Celebrating International Women’s Day with 13 Awe-Inspiring Women

March 8 is globally recognised as International Women’s Day – raising awareness on gender inequality and a movement for positive change to women’s lives. We at Beauty Daily see it as a day for not only action but also celebration. Make International Women’s Day your day and do what you can to truly make a difference – Collectively, we can all work together to help forge positive change for women and #EmbraceEquity

Wow. Haven’t we faced some hurdles? We have withstood adversity, hit a glass ceiling, bounced back down, only to rise again. Women before have sacrificed, fought campaigns, and both failed and succeeded. We have climbed mountains to win our rights. We should be proud of our achievements, but there is still a lot of work to do regarding our social, economic, cultural, and political achievements.

This year’s IWD theme is #EmbraceEquity and celebrates women’s achievement. Raise awareness about discrimination. Take action to drive gender parity.

The IWD mantra: #EmbraceEquity campaign theme is to get the world talking about Why equal opportunities aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.

Let’s use the time to uplift the women in all our communities – check out how you can get involved here.

Recent world events also highlight the need for action and no more so than in the Ukraine. According to Forbes, here are the the places where you can donate to funds supporting women, girls, and gender non-conforming people in Ukraine such as the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Right’s, the Ukrainian Women’s Fund, Feminist Workshop (based in Lviv), and Razom Emergency Response.

Here, Beauty Daily let’s share the knowledge and insights that we believe will support and inspire each other.

We have connected with some of the most inspirational women in the Beauty Daily community and asked them to share their insight into the day, how to succeed in life and career, the lessons learned and the women who have inspired us.

Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #EmbraceEquity.

Nathalie Schyllert, CEO & Co-Owner of Bodyism

Bodyism is a global wellness brand that offers bespoke training programmes, and since it’s inception in 2006 has expanded exponentially into all corners of the luxury wellness space – offering the very best results-driven training and wellness programme for clients.

“At Bodyism we always aim to strive for equity within the workplace – “we rise by lifting others” is written on our walls to remind everyone of the importance of empowerment. As a female CEO and mother of 3 myself, I understand that roles sometimes need to evolve with the employee.

“Right now, we have an all female manager team at Bodyism and it’s always so inspiring to see how the team is supporting each other. It’s important to me to empower women in every way I can, both at work and in my friendship circle but it’s also important to me from a business perspective that we are inclusive and empowering of everyone that steps foot into our building.” – Nathalie Schyllert

Intisar Abdul-Kader, NHS Mental Health Practitioner, and long-distance runner

“You can’t be what you can’t see. Being a Muslim, hijab-wearing Black woman in spaces that might not have been so open to us before is ground-breaking. I want to inspire young people to be courageous enough to take up this space. Shattering stereotypes is hard work, but the rewards are so worthwhile.” – Intisar Abdul-Kader

 

Anna Jones, co-founder of AllBright, the global career network for women and United Nations Women UK Ambassador

Along with her co-founder Debbie Wosskow OBE, Anna is the co-author of the best-selling business book, ‘Believe, Build, Become; How to supercharge your career’ and co-host the inspirational business podcast, ‘Sisterhood Works‘.

“The importance of developing a professional network. I didn’t think about cultivating my network outside of my friends and family group until later in my career. The purpose of AllBright, the company I co-founded in 2018, is to help women connect with other women, upskill, and inspire one another. When women come together, amazing things happen, and the thing that motivates me most in life is seeing this play out in our community every day.” – Anna Jones

 

Debbie Lewis, Clarins MD

“Women are the very DNA of the Clarins brand and it is important to me that this is reflected in everything we do. In a world where women are often penalised for their gender through everyday bias – unconscious or otherwise, it is my vision that Clarins will always be a brand that celebrates and complements the very essence of women. To make this a reality, we have to break biases every single day. Whether this is through the products we offer, the way we communicate our brand, right through to our internal policies to support our employees at every stage of their lives.”

Adding, “The one piece of advice is simple really: the empowered go on to empower. Hold each other up, support each other and help each other to do more and do better, whatever that may look like for you -we are stronger when we work together.” – Debbie Lewis

 

Dusica Neill Managing Director Green Park Content, A global multi-award-winning content agency.

“Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said: ‘I matter. I matter equally. Not ‘if only’ not ‘as long as’. I matter. Full Stop.’ And this is something that I wholeheartedly believe in now. I refuse to see myself in any other light than equal. I’ve stopped questioning everything I say and listen to my instinct. I define my worth and don’t allow others to decide it for me by being vocal about the unfair and biased treatment of women in the workplace.”

