StomperNet Responds…

I received an email from Andy Jenkins today regarding the recent accusations that StomperNet is "sexist", and comments on StomperNet being a male-dominated company within the Internet Marketing space.

Andy didnt respond to these comments himself but rather sent me a piece written by Jayne Hallock, Director of Communications at StomperNet. This comes in response to my recent post on the IM Gender Debate, as well as the comments that have been left here on various posts about StomperNet...

After reading those comments, Jayne consulted with 20-something women on staff at StomperNet. This is their collective response:

The StomperNet Bitch Slap

or
How StomperNet Loves The Ladies

An Open Letter from The Women of StomperNet

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"Wow. Who knew?!"

That's me, doing my best impression of you, after you've read this letter and found out how female-friendly the world of StomperNet really is.

Or maybe you'll be saying something different after you read this letter. Maybe you'll be saying something like -

"Boy, what a bitch."

And that, too, would be okay! Because peevish women are often considered bitchy. Or hormonal, hot-headed, neurotic and nuts.

(Not me. I'm a sweetheart. A regular dollface.) But I am peevish today.

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm StomperNet's Director of Communications. My name's Jayne, or you might also might know me as...

Andy Jenkins.

That's right. I won't say exactly how much, but a whopping percent of what you read "From the Desk of Andy Jenkins" actually originates from the ol' "Keyboard of Jayne."

Me! A chick!

A skirt! Andy Jenkins actually lets a woman ghostwrite for him. Call the white coats, this boy done clearly lost his mind.

I've been happily typing away for years, safe in the comfy backstage of StomperNet. AJ's entrusted me with many important communications, both internal and external and it's a gig I've absolutely loved. (I like the anonymity as well. I'm not what you'd call a "spotlight-hound." )

So why am I peeking out today? Because something's recently happened online that's really cheesed me off. And I think I needed to say something about it. So I've hijacked AJ's account for a moment to let off some steam and to set the record straight.

Ever since we went live with our big bad STSE 2.0 and The Net Effect launch, there's been some "sh**talk" about Andy and what a chauvinist he is.

Actually it's been twittered about, so would that make it "Sh**Twitter?"

Anyway - just because our "Stomper's Dozen" bonus extravaganza didn't include any bonuses from female IM'ers - somehow that makes ANDY a male chauvinist?

Huh?

(Can someone please calculate for me the percentage of Female IM gurus out there, period? How many women teachers are among all the John Reeses, Mike Filsames and Frank Kerns? Please let me know if it's any kind of percentage worth talking about. If it is, we'll print a retraction and I'll eat my...flowery handbag.)

I mean - really.

Blaming StomperNet for a sad state of female IM affairs is lame. StomperNet, in fact, has a disproportionate number of female staffers, faculty and superstar students.

And AJ is anything but a chauvinist.

Oh he's other things. AJ has a big mouth, a ferocious intellect, a loud voice, a passion for fiery debate and weakness for peanut butter bars. He's not perfect, but he's intense. And that's just about the most stimulating kind of person one could work for. (He also has a big, generous heart.)

As tiring as it sometimes is to work at a fast-paced workplace like StomperNet, where expectations are high and the work ethics are insane...I wouldn't want to work any where else. Not just because of AJ himself, but also because of all the super-competent women AJ allows me to work with.

When these women heard that AJ was being called a "boys club" connoisseur, they too got a little annoyed. Some were amused and others were incensed - I figure these average out to a simple 'annoyed.'

So we decided to get together and write up what I am going to lovingly call "The StomperNet Bitch Slap" OR "How StomperNet Loves The Ladies."

Here's what Pam Dodd, best-selling author, long-time Andy student and AJ-appointed former HEAD MODERATOR of StomperNet had to say about AJ:

"What a laugh! Andy Jenkins is quite a character. But a Chauvinist pig? You gotta be kidding!

My name is Pamela Dodd. I'm an organizational psychologist with corporate experience in leadership development and team building. I'm also co-author of the Amazon bestselling book, The 25 Best Time Management Tools & Techniques.

For 18 months I was Head Moderator on StomperNet, reluctantly stepping down recently for health reasons. I was hired because I was the most qualified for the job. Never for a minute did I feel that Andy, or anyone else involved with StomperNet, discriminated against me or favored me specifically because I was a woman.

Let me tell you about Andy Jenkins. His dearest wish is to provide a place where people can learn how to wildly succeed running online businesses. All kinds of people - men and women, young and old, experienced and inexperienced, from every nook and cranny in the world that has a broadband connection.

Our last conference, at Andy's suggestion, we held our first Women's Roundtable. It was well-attended. Nobody whined about feeling left out or lesser-than because they were female in a male-dominated Internet marketing world. All were eager to network and learn.

Andy is committed to attracting more female StomperNet members. The 36% of us Stompers who are women would love to have more women join. With a critical mass, it's just a matter of time before we start cranking out our own experts who can then offer their bonuses to other guru's launches. Nobody would like that better than Andy."

Oh yeah, thank you Pam for reminding me of that!

At our last live event we held a very well-attended "Women in Business" Panel Discussion headed up by AJ's star pupils and moderators. Women he wanted his new Stomper members to learn from, and find inspiration in. By the way, Andy didn't just bless this panel discussion - he THOUGHT of it in the first place.

One of the women we wanted to be part of the panel was Michelle Chance Sangthong. She's another longtime student and friend of AJ's. She's also a huge online success story. Here's what Michelle had to say about this "AJ as Chauvinist" bunkum...

"I am doing some things from the edges and started creating a conversation about this topic openly on Twitter, seen here:

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=michellechance+kathleendonaghy

(Long story short...The other twitterer could only come up with a few names for women she consider that would be successful in the IM space and great presenters too.)

