International Women’s Day Q&A — Kim Klabough
With an office full of inspiring women, why not run a daily Q&A celebrating International Women’s Week? Here’s Designworks motion producer Kim Klabough.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you? Why is it important?
My first question is why is it only a day? JK JK (sort of).
It’s important to acknowledge IWD not only to see if / how things have improved from previous years, but to give everyone a moment to celebrate milestone achievements and shed light on situations that concern gender welfare and equality.
What woman in your life has inspired you in some way? How did they do that? Is it too obvious to say my mom? My mom, hands down. After 20+ years of running a busy household with three kids and a husband, she found herself alone and in a tricky financial situation. I witnessed first-hand the effects of a woman sacrificing her career to stay home and raise her children (which I absolutely respect her for), to essentially start from scratch in her mid- 40’s and re-enter the workforce, which I can imagine would be very intimidating. She’s done an amazing job of being resilient and pushing through tough times to make things work for her.
What does this years theme of #EachisEqual mean to you?
I like that this year’s theme expands into the bigger picture of “gender” equality. It’s taken a while, but over time people have become more vocal on the fact that gender is not simply black and white, but a full spectrum — which I think is pretty beautiful. Equality and acceptance for the full gender spectrum is what we ultimately should be striving for :)
How do you think we can build a gender equal world?
I think continuing to add diversity to leaders and decision makers (i.e. politics, government, all workplace industries) is one of the many ways we can build a gender equal world. A diverse leadership team automatically means more ideas, more acceptance, and more viewpoints — which at the end of the day can equal more change in a positive manner.
If you could meet one woman in the world, who would that be and why?Sad to choose only one, can this turn into a hypothetical dinner party question?Those who know me even a little bit will know the obvious answer — Taylor Swift (although if it counts for anything I have low-fived her, I have the footage to prove it!). She’s someone who’s not afraid to speak her mind and fight for what she believes in. It’s taken her a bit of time to find her voice but it’s inspiring to see her go against the grain of what’s expected of her and use her platform as a voice for minority groups.
