“Pink it and shrink it”

“I felt like I had to be better”

“Can you have it all”

“You are OVERproving”

"Good, is GOOD enough”

“I, now speak my truth”

Etc etc etc … Any of this sounds familiar? They did to me. I can go on and on about these magical phrases and the heartfelt moments experienced at the first-ever Women in Marketing event by the Marketing Association.

An absolute stunner, Marketing Association held its first Women in Marketing event yesterday with the best line up of speakers. And, when you add Cassie Roma and Anika Moa to the mix, you get a substantial women-centric event filled with life and career lessons, and of course champagne.

What REALLY surprised me was that every woman who stood on that stage had at least one common life experience I could relate to. The Executives, Senior Leaders and the accomplished marketing superstars in that room had a similar story to share;

From the fear of re-structure, to being made redundant, to being the victim of politics, being a woman of colour who was taught to always be PERFECT, to being a victim of our own “over-proving absolutely nuts feminine” side, I could relate to it all. There is definitely a common thread and it doesn’t matter what your gender is, we all are affected by it.

For many years and several reasons we are told that there are a lot of women in marketing but how many great marketing campaigns are led by women? How many women feel their voices are heard in the advertising agencies, how many women reading this feel that they have NEVER been gently ‘sshhhhd’ in a meeting?

The key takeaways were the brilliant Whittaker’s brand storytelling, real-life examples by speakers in the discussion panel on how they overcame gender issues, great insights into NZ and AU advertising workforce, and learning about people who are making a difference.

We need more such events with more women coming out to stir the pot! As someone said in the room, if we don’t ask for change sooner, it won’t happen in her lifetime!