I wanted to blog today about how our Potty Training is going but I’m going to wait and do that tomorrow. Today, I wanted to get something off my chest. But first a little announcement…
YEARS ago, I met Sara Haley at a fitness event in Boston. She was teaching, I took her class. The goober that I am, I introduced myself. I’m not sure why I felt the need to tell her I was a blogger but I did and she’s remembered me since! Lol. Anyway, fast forward like 8 years, she has 3 kids and is a successful trainer on the west coast and specializes in prenatal and postnatal fitness. I always look to her for modifications in both of these areas. She is a true expert.
We are going to be doing an Instagram Live tomorrow, Friday, March 9th at 11 am PST, 2 pm EST on all things prenatal fitness and a little postpartum but mainly focusing on prenatal ab workouts and what is safe to do, moves to avoid and how to avoid getting a diastasis recti, if possible! If you have a question for us to answer, shoot me a direct message on Instagram, @SarahFit and we will answer. If you miss the live chat because work and life, it will be up on Facebook later in the day to check out.
That being said, I love working with other like minded successful women. It is International Women’s day and while most influencers and content creators are slapping up a picture of themselves, girlfriends or quotes, I wanted to take a minute to really understand what it actually means to celebrate IWD.
#1. It’s important to support other women. We love to take each other down. We see each other as threats and are constantly comparing our successes. A wise trainer once told me,
There is plenty of room at the top.
This has always stayed with me and I’ve tried to think of it daily. The success of one woman does not mean the failure of yours. I’ve been on many blogger trips, and all but one have been more than happy to support one another through tagging on blog posts and pictures on social. We comment on each other’s stuff. I try to comment on all my blog friends’ sponsored Instagram posts because it’s my way of supporting them. I often don’t see them in my feed these days, thanks Instagram, but when I do, I comment.
#2. International Women’s Day is to celebrate the social economic, cultural and political achievements of women and also renew our commitment to continue working towards gender parity.
In Massachusetts alone, women make up 49.3% of the overall workforce, but represent 67.5% of the low-wage work force and currently least likely to have paid time to care for a new child or a sick family member.
As a mother, I can’t imagine not being able to take time off after having a child. I took about 2 weeks off because I work for myself but I was able to be home with Tommy and continue to work from home. I didn’t need to pay for child care. I could nurse him and care for him. Not working meant no pay check but at least I had/have Nick as a support system.
Instead of uploading a picture to social, reach out to your local legislators and ask them to support one of the many measures that directly effect the well being of women like supporting strong paid family medical leave, the right to birth control and affordable healthcare.
Admittedly, I never took much to these issues until I felt them become threatened for my fellow females and now I’ve become a raging feminist which I rarely talk about on this blog.
#3. Instead of saying you support women online, go out and do it! Shop small and local at a female owned business or visit a local gym owned by a female. In Boston alone, you can shop at Olive’s & Grace or Follain. Go take a class at one of the boutique studios around the city owned by local women like Recycle Studio, BTone, Xtend Barre or Pure Barre on Newbury. You can also grab something to eat at a female owned restaurant. In fact, I already visited Flour once today and grabbed a delicious yogurt parfait. Joanne Chang is one of the owners and one of the most inspirational local women I’ve met, always supporting her community and super kind.
Be sure to check out Flour’s new Whole Grains menu items which include the double chocolate cookie made with rye flour. It’s my favorite.
#4. If you’re going to talk and say you support other women actually do it.
I used to work with this one successful female business owner. She worked at the gym I belonged to and I asked her if she wanted to be in my YouTube videos. She had never done videos before and I introduced her to YouTube. Fast forward many years, we’ve kept in touch, she’s gone on to be largely successful but whenever she shares her story of how she began her business she never once mentions me or the company I originally worked for despite acknowledging her early YouTube days as inspiration. She is always talking about supporting other women and while we are still friends, she never has given credit where I felt like it was due and could have benefitted me as a female content creator myself. It’s really hurtful and painful for me for some reason, mainly because her thing is so much about empowering women yet I am always left feeling hurt when she talks about waking up one day and deciding to pursue YouTube. She doesn’t owe me anything, I get that. She built her empire and really all I did was introduce her to YouTube but she’s written blog posts and done interviews and always leaves out how she got started. Nick encouraged me to reach out and tell this person how I felt but I chose not to because that is how I deal with conflict. I’m not confrontational and I’d rather just say nothing than deal with the stress. One of my flaws, I know. I’m sure she will not read this which is why I’m sharing it here but I’m also sharing it here on International Women’s Day because so many people are acting like they support women but really they don’t. Don’t say one thing and do another which is why I suggestion the above actions and this one too; If a female helped you in your career, give them a shout out today and let them know!
I hope #4 didn’t come across as being catty or ungrateful or immature but it’s taken me a long time to be happy with the level of success my business has brought staying in Boston while many people I started out with on YouTube have exponentially grown by leaving. I always wanted a family and met Nick when I was 23 years old. I knew he was the one and to leave him and my hometown for my career wasn’t for me. Tommy is the best thing to happen to me and I couldn’t ask for a better child. I don’t regret not moving to California but I would be lying if I didn’t admit that occasionally I wonder what if…
Lastly, everyone is fighting a their own battle. I shared a little one of mine above. Being International Women’s Day, don’t assume that every successful female you see online has everything figured out and has a perfect life. Social media is a highlight reel and you should never forget that!
Don’t forget to tune into tomorrow’s live chat.
Deep Thursday post guys… sorry for that lol.
Getting Something Off My Chest for International Women’s Day posted first on http://sarahfit.com
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