I think everyone has to answer that for themselves. For me, it is. I have a very supportive/flexible husband who makes it easy for me to be this driven. Without him I’d have to make more sacrifices or simply be more selfish with my time. He is my rock just as I have friends who stay home to care for their children and husbands, because that is their priority and it enables their family to live their values.

It’s going to be subjective, right? I’ve worked with some incredible women who were very driven and wanted everything. I’ve worked with others who wanted the 9-5 job with lots of time to achieve more personal goals (as opposed to professional). I’ve also met just as many men in both categories and everything in-between. Totally subjective and it’s what gives us all a unique set of experiences and skills.

Were you able to catch the SEOmoz crew in South Africa for MozCation? It sounded phenomenal and I hear you have a strong community of marketers there. I look forward to meeting eventually. :)

I definitely agree with the difference between social media and SEO tools. There’s a stronger female voice in the social media space than tool development. Instantly introduces a lower barrier to entry/acceptance though that may not be totally correlated, it’s just indicative of where the women are physically?

The confidence issue is huge. Women are already prone to lower confidence in their professional careers and less likely to jump at opportunities or be aggressive in their pursuits. However, I know just as many men who don’t put themselves out there in the industry, because they feel like they have nothing new to contribute. The issue of noise vs signal affects us all, but I think you’re right that women instinctually shy away from contributing to the conversation when there isn’t much value to add. For example… me poking you to respond perhaps? I may be off base since I’m sure that’s more about time? :)

The conversation is absolutely getting stronger. Just read a fantastic article in the New York Times on the subject with two very divergent schools of thought on women in the workplace, but both are spurring a very strong conversation that we should keep going regardless of our individual opinions/experiences: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/us/sheryl-sandberg-lean-in-author-hopes-to-spur-movement.html

Thanks for responding and sharing your thoughts, I’d love to revisit in a few years. ;)

I enjoyed reading your post, I am quite defensive when it comes to my place in the working world as a woman and I still hold strong to the fact that yes, we can most certainly have it all. My question though, is it worth having it all? And when you do have it all, are you enjoying it all? I guess at the end of the day it narrows down to each individuals personality, family situation and support structure and so on.

I think the introduction of SEO and SMM is a blessing to women and men alike – it is a job that is not only serious in this day and age but it is a perfect opportunity for you to find ways of expressing yourself whilst getting the work done.

As for the events listed, I am all the way in South Africa so I cannot attend – I so wish I could! But I will try catch the Webinars and will look into organising such events in my own area in the future!

Luckily, I’m actually on a team of three whole SEO folks and in the larger organization the team is closer to 6-8 people. We don’t get lonely, but we sure do like fresh insights from conferences!

Since you asked for my thoughts, here goes. I kind of straddle two worlds as a social media strategist at a company primarily known for SEO tools, so I can say that there’s a HUGE difference between the two worlds. I’ve found the social media space to be much gentler for a lady speaker/thought leader to break into. Perhaps because it’s so much larger and more women already have found their niche there?

SEOs, on the other hand, can be a prickly sort. They’re smart, they’re opinionated, they don’t back down from a fight – all traits I love. :) However, I went through a long period of feeling I had little to contribute to the community because everyone else knew so much more than me. That’s common for women, and something we have to work to get over. I don’t hear from a lot of men who have that concern.

I have a feeling this new era of content marketing has the potential to bring a lot of women to the forefront, perhaps because I know so many fantastic female writers in this industry.

I love that the conversation about this seems to be getting stronger – that can only lead to good things.

Thanks for sharing your insights. Definitely agree on the presence of women growing at conferences as well as your point about women speaking outside of them. I’ve found a lot of local speaking opportunities lately and really love the educational opportunities with local universities. It allows me to tap into where the industry is growing, what the next generation is doing, and help identify new talent. To your point, planting the idea of SEO is important. It amazes me how many marketing and communications students still don’t receive a good education in this area. It’s up to us to get them excited about the opportunity!

“Free time” — haha. If you need any support, hit me up. Understand what you mean. When I was in-house it was a balancing act with budgets and priorities. I was fortunate that my first in-house position was very giving of those opportunities and it’s due to them that I had the exposure I did to the community. It gets lonely in-house, but I only went to the conferences when we needed an answer to a problem or some other very specific solution. Hope to meet you soon!

Best,
Rhea

Second point I’d like to mention is that just because we’re not pitching and speaking at conferences doesn’t mean women aren’t speaking.

I’ve spoken about the field at my alma mater (an all women’s college) – and sat next to someone in that audience at SMX the next fall!

I’ve agreed to give webinars for a local NAWBO chapter, and a Technical High school. I also implemented and provide the introduction to SEO at our company to ensure that new hires understand where their jobs intersect with SEO, and who to call if they have questions. It’s great for an inhouse operation because it gives the ownership to the entire organization.

These smaller venues and webinar events make it easier for me to speak without massive amounts of preparation, so they are easy to do in my free time.

Which leads me to my final thought. I actually have it on my 2013 goals to put together a pitch on a funky topic that I’ve been delving into in my free time, but those are the keywords: free time.

I don’t use work-time to pull this together, and I have never asked whether I’d have support to do this there. It would depend on conference budgets for the year whether I’d have to pay for the trip out of pocket.

Perhaps that’s a function of gender (unwillingness to negotiate my worth?), but honestly I understand the business goals and priorities. I don’t think a trip to a conference is in the cards this year thanks to our financial situation.

Once I have my pitch together, I might ask my boss these things. For now, I’ll stick with planting the idea of SEO in the impressionable young minds of high school students and college women.

And most importantly, CONGRATULATIONS on being pregnant. I knew that was a desire and am giddily excited for you!

XO

Hiring is interesting. In the past we had a lot of theories on what the ideal employee looked like and now I just look for someone who can thrive in an agency environment, loves SEO, and can think strategically. We hire the best person for the job regardless of gender. We’ll keep doing that and see what happens! It’s interesting to see that this invites a rather equal split in applicants. I think we’re fortunate in that the brand proceeds us, but we’ve certainly been know as the “female-owned and operated” company in the past and this is no longer the case.

Your point of SEO and flexibility is huge. A lot of us are probably attracted to the Internet for this reason. I’ve always been agency or in-house though, so it wasn’t until I started my own agency that flexibility became a real consideration. I’m sure being there for your son was HUGE! It sounds like Mexico has a more lenient period than the states, but I agree that it’s still too short, though I’ll probably be back at it within a few weeks because I have to and will probably want to?

Love your point about making yourself obsolete. That’s the goal, right? I’m only as good as the team and I want my team to be better than me! That’s the only way to grow and it’s really exciting to see it take shape internally.

SEW wanted me to talk about something unique and slightly relevant to this conversation. I’m that one day it’ll happen, but the time isn’t now. :)

Thank you and see you soon at SearchFest!