Today marks International Women’s Day: a time to celebrate the many achievements women have made and progress towards a more inclusive and gender-equal world. This year’s theme is #ChooseToChallenge, which promotes the idea that a challenged world is an alert world and change ultimately comes from a challenge.
I have always believed that in every challenge you can find opportunity. Today, we can all choose to challenge inequality while celebrating women’s achievements. At Kite Hill PR, we proactively work to combat workplace gender inequality. We choose to challenge gender bias and the inequality mothers in the workforce face. While women now make up the majority of the workforce, working mothers still face immense challenges and are pulling double duty. Mothers often have their commitments challenged at work, which can affect the type of work assignments handed out and disparities in pay. Additionally, many companies are not taking the time to invest in workplace programs and policies that support and promote a culture of work-life balance.
As a female-founded and owned company with a senior team made up of 100% women, we value work-life balance because we understand it is a crucial component of a healthy work environment. We live by our core values of agility, candor, collaboration, and passion and recently added balance as our fifth value, to show our team that balance is ingrained in our culture. We have a flexible work program, paid parental leave, and also offer comprehensive healthcare benefits.
I have challenged the status quo throughout my career and even more so now by navigating entrepreneurship and being a working mother through a pandemic. Throughout my career, I have had strong female role models to draw inspiration from and I have had the pleasure of working with powerful female leaders including Arianna Huffington, the founder of The Huffington Post and the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, as well as Bonnie Kintzer, the CEO of Trusted Media Brands. Both women showed me that you don’t have to worry about shattering a glass ceiling. The only ceiling is the one you create for yourself.
The challenges we face today are not only the ones of the past. We are facing new challenges brought on by the pandemic. According to a Global Women in PR study, 40% of women are working longer hours in lockdown and struggling to juggle work, childcare, and homeschooling. With the growing demands at home, many mothers are worried about being judged over their work performance, and many women are also experiencing burnout. To offset these negative impacts, we have to act in a positive way now. Employers must confront the bias against working women and take actionable steps to improve the workplace for mothers. Employers need to not only acknowledge the issue but take bold and fast actions including increasing support for parents, offering flexible policies, and maintaining transparency for employees. Join me and #ChooseToChallenge.
Tiffany Guarnaccia, Founder and CEO