Women in Business Today

After having much success with weight loss and life enjoyment in “French women dont get fat”, i preordered this book months in advance and waited with baited enthusiasm.

I set aside the whole weekend to read this and as i began turning page after page, my enthusiasm dropped from a curious excitement to a disappointing scowl.

Just because she lives in new york and earns over half a million a year does NOT mean that the rest of the population can live like this even if they wanted to.

She seems to relish and brag about the fact that she gets to travel and stay in 5 star hotels every few months and smugly ends the sentence with “its a tough job but somebodies got to do it”.

To me this arrogance is inappropriate and screams to the readers “screw you im rich!”

She makes fun of her ‘case studies’, saying the lifestyles of a majority of Americans (e.g buying in bulk and shopping only every few weeks) is not a way to live. She fails to realize that most people dont have a choice and HAVE to live this way, as not everybody can live 5 minutes away from an organic farmers market.

Its like this woman has never even stepped into rural America, nor bothered to see how the other half live.

one word of advice Mireille, do humanity a favor and donate a weekend to a low socio-economic charity, maybe this might bring your head out of the clouds and your empathy for those less fortunate.

I will give you one more chance and buy the upcoming cookbook, hoping that is has more of the Mireille we all love and respect.

until then, go to hell.
Rating: 1 / 5

Whatever Mireille Guiliano does, she does with class and savoir faire. I have long been a fan of her books since her first book, “French Women Don’t Get Fat”. Mireille understands what it is to balance career and marriage and how to navigate the oft treacherous path of being a woman in a man’s world, particularly in the international corporate world. Every savvy woman knows at least a little bit about how to behave in social situations, but Guiliano gives some very often not considered perspectives. Even in the era of email, text messaging and PDA’s she really does have some good advice and points on how to keep that balance and still maintain respect in the workplace Mireille as head of Veuve Clicquot Champagne has mastered the art of being a tough, no-nonsense business woman who inspires loyalty in those who work for her and she does it with sensitivity and genuineness. Mireille Guilano shows that it is definitely more than possible to be feminine and still successful and that the two things are not mutually exclusive.

Mireille has written an excellent and practical guide that all business women, young or maybe even those women considering a second career would benefit fro. She has filled the book with practical advice such as not being afraid to take risks, firing your boss if necessary in order to hook your star to a talented and dynamic leader, finding something you are passionate about and beomg realistic and honest enough to lay it on the line and say that you want to get ahead, as a woman, you have to work both harder and smarter than everyone else to succeed. I would personally agree. Most women in business, particularly in America, do not have hte level of sophistication necessary in the global marketplace. They come off as far too agressive, far too loud, too emotional and quite frankly, too often coming off as being some sort of “pseudo-man” in a skirt or designer pants suit doesn’t cut it. I disagree with the reviewers that say the author is simply full of herself. I think they missed the important point. Female executives or up and coming women, especially in the US, are quite often missing the “class” chip that is necessary even today in this world, whether they like it or not. In a global economy, this is very important. Mireille Guiliano gives some clues as to what women need in order to give them that self-confidence and assuredness that guarantees that a woman never necessarily raise her voice, resort to streams of profanity or behaviours in order to get her point of view across. She also advises using timing and above all cultivating your image both publically and privately. Mireille even includes a few recipes for entertaining in business which I would like to try myself.

I would definitely recommend it for any woman in business and would also recommend the book, “Outclassing the Competition” by Jan Darling. This book, though written in the 80’s and out of print, can still be found used here on Amazon. Both are excellent primers that give very good advices as to navigating societal do’s and don’ts, in spite of Jan Darling’s book being a little outdated.

Rating: 4 / 5

The latest book by former Veuve Clicquot CEO Mireille Guiliano is titled, Woman, Work & The Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense and Sensibility. In this entertaining book, she offers her personal experience as a mentoring opportunity, especially for women in business. Each of her stories makes a key point. She offers practical, plain-spoken advice, all based on her own experience. While aimed at women, much of her advice applies to men (if we are willing to read and pay attention). Any reader who thinks he or she would benefit from the experience of a mentor who was a successful executive will find something useful on the pages of Woman, Work & The Art of Savoir Faire. Someone young and inexperienced is more likely to find this book to be of practical benefit; others may find some entertainment value in the stories Guiliano shares.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

Rating: 3 / 5