Defining you and finding your people

What an amazing time we had at our annual Omniwomen UK & Allies last month at Picturehouse Central! The result of 8 months of planning and a labour of love for our incredible team (special thank you to Kelly, Luci, Alice, Amy, Iris and Liz amongst so many others).?

It had just about everything. Inspiring speakers from within Omnicom sharing personal stories and lessons (thank you Antoinette, Helen, V and Tobi). An inspiring session with coach Madeline McQueen (who thrilled us by making it so personal and bringing her daughter along too).? A new programme of podcasts, events and resources launched by Laura. Followed by workshops with the House of Wellbeing, the fantastic Samantha Renke and Ben Pechey. All capped off with a really intimate conversation between our very own Monica and Davina McCall, who stayed to answer some really deep and personal questions in a way that blew us all away.

Even the food was fabulous and had been turned into the most beautiful of gifts by Tom Kerridge and his team. It really had it all, but how did it come about and what did we learn?

Back in 2014 Janet Riccio set up Omniwomen globally with the same mission we have today - to be the catalyst that increases the influence and number of women in senior leadership positions. She observed a bucket leaking great talent and decided to stop and fix it.

The UK became the first chapter and she reached out to Cilla Snowball (since made a Dame and we could all see it coming!) to become our first Chair. Cilla assembled a bunch of us and the rest is history almost 10 years down the line. These two inspiring and dedicated women went on to light a fire that burns even brighter today.?

Organising an annual event is one of our flagship activities. This year we made our theme Defining You: When everything is being redefined, how do you define you? Thank you Hanni and Dan, With a brief to our speakers to come up with personal points of view and fresh perspectives for us. Our agenda focused on how to be your authentic self and how to help everyone rise together.

We covered everything from not being afraid to take risks, making bold decisions, feeling different,? falling down, getting up, speaking up, letting resentments go, the importance of building a network and of finding your people. The last one resonated strongly and it felt like we not only found our people but shared a really special experience on that sunny late September day.

We took away a few nice lessons on becoming ‘more authentically you’ together too:

?

1. ? ? Confidence is not a personality trait. It’s a skill. It’s based on evidence. It’s temporary and situational. You need to exercise it like you exercise your muscles.

2. ? ? Community - Find your people and keep them close. Colleagues, family, and friends can play different roles as coaches, mentors, and confidantes.

3. ? ? Authenticity - We all suffer from the spotlight effect – but most people don’t pay nearly as much attention to us as we think they do.

4. ? ? Growth - To learn and grow at work, you need to do things outside the industry. Find hobbies, skills and interests that give you distance from your day-to-day life.

5. ? ? Self-care - You can’t take care of your work, a client, a business, if you don’t take care of yourself.

We have some lovely stats to back up our progress that you’ll have to join Omnicom to learn more about as we’re not big braggers externally. As well as some really great relationships with our allies and the other ERGs within the group. Because ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together’.

Thank you to everyone mentioned above for such a wonderful event, as well as to Emma, Helen, Jamilya, Max and Franc and to my wonderful 2023 co-chair Kathryn and to Cristina for being the centre of organising universe. With a final shout out to our fearless leaders of Emma Sergeant and Ali Pulver.

Roll on 2024 next and thanks for the lovely photos Bronac McNeill!