Group photo of my professional coaching cohort on our retreat in October 25. Photo courtesy of Michele Byrne
Each year when International Women's Day comes along, I find myself reflecting on what it means to be part of a community of other women and other women business owners. For a long time, I shied away from projecting Hazelmade as a “woman-owned business” because I wanted my work to be judged on its own merit, not with the caveat of gender attached to it.
More and more, I'm realizing the ways gender can't be detached from my business, in the same way other identities can't be detached from other independently owned businesses. No matter what, I show up in the world with the lived experiences of a woman, and those lived experiences translate into the work I create and the role my business plays in my community.
I was born into a world where women could not open their own businesses without significant financial hurdles and dependance on men.
Over and over, I return to the fact that women were not allowed to take out business loans in their own name until 1988 when H.R.5050 was passed. I am 43, and 1988 was 38 years ago. That means I was born into a world where women could not open their own businesses without significant financial hurdles and dependance on men.
It's easy to imagine these hurdles and legal obstacles as figments of a distant past. It's easy to tell people who are systemically marginalized to stop fixating on these hurdles because they now have the rights they asked for. But 38 years is not even a lifetime. Think of the major companies and corporations that have existed for 100 years or more. Few women would have been in a position to start one of these companies independently, so we find ourselves starting a race 100 years behind our competitors.
In 1908, 15,000 women joined together to demand better working conditions, better pay and the right to vote. It was about coming together to benefit the whole.
This year, I was incredibly lucky to meet and work closely with dozens of fellow women business owners who have showed me the endurance, compassion and creativity it takes to find success in a sometimes cutthroat and unforgiving world. So many of us are rejecting the image of the "girl boss," refusing to belittle one another for the sake of our own individual gains. Instead, we're meeting for zoom calls every other week. We're offering each other professional opportunities. We're trading knowledge, getting coffee and asking for help.
In October, I went on a retreat with 9 other women, the culmination of a 10-month long professional coaching cohort led by 2 women. Even though our coaching has ended, our cohort still meets every other week virtually to check in and support each other. Many of us recently met up in New York City, and we are already planning another retreat for this fall.
We didn't get to this place alone. The first International Women's Day began as a march for Women's Rights. In 1908, 15,000 women joined together to demand better working conditions, better pay and the right to vote. It was about coming together to benefit the whole.
The race we started 100 years late? Our track is moving uphill. But the goal is not to beat everyone to the finish. It's to look around at the people running alongside us and know that, together, we're on a journey we chose for ourselves, and we're not taking that journey alone.
This International Women's Day I'm celebrating everything we have achieved and determined to help us all achieve even more.
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