To all the important women in my life.*
Published on March 8, 2016
Today is international women’s day and even if the day is not about “women” but more about equal rights for women, I am keen to seize this opportunity to thank you all for influencing my path over the last years.
The two pillars of my life
First and obvious, there is my mother. An incredible woman who has inspired me to be free, believe everything is possible and has helped me shape who I am today. I was a stubborn little girl with high aspirations and she took the time to develop my talents whilst giving me some life lessons. I could go on and on on how amazing my mum is — creative, caring, solution-finder, explorer, brave, elegant, passionate, learner, anglophile, generous and so much more — but I’ll stop there to make room for the other amazing women of my life.
The second amazing woman who is one of the most important people in my life is my dear sister Laurence. She is a true inspiration for me as she is going through the path of life just “before me” and share all her great tips with me which makes life much easier. She looks alike my mother a lot and I admire her for managing having children as well as a wonderful career, for her amazing skill of bringing peace to any difficult situation or conflict and for her constant commitment in helping others in lots of different ways. Thank you Laurence for being the best bigger sister ever!
There are many more wonderful women in my life…
The ones who influenced my early years
By challenging my initial close minded views on the world, allowing me to think that everything was possible, supporting me in building my personnality and discovering who I was and opening my eyes to the bigger world.
The ones who helped me shaping my current career
By demonstrating what an amazing manager is, teaching me the importance of resilience, hard work and recognition, developing my self-awareness by giving me numerous opportunities, coaching me, supporting me in tough times, widening my thinking, helping me make better decisions and and believing in my abilities.
The role models who inspire me to believe that a different world is possible and that I can be part of creating it
By their generosity, their strenght in fighting for what they believe is right, by making me more aware of unconscious bias and how they affect our relationships with people and our businesses, by making the world a better place through their commitment and by realising their own dreams and making me believe that it is possible!
The “energy angels” without whom I couldn’t have gotten to where I am
By supporting me, being there for me, listening to me, helping me go through the motion of life by reassuring me and making things fun; by being the kindest people on earth, teaching me what being genuinely kind means — when you give to others without expecting anything back — by welcoming me the way I am and making me feel safe at all times.
The “fighters”, the one who inspire me for their strengths, commitment and resilience
By facing life challenges with grace, perseverance and determination. By making feel so grateful for what I have and by inspiring me to be a better person while giving back to other.
The “creative crazy”
By making every moment fun, use their unbelievable energy to shake the world and truly seize evey single day.
Finally, to the future women of my world
My goddaughter and future born niece, to whom I commit to do my best to support them through life for them to feel that they have choices in becoming whoever they want to be, with the ultimate goal of being themselves and being happy.
There are of course more women who supported me along the way and I know there will be many more.
Obviously, there are also many men who helped me becoming who I am today and to whom I am deeply grateful for.
But that will be for another day…
*This is an extract from a longer text which was personalised and sent out to the 51 women of my life.