International Women’s Day 2019: The Powerful Goddesses That Inspire Me

Today is International Women’s Day 2019, a day to celebrate and acknowledge women all over the globe. I believe that 2019 is almost seeing a gender revolution happen in front of our eyes. Women’s liberation 2.0 is happening and although in many ways there’s a long way to go, I feel this is an exciting time to be a woman.

This year’s campaign theme is #BalanceforBetter, encouraging us to take a stance against bias and strive for a more gender equal world. A gender balanced world is beneficial for all of us (male and female, and all those not on a binary scale) and for me, it is a great excuse to acknowledge and celebrate the strong people – especially powerful Goddesses – that I have surrounded myself with in life.

Female Friends

I feel like at the end of 2017/start of 2018 I really started to be more selective with my close friends and especially surround myself with a whole girl gang of strong, independent ladies who don’t need to no man. In 2019, I feel this has really peaked and with this renewed energy I have from my 2019 Resolutions, I have no problem cutting off anyone who is negative, bitchy or half-arsed. This is a positive vibes only zone reserved for powerful Goddesses, and I am so blessed to know so many of them.

There really does seem to be something about age and experience that helps you start to gravitate more towards like-minded individuals and I feel so grateful to be in such great company with my pockets of different friendship groups. Some friends are from previous jobs, others are from university, others I grew close to over shared hobbies and others we met through this digital blogging world, but all of which have their own individual qualities and quirks and ALL of which are incredible cheerleaders for myself.

I thank my friends for being my cheerleaders in my career, for keeping my feet on the ground, for keeping me sane and balanced when I am self-destructive, for cheering me up when I need it and for quite literally carrying me home and putting me to bed when I have been my most vulnerable.

Careers and Colleagues

My career is the central point in my life and through it I have been lucky to meet a whole host of strong ladies that inspire me daily. From previous jobs, I retain friends who have become mentors and are great soundboards for advice and checking myself, who also are quick to say ‘well done, keep going’ when they feel like no one else would have. Through blogging, I have met digitally aligned colleagues in a female-centric community who all push for similar goals and, in my handpicked circle, hold each other up and praise us for our efforts.

In my full-time career, I have never felt as strong and confident in my own abilities as I am now, and that comes through peaks and troughs and challenges and learning. I remember asking my boss at my second job, now a mentor and dear friend, why I wasn’t ready to be promoted to a Senior Manager. ‘Time’ he said, ‘you can’t each experience’. I didn’t understand at the time, but now I do. And I am only 28, there is so much more to come.

As the Head of Marketing and Communications for a luxury brand now, I am conscious to help develop my own team and raise them and teach them, whilst also remaining inspired by my senior colleagues. I am proud to work alongside a handful of strong women here, who support, challenge and inspire each other daily, both in the UK and across the globe. I am particularly proud to work on the Senior Leadership Team alongside female colleagues in Geneva and New York as despite being miles apart we find ways to connect and openly share ideas to help each other succeed on an almost daily basis. Collaboration is key.

Family Leaders

My family is full of strong women and their supporters, who have helped me to become the woman I am today. My mother, the matriarch of our family, who gave up her career for us and dedicated her life to raising her children. When I was younger, I couldn’t understand the strength in giving up your career to raise a family and ignorantly, the thought of it seemed to contrast to feminism. Now that I am older and more open-minded, I can see that becoming a mother is potentially the strongest and most challenge choice you can make as a woman.

That is not to forget my father, who worked his ass off to give us the best opportunities in life. My little sister, a strong-minded and stubborn as hell young woman who sticks up for herself, and my little brother, who surrounded by women, has grown to be a caring and thoughtful boyfriend to his first girlfriend.

My aunties – on my father’s side, a kick-ass career woman who works hard to make big boss money and lives the best standard of life. On my mother’s side, our sadly and very recently departed Auntie who was always, always proud of my sister and I for doing well, her special nieces, and always told us how much she loved us. Her funeral last week was fittingly ran by an all-female funeral director and team, which she would have bloody loved.

My grandma, an 86 year old machine who says exactly what’s on her mind and does exactly what she wants, whenever she wants.

Like the quotes says: ‘here’s to strong women may we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.”

Allies and Acceptable Males

Although in 2019 I have little energy for men in general, and absolutely zero for them romantically, I am grateful to have a couple of exceptional male friends in my life who are great allies to myself and my friend friends. Not only do they respect me and my career, but consistently challenge me to push boundaries and take part in active conversations surrounding gender norms and the status quo.

No longer am I taking part in useless debates with men on dating apps who like to tell me patriarchy doesn’t exist. Or date men who bring nothing to the table. And waste my time entertaining males for the sake of company. Until I meet a male who can understand me, bring tangible value to my life and support me in my goals, romantic suitors in 2019 won’t even be acknowledged with a reply from me. In fact, they’ll be left on read so they can see exactly when I stopped caring.

Take the text I got this morning below – an example of a wholesome, enlightened male that any woman would be lucky to have in their life, and a small representation of the love I have around me in the form of my allies.