On Monday, July 10th, I got to talk to Rush Limbaugh on his show about why I was defending Ivanka Trump's Rollout of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative. Here's the transcript of the call:  

RUSH LIMBAUGH TRANSCRIPT (the actual call transcript of us talking is below his opening comments about the topic and after the last photos on the page)

And here's my follow-up.

In case it wasn't clear where I was coming from (because it was only 8 minutes with Rush and the 20 million listeners), I believe people need to perform to the best of their ability and if they can do a job and are the best choice for the job then they should get it. I believe standards shouldn't be lowered just to let women/minorities/etc into an organization/job to meet a quota. I believe in despite obstacles, like Joy Mangiano in the movie "Joy", if you keep trying you'll succeed. I'm 56 years old but the young guys at the fitness center don't seem to have a problem with me playing basketball with them because I hold my own. But I had to assert myself to get to play, their initial bias was that as a "girl" I would be a lightweight. As a female engineer I was also trying to prove myself as good or better than the others. In that I succeeded. As a video producer/marketing creator I've also succeeded.

But business isn't always about performance but about connections. And the initiative (I believe) is not just about a pile of money. Most women, especially those who've been stay-at-home moms as I've been or those in undeveloped countries like Africa where they are only valued for their vaginas and are trapped in an endless cycle of out of wedlock babies and poverty - don't have those connections and are generally looked down upon. They don't even know their own potential until someone GIVES them something like the inspiring Christian man Robert Katende did with chess and soccer for the slum kids in Uganda. Maybe the excellent book and/or movie about this could also help explain where I'm coming from:

The Queen of Katwe: One Girl's Triumphant Path to Becoming a Chess Champion [Tim Crothers]

What he gave them wasn't a "hand-out" but a "hand-up". In fact, if a radio executive hadn't helped Rush land the KFBK job in the mid-80s where he could be himself would he be the success he is today without that "hand-up"? And I don't see Rush as succeeding due to an "unfair advantage because he was a white man", we all face biases, like he said. He succeeded because he got the connection he needed for that final boost on his path to success after refusing to quit! Just like Shark Tank helps people get not only money but it also brings mentorship and connections. The entrepreneur, in turn, provides good TV/ratings and a viable consumer product that otherwise might never have been seen. Rush himself gives his great children's books a "hand-up" from himself on air and the world is better for it! Would they have made as great an impact if he'd written them under a pseudonym? Would anyone have even heard of his books?

That's how I view these women's initiatives. They are a "hand-up" for those of us who have traditionally been at home (that would be women for most of history until the last few decades) without those business world connections but who have a good idea that could change our world for the better. And I thank God every day that I live in a time and a country where men and women have a bounty of awesome choices for their lives, including the opportunity to debate Rush Limbaugh on national radio!