Woman CEO calls for more male allies

Donna Fujimoto Cole knows the difficulties that minority women face in balancing motherhood, career and society.

In 1980, this single mom started a chemical company when female executives were rare, divorce bore a stigma and many people believed Japan’s economic success came at America’s expense.

“Thus, Cole Chemical, and not my maiden name, Fujimoto Chemical,” she told me in her West Houston office. “We tried to do a joint venture with a Japanese company, and even they didn’t want to do business with me because I was Japanese and a woman.”

Fujimoto Cole started her company with $5,000 and the help of men who believed that women should lead businesses, that firms should hire more minorities, and they would bring innovation to the chemical business.

Cole Chemical started by trading chemicals and soon Fujimoto Cole added a warehouse, a blending facility, packaging equipment as well as rail and pipeline distribution. When the chemical market went global, Cole Chemical sold those hard assets in 2004 and shifted to working with clients to make sure they have the chemicals they need, when they need them.

Fujimoto Cole helps clients like Toyota buy chemicals so that a political crisis in Venezuela, a coronavirus in China, or a chemical explosion in Houston does not sink their business. Among many accolades, she’s been named one of Houston’s 50 most influential businesswomen, and the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce inducted her into its Hall of Fame.

She’d like to say women have achieved equality over the last 40 years, but …

“It’s changed maybe 70 percent,” Fujimoto Cole said. “Access to decision-makers is still hard. The leaders of so many of these companies went to school together; they are on all the same boards together. You don’t have that club with the women.”

Fujimoto Cole is changing that by building networks and mentoring young businesswomen. But she knows women need men to change workplace culture.

“We have to find more hes for shes,” Fujimoto Cole said. “They haven’t been trying to run out the door to go to work, and some kid threw up on them or had to change clothes because poop just got on their lap.”

Too often, she still sees women shifting to the mommy track