Felicia M. Lopes

Why We Exist​

 

When the Recession finally lifted between 2014 and 2016, it actually never lifted for millions of middle-aged women. Back then the pundits had the nation believing that unemployment had decreased due to the job market opening up, however, this was just not true.  In 2020, COVID hit the world and utterly changed the workplace.  COVID increased the pressure on working mothers, low-wage and otherwise. In a survey from May and June 2022, one out of four women who became unemployed during the pandemic reported the job loss was due to a lack of childcare, twice the rate of men surveyed.  Of the 16.9 million people unemployed between May 2020 and September 2022, 9.6 million (57 percent) were unable to work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic. Among the unemployed, the vast majority of those on temporary layoff in July were unable to work because of the pandemic (78 percent). 

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Middle-aged women are in transition and still, today often find that they have a difficult time in the corporate sector either getting and/or staying employed or advancing due to the proverbial "glass ceiling' or due to their age, as they are now seen as "old and no longer relevant" to this youth-obsessed, millennial and Gen Z-driven society.  It seems that experience is not valued in the majority of corporate culture, so entrepreneurship is the viable solution to allow for the greatest financial returns! 

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Felicia's Story

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Felicia stopped her 25+ year career in 2014 in NYC and Hollywood and returned home to Dallas, Texas to care for her mother who had contracted leukemia.  She jokingly states that since there was no theatrical industry in Dallas she started BusyGal out of desperation rather than inspiration!  She further states "It sometimes seemed as though I would have had better luck being struck by lightning twice, in the same spot, before I could get a job back then." Felicia floundered for a couple of years as she grappled with who she had been as a Broadway Theatrical Professional juxtaposed against who she actually was - a highly trained and educated professional who was struggling to get a job whilst being the primary caregiver for her over 80-year-old mother.

 

Upon speaking with many other middle-aged women, and doing some research, she realized two things; millions of women around this nation grapple with the same issues, and there are serious problems of AGEISM and SEXISM in corporate America as millions of women continue to face these harsh and insulting realities!  No matter the strides forward over the years it's even worse if you are non-white, so RACISM continues to play a part in denigrating brilliant older women in the corporate workplace!

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The bottom line is Felicia bootstrapped this business, in order to provide a platform for all Women over 40 who want to be educated and empowered toward entrepreneurship.  Her mission today is to change and influence the global conversation about entrepreneurial women and within the next 10 years, educate and empower 100,000 Women Over 40 as small business owners, by providing platforms for meaningful peer connections and socialization, fully building out a ROKU Television Channel (BGTV) featuring original programming designed to inspire and encourage women to make the leap to entrepreneurship and provide them with a platform of valuable and affordable business services to ultimately help them become better entrepreneurs and build businesses that they love!