With Forward Ladies being the UK’s biggest celebration of women in business, I was absolutely thrilled to be nominated in The Rising Star category this year at the Forward Ladies North West, Wales & Ireland Regional Final.
After being invited to last year’s regional awards by Amanda Alexander, Forward Ladies’ Regional Director for the North West, I never thought I would be attending the 2017 event as a finalist in one of the categories! Following the 2016 awards, I came away feeling extremely inspired and I was absolutely blown away by the achievements of the women I met.
My relationship with Amanda started when I arranged for her to come in to deliver a workshop at Evolution. Since then, I joined Amanda’s academy, “The Academy for Talented Women”, and during this time she kindly decided to nominate me for the Forward Ladies Rising Star award. I was then shortlisted in the final four, which resulted in me attending the regional finals this year on Friday 13th October.
Despite not winning the award, I was truly honoured to make it to the final four in my region. Hearing the stories of the women alongside me in the room, throughout all the categories, made me feel extremely proud to be there – there was some truly impressive girl power going on in that room! Breaking the glass ceiling is something I am very passionate about, and I came away feeling like we as women are shattering that ceiling, and finally making a real change.
I attended the Forward Ladies event with my colleagues, Jennifer Abdelaty and Deborah Murray, who both felt the same way I did after the event – encouraged and uplifted. Jennifer said, “I had a fantastic time at the Forward Ladies Regional Finals – it was extremely inspiring, and I left feeling both empowered but also that I could be doing more. I’m still feeling an overwhelming amount of pride for a lot of women at the event who I didn’t even know!”
Deborah commented, “I really enjoyed myself at the Forward Ladies event, and felt so empowered as a woman after attending. My highlight was Rebecca McCann’s speech, and the quote that she used which has stayed in my mind – ‘Say yes and make it happen’. It was really encouraging to hear such amazing stories from women in business, and has inspired me to become a Forward Ladies member.”
Thank you to Forward Ladies for having us – we had a brilliant time!
