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Have you ever walked into a

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business meeting and immediately felt underestimated?

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Or maybe you've had a deal

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where somebody just assumed you didn't

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know what you were doing just

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because you're a woman. Now, today,

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let me tell you some of

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my crazy stories going from zero

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to $10 million and what I

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faced and how I got over

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it. and got through it. In

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this video, you're going to learn

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about unique challenges women face in

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business, ranging from being underestimated, facing

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double standards, and dealing with financial

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biases. More importantly, I'm going to

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share strategies on how to actually

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overcome them, stand your ground with

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confidence, and get through it. Now,

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if you don't know who I

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am, my name is Stacey Tushul,

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I've been in business for over

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22 years, and my businesses generate

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over $10. what she's doing, assumption.

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One of the biggest challenges I

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faced when dealing with men, especially

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older men, is assuming I don't

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understand my own business. Let me

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give you an example. Over a

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decade ago, I bought a commercial

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property for my second location of

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my dance studios. And this building

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had been vacant for many, many

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years. And the guys next door

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were actually using part of the

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property I was now buying and

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now owned. And they were trying

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to number one. convinced me just

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to let them continue using it

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for free. And then finally gave

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me this crazy low ball offer

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to take them up on this

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purchase price of this property. The

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number was so insane that I

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guarantee you if I was their

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age and or a man, they

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would never in a million years

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said that number. But they're sitting

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there looking at me, this young

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blonde girl, right, thinking she doesn't

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know, she's probably going to take

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it, so let's lowball her. So

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here's how you handle it. First

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of all, you never take the

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other person's opinion advice without getting

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a non-biased opinion. So I knew

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my numbers because I had already

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consulted. real estate agent, my contractor

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who was working on the building

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and told me what that land

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was worth, the banker, etc. I

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had not just data on my

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side, but I had other people

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on my side. So even though

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they were very condescending, I made

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sure I was very professional and

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I let them know I appreciate their

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opinion or their offer. But we're

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not even close to what the market

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data actually says. So I wouldn't be

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considering and I wouldn't even be counter

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offering. So I let them know if

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they would like to come back at

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a fair price, I would be more

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than happy to chat. Surprise, surprise, they

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never came back because they realized what

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I was actually going to charge. Now

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even when they didn't get their way

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with the land, they tried to keep

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some of their junk on my property

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and let me tell you I made

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sure I did not stop until that

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was off the property. A lot of

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times they're just gonna hope you

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don't know any better. So reach

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out, start getting other people on

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your side. Who can you ask

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for an outside, unbiased opinion that's

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going to help? get the information,

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the data, the hard facts, you

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need to hold your own. Never

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negotiate from a place of doubt,

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right? Hold your ground and don't

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let them pressure you into a

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lower deal. Now maybe you're in this

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situation and you don't have that data

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yet, but you feel compelled to say

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something. I always tell my business owners,

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listen, you can say Thanks so much

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for the offer. I actually haven't done

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my research. So I'm going to go

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back and I'm going to talk to

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my team and I'll let you know

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what I have to say after I've

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done my due diligence. I think sometimes

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there's a pressure that you have to

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respond in this moment and sound super

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smart. It's okay to say, I have never actually

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researched this or checked this out. But

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now I'm going to, and I'll let

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you know if we're even in the

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same ballpark. It's okay. Number two is

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the too young, too pretty syndrome. Now,

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when I first started out, my landlord

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called me Spacey Stacey. Mind you. I

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was never late on rent. I never

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missed a deadline. I always responded promptly.

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So where did this spacy Stacey nickname

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come from? You got me. And if

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anybody knows me well, the one word

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they would probably never use is spacy.

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But because I was young, I was

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female, I was assumed to be flighty.

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So how do you handle this? Well,

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number one, your reputation speaks louder than

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assumptions. So keep those emails, those records.

