Women’s Day

Women are familiar with not being seen and not being heard in corporate spaces, whether that’s not being listened to in a meeting, or not being invited to the table.
At many points in our working lives, there’s this feeling of dropping off the radar, of feeling forgotten, of no longer being supported in our careers. From the very start, we’re labelled as “too something”; too young and inexperienced, too pregnant, too time-poor. With each “too”, we hear we’re not enough, or we’re too much, and with each “too” we’re a little less seen and a little less heard.

Unless we fit a narrow, everchanging framework of what women in business “should” be, our voices are discounted and we fade into the background. We need to ensure our voices are heard and we are seen throughout the entirety of our careers. We need to give each other permission and grace, not that we should need to.

Supporting women in business has traditionally looked like letting the ladder down for the next generation to climb. This idea needs to be reworked, and the ladder rethought. Women in business are not just looking for a singular entry point these days, they’re making vertical, horizontal and diagonal moves, and the ladder needs to support these movements. Empowering women in business requires creating more pathways and rungs on the ladder, to ease the climb. To ensure we aren’t limited or feel confined to a specific pathway that isn’t the perfect fit, and that our career options are as wide and varied as the lives we get to live outside of them.

We need to be the change. To be allies to one another, to open new doors, to create and hold spaces, and back each other. Just as it’s important to have men advocating for us, we need to uplift, empower and advocate for ourselves. To act as a voice for those that are feeling unseen and unheard, and to empower and support those who are making their voices heard. Being an ally takes many shapes and forms, with mentorship, policy work, and advocating for one another, just a few of them.

As women, it's our responsibility to have our voices heard and be seen.