Events like International Women’s Day are supremely important. They elevate understanding, change perspectives, support women-owned organizations, and encourage action toward a cause.
But what happens when the Tuesday celebration ends and we wake up on an average Wednesday morning, confronted with the everyday challenges facing women across the globe?
Here’s how to #BreakTheBias in an ongoing way, creating lasting momentum for the year to come.
Share women’s businesses
Use the power of the dollar to make an impact. Is there a local woman-owned eatery in your area that you could commit to ordering take-out once a month? How about a woman-owned international market in your town? Commit to changing your spending habits to include women-owned businesses in your everyday spending. It might take more work to skip ordering on Amazon Prime, but supporting women is worth the extra 10 minutes in your day.
Speak up for women at work
Reinforce women’s contributions in meetings, calls, and brainstorming sessions in your professional sphere. You will not only make someone feel heard, but you will reinforce the ownership of the idea.
Share women-owned business on your platforms
Social media is a powerful tool for small business owners. Commit to sharing one woman-owned business everyday in a consistent effort to change the narrative and shake up social media algorithms.
Connect women with other women
At a luncheon the other day I connected with a professor of entrepreneurship, a graphic designer, two entrepreneurs, two sustainability experts, and one small business owner – all sitting at my table! I was blown away by the talent and potential for collaboration in this small group, and left with new connections, additional resources for my professional growth, new businesses to support and share with my network.
Challenge your partners and colleagues on their biases.
Dig into your own personal biases and heal them. Become self-aware enough to recognize your biases in life. Do you automatically trust a male contractor more than a female contractor in your home renovation? Do you find yourself drawn to “women like you” when seeking out friendships and partnerships? Do you find yourself personally apologizing for speaking up or demanding more, to make others around you feel more comfortable? These are hard questions to ask, but necessary to examine if we want to see real change.
Include #BreakTheBias in your personal and professional goal-setting so that you can measure, analyze, and prioritize this important work.
Remember, we don’t need a few people making big waves, we need a lot of people making many waves to have the biggest impact. So get out there and build momentum!
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