Gender Equality & Women Empowerment

Inspiring Women in Business Conference, a day full of with powerful speakers, inspiring stories and experiences.

My top takeaways from this day:

• Be present
• Know your story
• Take risks, step outside of your comfort zone
• Stop comparing yourself to others
• Everyone has their own success, it depends what success means to you

The day started with Carol Rosati of UN Women. A whole speech dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. This talk was definitely one of my favourites, tackling issues that unbelievably we are still talking about in 2020, and also looking at empowering works and what we can do to overcome these situations. 

Carol continued to expand on how we are still working towards fairer women's rights, and how even through improvements have been made over the the last few years, there is still a long way to go.

Everyone and every company should be working much harder to reach gender equality. Two facts that to reflect on:

• 70% of women don't see themselves in advertising. Much of the advertising we see portrays a false representation of what the average woman looks like. Fortunately, some companies are taking action, as for example Dove who have developed the marketing campaign - Real Beauty - showing bodies representing all women in all shapes, colour and sizes. This is particularly important when we think about the impact on the younger generation.
• Gender equality might be finally reached in 227 years. This is a powerful statistic, it makes us think - so what can we do? Look at your culture and change your culture, everyone can do their bit in everyday life to contribute to making a difference. 

Next up, we welcomed Audrey Wiggin who began by sharing some practical tips on "How to be more productive". She started her talk focusing on a simple concept of how many times we ask someone 'how are you'  and the common response we receive of 'busy!'. 

Is busy the new I'm fine?

We need to change this, we need to stop the feeling of being too busy, and lead a more stress free life. 

One very practical and grateful piece of advice from Audrey is that we should work on our To-Do List (who doesn't love a well organised list!) here are some tips from Audrey - speaking from experience I am 4 days into keeping on top of my list, and I feel much more in control of priorities.

Another great talk to mention from the day is the session with Rob Stephenson & Lynette Gray, who shared their experiences and tips on how we can better manage our #mentalhealth. Reminding us that it is very important to talk to people around you, don't keep your emotions & struggles to yourself - there will always be someone ready to listen to you and to help you. Being there for someone else is just as important as allowing someone to be there for you. 

Some practical actions Rob & Lynette spoke on;

• Getting enough sleep
• Eat healthy and nourish your body
• Be active - get outside 

We also heard from Michelle Hawkins who shared some of the findings from Accenture's #gettingtoequal research, as well as some top tips such as; be passionate, proactive & know your story.

To summarise a few of the other speakers that we got to hear from;

Laura Young, a passionate & proactive woman who shared with us her current thoughts on how to waste less and be more environmentally friendly.

Mark Logan told us to stop negotiating against ourselves, don't live to the statistics. He advised us of the importance of following your curiosity, and allowing yourself to be you. 

Nikki Henderson shared her inspirational story, teaching us how to be resilient when facing of some of our biggest challenges.

The Inspiring Women's Conference was a day full of very influential women, providing lots of great insights and ideas to take away, and that I will (and have) certainly learn from. 

...Remember... TAKE SPACE

By Nastassia Isawi