The Other Half : Conversations With Men on Gender Equality Chiara Condi

Jason Rapp is the cofounder of Whisper Advisors, a boutique strategy advisory firm in Santa Monica. He is an experienced investor, operator and M&A dealmaker who loves helping entrepreneurs. Jason tells us why you can be both a feminist and a capitalist because from an economics point of view we all win if there is an equal playing field that allows the best talent to emerge. He tells us that as an investor it is important to invest in diverse teams because different perspectives can help mitigate individual blindspots. Throughout his life, Jason was influenced by strong female role models, including his former classmate at Duke who became class president and got him to first see the importance of feminism. He tells us about why all fathers should be concerned with gender equality, not only those who have daughters. Jason tells us what it feels like to be one of the only guys waiting for his children in front of school and how that has given him insights into the tough choices women face. He tries to actively raise his son and daughter to live by 3 tenets  in life that we can all take away as a life motto: work hard, be kind to others, and have fun.

Matt Friedman is an expert on human trafficking and the founder of the Mekong Club, a Hong Kong based-business association that helps companies free their supply chains from slavery. We talk with Matt about why there are more people today in slavery than ever before in human history (45 million!) and the role of gender inequality in perpetuating modern-day slavery for women. We learn the moving story of Gita, a woman he was unable to save and why it should push each one of us to act to end modern-day slavery to each be part of healing the world.  Matt tells us that it was easy for him to be a feminist growing up sympathising with the struggles of his 3 older sisters.  He was also raided by a mother who handed him his fighting injustice and his talent for storytelling which have certainly influenced his activism. Matt tells us about being the father of two boys and the importance of being present for them on a daily basis in a way his father could not be. And finally we learn why the time has come for men who are allies to spend a lot more time with those who are not.

Today we talk ethics, luxury and gender equality with Manuel Mallen, the founder of Courbet an ethical jewelry company named after the 19th century artist who wanted to dismantle the iconic column of Place Vendome and whose painting, the Origin of the World, is still considered pornography by modern search engines.  After a career in luxury watch making Manuel decided to disrupt the jewelry business by founding an ethical jewelry company (he co founded with a woman, Marianne)  in Place Vendome, the epicenter of the jewelry world, because “knowing the rules makes you a better revolutionary for disrupting the system.’ Manuel tells us that 15 out of 18 of his employees are women because it is important to consider the needs of his customers, and that having a female cofounder adds balance, background and perspective to important decision making within the company. We talk about how women have transformed the jewelry business, from becoming more involved in their engagement rings, to directly purchasing products instead of being gifted them, to embracing new technology and values. Manuel tells us how his daughters have sparked his evolution and alignment with his own values, which is why he asks himself “what kind of world do I want to leave for my children?” before every decision he makes. Now what if we all did just that?

Farhoud Meybodi is an award winning producer and director in LA. In this episode, Farhoud tells us  about the elements of his values that one would call feminists. He tells us how he has always been sensitive to the subject of diversity, growing up in Los Angeles with parents who had immigrated from Iran while being educated in a Catholic school.  Experiences that have impacted  him and made him interested in equality and how people can heal around these issues through collaborative conversations that integrate men.  He tells us about his hard-working mother who showed him that women could do anything by achieving her own success and dreams (as well as teaching him respect for ancestors). Farhoud then tells us how it was the obvious choice for him to delve into the world of media by founding Wayfarer Entertainment, to use storytelling as a way of changing hearts and minds.  We are lucky that one of the positive impact projects the company undertook was Man Enough, a series that interviews well known male figures about equality subjects, such as the MeToo movement. Although no studio wanted to take up Man Enough, forcing Wayfarer to self finance the project and diffuse it through YouTube, the series has been viewed more than 20 million times. 

Han-Son Lee, the founder of DaddiLife, an online media that champions what’s possible for the modern day dad (while there are 4.2 million mom blogs in the world, there are only 1,000 dad ones). He is a frequent contributor on topics related to fatherhood and his work has been featured on the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times. Han-Son talks about how having a son has made him cry a lot more, but also inspired him to create a world where children can aspire to achieve everything they want. We talk about millennial dads who want to be more involved, but also the need to create more spaces and workplaces that allow men to do so, and why we should be more tolerant at work and more inclusive on the playground. Han Son tells us about his inspiring mother (who was also a father) to him, a superwoman who taught him the importance of treating everybody equally. He also tells us about how important it was to be involved in his son’s life from day one, and the awareness that being a divorced parent brought to him about doing things equally. His advice to fathers: know what you want out of fatherhood. Now we believe him when he says he is 110% feminist !

Yann Borgstedt is a successful entrepreneur whose success started with the sale of his first company, Net Architects, in 1996.  Yann decided in 2005 to start his foundation, Womanity, that focuses on women’s education, training, and development in Afghanistan, Brazil, India, the West Bank, Israel, and Morocco. Having always been sensitive to injustice, Yann felt frustrated that half of the world’s population did not have the same rights and opportunities to realize its potential.  Taking an entrepreneurial approach to philanthropy, the Womanity Foundation does things differently.  Whether it is opening a radio station in the Middle East or teaching girls how to code in Afghanistan, it does things innovatively, taking risks that others would not take, building and then scaling upon its successes. And Yann realizes that despite the Foundation’s successes,  changing mentalities is a long haul process.  That’s why he says he has been doing this for the last ten years, and will be doing this for the next ten years. Yann also tells us about his own experience growing up being inspired by entrepreneurial parents, the importance of raising your children equal, and how difficult it is to find a non-pink bike for your daughter.