She pays her bills, mate

Purpose – This poem aims to offer a concise representation of practised gender bias, in favour of the male, in business dealings, and to challenge that behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – The poem takes a fictional form. Findings – The poem emphasises the value of money as a symbol of power capable of overriding assumptions about the relative dominance of the male in business negotiations, together with assertive behaviour on the part of the female. Research limitations/implications – The poem underlines and challenges the tendency of some men to assume that women have only limited control over wealth in the world of commerce. Originality/value – The brief poem, rendered as an account in the first‐person point‐of‐view, presents an encounter in which a chauvinistic environment must adjust to the reality that women necessarily perform an important financial role.