With the iconic Mary Tyler Moore honored for lifetime achievement at the Screen Actors Guild awards this past Sunday, it got us thinking about about her TV show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the influence it had on women’s role in the work place.

Mary Richards, the show’s title character played by Moore, quickly became the woman’s role model of the 1970s. Never before had a happily single, 30-something working woman been portrayed on television. Ask your grandmothers — she was quite the revelation. 

Smart, independent, and making it on her own, she fought for what she believed was right — including equal pay for equal work. In one particularly memorable episode, Mary confronts her boss, Mr. Grant, after learning the male producer she replaced was paid a higher salary. Not only did she get her raise, but she shed a light one of the most pervasive issues for women in the business world — one we’re grappling with even today.

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“You can’t change your gender. Plus, you are in the good company of 50% of the population. The key is to figure out how you can get what you specifically want with your unique challenges, strengths, and circumstances. The rest is noise.”

-Gina Bianchini
Founder of Mightybell

As quoted in Executive Suite: Gina Bianchini Says Don’t Focus On The Challenges Of Being A Woman
by Meredith Lepore and featured on The Grindstone