As a successful woman in business I wanted to share a little story about my early career here in Sacramento for Women’s History Month.
In 1968 I was the first female postal carrier at Sacramento’s Metro Station. That Post Office is now closed, but in 1968 it was the main hub. I started with the Post Office in 1967 as an 18 year-old and there was an opening for a letter carrier position and I applied – little did I know that there were NO other female letter carriers and I was “suspect” at attempting to take on a man’s job. I thought that it sounded like a fun job and was awarded the position.
They assigned me the most challenging route – back in the day, Cesar Chavez Park was a dirty park with little to offer the people that worked and lived downtown. All of my deliveries were to the hotels where the very poorest people rented rooms. On the first of each month I would have 850 green government checks, no envelopes, and drop them at the front desk at each of these hotels – all the while being followed by several of the recipients asking for their checks. It was not pleasant at all – but I enjoyed being outdoors and our city.
The worst day was when five big old male postal carriers cornered me on the North dock of the post office and said, in a very aggressive way, that I was ruining it for them and I need to never show up back a the office before 2:30 – I was finishing my day at least an hour before anyone else. From that day on, I stopped at Sam’s Hof Brau at the corner of 17th and J and drank root beer, ate pickles and read magazines until 2:30.
I remember asking if I could use a little cart like everyone else instead of carrying the heavy leather bag with all the mail and they initially said “no, this route does not need one”, but I complained to the supervisor – they met all “hush hush” and then agreed that the trouble-maker woman should get a cart. Happy me…
There are so many more great stories about women succeeding beyond all odds – send me your stories this month and I will share them to our next blog.
Here are some things about women, that are happening in our fair city:
Check out the Sacramento Library – and here is a link to some of the special features: http://www.saclibrary.org/Home/Great-Reads/Great-Reads-for-Adults/Women-s-History-Month
Here is a great collection of Women’s Groups http://www.meetup.com/topics/womens-business-networking/us/ca/sacramento/ and Women’s History http://womenshistorymonth.gov
Check out Women’s basketball at Sac State http://hornetsports.com/sports/wbkb/index
Here is some interesting facts about women in leadership and an interesting short video by Dean Ann Huff Stevens
http://gsm.ucdavis.edu/uc-davis-annual-study-california-women-business-leaders
Join Us March 9th for LinkedIn Training – it’s Free!
Uptown Studios is hosting a free LinkedIn training at the Women’s Business Center at California Capital on
March 9 at 9:30 at their office: 1792 Tribute Road Suite 270 – email Sophia Skanaan@cacapital.org to reserve your
spot at this free training with Tina Reynolds and Mia Lopez. We will show you why LinkedIn is Tina’s favorite
social media space.
