, out of the blue one night at dinner, decided to share with me that she wanted a divorce, which really now looking back, so grateful for that revelation that she had and willingness to share because that started this trajectory.

So I was, as most people are, who get news that seem shocking.

I was scared, nervous, unsure what was I going to do?

And I thought, I'm very scared.

I'm going to try something that feels scarier to take my mind off the first scary thing.

The scariest thing I could think of was skydiving, but that was not going to happen.

I was I had a young, two young kids, so I decided to try stand up comedy, and I did, and I made it through that first set, and that just started the snowball to doing more comedy, creating comedy and education shows for areas that I felt there was a need.

Doing a lot of mic work, a lot of speaking, and then eventually going to auctioneering school and and now working full time as an MC and and an auctioneer.

So I, I partner with nonprofits as a fundraising consultant.

My love is really partnering with nonprofits, helping them create a fundraising event that's financially and emotionally meaningful.

In all seriousness, in the moment it was less expensive than therapy, which I couldn't afford in that moment.

And I love storytelling, and I think comedy is a great avenue to share stories, and I love connecting with audiences, and that's prevalent through all of my career choices.

I think what caused me to make that choice was just what else is there, and what is the worst thing that can happen.

And for a comedian, the worst thing, well, I will only speak for myself is nobody laughs, right?

Nobody laughs.

You don't get that reaction.

And I thought, well, if that's the worst thing, I'll probably be able to live through that.

And I will tell you, as a woman in that industry, when I got off the stage and I thought, I'm still here, I didn't pass out, I didn't.

I like all of my biggest fears.

It did open up something that said, I can probably do other things that seem out of reach for women in business.

There are a lot of risks around every corner.

I don't know if I just ignored those risks or pretended they weren't there, or just thought they're not going to be as big as I think they are, and we're just going to go for it.

Now.

There are a lot of women in comedy, but comedy is still you know, there are a lot of men auctioneering for sure.

There are far fewer females in auctioneering, and I see that all the time from what an older male auctioneer is allowed to look like and what he can get away with versus what females need to look like.

Just the way we conduct ourselves on stage, I feel, is always under a microscope, and I have been to events as a guest where there are white male auctioneers or male auctioneers and I think, wow, imagine if I did that on stage.

Sexist language, inappropriate behavior.

Right?

Using shame to motivate.

There seems to be a bit of a pass that's given and that a lot of that's just cultural right or expectation of what how a woman should look or needs to look in order to be successful is very different from our expectation of how a man shows up.

When your passion is something that you can make a living at, and you can also support your family.

That's such a gift.

And so I think that to me, being able to say I'm doing what I truly feel I'm supposed to be doing, that feels like the ultimate win, for lack of a better word.

Being a mom of two teenage males and trying to have a career, it is hard.

And that's the the thread that runs through, right?

Trying to balance all the things and having to say no to things because family first, it can be hard.

You know, sometimes we think moms are so their kids are everything.

They are.

Their kids always come first.

But it is still hard to have to pass up on something that you know is good for your career because you have a crisis at home or something's happening with your kids.

That's still a hard decision, even if it's the right decision.

I think, societally speaking, there's an expectation that moms drop everything.

They are the ones that handle anything that's happening with the family.

I'm not saying that's good or bad, right or wrong.

I just think when that's the expectation, it can be hard to say, you know?

No, let's let's pause and think about this, right?

Like I've got a balanced family career.

I have found myself recently really sitting and thinking, what's next?

What do I want to pull more of in, you know, into my life, my career.

It's been a tough thing to sit with.

It's really where am I going to be most needed and how can I be in best service?

And I think things will shift for me a little bit, but I'm not exactly sure what that will look like.

But it's more of a something's coming and it's going to be great.

I just can't name it yet.

I'm going to be 57 next week.

And I think about yes, and I think about that a lot, especially when you're on stage and what your audience expects to see on stage.

I know we live in a world that says we need to fight ageism, which, believe me, we do, and we're just looking at content and how you can connect with the audience.

But we have all been so programed to view people in a certain way that it is hard.

I know male auctioneers that are working well into their 70s.

I don't know a lot of women who are doing that.

I definitely wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. and I think, are things really going to be okay?

Let's see what can occupy my brain for two hours.

But I have learned over the course of years, right, going through a scary divorce, not knowing what's going to happen, not knowing what my career would look like and and at each milestone, I've really tried to sit down and say, let's look at where you were and where you are now and remind yourself everything's going to be okay.

Comparison culture is so incredibly harmful and I don't think anything good comes from it.

I have friends who say, no, it makes you more competitive and your drive I disagree.

I think it creates a lot of anxiety and a lot of depression.

Two things that I battle with and I don't think that's helpful.

Going back to social media, what we see out there is such a a carefully crafted marketing images, right, what it needs to look like.

Find your tribe.

If we can truly support women in the ways that we need to be supported for each other, which might be you're supporting a competitor and that might not feel great initially, but you're you're really building a community.

We will all be okay.

Thanks, Debbie.

Your career has taken on many interesting adventures.

We appreciate you sharing them with us.

12 women, 12 voices.

All incredible stories.

We hope you've come away with some new insights and inspiration.

To learn more about the Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce.

You can visit our website at cwcc.org to watch all of these stories and learn more about humanize.

You can visit PBS12.org or visit PBS12's YouTube page.

I'm Simone Ross.

Until next time.