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’re hearing from oOh!Media’s Bel Harper, fly group director – product strategy.

B&T’s Women in Media Awards are vital because statistics show women are less likely than men to promote themselves amongst their peers, so having a platform to highlight the amazing contribution women in our industry are making is fantastic.

Women’s health activist Krystal Barter has had a huge influence on me, both in my personal and professional life. The organisation she founded, Pink Hope, provides tools and support which empower women to assess, understand and significantly reduce their risk of breast and ovarian cancer. To me, Krystal embodies what it means to be a powerful woman – she’s incredibly passionate, intelligent, influential, hard-working, and is an amazing mother and friend.

In my opinion, the biggest impediment to equality in the workforce is women not having access to opportunities which grow their knowledge, broader business perspective and profile. We can’t expect to see more women leading until women coming through the ranks have more exposure, big or small, where they can contribute to, or at least understand more about the business they’re in.

When I started in out-of-home 22 years ago it was definitely a man’s world.  Equality in the workplace has come a long way – I’ve had two children and transitioned back to work at my pace and have huge flexibility and understanding when it comes to family. I’ve been given great learning opportunities and responsibility regardless of my flexible working hours. This still isn’t the case for many industries, so for me oOh!media walks the walk when it comes to championing and valuing women in the workplace.

Quickfire questions

What’s a little something everyone can do today that could potentially make a massive change in the struggle for equality?

When you identify talent, fuel it – to my earlier point, providing opportunities to learn and be challenged outside of the normal day to day scope is vital to keep great people motivated and seeing the bigger picture.

If you were PM, what law would you change/introduce right now to improve equality?

I would introduce hefty penalties for corporations who breach equal pay regardless of gender

What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?

Stay focused on what you can control and don’t worry about what you can’t.