Celebrating Smart Women

What's In A Number?

It’s my birthday this month. On 15th April I will turn 45 (Linkedin will no doubt prompt you to say happy birthday!). When I say the number out loud, it doesn’t seem so much. When I write it down, it looks like a lot!

I read an article recently that talked about how women often reach their professional prime post-40 years of age. I know a lot of the women I work with at that stage in their life are just getting going. They are more driven, more creative and also more self-aware and settled within who they are and what they want from life. 

I’ve never lived my life dictated by my age, but like most of us, there have been times where I have watched the years tick by and think “wow, how did I get to THIS age?!”. In the past I might also have been guilty of comparing my situation to others at a similar age and questioning some of my decisions and choices. And I very rarely made a big deal of celebrating my birthday, usually flying under the radar with a quiet dinner or staying at home. 

Then two things happened...

1 - I went through breast cancer at age 42

2 - I lost a very close friend about 18 months later, when I was 43

Both of these incidents proved the obvious point that life is precious – but I also learnt that we are loved more than we will ever know. 

The thoughtful gifts and outpouring of kindness and love I experienced while going through treatment astounded me. 

And the love from all over the world that was evident when my friend died dumbfounded me. 

Being healthy is a privilege. 

Having loving relationships is a privilege. 

Living this life is a privilege.

We need to celebrate our life and the lives of our loved ones any time we can! We can’t control ageing, it will happen to all of us. But we can make the most of the time we are here. That part is most definitely up to us. 

Another Reason to Celebrate

Today I have another reason to celebrate! It’s 12 months to the day since we ran our first SmartWomen Connect Smart Breakfast. 

We had 20 women at that breakfast – many of them loyal supporters who had worked with me or come across me in another context and a number of the women went on to become our founding members of SmartWomen Connect (and are still with us). 

Fast forward a year and next week we will hold our 21st event since launching, which will be our 8th Smart Breakfast, hosted by PwC. We have 85 women registered and this will be our biggest event to date. 

I have a goal of making every SmartWomen Connect event a celebration…

to reflect the knowledge, expertise, talent, hard work, tenacity, grit, determination and resilience our members exhibit in their professional and personal lives on a daily basis

-to rejoice in overcoming challenges 

-to vent our frustrations

-to laugh at life and everything it throws at us

-and to cheer on our wins, our losses, and our almost-made-its.

Because I believe we should celebrate Smart Women, every day. 

Fiona 

I help people and organisations Build Brilliance. I love advising on building personal brand and strong networks. I have a passion for helping people and businesses be Brilliant Business Developers.

I founded SmartWomen Connect to help professional women employed by or working with corporate or professional services build a strong, resilient network to support them in their career. 

Subscribe to my blog, Smart Talk, to keep up to date with what's happening in the community and the upcoming events.

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