Growing up, my mother worked in a lot of minimum wage jobs, sometimes working two jobs to make ends meet. My grandmother was no stranger to the workforce either, and once owned a beauty parlor, a grocery store, and a chemical company. Grandma Florence married my grandfather after my mom’s mother died at age 47 (mom was 16). Grandma Florence had no children of her own, which at that time, allowed her to be a career woman.
I was slightly in awe of Grandma Florence; she was such an independent spirit, and I saw how hard both she and my mom worked to achieve their goals. They instilled in me a work ethic that has served me well both in life and in my career.
Over the course of my career, I’ve seen women taking their rightful place in leadership roles and becoming a force for change in their communities. It’s gratifying to see, and I’m committed to helping empower women, especially working moms like myself, any way that I can.
Honoring our female founders
There’s another group of strong women who have made an indelible impact on my life—the Sisters of Providence and St. Joseph who founded Providence nearly 200 years ago. They built hospitals to provide equitable health care for women, educated children, took care of orphan and trained women to become skilled nurses and doctors.
Their mission to empower women is built into our Providence DNA, and we continue to honor the Sisters’ legacy every day by providing equitable health care to women and ample opportunities for career growth. I’m proud of what a diverse organization Providence is, and if you look across the top leadership positions across our organization, you’ll notice that we have more women than men.
What I’ve learned along the way
When I entered the workforce, there weren’t many strong female mentors in the corporate world, so now I make a point to offer guidance to younger women who are just starting to navigate their careers—many who are also juggling the responsibility of being a mother. One of my biggest pieces of advice to women, especially working mothers, is this: don’t stress too much about the big picture. Sure, it’s important to set long-term goals, but there are definitely times I’ve felt so overwhelmed that I would scale back and tell myself, let’s just get to Friday. It’s okay to take things day by day, week by week, or month by month.
Finally, never underestimate your worth. Everyone has something to offer, and great ideas can come from anywhere. We women need to own our roles in the shaping of our society, and one of the best ways to do that is to get involved in a great cause you believe in.
Women have always been dedicated philanthropists. However, for decades men got most of the credit when it came to giving, since donations were typically made in the husband’s name—as in, “This XYZ was made possible by a gift from Mr. and Mrs. John Smith.” Thankfully, those days are long gone. In today’s world, so many of the women that I meet—whether they’re married or single—are driving a lot of the decisions about where they want their charitable giving to go.
We can all be allies
There are so many ways to lift up and empower the women in your life. A few of my favorites include:
- Mentoring women and girls
- Investing in and supporting female-owned businesses
- Promoting women from within into management and C-level positions
- Supporting health-related causes like maternal health, breast cancer research or women’s heart health
- Helping a new mom adjust to motherhood by dropping off food or just being available to answer questions
By advocating for women, we can continue to make strides towards a more equitable world and make life better for our mothers, daughters, sisters and friends while we’re at it.
