I was recently invited to address a mostly-female audience at a major industry conference. The audience was mixed, from entry level to senior players, but what they all had in common is that they’re all finding it tough right now. So to break the ice I thought I’d share some of the stories of the simple upbringing I enjoyed growing up in the country.
I told the story of how when my mum was just 19 years old she and dad took their first baby home to live with them in a tin shed in the middle of nowhere – there was no power, no running water, certainly no central heating, in fact there were no conveniences at all! I then contrasted my experiences of just having had a baby of my own 5 months earlier and how much easier it must’ve been in a major city, with friends nearby and with the conveniences of flowing hot and cold water, automatic washing machines, supermarkets, take away for when I’m too tired to cook and of course the miracle of Huggies disposable nappies!
Of course it’s never easy becoming a parent. But it’s hard to believe that just a generation earlier it was impossible for my mum to work with young kids because every day was spent boiling up water in a copper to wash cloth nappies and baby clothes by hand, she had to cook every meal from scratch, and of course there’s no day care in the middle of Whoop-whoop! The story was just a simple anecdote to show that – regardless of your background and circumstances – there’s always someone worse off than you andwe can all choose how we deal with the obstacles we face along the way.
Forty minutes later and the presentation was over. I dashed to the loo (as you do)! and it was there that I overheard a group of women talking about my presentation. They might have been discussing the tips and the strategies I’d shared for overcoming the challenges they currently face, but they didn’t. All I could hear was “it’s OK for her…” and “yeah but she doesn’t have the sort of customers we do…” and “what a bitch, I didn’t look like that 5 months after my baby”. Seriously.
As I sat in my cubicle I wondered why I’d bothered to get on the plane in the first place.
The next week I was invited to speak at a women’s forum in one of the major accounting firms in Sydney. I was hoping for a friendlier audience – and thankfully my wish came true. It was a fun event, with an upbeat audience who were also facing challenges but were taking a cup-half-full approach. Many of whom approached me personally after the presentation to thank me and I received a number of emails afterwards asking for help. Just nice people to be around, and what a contrast it proved to be.
It got me thinking about the kind of people I want to work with and the kind of women I want to be part of the sphinxx community. Undoubtedly I want to be surrounded by people who fall into the second group!
We are all dealing with our own obstacles and our own issues, but we can choose how we deal with them. We can choose to help each other, to ask for help and receive it when offered with open arms, or we can opt to go it alone.
sphinxx is about helping successful women to be more successful – it’s why we exist and what our people do! So is there something we can do to help you? Can we promote your business or your products to other senior women in business? Do you need help connecting with someone or a particular business or industry? Or just a hand away managing life away from work – like finding a personal stylist, a cleaner, childcare options or someone to run errands or cook for you?
You don’t need to be a member to ask for help and there’s no charge or obligation involved. We’re just happy to help, because if there’s something you need, the chances are other women in the community may need it too. The only catch is… we can’t read your mind! So if you need a hand, you’ll need to tell us so! But don’t worry, that’s easy… All it takes is an email or a simple blog comment! So what are you waiting for – just hit reply and tell me what would make your life easier.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you!