Focus on being the best on what you can do and be the best on what you enjoy doing because that’s going to keep you going. But some of the guy stuff you’ve got to let it slide off your back like a duck. I am so embarrassed that I had to tell my daughter not very long ago, “You know, men sometimes, pretty often make more than women do in a job” and she is like, “What?” “Yeah, we were fighting for it in the ‘70s and the ‘80s and it’s still not right.” And I’m very sorry that that is still the situation. And really the only way that it’s going to change is if women continue to ask for the opportunities to prove themselves in ways that won’t be discounted 23 percent whatever it is these days. You have to have a good attitude and hopefully the gender stuff falls away and they focus on what you do, what you contribute, what the outcomes are and the rest shouldn’t matter.
Allison Chisolm Hansen was born in New York, New York in the early 1970s where she attended Chapin High School. Allison met her future husband shortly after college and later had two children with him. By the age of 24, Allison found her way to Somerville, Massachusetts where she resided for nearly two years. In this interview, Allison speaks of wonderful journey and path she took to get to the position she is in today. Living and working in many different places such as New York City, London, and Worcester, Allison shares many of her important past times that molded her into the woman she is today. She discusses the challenges she faced in building up a successful business as a self-employed woman in the workforce. Allison elaborates upon the importance of family businesses in her life and gives advice to future women entrepreneurs. In this interview, Allison also touches on her experiences as a young working mother and the changes that she witnessed in the Worcester/Greater Boston area over the years.