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anything that proves reliability. You can use

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humor and directness. So Spacey, Stacey, that's

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funny because I actually manage multiple businesses

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and I never miss a deadline. Right,

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correct those narratives early. If somebody gives

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you a nickname or diminishes your credibility,

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call it out with confidence. That story

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is from 20 years ago. And at

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the time, I didn't have the confidence

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and I just let him call me

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that. And because I didn't stand up

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for myself, he continuously did do it.

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So now, the more older, more mature

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Stacey would never let that slide. And

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I want to give you that confidence

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now to say something and stand up

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for yourself, no matter your age or

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sex. Let's talk about the audit double

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standard. Now, this is a really frustrating

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reality. How women often get scrutinized harder

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than men. A friend of mine was

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doing things that were completely out of

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compliance. Yet when I got audited, they

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nitpicked me on deductions that were 100%

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legitimate. Why? Because I think they assumed

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I wouldn't push back. Versus maybe a

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man would say something. So how do

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you handle this? Well, you need to

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keep detailed records so nobody can your

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legitimacy. Push back with authority. If they

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question you, ask them for the exact

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policy in writing. Call out the double

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standards. If you know others are getting

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a free pass, question, why are you

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being treated differently? Just because they're making

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an assumption, you're not going to say

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anything or you're going to let it

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slide, doesn't mean you need to play

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into what they're doing. Stand up for

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yourself. yourself and make sure you're being

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treated fairly. But also it's important that

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you really do understand the law in

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your state or country. If I didn't

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realize that I was allowed to do

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X, Y, Z, I wouldn't know to

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push back. So when they tell me,

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oh, by the way, you did this

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incorrectly, I might go, oh, okay, and

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just pay that amount. So you have

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to make sure whenever they're doing that,

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you've got to know what is actually

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allowed and not allowed and really use

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that information to push back. All right,

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this one really bugs me. You should

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be nice expectation, right? Women in business

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are expected to be agreeable. If a

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man negotiates hard, he's strong. If a

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woman does the same thing, she's difficult.

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So how do we handle this? You've

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got to detach from the likability trap.

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You're not here to be liked. You're

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here to run a business. And that

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means you need to set clear boundaries.

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It's okay to say I'm not comfortable

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with that. Let's discuss a fair alternative.

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Embrace your directness. You don't have to

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soften your stance to be heard. Go

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with your gut. If something feels off,

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you need to speak up and say

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something. Number five, the emotional label. Have

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you ever had somebody discuss your valid

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concerns as being too emotional? Or worse,

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when you're passionate about something, they tell

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you to calm down. Let's discuss how

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to handle it. Own your passion, but

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stay calm. Don't give them an excuse

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to call you irrational. You want to

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redirect the conversation. This isn't about emotion,

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it's about these results. So document and

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escalate it if needed. If somebody is

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repeatedly trying to undermine you, escalate strategically.

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When I say that, a lot of

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the people that I've been working with,

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they have a boss. So even though

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I'm a boss and I'm not escalating

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it to anybody here internally, sometimes I

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may need to go back to the

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auditor and talk to their boss or

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I need to speak to... my banker's

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direct report. So these are things where

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you may need to go above and

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say, listen, I'm not able to work

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with this person and here's why. I

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demand to speak to somebody else. So

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here's the thing, let them think what

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they want to think. As long as

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you know who you are, you're comfortable

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in your own skin and you don't

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belittle yourself or lower yourself to make

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sure you fit into the mold they're

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looking for. These things will happen, but

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they don't have to stop you from

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what you want. These are just a

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few of the challenges that women face

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in business every day. The good news

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is... None of these are roadblocks. We

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can't overcome. The more we share these

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stories, the more we empower other women

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to stand their ground or negotiate with

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confidence or demand respect that in every

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room they walk into, it's important. Now,

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if you faced any of these challenges,

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or maybe some different ones, I would

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love for you to share them in

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the comments and hear how you may

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be handled them. As a successful small

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business owner, This is part of the

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gig we signed up for. And every

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one of these situations you've had to

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walk through is going to make you

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stronger and ready for the next big

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challenge.