Inspire Inclusion
As we ramp up this week with a flurry of excitement and celebrations at events and in our distilleries to celebrate the women in our lives, I wanted to take this opportunity to share and offer my thanks to the people in mine.
Every year, on International Women's Day, I feel the build-up of excitement and the energy shifts. I, for one, love it.
My feeds start to fill with inspiring stories, and I get invited to inspirational talks and panels; I learn more and more about women making a difference and doing some really great stuff, not just internationally or even nationally but also locally, inspiring women across multiple industries. How can I not feel inspired?
This year's IWD campaign theme is inclusion, and it's been weighing on my mind for a few weeks.
Last month, I picked up Brene Brown's Dare to Lead, and the timing couldn't have been better. Do you ever feel seen by a book, film, quote, or, as many of us did last year at the Barbie movie—feel, yes, this! We share so many experiences, personally and professionally, and at that moment, collectively realise that they have captured so beautifully what we are all feeling. We start to talk about it - how awesome is that?
This is what International Women's Day is to me: a day we start to talk, which creates a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment.
In Brene's book, she articulately discusses vulnerable leadership and how she encountered cruel and personal criticism at the start of her journey.
How often do we all hear you're ‘too soft’, ‘too kind’, ‘too hard’, ‘too nice’, ‘too happy’, ‘too much’, ‘too emotional?’ ‘What could you know about this topic?’ ‘It's a good job you're pretty’, ‘she's pretty useless’. ‘Ssssssshhhhhhhh’, she's this, and she's that’—my list can go on and on and on. How can we possibly talk about inclusion when this kind of behaviour and words are used so flippantly every day?
To quote Brene's book, 'It's not the critic that counts; not the woman who points out how strong the woman stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the woman who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again….who at the best knows in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if she fails, at least fails while daring greatly.' - Adapted from Brene - Dare to Lead.
My takeaway from this piece is that to feel real inclusion, you need to surround yourself with great people in the dirt with you, fighting the good fight! Those opinions matter. Women who hear the same criticism have fought their battles bravely, empathically, and courageously, not those slinging the mud. Not only is it tough, but the critics make it even more challenging.
If we want to inspire inclusion, let's make our sisters, daughters, and friends feel included and empowered. The words brave, daring, courageous, or hero aren't exclusively reserved for the chaps—there's a girl hero emoji for a reason. We don't feel included because these words and phrases aren't reserved for us—let's change that. Still Sisters wants to change that.
Tell your wife, daughters, friends, sisters, mums, and work colleagues this International Women's Day - they are brave, courageous, heroic and even badass! See what happens. When a girl feels supported, heard, loved, and included in the words/vocabulary, we forge a better world; this can only be good. To my girls, team, friends, mum, nieces, and daughter, thank you for your support and love. To my biggest supporters, advocates, and cheerleader squad - we couldn’t do this without your words of encouragement - you are all my superheroes who inspire me every day to try and be great. We are creating something good (on a small scale) in Still Sisters, and we want to inspire inclusion this International Women's Day.
Here is how we are supporting IWD 2024:
Friday, we open our doors to celebrate with specially curated IWD drinks in collaboration with Double Dutch tonics on Friday night, using Double Dutch tonics - two sisters trailblazing in the soft drinks industry!
We can be found at Emmanuels Yard, Trowbridge, on March 9th for an evening of inspirational talks: https://trowbridgetownhall.com/events/international-womens-day/.
Mothering Sunday, we celebrate our hero Mums on the 10th of March at our Trowbridge Distillery.
And for 2024, Still Sisters will be working alongside our chosen charities: Fear Free (https://www.fearfree.org.uk/) and Secondary Sisters (https://www.instagram.com/secondary.sisters/). If you wish to donate or support directly, please follow the links. Please get in touch to help us with our fundraising activities this year. Watch this space for our upcoming fundraisers.
We forge a better world by inspiring others to understand and value women's inclusion. When women themselves are inspired to be included, there is a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment. Collectively, let's forge a more inclusive world for women.
#IWD2024 #inspireinclusion #stillsisters #daretolead #brave #female #femalefounders
Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough conversations. Whole hearts. New York, NY: Random House