March Is Women’s History Month. It’s Time to Celebrate the Ladies.

March Is Women’s History Month
It’s Time to Celebrate the Ladies

Since 1981, Women’s History Month has recognized women’s vital role in American history. Four decades later, women are still making history by showcasing their financial influence and strength as consumers and inheritors in a world where they were previously marginalized.

As consumers
The numbers confirm that women drive consumer spending. In 2023, TechCrunch reported that “women control or influence” over 85% of consumer spending. According to Capital One, women are more likely to shop in person rather than online, which is a positive for local economies. As we begin the third month of this year, two recent events demonstrate the power of women as consumers.

• Stanley Quencher
For over 100 years, Stanley, founded in 1913 by William Stanley Jr., manufactured a line of beverage containers that kept cold liquids cold and hot liquids hot. Stanley’s approach, while novel at the time, broke tradition by lining its beverage bottles with stainless -steel instead of the more fragile glass that lined the Thermos bottles that were popular at the time. For years, business clipped along at a respectable pace, then, in 2016, the company introduced the 40-ounce Quencher. By 2019, the Quencher had received such mild reception that Stanley stopped stocking and marketing them. Then one woman turned everything around.

Ashlee LeSueur, the cofounder of a Utah blog called “The Buy Guide,” purchased one of the Stanley Quenchers in 2017. She liked the product so much that she gave it as a gift and recommended it in the blog. Concerned that the product began disappearing due to lack of sales, she contacted Stanley to convince them to continue production. Instead of altering production, the company suggested she buy 5,000 of the Quenchers and sell them to the individuals who read the “The Buy Guide.” She did; they sold quickly, and a viral craze was sparked.

Since then, the Quencher has been Stanley’s top-selling product, lifting the company’s annual revenue from $70 million to more than $750 million in four years. Weighing 1.4 pounds when empty and 4 pounds when full, women now strengthen their wrists and express their individuality by carrying colorful steel Stanley Quencher tumblers that hold their favorite beverages. Today, the Quencher comes in more than 100 colors and limited editions sell out immediately. All because of one woman’s tenacity.

• Super Bowl LVIII
On February 11, 2024, 123.7 million people watched the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. While the game watchers included football’s diehard male fans, there was also a 24% uptick in women ages 18-24 who joined the audience for the first time. The difference? Many sports pundits and the leadership of the NFL credit Taylor Swift’s presence and her obvious interest in the game’s outcome as the reason that a record 58.8 million women (47.5% of the game’s total audience) watched the game. Yet another way women are moving the numbers.

As inheritors
You’re familiar with the Great American Wealth Transfer. Between now and 2045, $84.4 trillion will pass from the Silent and Baby Boomer generations to their heirs. Gen X and Millennial women will control an estimated $30+ trillion, and control two-thirds of the wealth in the U.S. When they do, expect things to change.

It’s a well-known fact that women are more philanthropically motivated than men. According to a 2022 Bank of America “Giving with Purpose” study, eighty-five percent of charitable giving decisions in affluent households were made by women. Additionally, they don’t just give money, they also show up. Bank of America also reported that more women (42%) than men (33%) spent time volunteering in 2022.

Along with younger investors, women also make a statement about how they invest by including more ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investments in their portfolios. UBS, RBC, and Merrill Lynch are three financial service industry giants that have highlighted women’s preferences for aligning their investments with their values. Consistent with those values is their interest in supporting organizations that prioritize women, girls and women focused issues.

Women aren’t content to rely upon their past accomplishments, at local, national, or global levels. Instead, they will continue making history today that we will celebrate in the future.