Jamie McKinney is an author, motivational speaker, and leadership coach. She's the president of JMD Consulting.

“Our mission is to empower women to ditch doubts, speak up and achieve the careers they deserve and desire,” McKinney said.

She is inspiring women worldwide and trying to lessen the gender confidence gap.

“The confidence gap actually starts when women are in middle school," McKinney said. "The sense of belonging outweighs a need for authenticity. Young women make decisions to dampen their confidence or to shrink their aspirations because they just want to fit in, and they don't want somebody to say something negative about their bravery, their courage, their confidence. Then fast forward to the working world and your authenticity is still in there. But if you've been practicing not speaking up, or not exercising your confidence, that's now what you know.”

McKinney says it’s a combination of nature and nurture. Reinforced gender stereotypes mean young girls are often encouraged to play with dolls, while young boys are typically steered toward more aggressive activities. Those experiences plant a seed which McKinney says often leads to a stark difference in one’s ability to be assertive.

“I want to be very careful when talking about the genders, is that it's not all men and all women, but his studies show there are trends,” McKinney said.

Research by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that even when their performance on a task or job is equal to a man's, women describe theirs less favorably. The impact can be quite substantial.

“Men ask for raises four times more often than women do, and when they do, they ask for 30 percent more," McKinney said. "There's an isolated incident that has a certain level of impact, but over the course of one's career, calculations show that that can equate to $1.5 million for an individual's compensation. $1.5 million dollars, simply because one didn't ask.”

McKinney, who started off her career life in male-dominated fields like the automotive and oil and gas industries wants to change that. She’s been coaching women through her three pillars of leadership program. Those three pillars include strengthening self, communicating powerfully and leveling up your career path.

One woman who went through that training to make a difference in her life is Nora Thomas.

“Confidence is definitely something I've struggled with all my life, but it didn't hit me that it was going to be this way for me in the professional world until I got out of college,” Thomas said.

She says McKinney inspired her to start her own marketing and community outreach business.

“I've noticed how important it is to set goals and kind of set that standard for yourself to be like, 'well, actually, where do I want to take this or where can I see myself improving?”

Thomas says a boost in confidence is helping her in all aspects of her life. She wants to encourage other women to take the same leap of faith she did to end the confidence gender gap.

“We unfortunately kind of do work in a world that is run by men and a lot of us and a lot of aspects, which isn't a bad thing, but it's harder for women to grow," Thomas said. "You know, they're hitting the glass ceiling and where are we supposed to go from there?”

McKinney says she hopes to see a world where her job is no longer needed because women feeling empowered to be their authentic selves will be the standard.

“Everyone is born with a certain amount of confidence and confidence is just like a muscle in that the more you build it and condition it and flex it, the more it grows," McKinney said.
 

Related video above: Olympic surfing bittersweet for Native Hawaiians

Johanne Defay of France was devastated when the mega sponsor Roxy dropped her right before she became a pro surfer in 2014, shattering her confidence and threatening her career altogether.

"They were just like 'Oh, you don't look this way, you know, for, like, pictures," Defay said. "And I just felt like I was never doing enough or I wasn't fitting in, in the way that they wanted for their brand."

Now, Defay is headed to the Tokyo Olympics for surfing's debut at the Summer Games, buoyed by an upset win against reigning world champion Carissa Moore at the high-intensity Surf Ranch competition last month.

Though there's much excitement and renewed enthusiasm for the women's game, years of objectification, pay disparities and an opportunity gap have taken their toll. Industry leaders from the professional World Surf League and the developmental USA Surfing say they're committed to righting the wrongs that have long held female surfers back in the male-dominated sport.

The mental, financial and logistical roadblocks for women in surfing date back centuries.

Hawaiians who invented the sport treated it as an egalitarian national pastime that all genders, ages and social classes enjoyed, according to Isaiah Helekunihi Walker, a Hawaii surfing historian. But Christian missionaries who arrived on the island tried to ban surfing in large part because of nudity — surfing naked was common at the sports' inception. Though locals largely defied the colonizers, female surfers saw their ranks shrink disproportionately.

