Sterling Champion ’08 credits her time as a Pine Crest student-athlete for much of her professional success. “Pine Crest has honestly played a huge role in my journey thus far,” she said. “Some of the most important doors to open for me came from my connections to Pine Crest.” As a captain of both the girls’ lacrosse team and the cross country team, and the school’s first two-time All-American women’s lacrosse player, Sterling described the skills she acquired in athletics as an asset that she later realized not all people possess. “I learned so much from playing sports, and it shaped me in so many ways. Teamwork, discipline, time management, resiliency, and not being discouraged by failure are among the most important pieces of that foundation, and they taught me that I can persevere through just about anything.”
Upon graduating from Pine Crest, Sterling went on to play college lacrosse all four years at Tufts University, where she majored in Bio-Psychology. “I initially went in under the pre-med track, but as I began to look down the road at what that path meant over the next several years, I realized that I didn’t really like how rigid and all-consuming that path would’ve been,” she said.
Sterling explained that while she remained classified as a Bio-Psych major because of her interest in the subject, she realized that what she really wanted was to work in music. “It was always a passion of mine, but I didn’t fully understand that you could actually have a career in it.
At the time I made that choice, I wasn’t necessarily very happy, so choosing a career in something that made me and others happy was a big deal for me,” she said.
Sterling began exploring the field, not as a musician, but in the live performance arena working behind the scenes. This included production, concerts, events, festivals, and conferences, and eventually, she parlayed that into managing artists.
“Throughout this time,” said Sterling, “I typically held multiple jobs, supplementing the music work with other things here and there. So I’ve actually been working outside of the scope of what would be considered a ‘normal’ job for a long time now. I’ve really tried to maintain as much independence in my work life as possible, because that’s always been really important to me.”
Sterling further detailed the varied professional experience she has had. “I’ve worked in a corporate environment, management, and hourly jobs. It’s allowed me to accrue a perspective of what it's like to work for all types of people and all types of companies. In that sense, I’m very well-rounded and I have a pretty good understanding of many different people and therefore an ability to empathize with their different situations. I do think that’s a big part of why I have success doing what I do now.”
Before describing her current work, Sterling dove deeper into the journey that led her there, highlighting some of the challenges she faced that truly began to shape her path.
“One thing that stood out to me, and was pretty unexpected if I’m being honest, was finding that the corporate environment was a difficult environment for a woman; I was always working under men in charge. What I found was that being a woman really impacted how people treated me and what they thought I was capable of. Coming out of college, I wasn’t really anticipating that. It actually held me back in my career for some time, because I found myself frustrated and confused as to why that was the case. I wasn’t raised to believe that as a woman, I could do any less. I wasn’t treated that way in school either, so it was a bit troublesome and eye opening.”
Seeking a bit more stability, Sterling took her first full-time job outside of music in 2016 at an ad agency. “I was hired as the Office and Culture Coordinator. I feel like it must have been the universe calling me to it because the position seemingly came out of nowhere. I was tasked with running the office, creating programming and steering the culture within the company,” Sterling said. She explained why it was such a pivotal time for her. “This became a significant position for me because it was the first time I worked under female leadership; our Chief People Officer, the head of Human Resources (HR), was a woman. It changed my entire perspective on what going to work could be. She treated everyone fairly and was intentionally respectful of our time. She showed gratitude, was honest, and transparent. It was what I needed the whole time but didn’t know was possible.”
There was another dynamic that Sterling explained as key at the time. “My boss was also pregnant when I worked for her, so as a byproduct, I began learning about parental leave and state laws and policies for it. I began diving deeper into structural workplace inequalities as they pertained specifically to women, and while it was interesting to learn about, the lack of consideration and protection for women was disheartening as well.”
One day in 2017, Sterling began preparing for one of the weekly themed happy hours she hosted at work, with the theme of this particular event set as International Women’s Day. “In an effort to honor that,” she said, “I decided that I was only going to purchase food and beverages from women-owned brands. I went online thinking there would be some sort of centralized database holding that information, but I found nothing that was helpful. I ended up just walking up and down grocery aisles and flipping over packages, looking up LinkedIn pages, combing through articles and having to do a lot of my own research. It turned into a very intensive research project and I just thought to myself, ‘It shouldn’t be this hard.’”
“I couldn’t find items with a women-owned label, but I could find plenty of products that were labeled certified organic, or fair trade,” Sterling said. “I applied that same concept to gender-based ownership, and asked myself, ‘Why wasn’t there a certification that represented women in the workplace?’”
This was the pivotal moment when the entire idea, the basis for Sterling’s company, hit her at once. “As I mentioned before, I’ve always had a fairly entrepreneurial spirit. I just hadn’t felt like any of my ideas were worth pouring time and effort into. This, however, was something that I really believed was important and could have a huge impact. It seemed simple, but even early on I understood that it had the potential to affect how we spend, what companies we patronize, and even how we prioritize who we support as consumers.”
Sterling ventured to a public library in New York City (NYC), where she was living at the time, to comb through their databases and find out how many women-owned companies existed, what percentage of employees were hired, etc.
She found that, as of 2017, roughly 40-42% of companies in the US are 51% owned by a woman or women, with an additional 10% of companies having gender-equal co-ownership. That meant that over half the companies in this country are owned by women. What was more shocking to Sterling, however, was learning that in general, those companies only see 4% of all revenue, and they only hire approximately 8% of all eligible employees.
“I saw this as a major problem,” she said, “and I became even more invested in and passionate about using my idea to contribute to some sort of solution. I really wanted to help bring awareness to these companies and give them more capital to scale or grow or hire people. Whether it stems from a lack of funding, resources, or inequitable levels of education, there are several reasons why historically, women are not set up to succeed in this world of business we have.”
