?? Do we need to score to be validated?

Welcome to episode 9 of?The Upgrading Women Newsletter?

I’m your editor,? Rebecca ?? Leppard , a feminist and communications nerd who used to play football (this one????not???) in high school in the equatorial Indonesia???.

So I cannot imagine playing in the winter like the most of the world do!???

Sending love and virtual hot water bottle to my girls Down Under???♀?

I’m curious, are you following the??Women’s World Cup? Or the Wimbledon before? LMK, reply to this newsletter.

I’m genuinely hoping for responses BECAUSE the patriarchy is still talking about how women don’t care enough to watch women’s sport and therefore the streaming services are not invested in hyping up these sportswomen????which means they will be less attractive to sponsors!

Anyway????enjoy the episode, ladies???

??? What happened last week:

It’s a great day to save a life (or 5)!

This is how you smash a first day on the job:?Noemi Marangon?saved the lives of five swimmers in Sabaudia beach, Italy.?If you’re like me, never heard of that place, here’s a quick?Pinterest vision board for you!?

Haiti nearly pulled a draw against England!

The Lionesses won 1-0 from a penalty kick awarded after a handball. Another reason for them to celebrate is their?new jerseys?that is period friendly. Our sisters in Wimbledon are also now can be more relaxed with the “tennis whites” dress code. Not that there’s anything to be embarrassed about by?hitting and kicking the ball while menstruating?but if it gives the players more confidence then we’re all for it!?

?? News from around the world:

Turkey started We Will Stop Femicide Platform in the past 12 years and still fighting for the government to listen. Several Latin American countries, Spain and Italy have now a legal definition of femicide. Now Belgium has become the first in Europe that not only defines femicide but also to recognise forms of violence against women and establish victim’s rights to get state support.

???In case you’re wondering if femicide is listed in the dictionary yet. The answer is yes. Merriam-Webster defines it as the gender-based murder of a woman or a girl by a man.

???A woman AND a business owner?

I personally recommend you to sign up to?The Ignited Accelerator?hosted by my own business coach, Laura Brunton . This is NOT a sponsored post, the team at? Upgrading Women ?and I are supercharged ????by Laura’s presence and wisdom. We don’t gate-keep. I’m inviting you to join because I want all of us to grow together!

How she’s done it??

?? Greta Gerwig

The director of Barbie made history with the biggest opening weekend for film directed by a woman. Before that, she has directed Academy-Award-nominated performances by?Saoirse Ronan?(twice),?Laurie Metcalf, and?Florence Pugh.?

What we can learn from the great Greta Gerwig:

???Being neurodivergent does not mean you cannot lead a major production. Greta has been diagnosed with ADHD.???

???Being a female boss do not give you permission to be a mean girl. Greta went to an all-girl Catholic school (just like me ??????) and she knows what female leadership look like since a young age.

???Being disciplined and having focus does not mean you’re a nerd. Greta grew up in a household without television and when she's directing, Greta forbids all cellphones on set.???

?? A message from a communications nerd:

Stop chasing a 5-star review status!

Because no body is perfect and having every single customer leaving you a 5-star review is fishy. So?aim for that 4.7?????because if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. What you want to signal to your potential customers are:

??? You are good but not complacent (you go fast and break things)

? ?? You are made and operated by humans (have some sense of humour)

??? You are open to feedback (reply to every negative comment you receive!)

?? Featured Female Founder

As a TV addict, I cannot help but sympathise with the?SAG-AFTRA?strike (read what you need to know about what the issue is?here). It’s also timely for me to share my conversation with a financial anchor turned TV producer,? Nora Ali .?She used to work at Goldman-Sach on the international trading floor. And when she entered the show business, she thanked God that she had a talent agent to negotiate her pay.

Now she is the CEO and co-founder of a production company,?Mason Media, and also a host of the?Morning Brew.

That’s what SHE said:

Yeah, I have that (imposter syndrome) every day. And something that has kind of helped me, actually, I have a post-it that I wrote for this year. It says, be bold, because I know, when I'm having conversations with that kind of dude who's been in the industry for so long, I'll kind of just like take what I used to kind of like take what they say like, oh, okay, like that's how it's always been done, then you must be right. But no,?I stand up for myself, even though I might hesitate and not be quite sure that I'm right. If you say something with confidence, people will take you seriously, people will say, okay, she knows what she's talking about.

So it's almost like I have to trick myself. If I say something with confidence, if I say something kind of loudly and more firmly, still friendly like I can only be friendly. I'm not going to ever be like a mean, stern person. Yeah. Then it's kind of the tone and attitude with which you come to the table. You can convince yourself that like, yeah, you know what? I do know what I'm talking about. So it's almost like, like a mental trick almost. And?for a while, I kind of gave myself an alter ego. Like who is my white man self? Like Steve. What would Steve do in this situation?

?More on?Upgrading Women?or the?Female Founderhood?podcast.

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That’s it. Thanks for reading.

Did you know that?forwarding this newsletter to someone in your network?to subscribe?will add to your good Karma abundantly??

See you next Thursday. LOL!

Upgrading Women is an all-female band of creative content producers based in the UK. We publish weekly newsletter read by over 2000 female leaders around the world. Our brand and content agency branch of the group helps female founders go to market with their strategic and empathetic approach in marketing to humans.