"When it comes to controlling nudity, it's about controlling female bodies," said Walker, also a BYU-Hawaii history professor.

Even for Moore, the child prodigy who could beat the boys before growing up to be — at 18 years old — the youngest World Surf League champion in history, said she's also struggled with her body image. Moore is 28 now and has spoken openly about starving herself as a teenager, only to binge eat later, and once even trying to force herself to throw up.

"Everyone had this idea of what a surfer girl should look like. And there were a lot of 'hot lists' or the 'cutest surfer girl list,'" Moore said. "I never made them, but then you see who actually made them and you feel like: 'Oh, I guess, like, that's what I should look like.'"

Modern day professional surfing in a previous iteration had a decentralized approach that left brand sponsors in charge of many of the competition logistics, which would vary widely from one event to another, said Greg Cruse, USA Surfing CEO. And though it wasn't an official rule or standard, there was clearly a preference for the men's game.

Surfing schedules are determined in the morning based on what the ocean waves are like, and it was no secret that the boys' and men's competitions would be given the best surf conditions, usually in the morning. Female surfers took the scraps, if they were invited at all.

"There'd be the event directors and they would kind of schedule things the way they wanted to schedule and there would be bias from the outdated patriarchy. It's changed immensely," Cruse said. "It took a while for the women to complain about it."

A turning point came in 2013, when new ownership took over the professional league and the rebranded WSL began to prioritize standardizing the competitions and rebuilding the women's events, said Jessi Miley-Dyer, a retired pro surfer who now runs the WSL's competition as senior vice president.

In 2019, the WSL as the leaders of the $10 billion surfing industry also began offering equal prize money for all its events, making it one of the few professional sports leagues to achieve pay equity.

"It was an important statement to make around the value of our athletes. More than anything, it speaks to the emphasis on women's surfing. We believe men and women are valued the same," Miley-Dyer said. "It's the right thing to do."

The announcement was emotional for many, including Miley-Dyer. Back in 2006 when she won a pro event, she earned just $10,000 — a third of what the top male surfer took home.

"I cried because it means so much," Miley-Dyer said. "I had also retired, so it wasn't something for me, but it felt something to me and so many people like me."

Next year will be the first time the WSL will include its women surfers at the famous Pipe Masters competition, allowing them the chance to ride the Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii, considered by many the best waves in the world.

The WSL has also committed to hosting the same number of events and in the same locations for both the men and women, though the competition at the highest level today still has twice as many male competitor spots — 36 — compared to the women's game.

In terms of skill and experience, the damage caused by decades of sexism has not yet been fully reversed.

It used to be that girls could begin competitive surfing training at about 11 years old while boys began as early as 4, Cruse said, adding that USA Surfing has closed this experience gap.

And surfboard makers, like many male leaders in the sport, used to believe that girls and women weren't strong enough to paddle or ride powerfully enough to pull off airs, or aerial maneuvers, so they were given bigger surfboards that are physically easier to ride, but limited their ability to progress into more explosive moves.

So while airs have for years become the gold standard in the men's competition, it is rarely done by the top female surfers today. Moore, the U.S. surfer to beat at the Olympics, is the first woman to land an air during competition, a milestone achieved just recently but has no doubt electrified the women's game and its future.

"They started demanding getting the same type of equipment that allows you to generate more speed and turn sharper and harder," Cruse said. "Right now, there's a group of girls coming up. The girls under 16 are better at airs than any of the women in the WSL. They already have the air game and it's next level and there's going to be a changing of the guard."

For Defay, she persevered during her first year without corporate backing. She remembers feeling humiliated hearing others take for granted their private car services arranged by their sponsors after Defay arrived on a two-hour bus ride in order to save money.

