International Women's Day

To celebrate International Women's Day today we were asked by Virgin Pioneers to write a short piece on how we feel about being 'Women in Business'. Emily, our co-founder, is a female entrepreneur, wife, mother and champion of successful women across the world. Here are her thoughts about this awesome day:

“It’s a wonderful time to be a woman in business, with so many women owning their careers and spearheading change I am a great believer in carving out the path you want. You have to work for it no less, it won’t just happen without drive and passion but it can be done and I guess I’m living proof of that.

It’s true that only a small percentage of women compared to men are holding top positions in blue chip corporations but this is changing. The more awareness there is, the better and I hope in my lifetime we will see equality within every workplace. At Create Gift Love we have an equal split of male and female colleagues, of all ages, and each were employed by the merit of their skill above and beyond their sex, lifestage or tea making capabilities!

Being a woman in business means as women we have a responsibility to each other, to explore new paths and be real examples that inspire and empower others.  I have a daughter and feel a responsibility to show her that being a woman should not deter you when aiming for the career of your dreams.

It can be a challenge to be taken seriously if you work in a male dominated industry. For example, we have a brother company Man Gun Bear, producing high quality items for the modern man, yet I am involved in every design detail and marketing strategy that takes place. There can be times when dealing with suppliers or clients that they bypass me and go to our male Operations Supervisor for advice/sign off when ultimately it will be me making the final decision. This just makes me feel more determined to get involved and offer my knowledge and advice. I don’t see it as a setback but a challenge and if anything makes me work harder.

Being a woman in my 30s I do have friends and even employees who have suffered discrimination in a previous workplace due to their age. I’m a mum to a 20-month year old little girl and have another on the way so I know only too well how hard it is to juggle a career and motherhood. It’s incredibly challenging but there isn’t a reason that either life goal should be unattainable. If you work hard, prove your worth and ultimately become adaptable, responding to emails during a 4am feed(!), then there’s no reason that women can’t be successful in business.