International Women’s Day 2025: How Do You Celebrate Women?

This past weekend, on March 8th, we celebrated International Women’s Day with the theme "Let’s Accelerate Action for Women’s Gender Equality.”

Origins of International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) has existed in some form since 1911, coinciding with the rise of the worldwide Women’s Suffrage Movement.?

Here, in the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau reports:

“It began in New York City on March 8, 1857, when female textile workers protested unfair working conditions and unequal rights for women. It was one of the first organized strikes by working women, during which they called for a shorter work day and decent wages. Also on March 8, 1908, women workers in the needle trades marched through New York City's Lower East Side to protest child labor and sweatshop working conditions, and demand women's suffrage.”

• Interestingly, I recall my father telling our family that our grandmother worked in a cigarette factory in New York City after arriving in this country. Her working conditions were probably similar to those of female textile workers in 1857.

More recently, March 8th was officially recognized as International Women's Day by the United Nations in 1977.

This year, the IWD organizers prioritize the need to “Accelerate Action” by urging for greater momentum and urgency in tackling the systemic barriers and biases women encounter in both personal and professional spheres. IWD believes that:

#AccelerateAction?will be a worldwide call to acknowledge strategies, resources, and activities?that positively impact women's advancement and support and elevate their implementation. Significant barriers to gender equality remain, yet positive progress can be made for women everywhere with the right action and support.

Why IWD is important to me and Slater Success?

At Slater Success, our passion is helping women leaders achieve their goals without limitations. The #AccelerateAction theme perfectly embodies our core values. We strategically advise clients to take ‘baby steps’ to create change, ultimately leading to significant progress and support for their organizations.

My personal business journey offers insights into how fostering change can enhance gender equality for women. Before founding Slater Success, I spent over twenty years in the male-dominated printing industry. I established Slater Graphics -- a woman-owned printing company that effectively became a significant outlier in the industry. My success resulted from carving out a specific niche market in the publishing sector, where my clients included W Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, New York Magazine, Advertising Age, and many others. I believe this niche strategy worked because I focused on buyers and clients who were predominantly other women.

One of my biggest lessons is to be “all in it” to win. When women are absent from an industry or business sector, our influence in creating change diminishes. I often wonder, if more women were in leadership roles worldwide, would there be less war? As a mom, I can’t imagine deciding to send my children into a war.

Moving Forward with IWD 2025

It's rewarding to see Slater Success clients and various other organizations—from grassroots groups to large-scale institutions to philanthropic entities—working diligently to support and advance women and girls. I love spotlighting the many women leaders in our podcast, Her Success Story. Let’s move forward in solidarity and commit ourselves to supporting

?#AccelerateAction?for IWD 2025 and beyond. Every little difference we make today will flourish through the generations.

Let us stand up for our grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and granddaughters. I’m so proud that I need not look further than my own family to see how one strong woman can inspire and encourage generations of women business leaders to foster change and help achieve gender equality in the workplace. Thanks, Mom!

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Ready to Transform Your Business Strategy?

Connect with Slater Success today to learn how you and your business can Accelerate Action for Women’s Gender Equality. Together, we can harness the power of creative ideas and inspiration to achieve business success.

No matter your industry, our expertise can help you grow your business by year-end and into the future. Let's work together to cultivate innovation, strengthen customer connections, and ensure your business's ongoing success.