Despite making up half of the world’s population, less than 2% of venture capital goes to women. Even with the odds against them, that hasn’t stopped female entrepreneurs from chasing their dreams as seen in the new documentary “Show Her the Money.”
The film, directed by Ky Dickens, follows a number of women around the world, all with different types of businesses, as they try to get their companies off the ground, deal with setbacks and, unfortunately, face misogynistic comments along the way. Their businesses range from beauty products to canned wines to products for breast cancer survivors, with companies located in India and across the United States.
“Show Her the Money” also gives viewers a look into the lives of female investors and how they search for “unicorns,” or a private startup valued at more than $1 billion. Those include Dawn Lafreeda, who went from a Denny’s waitress to building an empire with more than 80 diners, and Pocket Sun, who started a group dedicated to female entrepreneurs while at the University of Southern California and later launching SoGal Foundation and investing in global companies.
Catherine Gray, a Palm Springs resident and the founder of She Angel Investors, and “Cagney & Lacey” star Sharon Gless also joined the journey as executive producers. The two are trailblazers in their own ways − “Cagney & Lacey” paved the way for female-led series, and Gray has been a longtime activist for women’s and LGBTQ rights − and they’ve found a new passion in seeing women succeed financially. Gray’s She Angel Investors connects women business owners to funding opportunities, as is showcased in the documentary.
“Show Her the Money” will be screened across 50 cities around the world, including Palm Springs. The screening will take place 6 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center. A post-film panel discussion will be held with Gray, Gless and Lafreeda and associate producers La Keisha Landrum Pierre, Helen Fanucci and John Majeski.
Ahead of the film’s screening, Gray and Gless spoke with The Desert Sun about their involvement in the business world and how they hope to impact audiences with “Show Her the Money.” This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Desert Sun: How did you two get involved in this film and the world of venture capital and investing?
Sharon Gless: I’m the newcomer in this. But I have to tell you, it’s inspired me so because my background in feminism has been extensive with ‘Cagney & Lacey.’ But then to have this come my way, to be able to help women have money and the same amount of money that men get. I was able to watch the pitches being made and watch these women who are in our movie succeeding now, it’s exciting. It lights up the screening room, it makes you cry …
Catherine Gray: And laugh!
For about the past decade, I’ve been putting on events for women to help empower them in various capacities. One year, I did a pitch fest because I found out that women only got 2% of the funding. I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ I had a panel of women investing in women, filmed it, followed their journeys to see how it impacted them to get those women behind them, and found that women investing in other women gave those women confidence. It wasn’t just about money, but also about mentorship, people opening the doors for you with connections. Then I thought, ‘Hey, this would make a great TV show or documentary.’
DS: It is quite unbelievable that less than 2% of venture capital goes to women, and yet they make up half of the world’s population.
CG: That’s why we made the film. Most people don’t know that, and I always do the reverse and say, ‘Men get 98% of all the venture capital funding.’ The problem is a lot of women and men don’t understand what venture capital is, and yet it’s so important to our world and our society. That’s why we made the film and that’s why we’re taking it on a 50-city tour. We want to educate and inspire as many women and men out there about what is venture capital and why should it matter to you.
DS: As viewers, we get to spend so much time with these female entrepreneurs from all over the world. You get a great sense of who they are, what their journey consists of and the struggles they have to face.
CG: What we hope is that people see themselves in the movie in one of the roles. It’s why we have three different sets of types of women that are in this ecosystem and how they all come together. We have the women that are starting their own funds. More women than ever in history are starting their own funds, and to me, these women are the rock stars of the venture capital, they’re the unsung heroes. Nobody really knows about them, and here they are raising $50-$100 million to invest in women and BIPOC and LGBTQ people that are not getting funding. Then we showcase the women investing in these women, women like Dawn Lafreeda and Wendy Ryan, who are successful in their own right, have their own fascinating stories and they’re investing in these funds. Then the third set of women are the women who are the entrepreneurs with the innovative ideas that wouldn’t be getting funding if it wasn’t for these female-founded funds.
As a viewer, you get to look at it and say, ‘OK, well, what are part could I play in it? Am I going to be the woman starting the fund? Am I going to be the woman investing in the fund? Or maybe I’ll be the entrepreneur that gets funding from these funds.’ But in any case, anyone sitting in the audience can see themselves in the film.
DS: Sharon, we get to see your friendship with Dawn at certain points throughout the film. What have you learned from her over the years?
SG: Dawn Lafreeda is a fascinating woman. She started from poverty as a child and built an empire of Denny’s diners. … She’s taught me (a lot), I’m not clever. Dawn runs my money. But it’s because of Dawn that I went to the filming of the pitches that were being made by the women who needed money to a series of women who had money. That’s what broke my heart and got me so hopeful. It’s so inspiring to see your own sex step up and help other women. They always say women are cats, but this movie is women loving other women and wanting them to succeed.
DS: Why did you want to take this film on a global tour?
CG: The whole reason we’re taking it on this grassroots tour is to engage people in the conversation. We’ll also be taking a survey of our audiences so they can let us know if they’re investors or do they want to be investors. At the end of the day, we want to know how many people we touched, how many were moved by it, what the metrics are. The other good part is we’re sending them to our website that has an entire resources page, so they can get in touch with venture capital firms, workshops that will help them learn more, books that should be on their radar.
DS: Catherine, since you’ve moved to the Palm Springs area, have you had conversations with women in the Coachella Valley about investment opportunities or business ideas? What are your overall impressions of the area and the entrepreneur landscape?
CG: My wife and I just moved here, so we’re just starting to meet fabulous people. I know there’s a lot of dynamic women out here, and I think that once they see the movie and learn about venture capital, we will be having those conversations.
I feel like the women out here, maybe it does skew a little bit older, but you’re never too old to start a business, and certainly there’s great opportunity for women here to get behind women venture capital funds to then help women and BIPOC and LGBTQ by becoming investors in those. I think they’re going to be very excited to learn about it and meet the women that are involved in our film.
If you go
What: Screening of the documentary “Show Her the Money”
When: 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12
Where: Palm Springs Cultural Center, 2300 E. Baristo Road, Palm Springs
How much: $15
More information: http://tinyurl.com/ShowHerTheMoneyPalmSprings
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ema_sasic.