She's thankful fellow pro surfer Jeremy Flores helped sponsor her "insane" rookie season, as a nine-month season can cost as much as $80,000 in travel costs alone.

Now, they're equals, teammates in Japan on the French Olympic surfing team.

The 27-year-old Defay's journey to the pros has made her hungrier than ever to prove her talents and worth at the world's most elite sporting event. And she'll do it with the body she has learned to appreciate, regardless of how any sponsor may have judged her before.

Though Roxy didn't respond to requests for comment on Defay's past sponsorship deal, the surfer declares this:

"I like my shoulders now and my butt," Defay said with a smirk. "It's just what it is and what makes me surf this way, so I try to celebrate it."

Observing Equal Pay Day, President Joe Biden and the White House is welcoming Megan Rapinoe and members of the US Women's National Team on Wednesday.

Equal Pay Day has been observed every March since 2013, which was the 50^th anniversary of when President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. Proponents are lobbying to close the gender gap in pay and job advancement. Data shows that women on average make 82 cents on the dollar compared to men. Women of color make even less than their male counterparts.

Biden is set to address Equal Pay Day from the White House Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier on Wednesday, Rapinoe spoke before Congress about the disparity in pay and benefits for players on the men’s and women’s national teams.

"There's no level of status and there's no level of accomplishments or power that will protect you from the clutches of inequity,” Rapinoe said. “One cannot simply outperform inequality or be excellent enough to escape discrimination of any kind. We don't have to wait, we don't have to continue to be patient for decades on end. We can change that today, we can change that right now. We just have to want to."

Lawmakers in Arkansas passed legislation to ban gender-affirming treatments for transgender youth earlier this year, becoming the first state to make such a move. Now the ACLU is fighting back.

They have filed a lawsuit against state officials representing two physicians, four trans youths and their parents. The Brandt family is among them.

“It was years of going back and forth, trying to figure out who I was," said Dylan Brandt, a 15-year-old trans youth.

Self-discovery has been a journey for Dylan but two years ago everything changed when he handed his mom a letter.

“And in the letter he signed it 'your son Dylan,'" said Joanna Brandt, Dylan's mother.

That summer was a new beginning for this transgender teen. Nearly a year later was the start of hormone therapy. Dylan and his mother Joanna say that was the answer to much of his depression and anxiety.

“Most of that went away. The anxiety about going out to places, going to see people, gone. It changed everything. I’m so much happier, I’m so much more confident," Dylan said.

“It’s all of the things that give him the space to fully encompass externally how he feels on the inside," Joanna said.

Now, nearly ten months later, all of Dylan's progress could come to a halt. Arkansas, his home state, has passed a bill that would ban health care professionals from providing transition-related care to transgender minors.

Holly Dickson, the Executive Director of ACLU Arkansas says this ban has already done damage.

“This is such a sweeping government intrusion into the private lives of these young people. They have been targeted because they are transgender young people and it takes away their parents' autonomy to work with their physicians and make the best decisions for themselves," Dickson said.

“We’ve had at least six trans youth attempt suicide just since the time they heard these bills were filed. It is absolutely horrible.”

“That gender-affirming medical care that they are trying to take away from him is that thing that has allowed him to be exactly who he knows he is, exactly who I know who he is, in a way that he wasn’t able to before and he would not be able to if this ban actually took effect," Joanna said.

Arkansas Republican Sen. Alan Clark, the sponsor of the bill, claims the bill is necessary for protection. He denied our interview request but made these comments on the Senate floor about gender-affirming treatment for youth:

“At best, experimental, and at worst, a serious threat to a child’s welfare," Clark said.

Teenagers like Dylan couldn’t disagree more.

“It’s not just something that we wake up one day and say, 'hey I want to do this. Because that seems fun.' No it’s not fun," Dylan said.

“People think that these kids come to their parents and say, 'hey, I’m transgender, I want hormones,' and we go, 'sweet,' and we go out the next day and we get them for him, without seeking out the advice and the expertise of those in the field. That’s not what happened," Joanna said.

