Influential Women In Business: Anne Devereux Mills

The following is an excerpt from an interview we conducted with Anne Devereux - Mills, as it was originally published on the NQuotient company blog. Click the link to view the entire interview with Anne as she shares with us the story of her journey to success.

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“Influential Women In Business” is an NQuotient blog series that interviews extraordinary professional women leaders. As a company, our goal is to empower women by teaching them how to network more efficiently with the intention of serving as a catalyst to increasing the presence of women in senior management roles. These women have graciously shared a few minutes of their time to tell us what experiences they felt have helped them reach their professional goals. 

 We had the opportunity to catch up with Anne Devereux-Mills and ask her about her personal journey as a woman in business. Anne has a track record of over 25 years in executive leadership within the advertising and marketing arenas. She now focuses her time on projects that empower people both on an individual basis and as a collective.  Areas that are considerably passionate to her include creating communities of connected women, supporting health-related initiatives, delivering quality education, and participating in the arts.

Do you remember a time/incidence you felt you were purposely challenged because you were a woman? How did you handle that?

One incident that stands out to me happened when I was on the board of an advertising agency with one other woman and 35 men. She and I looked very very different than one another; I’m 5’4 and blonde and she was six feet tall with dark hair. Not once, but twice, one particular board member called one of us by the other one’s name. It was a way of saying, “A woman is a woman. You are interchangeable.” Would he have ever called the other men by someone else’s name? Never. There was an unaware (or perhaps conscious) differentiation happening at the table. Aside from talking to the other woman about it, I had to pretend it didn’t happen and move on; it wasn’t a community that would let you bring it up. Now, I wish I had been more outspoken and called more people out on their subconscious or intentional discrimination.

Would you say it is lonely at top or in the space you’re in? On boards that are male dominated? How do you work around that circumstance?

Yes, it’s lonely at the top. At my last job before Parlay house, when I got sick, I could count on two hands the number of people who truly cared. Despite that fact that I was connected to 1000s of people, all of the popularity I had was due to the power I held rather than the relationships. The boards that I’m on are all male dominated. I feel that some sort of awareness is starting to seep in. These men have daughters, and they are starting to realize that by the time their daughters are of the age to become members of a board, they want them to have the opportunity to do so. All goodness starts with an intention. Some industries are better than others, but there is a sense of awakening. One excuse I’ve heard before is, “We want women we just can’t find any.” My response to that is that, “You’re just not looking hard enough. I know so many good women, look outside your circle and you will find them.”

For the complete interview with Anne Devereux - Mills, as it was originally published on the NQuotient company blog, click this link.