A fragile superpower—we are stronger than we know

I will never forget when, meeting an influential investor in his glamorous office, he asked me if my motivation for launching my business was boredom.

This came at a time when both of my girls were babies. I was missing them desperately and my family was making huge sacrifices to allow me to leave my well-paid corporate job to launch TAINA.

No words can describe the emotions that I felt at that moment and I must admit that I did cry that night, feeling embarrassed for being emotional and weak. In that moment, I promised myself that I would do everything in my power to ensure that my girls will never experience any prejudice based on their gender or who they are.

Since then, as I have been building and growing TAINA, I have been privileged to work with some phenomenal women and some very supportive men, learning so much from all of them on this journey.

I hope this learning will empower anyone working on tough challenges, with all the odds stacked against them.

Our strength is in our ‘why’

It has been said that “when you have a strong ‘why’, the ‘how’ is not important”. In the toughest of days, reminding yourself of why you are on this journey will bring you the strength you need to keep going.

Our challenges are our opportunities to grow

When things get really difficult, despite working so hard and doing everything right, it is natural to ask “why me?”, “why am I being punished?”. I believe very strongly that the Universe presents us with challenges to empower us to learn and to become stronger. I learnt this the hard way, realising?that, when I don’t learn from a challenge the first time round, it will keep coming back until I grasp that nettle and do the hard work needed to grow.

This stuff is hard

Doing challenging things and succeeding as an underdog is hard; I believe it is important to be aware of this and be prepared for a tough marathon. Every step forward, no matter how small, is an important victory; it is taking you closer to your goal.

Women have so many important roles and responsibilities, all demanding their time and energy—they are mothers, daughters, wives, carers, nurturers, colleagues, leaders and more. I believe that the myth of a superhuman doing all this brilliantly and effortlessly is misleading and de-motivating. This stuff is hard, it takes work and all of us need some support along the way.

Leaving your comfort zone is just training another muscle

We all need to get out of our comfort zone to grow. Being uncomfortable is like a muscle—the more you practice it, building up your strength little by little, the easier the big leaps will become over time.

Embrace role models and welcome support

I believe that no-one succeeds alone; we all need support sometimes. My mentors and role models support has been hugely important for me, and has literally kept me going through the toughest times. I have been incredibly blessed to have met and gained strength and wisdom from amazing women—among them Joo Hee Lee , Kara Byun, Vin Murria OBE DBA , Joo Hee Lee — I can never express how much they mean to me. I very much hope to be able to do the same for future generations of fragile super heroes.