I’m going to say it: I’m sick of International Women’s Day. Now, don’t get me wrong – I believe in what it stands for. I’m ferociously passionate about empowering and bettering the lives of the women in my community.
However, International Women’s Day, in my opinion, has become a predictable parade of pink cupcakes, corporate panels and unpaid speaking requests. While the day’s core mission of empowering women remains crucial, the annual flood of hashtags and feel-good messages isn’t creating the systemic change we desperately need.
Today, I’m talking about how real progress demands action, not just awareness. This means actively calling out injustice, voting for policies that prioritise women’s rights and most importantly, fighting for our most vulnerable sisters.
So join me as we explore breaking free from superficial gestures and using our voices to demand change that builds a new, inclusive foundation for every woman and girl.
Submit your Question: Spotify – click the button below. All other platforms – send me a DM on Instagram or email: [email protected]
Connect with Janine:
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube
Transcript
I'm sick of International
Speaker:Women's Day I finally said
Speaker:the thing that so many of the
Speaker:women, the incredible women
Speaker:in my community have been
Speaker:thinking and have been talking
Speaker:about for the last few weeks.
Speaker:And I'm convinced that
Speaker:there's probably a few of
Speaker:you listening to this podcast
Speaker:that may be thinking the same.
Speaker:I'm sick and tired of
Speaker:International Women's Day and
Speaker:not because I don't believe in
Speaker:what it actually stands for.
Speaker:not at that at all.
Speaker:I ferociously work
Speaker:towards empowering and
Speaker:bettering the lives of
Speaker:women in my community.
Speaker:It's why I do what I do.
Speaker:I'm passionate about
Speaker:helping incredibly smart
Speaker:women, many of which
Speaker:have been very redundant.
Speaker:They've held senior positions.
Speaker:they've suffered from
Speaker:burnout, or they've
Speaker:just gone, is this it?
Speaker:And I ferociously work with
Speaker:them to help them build
Speaker:businesses and life on
Speaker:their terms, where they're
Speaker:not building something that
Speaker:becomes shackles around their
Speaker:ankles, or that is negatively
Speaker:impacting their lifestyle.
Speaker:That is why I do what I do.
Speaker:And because I want to
Speaker:work to better the lives
Speaker:of women in my community.
Speaker:In fact, I've created
Speaker:charities over the years.
Speaker:I still get involved in
Speaker:charities that are all about
Speaker:raising up women of abandoned
Speaker:communities, because I know
Speaker:that by empowering women, we
Speaker:improve the lives of every
Speaker:single person that they touch.
Speaker:I'm working towards currently
Speaker:some plans to bring this back
Speaker:into my business as I grow
Speaker:so we can make more impact.
Speaker:So it's not that I'm not
Speaker:passionate, ferociously
Speaker:passionate about women.
Speaker:So why do I feel my stomach
Speaker:churn more than ever as
Speaker:we approach yet another
Speaker:International Women's Day?
Speaker:Because it feels, quite
Speaker:frankly, like Groundhog Day.
Speaker:Here we go again.
Speaker:Another International
Speaker:Women's Day.
Speaker:Another flood of pink
Speaker:cupcakes, of corporate
Speaker:panels, of pushing away and
Speaker:responding to email after
Speaker:email of Can you speak?
Speaker:Brilliant.
Speaker:We have no budget.
Speaker:Can you speak for free?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:And hundreds of LinkedIn
Speaker:posts about celebrating women.
Speaker:Brilliant, as we should.
Speaker:And yet Outside of the
Speaker:hashtags and the feel
Speaker:good marketing campaigns,
Speaker:real power imbalances
Speaker:continue to exist.
Speaker:Women are still underpaid.
Speaker:Women are still unsafe
Speaker:in their own homes, their
Speaker:workplaces, and public spaces.
Speaker:Women's rights are still
Speaker:being debated, controlled,
Speaker:and stripped away in
Speaker:parts of the world.
Speaker:And this International Women's
Speaker:Day theme of March Forward
Speaker:for all women and girls is
Speaker:a stark reminder that if we
Speaker:want real change, we have
Speaker:to go beyond the slogans.
Speaker:We've got to think about
Speaker:what true empowerment
Speaker:actually means, because
Speaker:it's not about handing
Speaker:women a seat at the table.
Speaker:It's about burning down the
Speaker:damn table and rebuilding in
Speaker:a way that serves everyone.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:Everyone.
Speaker:So what does real action
Speaker:look like and how do I
Speaker:think, how do I think
Speaker:that we can actually
Speaker:make sure it's not just
Speaker:today, but it's every day.
Speaker:I think, first of all, this
Speaker:slogan of advancing women's
Speaker:and girls rights, absolutely.
Speaker:Women's rights are
Speaker:not a privilege.
Speaker:They are a
Speaker:fundamental necessity.
Speaker:Yet across the world,
Speaker:women and girls are still
Speaker:facing systemic violence.
Speaker:Discrimination and
Speaker:exploitation from wage
Speaker:gaps to reproductive
Speaker:rights, from sexual
Speaker:violence to child marriage.
Speaker:There is no justice until
Speaker:every single woman and girl
Speaker:has control over her life
Speaker:and her choices and her body.
Speaker:So what can we do?
Speaker:I think we have to work
Speaker:harder at calling out
Speaker:injustice when we see it.
Speaker:Whether it's a sexist
Speaker:joke in a meeting or a
Speaker:major policy issue, the
Speaker:reality is silence, our
Speaker:silence, equals complicity.
