What You Learn By Listening to Female Leaders
By Agustina Vinograd
When you have the opportunity to attend a panel organized for and by young women who are trying to get across a message of unity and respect, what do you take from it? What is the sentence that resonates in your head even after the Zoom has ended? Do you apply it later in your own fields or do you just simply keep it as a reminder?
Here, we write it down so that you can read as many times as you want what we took from it.
On August 20th 2020, SHEDIDTHAT! Invited over Susannah Wellford, the founder and CEO of Running Start, General Peggy Wilmoth, Kayla Sanders, founder and CEO of Remy, and Danielle Prendergast, founder of Empower Her Strategies to speak at our Women In Leadership Panel. We heard them give their points of view in their respective fields and to focus on the importance of breaking down the barriers present in society. By listening to their experiences, what can we take from them and what can we adapt to our ways of living when we discuss empowerment and female leadership
- First: Authenticity is character
What is undeniable is the strength and belief these women must have in them to stand to what they face; sometimes against an entire system. Susannah Wellford portrayed it well when asked for discrimination “If you were to talk to any women in the workforce, they all have a story about it,” she accurately expressed. Yet, we have the examples in front of our own eyes of women who did not give up so easily.
They touch on the idea of authenticity early on, General Wilmoth remarking that “you have to truly walk the path that you believe; the path that you are deemed to walk (…). Sooner or later it will get noticed.” She later explains the importance of knowing your value and using your power to keep your head up and reach the goal you want.
Strength indeed comes from perseverance. Another case comes from Kayla, who found that she didn’t quite fit with typical corporate structure, so what she did is create her own world. “When people saw me and they compare that to a certain mold, you stand out.” She states she usually attends meetings in a leather jacket, a t-shirt and a baseball cap. The last speaker (but not least) Danielle, explains how the more you learn to live your truth, the more discomfort you cause to other people; and despite that, you must get used to it instead of conforming in order to make it better for someone else. The takeaway is crystal clear: do not change only to fit in.
- Impostor syndrome is a liar
It is a common factor for women to feel guilt or doubt over their opportunities, sometimes related to the angst of either leaving your children at home or not having a woman leader figure to look up to. Three out of four women in the panel named how coworkers or relatives made them feel guilt over leaving their homes unattended while on a job, despite feeling confident in their time management and balance, like Susannah. In the case of General Wilmoth, her father wrote her a letter before joining the army explaining that as a mother, her place was at home with her family. “Do not let the impostor syndrome begin to creep in because you don’t know what is on the other side,” General Wilmoth assured in the panel. This leads to the importance of grabbing all the opportunities you have and to take advantage of them without thinking too much.
- Being comfortable with being uncomfortable
You have to step out of your comfort zone and take advantage of the opportunities you are given. A path unique and different is indeed scary, but you don’t know where it will take you. “You would be amazed at what you can do if you just take yourself to that ledge,” says Kayla. Another case comes from Danielle and her chance of doing an internship at the Georgia Legislation, which later made her discover her passion for advocating for the Black community. “If you have an opportunity to intern, do it. Because you never know what that will unleash,” She comments. “Once a door slams shut, it may never open again,” General Wilmoth concludes. The idea of knowing your own value and acting upon it strikes again. An opportunity you don’t deserve does not exist.
- Bad circumstances aren’t always bad
Sometimes, these opportunities are prompted by a less than ideal circumstance, as was the case of Susannah and Danielle. Susannah got laid off her job in a law firm. That unfortunate event forced her to decide what her future was going to be like. If that hadn’t happened, her entire life would have taken another turn, as she believes she still would be working at that law firm today. “I think you learn the most when you have a bump in the road and then have to make some decisions,” General Wilmoth tells Susannah. “Are you gonna retreat or are you going to move forward?”
Danielle, on the other hand, got rejected at an interview because of her skin color and gender in spite of being qualified for the job. “I never want to be in a position that someone could deny me so easily,” She told us; now she has two graduate degrees and an incredible amount of quality experience.
Kayla leaves us with this: “I was so close to failure that I had to figure out how to move past that and find whatever success meant to me at the moment.”
- Are you asking questions?
“No one would ask why, and they would do what they were told to do. (…) Because I would ask why I got places.” Kayla comments upon her experience in inflexible working structures where conventionally, her skills would not have led her to where she is now. Susannah and General Wilmoth comment on this notion later on, in which in a situation, Susannah bargained for her desired salary which she got. “If you don’t ask [for what you want] you aren’t gonna get anywhere.” Asking for your salary also calls to mind recognizing your own value in the working force and getting out of your comfort zone by asking on a delicate topic. The act of asking is forgotten but it is time to bring it back to life.
Looking for an answer might be the thing that impulses us to reach a little further upon what we want to do. For sure, we are all on a path of self-discovery and fighting against a system that has been proven to prevent women from leading and to reach their purposes in the working fields. Some things, as easy as they sound, are easy to forget when they are buried in comments, unpleasant stories and hardships. Yet if just by listening to four women we can learn from their experiences and adapt this advice to our working ethics, we can continue to empower ourselves with every step we take.
It all comes down to knowing the value we have and enhancing it to make it grow bigger with every opportunity we get, like listening to this panel.
For more empowerment stories and more information about future panels, follow SHEDIDTHAT on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/shedidthatblog/ or visit the blog at https://www.she-did-that.com
If you want to know more about Susannah Wellford and General Wilmoth you can read our features in https://www.she-did-that.com/girlbosses
If you’d like to know more about Kayla Sanders and her company visit http://www.remy.co/company.html
For knowing more about Danielle Prendergast and her Empowerment Strategies visit https://www.empowerherstrategies.com/
Writer fellow: Agustina Vinograd (@agus_vino)
