Frank talk with the boss
A Wellington businesswoman speaks to Chloe Winter about why many women feel undeserving of top jobs.
Women need to know their self-worth to help themselves get to the top, a Wellington businesswomen says.
Bon Organic Tampons general manager Brenna McGuinness believes women need to encourage each other to have discussions with their bosses about career goals.
‘‘I think it’s really important for women to have those discussions, otherwise you will go on possibly not being recognised,’’ the 26-yearold said.
‘‘I think we rely too much on expecting we will be seen, and we do have to fight for ourselves. We have to have a voice.’’
McGuinness, 26, said some women still had to ‘‘pinch themselves’’ to remind them how and why they got to the top.
‘‘These days we’ve got a lot more women who are identifying with new [top-ranking] roles that I think they had never really seen their mothers or aunties in before, and it’s really cool, but I think a lot of people are finding themselves undeserving for some reason.
‘‘There needs to be more recognition of how amazing women are in these roles.’’
McGuinness, who has an industrial degree, said women needed to acknowledge their self-worth.
‘‘I admit, I had my own difficulties finding myself in quite a significant position, to be a general manager of quite an awesome company which is doing so well.
‘‘I have to pinch myself sometimes and look back at how much work I’ve done and how much I’ve done to build this company.’’
Her advice to women ‘‘Don’t be afraid.’’
‘‘It can be scary was: stuff when you’ve got this significant thing in your hands and you are responsible for it, don’t get me wrong, but the payoff is amazing,’’ she said.
‘‘I think a lot of women – because a lot of time we are told we are not good enough – there’s that feeling of ‘OK, maybe I’m not.’ But we can overcome that by discussing it.’’
McGuinness’ biggest inspiration was her mum, she said.
‘‘I know this sounds cliche, but she’s always been a really solid support person for me.
‘‘Just in the way she approaches the world, and her compassion for the world, that’s been something that’s been instilled in me.’’
On top of that, her drama teacher was a positive influence as well, she said.
‘‘She was allowing us to be who we were, that was the biggest thing, and encouraging us to follow that.’’
She felt strong encouragement was lacking to support women striving for higher positions.
‘‘We need to acknowledge that there is inequality still in a lot of areas but there also needs to be positive reinforcement.
‘‘I think not enough people are communicating or encouraging.’’
Entries for the 2017 Women of Influence Awards are open until May 28. Nominate yourself or someone else at stuff.co.nz/womenofinfluence.