Our Women in Leadership
Happy International Women's Day!
Today is a day to celebrate the incredible achievements of women and reflect on the progress made towards gender equality.
This year, we’re sharing the stories of our accomplished female leaders. We’ll be exploring their journeys, gaining insights into what it takes to be a successful female leader, and learning from their experiences as they offer advice to women looking to follow in their footsteps. Let’s take a look!
Introducing…
| Tori Garnsworthy |
| Amy Kolapo |
.png) | Lucia Lane |
| Gemma Raw |
Lucy Pearson |
Can you name a woman who inspires you and why?
Amy:
There are so, so many! If I have to choose just one, I’ll go big and say Michelle Obama. To start with, she’s a great communicator. Whether it’s giving a persuasive speech to thousands of people during an election campaign or sharing personal experiences and practical advice in her #1 bestselling memoir, she knows how to get a message across in a relaxed and sincere way. It feels like she’s talking directly to you.
She also made a huge impact during her time at The White House. She was the first Black FLOTUS and became a role model for women around the world with her important work improving the health outcomes of American families, and with her international initiative, ‘Let Girls Learn’, which empowers young girls to reach their full potential through education.
Michelle masterfully advocates for equal rights, healthy living, help for families and better education for girls, and does so with grace and a ‘can-do’ attitude – such an inspiration!
Tori:
I tend not to take inspiration from people, although I often find their acts or words to be inspirational. For me, the moments that create inspiration come from traveling, learning new things, sports, music, art, and nature.
Lucia:
I have been blessed with the most amazing strong females in my family who work hard, stand up for what they believe is right and are unapologetically themselves. If I had to name one it would be my lovely Gran (Granny Mags) she has been through a lot in her life, at nearly 87 she still manages to shock us as a family with her determination to keep pushing on. She has battled health problems with absolutely no moaning, it doesn’t matter what life throws at her she is ALWAYS smiling. She inspires me to grab life by the horns, be the best version of myself and never give up.
Lucy:
My Mum, she is my rock. She helps me with anything and everything and I couldn’t do life without her. Since becoming a Mum myself, she has helped me become the best Mummy I can be.
What's a piece of advice or feedback that you received that had the biggest impact on your career?
Amy:
“You can do anything with a positive attitude better than you can do it with a negative one.”
One of my first managers mentioned this, and it has stuck with me over the years - not only in my professional life, but outside of work too. I’m a big believer in the power of a positive mindset, not only because I hear you’re more likely to live a longer and happier life (!) but it can motivate you and your colleagues to produce great work, and to move projects forward when challenges arise.
Gemma:
1. This one gets easier with experience! “Be honest” – If a decision is being made, it doesn’t matter who else is in the room, you’re there because your opinion and expertise is valued too. In my experience, people respect honesty providing you’re polite and it’s constructive.
2. Growing up, my parents taught me that you can achieve anything if you want it badly enough, and that stuck with me – all of my opportunities have come from either building good relationships or working hard.
Tori:
I’m responsible for achieving my goals and creating opportunity. If it matters then I’ll find a way, and if not then I’ll find an excuse.
Lucia:
Our CEO, James has always been my biggest mentor at Sanctuary, he has helped me through difficult times in my life and I am forever grateful for his support. His feedback on my attitude towards work has always driven me forward.
Lucy:
Never give up. As a consultant we have bad days/weeks, but reflect on what you did well and what you could have done better and learn; always learn from your mistakes and from listening to those around you. I was lucky enough to start my career at Sanctuary with the best manager, who has always been there to help me be the best I can be and has taught me all I know.
What advice would you give to other women that aspire to be in leadership roles?
Amy:
I would encourage other women who aspire to be in leadership roles to ask themselves the question: ‘What am I good at?’ So much confidence can come from really understanding yourself and your core strengths in the workplace.
Once you know what your strength is, ‘lean in’ and push yourself to learn as much as you possibly can about that thing – become the best at that thing, don’t settle.
Knowing what you do really well provides a solid foundation to build a fulfilling career, leading and inspiring others.
Gemma:
The same advice I’d give to anyone hoping to progress in their career – never stop learning.
I found a great starting point for career progression is being honest with yourself about the aspects of your job you’re weakest at, whether that’s skills-based or a specific competency such as communication. From there, put together a long-term career plan of where you want to get to and add key milestones in for each year on what you want to achieve – think about what that end role might require and how to combat those weaknesses.
A plan like that gives structure to your learning and makes you feel as though you’re working towards something. Your CPD may take different forms, it doesn’t have to be paid courses. Follow industry leaders on LinkedIn, tap into free resources (HubSpot and SEMrush have great free courses and blogs for marketers!), and learn from your peers.
And once you get there, keep moving the goal post… There’s always more to learn!
Tori:
Don’t aspire to be in leadership roles. Leadership is an important skill to have, but it’s not the end goal – every role has leadership responsibilities. Think about the impact that you want to have and identify a role that will enable you to achieve it. Then figure out what it takes to be excellent in that role, work hard, fail fast and learn. Be prepared to change course. You can always start again.
Lucia:
1. I started at Sanctuary when I was 16 and have been very fortunate to have learnt from some great leaders/colleagues, so my advice would be to learn & listen, you can gain so much knowledge from listening to other people and learning a different perspective on more efficient ways of working.
2. You are never too small or too young to make a difference, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
