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First Aired: 4/07/22\n\nShelley Zalis is the CEO of The Female Quotient, an internationally renowned thought leader, movement maker, and champion of equality. She is also a pioneer for online research, becoming the first female chief executive ranked in the research industry\u2019s top 25.\n\nToday, Shelley works with Fortune 500 companies and impact organizations to advance equality in the workplace. Through its signature pop-up experience, the Equality Lounge\xae, along with the Global Exchange and advisory services, The Female Quotient has created an international community of women rising up to catalyze change. A firm believer in giving back with generosity, Zalis is a proud mentor to women around the world.\n\nTo learn more about Shelly, please visit: https://www.thefemalequotient.com/#join_us\n\nIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/thepozcast\n\n#thePOZcast is brought to you by our friends at Interseller \u2013 the prospecting + outreach platform of recruiters and sellers. Whether you\u2019re doubling down on business development or recruiting talent, Interseller does all the heavy lifting of finding contact data, automating the email and follow-up process, and syncs all that rich data into 20+ CRMs and ATSs. Reach out and get going in a 2-week *free* trial today and let them know you heard about them from Adam on #thePOZcast.\n\nCheck out a free demo today! https://bit.ly/2Fbm/BZ\n\nThis Episode\u2019s Heavy-hitter\u2019s:\n\nShelley grew up in a home with three sisters, being the second oldest of four. She says although some sisters can be competitive, hers always had a great relationship where they were different from one another, but supported each other.\nLike many of us, Shelley\u2019s first job didn\u2019t bring in a lot of income. What Shelley did get out of her first job was an awesome education in client relationships, marketing, and boots on the ground market research.\n\nShelley had a performance review at her next job at a larger company that changed the course of her life and career forever. She was chastised for being too assertive and essentially doing her job by spending tons of time with clients. This was the impetus for her to leave and pursue the founding of her own business, under her own rules.\n\nWhen starting her company, Shelley could have taken a million dollar investment split equally between her father and husband. She instead took money from statistics company Nielsen, where she gave up a majority of the equity in her business.\n\nBack in 2013, Shelley had the opportunity to go to CES, but had no one to go with. So she reached out to a few of her girlfriends to come instead, told them to invite their girlfriends, and when they got there, they were in a group of about 50 women. This turned a lot of heads at a male dominated conference, and thus the idea for The Female Quotient was born.