Consider the roles of women through the ages. We all remember June Cleaver on television. She was the stay at home mom who, in all outward appearances, deferred to her husband. As we watched the story unfold each week, we realized that June actually ran the house with an iron fist behind that dainty apron. The roles of women have changed dramatically since then. While we are still responsible for running the household, we are now also running our careers and boardrooms as well. Women are now struggling right along side men to balance their work and family life.

Womenomics – Write Your Own Rules for Success by Claire Shipman and Katty Kay is an excellent book to help women identify and succeed at finding the perfect balance between their work and personal life, most importantly, without the guilt. The book starts with a chapter entitled Womenomics 101. This chapter discusses the changing roles of women. Businesses and employers have come to realize that women have developed a mighty power in both the marketplace and the workplace. Womenomics 101 sets up the discussion on realizing that this power can ultimately be used to get women what they need and want to balance their personal life against their professional career.

The end of each chapter provides readers with “news you can use” based on the subject of each chapter. For example, the chapter “Goodbye Guilt (And Hello No)", provides four pieces of news you can use. This chapter deals with how to say “no” without increasing the guilt factor. The "news" states, “Guilt is a useless emotion that keeps you from achieving work-life sanity.” The chapter also contains exercises for the reader to engage in such as the “NO Workout”.

The authors did not fill the book with useless facts and statistics. They provide real life examples that readers can identify with. The examples are based on the real life experiences of the authors and other women in similar situations. The book is not just about lecturing. Womenomics provides scenarios and exercises to engage its readers.

Womenomics – Write Your Own Rules for Success is an excellent resource for women in the workplace trying to balance their work and family life. Womenomics provides women with many thought provoking ideas and questions worthy of starting a journal to capture the journey the book takes them on. With excellent coaching and direction, the authors show their readers how to chart a powerful course to a deeper meaningful life that involves both home and work. Womenomics will help you to realize that you CAN have it all.