By the mid-1970s feminism had reached into corporate America with its strident messages to provide women with pay and promotion opportunities equal to that of men. While larger organizations had not provided their female employees with the same benefits, that didn’t apply to all businesses. Family owned and small independent firms usually rewarded employees for their performance, not their gender.

One example of more equitable treatment is the field of public relations, where the account executive who designed and implemented a client’s program, was more fairly paid. These positions were usually staffed by smart, independently minded women who were solely responsible for their work, and were rewarded by management with increased salary and promotional opportunities.

Having observed the leaders of the feminist movement use anger and political pressure on businesses to open their ranks, I observed how companies created new jobs, even departments, and staffed them with women who were often promoted to administer these new responsibilities.

Not agreeing with all of the feminist demands, and having worked in a fair-minded environment, I decided to write a novel featuring the women I knew with the skills learned from those who came before us.

So, in 1976, I bought a spiral bound notebook - laptops weren’t yet available - and began drafting one or two chapters at a time. When I got stuck, having never written a book before, I enrolled in a writer’s workshop at one of New York City’s colleges.

 And, twenty-five years later finished my novel, CEO, the story of the first female chief executive officer of an international corporation who had been hired to bring it to a new level of profitability. In doing so, she worked with an all-male executive team, business customers and contacts. CEO is a story of corporate greed, glittering receptions, high-powered enemies, and a woman who risks it all in a high-stakes game of corporate intrigue.

When the companies that created jobs and departments to meet the demands of the feminists, experienced declining profits, these women were let go and jobs eliminated. The same with DEI hires that checked a box of ethnic, religious or sexual orientation.  This lesson was also learned when a beer company used a transsexual model in their advertising that resulted in a dramatic loss in sales and customer loyalty.

If you would like to see how a corporation was run by hiring talent, not social identities, I invite you to read CEO. It’s a story of corporate life, replete with personal challenges and sacrifices, sometimes necessary to accomplish corporate goals.

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