Adding, “It is NOT OK if you are not heard, your opinion is not considered, or for your firmness to be described as ’emotional’. It is NOT OK to be paid less than your male counterpart; it is NOT OK to be shouted at; it is NOT OK to be made to feel anything less or differently from how you see yourself! Believe in yourself; YOU matter equally!” – Dusica Neill

 

Gill Whitty-Collins is the author of Why Men Win at Work…How we can make inequality history

A keynote speaker, consultant & executive coach.

“It was when I reached the Senior Vice President level that I found myself in a male-dominant culture for the first time in my career, in my life in fact, and started to become aware of the invisible and unconscious forces that create barriers for women. I became fascinated by the dynamics and devoured everything I could read about gender inequality – and I made myself a promise that when I left that job, the first thing I would do would be to write a book about what I had learnt.”

Adding, “I believe passionately in the power of women and the power of equality and diversity. It leads to better and richer input, perspectives, discussions, ideas, decisions, and plans. For businesses, for communities, for countries, for the world.” – Gill Whitty-Collins

 

Charlene Laidley is the founder of FutureProof: Creating a Gender Equal World™

She is a UN Women Global Champion for Change and is one of London Tech Week’s 30 ChangeMakers to Watch and helps global organisations address their gender pay gap.

“My mentors taught me that I could thrive in New York by overcoming adversity and aiming for the moon. I remember sitting in the library at F.I.T. applying for jobs with Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Clarins. Did I get them? You bet I did! Fast forward several years, and I have worked for world-leading organisations ever since whilst also graduating from Cambridge and INSEAD.

The mantra I live by is if you aim for the moon, if you fail, you can only land amongst the stars. You do not need to wait to be picked. You can choose yourself, back yourself, invest in yourself, work hard, and go after your dreams.” – Charlene Laidley

 

Day-z, urban artist, awarded the Derwent Art Prize’  People’s Choice Award’ and featured as nine artists to look out for in After Nyne Magazine and known as the female ‘Banksy’

“It’s starting that stops most people; I feel a lot of the time I need to take the first step in the right direction of what I am trying to achieve, rather than over-think and creating an excuse not to begin. Fear of starting for an artist can be crippling.”

I have learned to live by a mantra: “Excellence does not require perfection. It reminds me not to constantly chase perfection and learn to love the imperfections.” – Day-z

 

Charlotte Williams, Founder of SevenSix Agency, award-winning entrepreneur

Co-host @sustainablyinfluenced podcast and Business Influencer of the Year 2021.

“Be nice to everyone. When I first started my business, I got a lot of advice about being nice to everyone as you never know when you’ll need to work with someone in the future but actually being nice to people actually makes me happier and a drama-free life is a stress-free life.” – Charlotte Williams

 

Valentina Milanova, Founder & CPO, Daye.

Bridging the gender pain gap with her London-based women’s health brand that launched in 2018, selling CBD-infused tampons to ease painful menstrual cramps through a subscription service.

“Time and time again, events in my life reaffirm the fact that there is absolutely no problem in the world that cannot be solved with persistence. I pride myself on my grit.” – Valentina Milanova

 

Jess Thompson, Founder & CEO, Migrateful

An organisation that helps refugees, asylum seekers and migrants integrate in the UK by supporting them to run cookery classes.

“I believe that if you talk about your ideas and ambitions as if they are a real thing, then eventually they will become a real thing!” – Jess Thompson

 

Bianca Miller-Cole, entrepreneur, mentor, speaker, and The Sunday Times Bestselling Author

Forbes 30 under 30′ status and honoured with 50 Future Leaders List, The Financial Times.

“My inspiration? My mother. She is strong in many ways that she is not even aware of. She inspires me to work hard to provide the same opportunities that were afforded to me. She always preaches that the next generation is better than the last, and that is my hope for my future.” Adding, “I think women can have it all, just maybe not all at the same time.” – Bianca Miller-Cole

 

Anna Foster, Founder and Creative Director of E.L.V. Denim

It is a unique brand that takes unwanted jeans destined for landfill and turns them into modern sophisticated pieces. Adhering to an ethos of zero waste, the material used has minimal impact on the environment.

“Never see obstacles as problems, just challenges. We must see a ‘mistake’ as a potential to learn. Always be kind.” – Anna Foster