International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8th, and it marks a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women around the world.

The 2021 theme is #ChooseToChallenge, and as the official IWD website declares:

“A challenged world is an alert world. And from challenge comes change.”

I couldn’t agree more with that statement!

I’ve been challenging workplace norms my entire career. It hasn’t always been easy, and it’s never been comfortable. But change doesn’t happen inside our comfort zones.

And that’s not just change on a global scale or in your workplace or business.

I’m talking about deep internal change.

I’m a voracious reader. One of my Top 5 Strengths is Input – I love collecting information.

And the books I’m drawn to most often are self-help and personal development books. I’ve read countless books on personal finance, spirituality, personal growth, and success. And I’ve realized something.

The personal development field has a lot of people who look the same. When I look at my bookshelves or my Audible library, there are a lot of white, male faces.

And that’s not always the perspective I want to hear.

It’s important to be intentional about who we learn from, whose perspectives we listen to, and whose lessons enrich our lives.

I’m not here to empower you.

Because I know that you already have everything you need to be successful.

You have charm and wit and strength and power beyond what you think you’re capable of. You have the knowledge and resources to learn more, do more, and achieve more. You have skills and life experience that no other woman has, and that gives you your own unique perspective on the world.

You are empowered because you have those qualities; no one can take them away from you. Nor can someone give you permission, authority, or power to show up as your beautiful, authentic self.

No one can give you power, because you are already powerful beyond measure.

My high school career aptitude test said I should be a fish & game warden. After frantically googling what that meant, it was clear that my responses on the “Do you like the outdoors?” section may have skewed the results.

Obviously, a test can’t tell you what your life’s work should be, but I so desperately wanted clear direction that I briefly considered this career path. Alas, a jumpy person alone in the woods does not mix well with firearms. So fish & game warden was out. On to the next idea.

Trial and error would become the theme of the next few years of my life. I changed my major multiple times in college before graduating with degrees in Economics and Marketing. I took a job in sales, got promoted twice, and quit within three years. I tried to “find myself” by traveling around Europe for a few months. You get the idea. I was literally and figuratively all over the map.

“Courage is what a woman has left when she’s lost everything else.”

On Tuesday, May 1, 2018, Women for Women International celebrated the courage of women everywhere at their 10th annual Match Her Courage Luncheon in New York City.

Internationally-acclaimed author and spiritual teacher, Marianne Williamson, joined the event as an ambassador for Women for Women International. When asked what this event means to her, she said, “If we want peace, we can have it. It’s not a mystery; it’s a lack of political will. There is no force more important than the awakening of American women to what’s happening in the world.”

So much of what we say about ourselves is negative. Affirmations give us the opportunity to choose words that help create or eliminate something in our lives, such as creating success or confidence or healthy relationships, and eliminating low self-esteem, destructive behaviors and even pain.

Affirmations help us retrain our thinking and speaking into positive patterns so we can truly transform our lives. We can get more of what we want and less of what we don’t.

But be careful because everything we say is an affirmation. Every thought, every sentence is just confirming what we want in life.

So, if you say “I’m so happy and grateful now that I lost 20 pounds,” one minute, then say “this won’t work” the next minute, which one do you think will win out? The second one!

Negative thought patterns are so deeply ingrained in all of us, and it’s really hard to break them. Practicing positive affirmations is one way to break that cycle.

Equal Pay Day symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. This year, that date fell on April 10th, meaning women must work more than 3 extra months to earn an equal salary to our male counterparts.

The gender pay gap – which states that women, on average, make 77 cents for every dollar that men earn – is often mocked as a myth, a mistake or a lie. And not just by men; my female boss didn’t believe me when I shared this statistic with her.

In a recent blog post, I shared an even more deflating statistic: at this rate, gender parity is over 200 years away!

Happy International Women's Day 2018!

Women have made great strides in the pursuit of gender equality over the last few decades, but we still have a long way to go.

The World Economic Forum's 2017 Gender Gap Report tells us that gender parity is over 200 years away!

I don't know about you, but I'm not that patient. I want to see parity in my lifetime.

That's why I'm so passionate about empowering my clients and followers to discover their natural strengths and talents, harness their inner power, and step boldly into their dream lives.

This year's IWD theme is #PressforProgress. There has never been a more important time to keep working toward equality. 

On the heels of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, IWD has the power to fuel momentum for women everywhere to stand up and take action.

Are you ready to be the change we all want to see?

As a former hiring manager, I’ve combed through hundreds of resumes and cover letters. I’m also the go-to person in my friends and family circle when someone needs help updating theirs.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: your resume is one of the most important documents you will ever own!

It’s true – your resume can be the one thing standing between you and a job you love and your key to a prosperous and exciting future.

That’s why it’s so important to spend time crafting a concise, yet powerful resume that is tailored for the job you want.

Let’s start with the basics.

Shatter the Glass Ceiling Together with Lean In Circles

I sat across the table from the man who would determine my future. It was now or never.

My palms sweaty and my heart racing, I began to list all my achievements from the past three years. Finally, the words, burning on my tongue since the moment I walked in the room, slipped out and formed the sentence, “I’d like a promotion.”