Thus, the Syndicate for Human Equity, Incorporated, or The SHE Mark, was born.
As listed on the company website, “The SHE Mark is a benefit corporation that verifies the work being done across industries to prioritize equal inclusion of all women in the course of business and makes it easier to communicate those efforts using three business certification marks.”
“So how did we proceed, or how do certifications work?” said Sterling. “In general, you can certify anything as long as you have an objective set of standards. Our current suite of certifications has four marks right now. Our array of marks recognizes the many ways in which women and gender-diverse individuals can impact a company.” Those marks have the following requirements:
- Does a company have 50+% women and/or gender-diverse people with equity in the company? You qualify for SHEowns.
- Does a company have 50+% women and/or gender-diverse people in leadership roles or positions of power? You qualify for SHEruns.
- Does a company have 50+% women and/or gender-diverse people in creative and/or innovator roles across all employees? You qualify for SHEmakes.
- Does a company have 50+% of people on the board of directors who are women? You qualify for SHEgoverns.
“I came up with the names and criteria and started telling select people about them,” Sterling said. “I also signed up for a free entrepreneur class offered in NYC. It was a 12-week course, particularly for female founders, where they covered every aspect of what was needed to start a company, which I found extremely helpful.”
Over the course of that process, Sterling started discussing the project with her now co-founder, Ilana Broad, who she actually met through a Pine Crest classmate, Molly Baltimore ‘08. Ilana studied and worked in lobbying, digital organizing, and law, specifically intellectual property law, which lies at the core of their business.
In April 2019, Sterling and Ilana registered the entity. Set to launch in April 2020, the COVID pandemic delayed their process, but the company did finally end up launching a few months later in July of 2020. “You’re talking three years from original idea to official product,” Sterling confirmed.
A great deal of thought and intention was poured into all aspects of the company, from language used to standards identified, to the company logo and even packaging. Sterling went into greater detail about branding on the company website, theSHEmark.com.
Sterling reflected on the difficulty the company faced in its infancy. “It was very challenging in the beginning because we were simply cold-emailing businesses, and many of the responses we received were super strained. At the time, in 2020, everyone was simply trying to survive. The abstract silver lining of the pandemic for us was that it put a giant spotlight on women in the workplace, and not in a manner that, for example, the MeToo movement did. It highlighted the countless issues working women face beyond harassment.”
Working tirelessly to get things off the ground, Sterling confirmed that “our first certifications just after the launch ended up going to companies owned by people that we knew personally.”
One of those individuals was Brooke Bal ’10, a fellow Pine Crest alumna and lacrosse teammate. After founding her company in 2017 called bakebars, DIY protein bar kits, Brooke’s would actually go on to become the very first business to receive a SHEowns certification.
Sterling went on to discuss the big-picture goals of the company. “I do believe that doing business for good is becoming more important and relevant. It’s no longer simply about how much a company can profit, but now more than ever, people are asking ‘How is this impacting people and the planet?’”
“Traditionally,” Sterling continued, “all businesses, companies or corporations in the US have a fiduciary obligation to prioritize profit over everything else. But this certification is essentially a proclamation of duty, that those individuals commit to running a company for good. They must work toward accessibility, public benefit, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and sustainability.”
Sterling emphasized again that integrity and humanity are what drives The SHE Mark. “We subscribe to the Triple Bottom Line – profit, people, AND planet,” she said. As stated in the company mission statement, The SHE Mark seeks to “make gender equality an everyone issue, one SHE-certified company at a time.”
The utility of the company is something that, as Sterling advised, is evolving. “I think that when people hear about the company, the assumption is that we provide a database housing the women-owned companies that they seek to patronize. Initially, I too envisioned us working from that premise. But as we continue to work with our brands directly in our community, we are figuring out how they want to use the mark.”
As Sterling explained, this could include anything from a plaque sitting next to the register of a business, to window decals placed in storefronts, to metal signage that gets mounted next to a company’s entrance signs. “For us, running this company well means that we are always thinking about getting this information in front of consumers in a manner that is useful to them. More so than an online database, we find that people want to go into a store, have our logo jump out at them, and help them make their decision instantly. I want people to walk into a Whole Foods and see our logo up and down the aisles. It has been a fun way to continue growing our consumer awareness,” said Sterling.
“One of the things that I look forward to in reference to growing our database is that we are collecting information about ownership, demographics, a company’s values, other certifications they hold, what percentage of people own which parts of the company, etc. People are interested in more than just gender equality, and we are excited about being able to create an ecosystem where you start with us, because we’ve helped you identify that women are involved, but what else do you care about? What is going to help you be able to shop on a more personal level? Eventually, when we’ve collected enough of this detailed information, we want to be able to start issuing comprehensive reports that have an impact on consumerism around the world,” Sterling said passionately.
When asked to reflect on her time at Pine Crest, Sterling fondly recalls the impact that lacrosse head coach Eileen Pliske had on her. “Coach Pliske recognized my unrealized talents, and she pushed me to be greater. She taught me how to use my potential to be a good team leader. I’m grateful for her because she was a phenomenal female role model that gave me the opportunity to step into my power which, as I learned post-college, is not always easy for women to do.”
Sharing some final, parting words with this year’s seniors, Sterling said, “Don't be afraid to follow a path that is less conventional. Make the most of every opportunity or situation you’re in when it comes to work, because you may not know how that will serve you in the future. Things may not always make sense or feel like they are working for you, but hold steady and trust that those experiences are preparing you. Have faith that while it may not work out the way you want it to, it will work out the way it’s supposed to. Embrace the boring and the mundane, because it is fleeting, and one day you will be too busy to enjoy those moments. Your journey is for you, and everything will be ok!”
