Making voices heard this International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day and this week our all-female team has been reflecting on the role women play in business and recognising the unique strengths and perspectives that we bring. Being in PR and communications, our industry is often characterised by its fast-pace, creative, and innovative approach and our role is about having a voice and making people, both men and women heard.

Having been in business for more than 35 years now (that doesn’t seem possible – time goes so quickly!), I have seen a change in the way women are perceived and treated between then and now. In my 20s, when I didn’t know any better, and having been conditioned to accept that we were living in a man’s world (!) I didn’t even think about gender bias and being discriminated against. Now, I see that that has certainly happened to me in my career, for being ‘too successful’, ‘too bossy’, ‘too opinionated’ because I was a woman!  I've seen unconscious bias and without realising men’s voices being listened to more than women, even in senior roles and that shouting louder doesn’t actually work (for anyone.)

I should add that I have also seen men get discriminated against too – maybe in other ways – and so this is not just about women, today is about ‘inspiring inclusion’ for everyone and embracing new ways of doing things.

As a team predominantly composed of young women, I am interested to see how they feel about this too and how I can support them all to be taken seriously and rise to the challenges of navigating spaces that have traditionally been male dominated. There's a well-documented female gender bias in our industry and while men are undoubtedly skilled communicators too, we see this as an opportunity to turn perceived negatives into positives by highlighting the skills and perspectives that women uniquely contribute to communications roles – and that working together is where the real magic happens!

Last year, during a team wellbeing day, the team got talking about values and decided, that our ‘old values’ weren’t really representing us as a team – and the way we do things. So, we choose new values which we feel reflect how we work and celebrate perhaps a more feminine way of doing things.

The values we chose are collaboration, connection, curiosity and creativity, which we believe is how we work with each other, our suppliers and clients to create strong relationships and successful communications strategies.

Talking to the team this week, I have been struck by the level of buy-in to these values and how they passionately believe that by working in this way we will ‘inspire inclusion’ across our business, in the work we do and the people and businesses we support.

These young women see that despite occasionally hitting some obstacles being a woman is source of strength and that our way of doing things can be transformative – representing and recognising women’s voices in PR and beyond.

They understand the importance of representation and the value of having a team that reflects the world we live in. Our experiences have taught us that diversity and inclusion aren’t just buzzwords – they’re a catalyst for innovation, creativity, and success. Together, let's continue to champion women's voices and create impactful change in the world. We all have a role to play, and by working together, we can lift each other up and create a world where everyone’s voice is heard and valued.