My older sister used to trundle me around the avenues or our Yorkshire village in an old pram, introducing me to passers-by as her younger baby sister. Despite her best efforts many years ago, I never made it into the strong girls club.
More is the pity.
It strikes me, that of all the clubs I could have been in, this is the one that I aspired to the most, even though they would never have admitted me due to the most basic of biological entry criteria (I guess rules may have changed since 1963 though).
I’m therefore using my weekly rant to articulate admiration and adoration for the Strong Girls Club and so many of its esteemed members for whom I have been holding a candle long enough to give me arm ache.
Why is it that the vast majority of important individuals who have either shaped my life in some way or at least provided guidance and inspiration when required; are female?
It’s not as though men have had no role, but it seems they have proven rather inconsequential when it mattered most, despite their prominence in positions of authority; their lack of representation in the medal table of my life would suggest that notwithstanding some notable family, friend and colleague male super-heroes, most men have let themselves down; badly.
Probably signing my death warrant in the macho club right here, but I guess the ones who let me down the very most would never be reading this sort of stuff anyhow; good.
In assessing this rather unstable equilibrium the celebrated Charlotte Whitton Mayor of Ottowa had a relevant and much quoted point when she explained -
“Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.”
I am sure there are many scientific, philosophical and psychological answers to my my own peculiar set of circumstances over the years, I’m not qualified to assess the significance, or not, of such gender biased relationships; all I can do is marvel at having known this outstanding bunch and shamelessly plug their achievements and activities for all to see here.
Isn’t it ridiculous that there are not more women in senior positions, not just in the UK but globally as this excellent article in Forbes articulates - after all, everyone wins with more women in leadership right? And its not just leading in businesses, its in each and every corner of any organisation or group that I am talking about here.
I guess seeing Naturaw’s founder Jess, giving a guided tour of our business to my mother and sister yesterday is partly what gave me the idea for this post. Of course I have known my mother and sister a long time and despite being pushed around in a pram and passed of as a baby girl from a tender age, I put family differences aside and count them both (as well of course as my long suffering partner, Kay), as founding members of the strong girls club.
But Jess is different, she is the leader of my new work family, building a world class business and growing her own young offspring at the same time is a challenge that is deserving of membership at the very highest level; long may it continue as we all grow and learn from each other.
I forget (in fact I never knew to start with, being a man), how hard it must be to keep tabs on everyone and everything that flies across your keypad/desk/field of vision/screen as every day brings new challenges at home and at work; being a woman, with or without a family and/or a business is hard enough; and being a lot older than most of these club members, I could perhaps be forgiven a little, I am after all, on my second time around as Chris Broadbent 2.0
Which brings me to my first ever boss; Pauline, an amazing lady and lifelong friend, she has survived a long career in advertising only to tragically lose her beloved son Jack five years ago and have her entire world turned upside down; Jack would have been 26 this year and we rightly celebrate him as the only boy in our gallery below.
We send Pauline and Jack all our love from the strong girls club.
Somebody I used to work for and now inspires me to write every week with her amazing creative skills is Fiona; screenwriting masterpieces, editing my scribbles and running the Harrogate Writers Club as well as her own growing business being just a few things she has on the go at any one time. What a superstar!
Another inspiration is Danielle an executive coach for women on a mission; somebody who used to put up with me at work (version 1.0) but now is doing something far more important and I’m sure fulfilling her own true potential at the same time; as is Jane cutting through the bullshit and helping so many businesses and individuals to grow across Yorkshire with her Zeal for life, all things digital, start-ups, dogs, cycling and many other pursuits.
Life long friend Julia with a long established successful clothing business and mad dog lady Lynne; thriving in the crazy world of dogs and home boarding, are two further high achieving individuals who work so hard with their own businesses and make up this gallery; their 24/7 dedication to the cause is not to be underestimated.
I finish off with our amazing daughter Eleanor, passionately leading in diversity and Inclusion as well as constantly being a source of inspiration to me; she always makes me smile and that is so important for us all!
This is just the start; the substack gallery button only allows 9 images; it should allow nine hundred and ninety nine.(apologies to all who I could not fit in here, I promise many further instalments)
This is the strong girls club; as well as just being the most fantastic women that you would ever hope to meet, they all posess something that is extremely important;
Emotional intelligence and more than a shred of humility.
Unlike Ron Burgundy, they didn't think they were kind of a big deal around here; they didn’t shout about their achievements or even ask to be in the club; in fact I am guessing that some, if not all of them may not even want me posting this…
well tough!
So come on lads, it’s time to step up, get out of the pram and start inspiring me.
Sadly, I’m guessing with a waiting list of strong girls in my life, it will be quite a while before I find myself writing about us lot.
Next Week: Influence Without Authority
I’m a Rebel with a cause; Viva la Rawvolution!
Brilliant post - gorgeous to hear about all these amazing women. Btw, you've always been a chap to me Chris, albeit on the welcome fringe of the Sisterhood! 😉🤗
I hear you Chris. I feel blessed to have amazing reliable women in my personal life every day.
Men in power is damaging beyond belief worldwide and my gosh how I wish that was different.
In my life-long obsession with music and artists I’m thankful for all the creative and wonderful females that have given my ears such pleasure over their 52 years of existence. In a time where promoters and festival organisers seem to struggle with booking female artists to headline or even be anywhere near the top of the bill in some cases, I’d urge them to look a little harder. I crave music and spend time others use for mindless tv watching or reel scrolling to actively seek out new exciting things in the music world. My current Spotify playlist of recommended tracks has a very healthy looking balance to it in terms of a male/female ratio. This wasn’t intentional - good, creative, exciting music is all that matters. But so much of it, female led gets overlooked.