Is It Just Me, Or Are You Feeling Really Empowered These Days?

May 19, 2016

Vancouver recently held two events geared towards empowering women in the public relations and resource sectors. Maybe it was just my “lucky week” because I am heavily involved in both of those industries, but regardless, I walked away from last week feeling more motivated and empowered than I have in the last month.

Sometimes it’s hard to break away from the office or from other commitments for a couple of hours– or twice in one week for that matter – but the following events  reminded me of the importance of “saying yes” to invitations when they arise, especially if you are feeling unmotivated or need a little inspiration.

On May 11, I attended the launch party for The Organization for Women in PR Canada. The organization “is an influential network of leading business women striving for excellence in the field of public relations [who is] partnering with businesses across Canada to promote opportunities for women to learn and to share resources in a supportive community.” (http://womeninpr.ca/about-us/)

It was great to hear a few words of advice from fellow colleagues in the industry about their paths to success, but at the same time I found myself wondering, why do we need this organization? There are others similar to it (e.g. the Canadian Public Relations Society). But then I thought, why not? It’s kind of refreshing to attend an event where women are promoting each other in this industry, rather than feeling like you’re always competing. C’mon, I’m sure many of us have felt negative competitiveness from other women at some point in our life and career.  You might have thought, what’s she doing that I’m not? How come she always lands the clients? She never looks like she’s breaking a sweat, and here I am nervously perspiring at the thought of my next pitch! Ultimately, the creation of support networks amongst peers is something that I will gladly endorse and participate in any day!  

Later in the week I attended SheTalks Resources, hosted by Resource Works. In the second edition of this forum, SheTalks Resources featured “stories of women and their connection to and journey through the resource sector in BC” (http://www.shetalks.life/).  It was enlightening to see a full crowd of approximately 200+ women who are either leading, managing or contributing to the way in which resource development is taking place in communities throughout BC. Stories of environmental, social and economic connection shaped the conversation, with examples of challenges each woman faced. I think my best take-away from the day was to create a “5 a.m. club”. While not necessarily having to occur at 5 a.m., the concept of this idea is to take the first hour of every day when you wake up to spend time on yourself, to get focused and positive. Stay off social media for this first hour! Refrain from scrolling through your emails. Instead, have a coffee and journal; go for brisk 20-minute walk; listen to an uplifting podcast; or mentally create your day’s priority list. I’m starting my 5 a.m. (ok, 7 a.m.) club this week – who’s with me?

I was pleased to connect with many of you at these events.  Not sure if it’s just me, but I had a pretty empowering week. Let’s do it again soon.

Empowered blog

“5 a.m. club” inspirations…

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