Clark claims that children are too young to make this decision before turning 18 years old.

“But this is certainly not the answer, it is not the answer today. This does not stop anyone at 18 from doing whatever they want to do. But it does protect children from making mistakes that they will have a very difficult time coming back from.”

But Joanna says age is not a factor when it comes to knowing who you are.

“I don’t need to be 18 before I know who I am and these kids don’t either," Joanna said.

Arkansas' bill is pushing families out of the state they call home.

“At this point in my life, I have been seeing more families who are thinking about and who are leaving the state of Arkansas because of this bill and other anti-trans-legislation that was filed and passed this session," Dickson said

Former Republican state Rep. Dan Douglas has voted for some anti-trans bills in the past.

“I would have voted against this bill," Douglas said. “I don’t think the legislator and some of these very extreme bills and these very extreme votes really represent the accepting nature of the state of Arkansas.”

This, he says, is too black and white. It needs exceptions.

“Whenever legislation gets in the way of physician patient treatment and decisions, then we are interfering and we're going too far," Douglass said.

“The government doesn’t have any business getting in the middle of medical between parents, patients, and medical professionals, it’s not their lane," Joanna said.

Arkansas is the first state to make this move, but according to the ACLU, similar bills have been or are being considered in 19 other states.

"Every major medical organization in the nation opposed this law," Dickson said.

As families like Dylan’s fight against this, they remind us: this isn’t just policy, this is their lives.

“We are real people with real feelings," Dylan said.

“He is every bit the boy that any other boy I know is," Joanna said.

CHICAGO, Ill. — At a time when legislation is being written that affects people who are transgender or nonbinary, one who doesn’t identify exclusively with any gender, young influencers are sharing their own stories.

A series of books written by teenagers aims to help foster understanding and clarity about what it means to come out as a young person and thrive.

Gia Parr, 17, came out as transgender three years.

“I've always known I was a girl since I was two,” she said. “I just didn't really have the words for it.”

Now a high school senior, the teen has found those words and put them to paper as one of the co-authors of "A Kids Book About Being Transgender."

“The word ‘transgender,’ I feel like it can be such an adult term and it can sound so scary,” said Parr. “And to put it in words meant for kids and to be able to educate them is so important.”

The books are being released as part of global storytelling campaign led by 18 young people like Parr from around the country.

“Most people in our country tell us they've never met anyone who identifies as transgender or nonbinary,” said Jen Grosshandler, the co-founder of the GenderCool Project.

The nonprofit advocacy group is collaborating on the campaign with the publishing company A Kids Book About.

“It's going to help people really see this incredible growing community for the beauty and positivity of who they are,” said Grosshandler.

The youth-led GenderCool movement was inspired by Grosshandler’s own family. Her youngest child, Chazzie, proudly identifies as transgender.

“I find it so important as just a 14-year-old for someone to accept me for the way I am and who I am,” said Chazzie Grosshandler.

The series of books share personal stories about being transgender – but also nonbinary. The third book in the series tackles inclusivity.

“Our books, they fundamentally work as conversation starters, not conversations enders,” said Jelani Memory, the founder of A Kids Book About.

“These young people, they want to be seen as individuals, as people, as fine and OK the way they are, that they are happy, that they're healthy, that they're whole. And that's really true about all of our books,” said Memory.

For teens like Chazzie, she hopes the positivity of this storytelling series will be eye-opening for people of all ages.

“It just, it means a lot to me,” said Grosshandler. “And I know there's so many people in the world who aren't accepted, and I just hope that they know that they are loved for who they are.”

Parr says her dream is to return to her elementary school to read her book and support others.

“It would have been really important for a student like me sitting wondering ‘why am I like this or who am I? Why do I feel so quote unquote, different from my peers?’ To know that they are in good hands,” she said.

All three books are already available for pre-order and expected to hit bookshelves in June – just in time for pride month.