I have worked with many women over time some of which, as well as colleagues, became friends. Some of these were managers, most were fellow team members. But two in particular I remember and see as women of inspiration – but in very different ways to each other. And these two people of inspirational are to be included in this second part of my International Women’s Day celebration post.

The first female colleague that was truly inspirational to me was in actual fact my first woman line manager. This woman interviewed me for a role that was to be a totally new direction and venture for me. At this point in time I had been working in this particular company for six years and had become disillusioned with the current job – a role juggling the managing a small team, tradesmen, suppliers, and customers. If things did not go right, and sometimes even when they did, I would endure the wrath of complaining customers. In individual situations this was fine, I could deal with the challenges of things not always going as they should, and I had the support of a good team. But having to deal with these situations on a regular basis began to take its toll, to the point that it was affecting sleep. Stress was creeping up on me and unless something changed it would likely swamp me. It was about this time that a position became available in the training team (within the same company), and it genuinely intrigued me – to the point of excitement even. I applied for the job not as an escape from the current difficulties but as a real opportunity to do something that would offer new exciting and challenges. I was interviewed by the head of the training department, the woman who would become not only my manager and colleague but also a great friend. I accepted the job offer and although the role did not provide the long-term career direction I had hoped for, it did teach me much about myself and what I could actually do when I had belief in myself. This was largely to do with what this inspiring woman brought out in me. By seeing something in me that I never saw in myself, and actually didn’t even realise was there in the first place, she gave me the confidence to take a leap of faith, move out of my comfort zone and step into an unknown professional future. She had the faith in me to take a punt. I guess she might not have seen it that way. What I saw as a punt she possibly saw as a certainty otherwise she wouldn’t have offered me the job. She was prepared to take me on, get me trained and give me a chance, before others who may have been more qualified. I will always be grateful to the woman who I see now, as I look back on my working life as the best, most inspiring manager, female or otherwise, I worked under. I think she set the way for the rest of my working life which at that point in time still had another 30+ years to go.

The other woman in my working life who has inspired me is one that I worked with for only a year. She came into the department I was working in, as an outsider, and someone who had next to no experience in what she had been hired for. I do not wish to blow my own trumpet here, but I took this young woman under my wing and passed on my knowledge and experience of a role that I eventually spent the best part of 30 years doing. We worked closely together for the year she was with us. I shared training duties with other members of the team but I think I actually acted as an unofficial mentor. By the end of the year this woman was doing really well in what she had been taken on to do. At the end of that year she took me aside to speak privately. She wanted me to be the first to know that she would be handing in her notice. I was crestfallen to say the least, I did not see that coming. But I very quickly saw this for the positive move that it was for her. There was no bitterness or feelings of betrayal on my part. Why should there have been – she was moving on to better, more exciting things. Since that time, the woman who I worked with for only a short time, has now started and is running her own successful business, a business in which I take a little bit of pride in knowing that I contributed in a small way to her being able to take this scary but exciting step. This woman should be a great inspiration to others who find themselves in similar situations, she certainly is to me by demonstrating what can achieved when it may seem the odds are stacked against you. Although we were colleagues for only twelve months I am pleased that the friendship that developed while working together remains to this day, and we keep in touch to see how each other are doing.

In part 3 I will talk about my life long inspiration.