generation women
Belfast
I spent the first half of my career in a thick fog, and of course I got lost and
ended up somewhere I didn’t want to be. I felt lost, miserable, and what little
confidence I had was waning by the minute. I also became a total bore. I was
consumed by how unhappy I was. I couldn’t even apply for another job because I
didn’t know what I’d do. So I felt stuck. I had, by many measures, a great job,
a great salary, in a great company. But I was in the wrong place. I was
ambitious with nowhere to direct it, so it evolved into frustration! It took a
fair bit of effort to turn it around, which started with working out what I
wanted and developing some much needed confidence to get there. Thankfully I had
a good basis with my Psychology degree, throw in a mountain of self-help books,
a coaching and NLP qualification, a mountain of training on presenting and the
like…and a real desire to build my brand, visbility, and expertise, meant I
built a reputation for business and leadership transformation. That experience
of having a big impact, being recognised, and having real influence made me feel
like I could achieve anything. My values, purpose, and strengths were all
aligned and I felt amazing! It came as quite a shock then to be confronted by my
inner feminist one day. I’d had my first daughter (I now have 2), and was having
a cheeky nap. You know how it is, I love my sleep! So for the first time ever, I
sat her down in front of Nickelodeon so I could get some zzz’s. I was happily
snoozing away when the advertising started to filter through to me. The ‘boys
toys’ were all exciting and adventurous. The ‘girls toys’ made me want to vomit.
All about being pretty and vacuous. I jumped off the sofa with an ‘oh hell no’!
Ever since I was a little girl I’ve been driven by fairness. I think it may be
because I’m the youngest of 4 and nothing ever seemed fair from my standpoint.
My sister tells me of times I used to fight for gay rights at the dinner table
and I was always arguing for what I felt was right (because it is). The one
thing I’d never have called myself back then, or until that day, was a feminist.
No, I’d been well trained by society to see feminists as embarrassing, hairy,
dungaree-wearing angry women who made a show of themselves. This moment set a
chain of events into action that lead me to start a political party where I
live, and gave me the direction for the business I would later start.