I know that Andy is not discriminatory toward women, and I would be willing to bet if a woman with a great reputation, and a great bonus had been offered up it would not have been refused.

If you're a woman and you want to be included in bonuses and offers... put your stuff on the line and actually tell someone and market yourself. Folks can't know about you if they've never heard of you. And if you have 8 unsolicited bonuses handed to you in the middle of a launch ... why search for more? It's not Andy & Brads fault that the men are more willing to put it on the line."

Michelle talks about the lack of female IM gurus, and she's right. There is a glaring lack. But that's not to say that there are NONE. In fact, let me now introduce you to Audrey Kerwood, Faculty Member of StomperNet and Andy's BUSINESS PARTNER for the past 8 years.

She laughed at this chauvinism thing, too.

Hard.

"Andy has been my business partner for over 7 years, I can with certainty say that he is not trying to keep women down or marginalize them in any way. All of the employees we hired to help run our stores were women and he constantly promotes me as an expert in my field. He brought me onto the StomperNet faculty and was thrilled to do so not only because I'm his trusted business partner but also because I am a woman. I've heard him say numerous times he'd like to see more women in ecommerce and internet marketing. He has done special product promotions in the past partnering with sites that cater specifically to female marketers.

He would have done none of these things if he had a male bias. In all things business I have always been his partner, never his underling. He wouldn't have it any other way."

And here's Donna Brooks, the CONTROLLER of StomperNet. (Now there's a male-dominated field. And yet that pig AJ hired a woman to manage his finances?)

"To be given an opportunity to work with such a dynamic group of exceptionally gifted cream of the crop individuals is such a blessing. The silver lining of that blessing is to be lead by an innovator who cultivates and nurtures those individuals with the tough "love" needed to challenge and raise the bar.

My position is challenging each and every day, due to the atmosphere Andy has created @ StomperNet. I am given the respect, resources and vocal outlet to make a difference that impacts each and every one in the Stomper Universe. Being a part of StomperNet gives me a euphoric high comparable to finding a great pair of Kate Spade stilettos (the last one in the store in my size) marked down 75%. Yes I am very proud to be a minority female "STOMPER" and it wouldn't have been possible had Andy been a chauvinist pig!"

And the list of staffers holding roles of major importance in StomperNet goes on...

StomperNet's affiliate manager is a woman. Her name is Sara Hudson and she says:

"When I was being considered for the Affiliate Manager position at StomperNet, Andy only wanted to know a few things about me... If I was a team player, if I was a hard worker, if I was qualified, and if I was loyal. He asked these things to Tom without ever asking my name. He didn't care if I was a man or a woman. After being hired by StomperNet, Andy was the first to welcome me aboard."

Now meet our Project Managers and Communication Experts, Alicia Vinsant and Mary Bowman:

Alicia says "The female employees of StomperNet undoubtedly have plenty of good things to say about Andy's ability to support, and even promote, the success of the women in his company: he trusts us in positions across nearly every department of the company. And just as he respects and encourages his valued female employees, he also consistently acknowledges the significant group of female StomperNet members. It can be said with confidence that Andy's goal is to take care of all of his employees and members- BOTH male and female."

Mary: "I believe that Andy truly leans on the women of this Stompernet. Some of the most important jobs here are trusted to woman ie; Accounting, organizing and building the Library, and communicating to our members. I know he feels that we will get the job done with professional skill and trusts us to make the right choices in his absence. "

Our beloved office manager Judie Kader kept it short and simple: "Andy treats all women with respect, no matter what age!!!! Thanks Andy!!"

Natalie Smallwood is one of the newest additions to our Customer Advocacy team (which is made up of mostly guys! Isn't that role-reversal kind of interesting?) She says:

I haven't worked here long, and the first thing I noticed about Andy Jenkins was the respect and high regards he has for all of his employees. On my first day he walked in the office and said hello to everyone. I didn't even know who he was- but he took time to speak with me and ask me about myself. I had to ask other people who was "that". Little did I know- he was "the Andy!"

Here is Stacy Price, our billing specialist:

"I am absolutely floored that someone has ever thought or said that Andy does not like women in business. My husband and I then partnered with Andy on a business venture, where he has always listened to my ideas, and took me seriously as a woman. And now, as an employee I still feel that he gives me a lot of opportunity to grow. Andy treats us all the same, whether male or female. I have never had any feeling that he was every holding me back, due to me being a woman."

And finally we'll hear from Andrea Warner, our StomperNet professional coach. She really winds this up a lot more articulately than I could ever hope to:

"Andy Jenkins and StomperNet have done more for me than just about any other man EVER. Me and my Master's Degree were trapped in a dead-end, predominantly women, low-paying job. Even with a Ph.D. in my field, I wouldn't have been able to earn very much money.

Andy and StomperNet have given me the tools to change my life, and by tools, I mean knowledge! By teaching me SEO, internet marketing, and even business strategies, I am going to be able to start my own business, support my family--well!--and not have to work for the man anymore. In other words, Andy is giving me freedom. This freedom is available to anyone who joins StomperNet and applies the things they learn, regardless of gender. Thank you, Andy!"

And thank you Andy...from Jayne.

A shortage of woman in this space would be a distant memory if other CEO's gave woman the same value as you do.

And thank you, bloghounds, for reading this.

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Andy and Jayne chose ClickNewz as their outlet for sharing this response from the women of StomperNet due to the obvious interest shown by readers throughout several threads here over the last few weeks.

They've heard from you. You've heard back. Let the discussion continue...

Best,