“Reading Female Firebrands is like getting to listen to a private conversation among powerful, smart women sharing their war stories about the challenges of being a woman in the workplace. Kiner is personable, authentic, and pragmatic. The book combines inspiration with actionable advice targeted not only to female professionals, but also to men who want to be better advocates and HR and business leaders who want to lead better.”
-Julie Pham, PhD, VP of Community Engagement & Marketing,
Washington Technology Industry Association
Women don’t have to wait for their companies to change— they have the power to improve their own situation. All they need is the right tools.
In Female Firebrands: Stories and Techniques to Ignite Change, Take Control, and Succeed in the Workplace (Greenleaf, January 7, 2020), Mikaela Kiner—an executive coach who spent 15 years in HR leadership at Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, PopCap Games, and Redfin—shares stories of 13 successful professional women from diverse backgrounds and industries as they recount the challenges they’ve faced in their careers and how they have overcome bias, sexism, and the power imbalance.
Female Firebrands is an honest, modern, and solutions-oriented guide for dealing with situations women know all too well: sexual harassment, not being taken seriously, being talked over, passed over, underpaid, and underappreciated. Women of all generations will nod in recognition. Mid-career women will read this book and know they’re not alone. Women earlier in their careers can save years of heartache and frustration by learning what’s worked for women who came before them.
“These women are professionally successful, but there is also more to them,” says Kiner. “I sought out women who are mission-driven, those with a purpose who care about shaping the future for women and other underestimated people. I chose a diverse group of women who would bring rich perspectives. It was critical to include stories from women of color, immigrants, and LGBTQIA+ to learn and share perspectives that are different from mine, and will resonate with a broader group of women.”
Chapter checklists provide invaluable to-do lists for women, men who want to be their advocates, as well as HR and business leaders. Readers will learn how to develop tools and techniques to stand and speak up on behalf of themselves and others when it’s both difficult and necessary. Other takeaways include learning how to get better at recognizing “little indignities” you don’t have to tolerate, understanding what it means to be an informed and empowering advocate for women, increasing awareness of your own blind spots and biases so you can learn from them, and recognizing the role of privilege at work and how it can be used for positive change.
Kiner is available for interviews to discuss topics including:
- Privilege and white women: What keeps women apart and how they can come together
- Intangible and gendered feedback; for ex. being told to be less aggressive and more assertive
- #MeToo in the Workplace: Being harassed, interrupted, passed over, and less valued at work than male colleagues
- #MomToo: Pregnancy and parenting at work
- Advocating for yourself and others
- Female rivalry
- The role of the male advocate
- How to speak up for yourself and others in the face of inappropriate comments or behaviors
- Understanding the root of imposter syndrome and lack of confidence, and learning how to begin to overcome these feelings using facts and data
- Name and counteract inappropriate behavior such as mansplaining, himpathy, and microaggressions that happen to women at work
- How younger women can save time by learning how other women dealt with these issues so they don’t have to wait to recognize and solve them on their own
- Male privilege and white privilege: The impact of privilege and how to use privilege for good
- Being the wage earner with a husband who’s the primary caregiver
MIKAELA KINER is an experienced HR / People Operations professional, founder/CEO, and executive coach. In 2015, Kiner founded Reverb, creating a healthy, inclusive culture in startups and growing companies in the Pacific Northwest. A People Operations professional for nearly twenty years, Kiner enjoys coaching leaders at all levels and promoting gender equality at work. She’s been quoted in Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal and The Muse, and is a member of the Forbes Human Resources Council and Puget Sound Business Journal Leadership Trust. A native Seattleite who grew up on Capitol Hill, Kiner is married to Henry, a musician, artist, and teacher. Their two children, Simon and Sidonie, are good at challenging the status quo and are a constant source of learning and laughter.
Connect with Mikaela Kiner on Twitter @MikaelaKiner, Facebook @ReverbPeople, LinkedIn, Instagram @Reverb_people, and visit www.reverbpeople.com/femalefirebrands.
Female Firebrands: Stories and Techniques to Ignite Change, Take Control, and Succeed in the Workplace is available on Amazon and other retail outlets.
