International Women’s Day 2021

International Women’s Day is an incredibly important day to me, that should always be celebrated now and in the future. We should always celebrate the success of women, especially when you recognise how far we have come in the world of business. It wasn’t that long ago that we couldn’t even vote so let’s embrace every achievement.

How does this affect me in my life and business?

This challenge made me consider some of the issues around running a business, and where gender equality and inequalities occur.

Over the past year, running my property business during lockdown and being a mother to my 16-month-old daughter, has not only been a challenge but a logistical nightmare. In some respects, I was lucky, being my own boss. I didn’t have to answer to a manager and negotiate time off. However, at times, I found it incredibly hard to juggle these two important aspects of my life because my clients are also very important to me.

My choice of challenge would be to encourage all companies to embrace the new normal of home working and introduce flexible working hours for men and women who have caring responsibilities – give employees some choices.  Not only for children, but also for elderly relatives who need our help.

Life is a juggling act at the best of times, but when all of your best laid plans go out of the window, we need to achieve a more understanding and cooperative work-life balance. 

When it comes to inequality, luckily, during my time running my own business, I have not knowingly experienced any inequalities. In fact, I have worked extremely well with men within my industry and they respect my knowledge and experience. 

However, in some previous jobs I have been made to feel inadequate. I have received comments about my clothes and how I wear my hair. I have been sexually harassed and when I took the issue to my employer, they made me feel like I was being silly and the person doing it (who was much older than me) was just being a ‘father figure’ because I had recently lost my own father. Years later I still flinch at this comment. 

I have also been promised promotions, which were then given to a male colleague despite the fact that I had more experience.  This was one of the reasons why I decided to run my own business, so I could control the narrative. It’s the best decision I could have made.   

Collaboration:

One fantastic outcome for me running my own business is the ability to collaborate with other women in my sector. I’ve joined the lobbying group Women In Property and have met some amazing women. I’ve also collaborated with another lady who works in my sector, Tara Cozens of TLC Property. Tara runs an estate and lettings agency based around Wiltshire and the Cotswolds. After getting in contact, it became clear she has strong experience in her sector (15 years in fact) and, like me, made the decision to go it ‘alone’ in order to bring her ethics to the services she offers her clients.

Tara told me:

“I fell into this industry, working as a part time administrator during college. From there I was offered a full-time position and I have worked with different companies over the years to progress further in my career

“My roles within these companies have included starting new offices, opening new departments and helping struggling offices. It was these experiences that made me want to start on my own. Over the years I have seen the best and the worst practices and wanted to run an agency which offers a more personal touch. 

“I think being female, we think about the people not just the figures – and this was something I struggled with when working with others.

The property industry is very male dominated so it’s great to be able to share my experiences with other women in the industry like Jodie, and to be able to help and support each other. 

“I am definitely not a feminist; however, it has surprised me over the years when people assume you are not able to do your job role because of your gender. I have had people come in to offices I have run and they would often automatically assume the male in the office is the manager, and were surprised when they were directed to me.

“The same when I have answered a phone for a member of male staff, they have assumed I am his secretary. I did have one client who admitted when he first saw me, he wondered why the company had sent him a young female to discuss his property. He thought I would not have the experience or knowledge to know what I was doing. Luckily by the end of the appointment I had changed his way of thinking!”

“Now there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind because I run my own show! My aim is to keep growing the business and show that not all property agents are the same.”

There is no reason for women to be considered unequal. From my own experience, I think we can offer anything that men can. Personally, I think women can be more diplomatic and empathetic and will generally take more time and care over a job or situation. 

If there is a difference, maybe men tend to have more logical minds and stronger will, which are very useful traits in certain situations.

Having said that, I strongly believe, gender isn’t that important. We can all be successful in our own right. There is plenty of room for all of us to achieve our business goals, whether we are a man or woman or we have another gender identity.

Becoming a parent

One pressure that I think we do face in business, is from some our clients’ point of view - the possibility of children ‘getting in the way.’ I would question if this is ever suggested as a problem with male business owners? When was the last time you heard anyone say to a professional man ‘oh well you might go off and have a baby?” or “you better get off on time today because you’ve got a baby at home”.

At times, because of this, women have to work twice as hard to be taken seriously, alongside, juggling those other life responsibilities.

A serious inequality is the despicable gender pay gap. I’ve certainly experienced it in the past and fought hard for it to be changed. However, why should it always be the woman’s battle? It’s time for men to get involved with this discussion too and stand up for their female colleagues doing the same or similar jobs to ensure they get paid at the same level.

I am extremely grateful to all of the men and women I work with now and in the past.  If it wasn’t for some of the experiences I have been through, perhaps I wouldn’t understand the importance of International Women’s Day.