This one is a PSA for all the ladies out there. Let’s help each other RISE. It’s long overdue for women to band together, empower each other, and lift each other up. Women should be taking center stage in every industry. Women women succeed, humanity succeeds. At Dear Media, we’re all about empowering women, amplifying their voices, and seeing them succeed. We believe that real queens not only fix each other’s crowns, but share their power, influence, and expertise to lift other women up. It’s all about wanting to see other women thriving, nothing is more important. However it’s one thing to say you want to be an empowering force for your gal pals. It’s something entirely different to know how to empower other women.
So today’s post is all about knowing how to be empowering for the women around you and the female community as a whole. With everything going on in the world, supporting each other has to be a priority. We have enough to overcome as it is. The wage gap, sexual harassment in the workplace, equal rights, the pandemic. These are all things that create unique challenges for women to overcome. Women were definitely hit hard during the pandemic, but we are resilient and can help each other get through it. So with that ladies, let’s talk about the specific ways you can step up and be empowering to other women.
How To Empower Other Women
Share Your Story With Other Women
If you are someone who has crossed great corporate milestones and achieved success, sharing your story can help other women trying to succeed. Simply hearing your story can help other women climb their way to the top. So tell your story, highs and lows included. Talk about your successes, but also about your setbacks and errors. Be honest and relatable. It’s important to use your story to empower girls. he path you took could be similar to theirs. And who knows, maybe it will motivate them to become the best versions of themselves.
Help Women Grow In Their Career
Women of today must collaborate and encourage other women in the workplace. If you hear of a lucrative career or investment opportunity, share it with the women around you. Recommend a fellow female colleague if a position at your company opens up. Support your female friends that start their own businesses. Buy their products, share their services, blast them out on social! Attend their events. Do anything you can to help your girl boss friends move up in their companies or grow their brands.
Listen To Other Women
One of the most empowering and loving feelings is simply to feel heard. You empower other women when you give them a voice. That starts with listening. This can be in friendship, in career, through the content you consume, or even in a casual conversation. Encourage your female colleagues, family, and friends to speak, share their opinions, and share their truth. Pay attention to their innovative ideas. Listen thoughtfully, be encouraging, and give them a platform to have a voice always.
Our favorite way to listen to and empower female voices is through the content you consume. Either through podcasts, written content like blogs or books, or even listening to influential women at speaking events. Hearing the stories of other women offers insight into other female experiences. Plus, it gives women on the up and up an even bigger platform. If you’re looking for female voices to tune in to, here is a list of the best podcasts by black women, the best female comedy podcasts, & the best podcasts for female entrepreneurs. You can also take a look at all of our shows HERE.
Encourage and Support Women Through Tough Decisions and Risks
Women face some tough decisions. Should you extend your maternity leave. Do you ask for that promotion? Should you leave a relationship that is unhealthy? When women are going through a tough time or considering a big risk, be there for support. Encourage them to take a risk to achieve their goals. Assist them through the daunting next strides and assure them that they are deserving of what awaits them on the other side. Tell them it’s OK to walk away from difficult situations, even if they’re frightening or painful. This conversation with Melissa Rivers on how divorce for women does not equal a death sentence is a great listen for how to support women going through a tough time.
Fight For, Not Against, The Women You Work With
In a male-dominated corporate world, women can find it hard to find a place at the proverbial “table.” It’s also no secret that they have a more challenging time advancing into positions of authority. As a result, fighting for one another is more meaningful than ever. So if you’re in a leadership role, fight for the advancement of other women. If you’re somebody that people look up to, realize that you’re laying the groundwork for all future leaders and a team of developing professionals. Inspire them to assist other women in achieving their goals.
And please ladies, catfights are so out. If you have friction with another woman, handle it with class, respect, and dignity. Rather than being combative, simply take a back seat. There is no reason to put your energy into negative interactions. Focus on being positive, lifting others up, and fighting for women. Don’t put your energy into fighting against or with other women.
Become A Role Model
Being a mentor is a fantastic way to motivate aspiring females around you. You can find a mentoring program in your community or start small by empowering girls in your immediate social circle. If you choose to work with young women, this is a great podcast about instilling confidence in young girls. Another great way to be a role model is to speak at or contribute to women-held networking and speaking events. Remember, you may already be a role model and not even know it. People around you may look up to you just for being yourself. So always work on being your best self and you can inspire others to do the same.
Support Women-Owned Businesses
One of the best things you can do to support women is support their businesses. Buy products from female owned businesses. Use services from female owned businesses. If you’re an investor, consider investing in female owned businesses. Help female entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level in any way you can. If you aren’t in a position to purchase or invest, share their work on your social media accounts to show the world the great work they are doing.
Complement Women Regularly
A simple compliment or positive affirmation can go a long way. Women have a tendency to be hard on themselves. So to hear something positive from another person feels incredible and can be empowering. See another woman crushing it, tell her. Inspired by something a female coworker did, let her know. Simply telling another woman you like her outfit can be incredibly empowering. More on how fashion is empowering for women HERE. Throwing some love towards another woman can truly make her day and boost her confidence. So share the love and positivity whenever you get the chance!
Express Your Gratitude For The Women In Your Life
It’s incredibly empowering to feel appreciated. All of us have so many women in our lives that we are grateful for. Say thank you, accept and give compliments, and assist the women in your life. Mailing a thank you letter, applauding someone on a job well done, or merely telling them how much they mean to you can all demonstrate your appreciation for the women in your life.
Avoid Judgement & Shaming At All Costs
Judging another female is one of the worst ways to take their power away. When you judge someone, you’re allowing your ego to take over and putting negative vibes towards another lady. Not cool, and definitely not empowering. We all know what it feels like to get that awkward up and down look, be told we’re acting “wrong” or “not good enough”, or the worst one of all – slut shamed.
Instead, encourage women to be proud of themselves, the way they look, and their actions. Allow everyone to be themselves and accept and encourage women to live their best life. Be supportive of your sexually curious friends and seek to understand how embracing your sexuality as a woman is empowering. Remember that everyone has their own path, different experiences, and approaches the world in a unique way. Not everyone thinks and acts the same which is a good thing!
Help Educate Females
Education is essential for women’s empowerment. According to the United Nations, less than 40% of countries offer equal opportunities for girls and boys. In fact, 16 million girls will never enter a classroom. Truly devastating. Quality of education is of course a problem in America, but it’s an even bigger problem in underdeveloped countries. So if you’re interested in helping women get better access to education globally, supporting an NGO might be your best bet. Here is a list of non profits that help support education for women. You can donate your time or contribute financially.
However, educating women doesn’t only mean traditional education or through non profits. Sometimes working to educate those around you is just as impactful. You can offer resources to the women in your family, friend group, and even share resources on social media. In the digital age, educational resources can be shared for and wide. So share a podcast about how women can manage their money, an article about working while being a mom, or send your girl friend a book about scaling their business. Education also doesn’t have to be academic or business related. Think broader. Emotional, physical, or spiritual educational resources are all valuable too. The point is to get comfortable with sharing information with other women that can help them grow their own knowledge and insight.
How can you help empower women?
If you have any ideas for empowering women, please share! We’re all in this together after all. As a podcast network that is founded on the idea of amplifying female voices, this is what we’re all about. Wonderful things can happen when women band together. We can incentivize other women by elevating, mentoring, and ensuring that our voices are heard at the table, ensuring that we are accepted, respected, supported, and given equity in the workplace and at home. It all starts with your own individual actions. So do your best to support, encourage, and empower your fellow ladies.
