In celebration of Women’s History Month, we hosted an internal panel discussion titled “The Trailblazing Women of Multiverse.” The panel discussion aimed to shed light on the unique challenges that women confront in their professional fields and present potential solutions to overcome them.
Hosted by Multiverse royalty Sarah Olubunmi - Product Manager, panelists for this discussion were Chloe Barker - Head of Governance, Hilary Cymrot - Director of Coach Enablement and Crystal Williams - Business Development Representative. They each drew from their extensive personal experiences in the workplace, sharing stories, helpful insights, and valuable nuggets of advice.
Chloe: The art of balancing work and life
Kicking things off, Chloe offered a refreshing viewpoint on the hot topic of work-life balance. Drawing from her experiences, she sees work-life balance as a critical skill for achieving work success - rather than a wishful luxury. In her own words, she says, "It's about developing the right mindset and skills.” She further emphasized how balance doesn’t just relate to managing time, but also involves handling different responsibilities. She says, “Work life balance also involves asking yourself questions like ‘Am I the only one who can do this?’ If the answer is no, you should delegate."
Chloe advocates nurturing resilience, actively seeking assistance when needed, and embracing an efficient mindset as the key to successfully juggling professional and personal lives. Chloe’s feedback was especially stand-out for soon-to-be parents in attendance, with Chloe herself only recently returning from Maternity Leave.
Hilary: Confidence and the importance of personal values
"How do I make sure that I am being strong and standing in my power in my own light." Hilary’s discussion centred around the importance of being self-assured and driven by personal values, especially in leadership positions. Ask yourself, she shared, "What is the spirit of the thing that I care about? What do I deeply believe?". If you can answer that and stand up for it, it will give you confidence in yourself, in the room and throughout your career.
Hilary shared a practical tip for bringing this to life when facing a challenging conversation at work: write down on a piece of paper ahead of the conversation “This aligns with my beliefs because of X or Y” to centre the conversation around your personal values. This advice aligns well with another favourite quote from the panel; “women can do hard things!”
Hilary also shared an interesting perspective on the infamous ‘fake it 'til you make it’ catchphrase. Hilary believes instead that there’s power and confidence in saying “I don’t know but I’ll find out”. We don’t need to have all the answers in order to be a successful and inspiring leader.
Crystal: Staying authentic and trusting your gut
Finally, Crystal offered insightful advice on dealing with the societal pressures faced by women in the workplace whilst staying true to oneself. Crystal believes women should never consider diluting their self-worth or accepting anything less than what they are due. With conviction, she said, "First and foremost, you've got to know yourself. And regardless of a yes or a no, a win or a failure, you're still going to be you at the end of the day." This was particularly poignant in Crystal’s experience of working in Sales when you often have to deal with rejection.
Crystal also shared advice about trusting your intuition. In her experience, this isn’t just a gut feeling that comes from nowhere, your intuition is a highly calibrated and experienced feeling that we develop and refine over time - just like any other skill.
Encouragement for women trailblazers
The discussion concluded on a high note with each of our panelists encouraging women to embrace and showcase their unique strengths and talents. A resounding message was for women to treat themselves with the same empathy and support they extend to others. Chloe summed it up eloquently, "We so often lead others with kindness and we lead ourselves with cruelty." Let’s replace this pattern with compassion towards ourselves.
True success in the workplace lies at the intersection of personal and professional balance, staying authentic and aligned to your values, and accepting yourself wholeheartedly. Each speaker at the panel discussion shared this in their own unique ways.
Here's to all the women who are carving their own paths and setting new benchmarks. As we pay homage to women's contributions during Women’s History Month, let’s pledge to be more understanding, supportive, and encouraging towards one another. Together, we can shape a more diverse and inclusive future.