Speaker:Vote for policies and leaders
Speaker:who prioritize women's rights
Speaker:because systemic change
Speaker:doesn't happen by accident.
Speaker:We've got to protect
Speaker:the most vulnerable.
Speaker:Indigenous women, women
Speaker:of color, LGBTQI women,
Speaker:disabled women, and
Speaker:women in marginalized
Speaker:communities who are facing
Speaker:even greater challenges.
Speaker:Fighting for women's
Speaker:rights means fighting for
Speaker:all women, not just the
Speaker:ones that look like us.
Speaker:Protection also doesn't
Speaker:mean infantilizing.
Speaker:These are women who deserve
Speaker:to have their voices heard.
Speaker:And by making space
Speaker:for them, we allow them
Speaker:to empower themselves.
Speaker:And through doing that, they
Speaker:empower people around them.
Speaker:And this is how we
Speaker:create lasting change.
Speaker:I think secondly, we
Speaker:absolutely have to
Speaker:promote gender equality.
Speaker:True gender equality isn't
Speaker:about empowerment branches.
Speaker:It's about power
Speaker:redistribution.
Speaker:It means dismantling those
Speaker:patriarchal structures
Speaker:that continue to exist.
Speaker:If a system benefits from
Speaker:keeping women small and
Speaker:profiting off women's
Speaker:free labor, it has to go.
Speaker:Holding businesses
Speaker:accountable.
Speaker:If a company is celebrating
Speaker:International Women's Day,
Speaker:but it hasn't paid its
Speaker:female speakers or it has a
Speaker:gender pay gap, call it out.
Speaker:And amplify women's voices,
Speaker:especially those on the
Speaker:margins, women with privilege.
Speaker:I have to use my platform
Speaker:to uplift others,
Speaker:not just themselves.
Speaker:And finally, we've got
Speaker:to foster empowerment.
Speaker:If we want women and girls
Speaker:to thrive, we need to stop
Speaker:waiting for permission and
Speaker:start creating opportunities.
Speaker:All of us ask for the money.
Speaker:Stop undervaluing our worth.
Speaker:Demand pay that reflects
Speaker:your skills and impact.
Speaker:It's time to take up space
Speaker:and stand in your spotlight.
Speaker:Stop apologizing for
Speaker:being in the room.
Speaker:Stop shrinking.
Speaker:You deserve to be in
Speaker:every single room where
Speaker:women's decisions and where
Speaker:decisions overall are made.
Speaker:Your voice matters.
Speaker:You matter.
Speaker:Invest in women, hire
Speaker:women, mentor women, fund
Speaker:women led businesses, buy
Speaker:from women owned brands.
Speaker:It's time to lead
Speaker:unapologetically as amazing
Speaker:women and also as amazing men
Speaker:that want to drive change.
Speaker:It's time to stop
Speaker:playing small because the
Speaker:world needs more of us.
Speaker:It needs more women in
Speaker:leadership as thought
Speaker:leaders, as decision makers.
Speaker:Progress isn't made in a
Speaker:single day, and whilst I love
Speaker:the fact that International
Speaker:Women's Day switches the
Speaker:lend and focuses in on
Speaker:Women and Girls, progress
Speaker:isn't made in a single day.
Speaker:It's made in the
Speaker:choices we make.
Speaker:every single day to push
Speaker:forward to demand better
Speaker:and to refuse to accept
Speaker:a world where women and
Speaker:girls are treated as
Speaker:second class citizens.
Speaker:So this International
Speaker:Women's Day absolutely
Speaker:celebrate, please do, yes,
Speaker:but let's also do the work.
Speaker:Let's hold each other up,
Speaker:not just when it's easy, not
Speaker:just when there's a day to do
Speaker:it, not just when there are
Speaker:cupcakes involved or lunches
Speaker:involved or amazing beautiful
Speaker:bottles of wine involved.
Speaker:Let's do it every single day.
Speaker:Let's hold each other up,
Speaker:not just when it's easy, not
Speaker:just when there are cupcakes
Speaker:involved, there's free
Speaker:lunches involved, there's
Speaker:beautiful wine involved, not
Speaker:just on International Women's
Speaker:Day, but every damn day.
Speaker:Let's choose connection and
Speaker:curiosity over the division
Speaker:that is so drastically trying
Speaker:to take away the power that
Speaker:those in control are so
Speaker:scared of us stepping into.
Speaker:Because I can feel the fire
Speaker:inside the women in my world,
Speaker:inside the women in my life.
Speaker:I can feel the power amongst
Speaker:the females in my client base.
Speaker:I can feel it amongst my
Speaker:daughter, her friends,
Speaker:their friends, my nieces.
Speaker:I can see it
Speaker:inside of you too.
Speaker:It's time to set the world
Speaker:ablaze and to create something
Speaker:that benefits not just some.
Speaker:that benefits everyone.
Speaker:And why everyone?
Speaker:Because I'm a mum.
Speaker:I'm a mum of two
Speaker:beautiful boys.
Speaker:I'm a mum of an
Speaker:incredible daughter.
Speaker:And I'm also married to one
Speaker:of the biggest advocates
Speaker:for my work in this world.
Speaker:And I know that we
Speaker:need to work to a
Speaker:better future together.
Speaker:It's never about someone
Speaker:being better than anyone else.
Speaker:It is about equality in its
Speaker:purest form and all of us
Speaker:need to take action together
Speaker:if we're going to achieve
Speaker:this, if we're going to
Speaker:achieve change, if we're going
Speaker:to achieve true equality.