Mary Kennedy
Broadcaster and author
Nurture your female friendships. What I have found over my 66 years is that women are your great friends. It’s so important, even at the stages when you’re racing around and don’t have a lot of time, to nurture these friendships.
Pace yourself, life is a roller coaster; there are wonderful moments and you should not let them pass you by. Accept every opportunity. Have a sense of self; you are entitled to go for these opportunities. I grew up in a time when women didn’t have the same self-esteem, there was always a sense when I was in school that you shouldn’t get above yourself.
I remember when I first applied for a job in RTÉ, there was an ad in the paper, but I told nobody. I was almost embarrassed to have gone for it. When I was called for an audition, I had to slowly tell people, and there was always this fear that people would say: ‘Who does she think she is?’ Don’t ever get into that mindset of worrying about that.
Answer it for yourself — I am a woman, I have wonderful qualities. I have huge empathy, great organisational and coping skills. This is who I am: I am wonderful and I am entitled to take on every opportunity. We underestimate out abilities as women, our qualities, our power.
Also factor in me-time, because we do get burnt out. Don’t feel that you have to strive to be better all the time. Work is work, it’s not the be-all and end-all of everything. Relationships are what make life meaningful.