At B&T, We are staunch believers that every woman and her achievements should be celebrated, every day and always.
However, unfortunately, the achievements of women often go unnoticed. That’s why we launched our annual B&T Women in Media Awards – to recognise the amazing accomplishments of women across the marketing, communications and advertising industry.
In honour of our WIM Awards, we’re chatting to industry powerhouses; women we should all be keeping an eye on — women to watch.
Today, we are hearing from design lead at Fjord (part of Accenture Interactive), Arielle Breit.
The Women in Media Awards are vital to this industry because it’s important to have a platform where we can celebrate what is great about women and their contribution to the industry. And of course to inspire the younger generation that gender isn’t a barrier to success.
I’m greatful for my mum because she proved that it is possible to have an interesting career, which includes lifelong learning AND give your kids enough love and attention. She taught me it is possible to have it all!
Another reason I believe the WIM Awards are important is because society has a deep and enduring legacy of gender imbalance. One way this manifests is through women doubting their abilities. Even if a woman is more able than a man, they lack confidence and belief in themselves and would rather wait till they know they are perfect at something before they say yes to doing it.
On the other hand, I see men saying yes to something they aren’t sure they can do, but will do it anyway, with confidence and no fear of failure. This can mean that women feel like they have to act more like men to get ahead in their careers, as they aren’t being rewarded for who they are.
I think in order to combat this, we need to place greater value on emotional intelligence. Seeing emotions as a positive rather than negative attribute can generate greater empathy and open up new opportunities and create breakthrough thinking.
Quickfire questions
If you were PM, what law would you change/introduce right now to improve equality?
Financial incentives for women to stay in the workforce and continue to progress their careers after having a family. They are productive, focused, empathetic, organised and supremely patient. Without these women, businesses miss out on female leaders that bring a much needed different perspective.
What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
There’s not one single piece of advice, so I will share a selection – stay true to who you are and stand up for what you believe in, it’s ok to say that money motivates you when you are asking for a pay rise, make sure you are always taking stock of what your priorities really are especially when you are working too hard.
