International Women's Day
Today, on Friday, 8th March 2024, we sit and celebrate International Women's Day.
International Women's Day is celebrated to commemorate and honor women's accomplishments, raise awareness about gender disparities and discrimination, as well as promote global support for women. (Source: Euronews)
One of our focus points for Mindset Maintenance this year is community, and I think IWD fits perfectly into this, because in our community, there are so many beautiful and wonderful women. Women who have good hearts, who want to help other people. Women who are scared, but that does not stop them. Women who have been hurt, but it fuels their fire.
Growing up, I myself have always been surrounded by incredibly powerful women in my family. My mum, my aunties, they have always shown me how to pick myself up and dust myself off, and how to laugh. My baby sister, my cousins who are best friends that I get to call family and therefore get to watch them grow into who they are today, and that is something to be incredibly grateful for, let me tell you that. I have also had the blessing of being surrounded by so many wonderful women that I get to call my best friends, that feel like part of the family.
When I founded Mindset Maintenance, I was introduced to so many amazing women that have helped me on my journey and shown me what it means to be brave and to just go for it. Shout out to the likes of Becci Simmons, Jodi Hughes, Roni Edwards, Hannah Murray, and other ladies that helped me in the early stages and got my CIC sh1t together!
I asked some of them what inspires them in other women and these are the answers I received:
Debbie Smith - Kindness and love inspire me in other women ❤
Shamila Dhana - Our resilience and strength inspire me about women!
Jodie Hughes - The fact that women see a need and fill it no matter the cost to them. Women are almost 50% more likely to carry out volunteer work. They shoulder 60% more unpaid work. And so many start grassroots charities.
Becci Simmons - Sometimes it's just the simple things, a cup of tea, time with each other, and a good old natter, because sometimes that's the real part of life, to just have a cup of tea! That's what inspires me, that's what makes me smile, and that's what makes me feel alive!
I love their answers and I want to shout out to all those that identify as women doing amazing things, mothering children, managing businesses, finding themselves, managing grief and loss, working their way through difficult relationships, traveling the world, serving in forces, serving as the main breadwinner. We see you, we love you, we support you.
Let's build each other up, let's back each other and let's drop the masks and hype each other up…
Which brings me to the final part of this blog.
A big shout out to Jo Morgan, The Founder and CEO of Engendering Change, who is bringing Portsmouth a FREE session especially for IWD called How To Be A Hype Woman on Wednesday, 13th March, at 7 pm at The Keppels Head, Portsmouth.
Jo Morgan (BA, PGCE, PGCert) is a multi-award-winning professional speaker, trainer, and consultant. She has gained national attention and acclaim for her groundbreaking work on Relationships and Sex Education, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and Wellbeing.
Jo leads an expert team of Associates who deliver cross-sector EDI + Wellbeing strategy and inspirational training.
Jo's session will look like this, and I don’t know about you, but I want to be in this room to hear what this award-winning trailblazer has to say!
Why we need Hype Women: Barriers to female empowerment; The need for female empowerment.
How to be a Hype Woman for Others: Lifting other women up.
How to be a Hype Woman for Yourself: Practical strategies to embrace your power.
This is an inclusive session open to all genders. The terms 'woman' and 'female' will be used to refer to anyone who identifies as such.
From myself and the team at Mindset Maintenance, we hope wherever you are today you are celebrating the women around you, and we hope you can make Wednesday's session to celebrate them even more!
HAPPY IWD 2024!
