Here we share the thoughts of Amanda Davie
Self-belief and self-worth are my essential ingredients for successful adult life.
We are often ashamed to show weakness and open-up about our feelings, but in fact, reaching out and having a supportive network is exactly what we need to get us through the tough times.
I am the Co-Founder of Equal Talent, we are a talent development and cultural change business that helps build equitable, inclusive and thriving workplaces and communities. I coach leaders, teams and under-represented groups (Women, BAME, LGBTQIA, etc) on a day-to-day basis. My objective is to identify and tackle what’s holding them back and help them overcome their challenges to realise their goals.
The biggest challenge I have faced so far is infertility. As a healthy, high achiever in my thirties (at that time) it never occurred to me that I would struggle to start a family. It took years, several rounds of IVF, huge heartbreak and lots of soul searching. How did I get through it? I almost didn’t –my anger led to quite a self-destructive path for a while. Courage, determination and curiosity – I tried every ‘remedy’ and intervention known to man! And keeping my friends close to me gave me the extra support that I needed.
Life lessons
The main lesson life has taught me, the hard way and from a formative age is that life is short. With the passing of my dad who was 56 at the time and I was 22, this triggered me to always try and live my life to the full and take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way. Both of my parents greatly encouraged me to have self-belief and self-worth. This has been my essential ingredient for successful adult life – not only am I able to motivate myself, but I’ve also worked hard to ensure that my friendships both professionally and personally provide me with the emotional support that I need.
The next step I am going to focus on is ensuring that Equal Talent is on a mission to make the world of work a better place. Covid-19 has heralded a challenging time for organisational design and psychology. Never before have employees felt so isolated, fragmented, unsupported, uncertain and cast adrift. We’re on the cusp of a mental health tsunami and while our leaders are distracted trying to navigate the storm of this recession, their employees must find resources and strategies to activate our own self-help and professional growth pathways.
Earlier this autumn we launched She Has No Limits, a career development programme and community for professional women to access affordable executive coaching and career development resources. We’re also facilitating some exciting behavioural change work with boards and leaders to eradicate prejudice and discrimination from their workplaces. It’s deeply vulnerable and courageous work, we’re all biased, and we must all tackle our ignorance and reprogram ourselves to become better and more inclusive versions of ourselves.
My inspiration
My husband is my rock, even though I don’t tell him this enough! My inspiration comes mostly from fun-loving feminists! Brene Brown, Glennon Doyle, Caitlin Moran, Sara Pascoe, P!nk and Michelle Obama to name a few. And then, of course, there are those closer to home who inspire and move me without them even realising: my brave best friends, my fellow school mums and my curious, funny and brilliant sons, they’re feminists too but they don’t know it yet!
My biggest advice is to try to do something for yourself every day. Self-care is the pre-requisite for growth, and you’ve got to have enough oxygen in the tank at all times to be able to be effective and focused. It doesn’t always have to be the ‘good for you’ stuff like exercise or nutrition; it can be reading a book, taking a nap, cuddling your pet or laughing out loud at comedy. Anything that gets the oxytocin, serotonin or endorphins pumping!
To gain insight of ways you can gain resilience and support, be sure to sign up for our Resilience in Numbers event here!
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