Today is International Women’s Day and the theme this year is Choose To Challenge.

I know that the last year has been tough for us all and I also know that women have taken a huge hit.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies and the UCL Institute of Education found that mothers were 47% more likely to have permanently lost their job or quit, and 14% were more likely to have been furloughed since the start of the crisis. Not to mention the women who have had to sacrifice their business to look after their children at home. 

So today I want to give a shout out to the women who have used the pandemic to pivot, take action or just make me chuckle when I’m having a down day. 

Anna Whitehouse (IG – Mother_pukka) 

Anna has been campaigning for flexible working these last few years, and during the pandemic has been taking great strides in lobbying for government support for the mothers and women who have been adversely affected in their work. She’s doing great things!

Emma Sayle (IG – emsayle333) 

Emma is a fierce supporter of women’s equality and has built some incredible businesses including Sistr.. She has a wonderful supportive Facebook community and Sistr offers workshops, advice and mentorship to women by women. I’m always inspired by the doors Emma breaks down to enable women to be heard!

Louise Boyce (IG – mamasstillgotit_)

Louise is a model who has made me laugh till my belly hurts with her real and relatable reels about life with kids in lockdown. She even inspired my daughter to get creative and record some comedy skits! Thank you Louise for making Lockdown a little lighter!

Stacey Solomon (IG – staceysolomon)

I only started following Stacey a few months ago but her stories brighten up my day. She’s an absolute whizz with making her home tidied, ordered and looking lovely and inspired me to do the same with my garden office and start sorting my stuff out! Her new book, Tap to Tidy is full of amazing ideas for making life a little more easy and fun. 

Lauren Flymen (IG – lauren.jumps)

Lauren was furloughed from her job at the beginning of the pandemic last year and decided to use her time to learn to jump rope. Just under a year later she has not only mastered it like a pro, she has built a huge supportive community on Instagram and has turned her hobby into a business. Inspiring!

I also want to give a shout out to my gal biz besties, clients, friends and family who have inspired me, chewed it over, listened, laughed and cracked on during this tricky time period. You are all warriors. We’ve come through this together and I can’t wait till we can meet, hug and have a bloody good time again!

This month’s Brighton Business show will be focused on some inspiring Brighton based business women who have been trekking on and making waves during the pandemic. It will go out on 97.2 FM, on DAB or on the Radio Reverb website on Sunday 21st March

Happy IWD day to all the amazing women and the incredible men supporting them.

Much love

Helen x

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