April Greene

april-greene0202"My father was one of six boys.  His mother kept having children because she wanted to have a girl, but she never did.  Instead she dressed my father like a girl until he was 5 or 6 years old.  Not sure if this is why he was so gentle. My mother was the more hand's on, no nonsense parent - she worked hard and I don't think she ever had a manicure in her life.  I was less receptive to the idea of sexism and it wasn't until recently when a female friend, who is a welder, was telling me about how her boss was always trying to get her to smile or laugh at his stupid jokes to gain her approval.  She just wanted to get her work done and didn't think it was her job to make the boss feel good or laugh at his jokes.  I had a boss once who used to pass by my desk and tell us to smile - it was annoying." - April Greene is a writes about workplace strategy for PlastArc.

Rachel Smith

rachel-smith-badges0272"I worked as a waitress for a long time. Male customers expect you to be lovely, adorable, delightful and they like it when you are sassy because they interpret sassy as flirtatious. Sassy can bring in big tips." - Rachel Smith is a content strategist at PLASTARC.