If you were at Denver Startup Week, you might recall attending a panel called, “Becoming an Influencer.” With a packed room full of business and marketing professionals, Colorado Women in Social Media’s panel enjoyed a short 90 minutes of sharing insights and best practices for communicating effectively online using social media.
Since that panel, we’ve been looking for a way to reconnect with everyone who was able or tried to attend Denver Startup Week and would like the opportunity to stay in touch. So, without further ado…
This ideal has been in the air since yesterday morning. Female professionals (with a few men scattered in the audience) gathered at the Wellshire in south Denver to listen to Melissa Greenwell of Finish Line talk to us about gender-balance in the workplace.
Many things stuck with me from that presentation, but one which I can’t get out of my brain is the notion that, as women, we apologize too damn much.
Why are we always saying, “Sorry?”
Seriously, how often do you hear yourself saying the “s” word? Just today, I challenge you to catch yourself and tally up the times you say “sorry” when it’s completely unnecessary.
My colleagues and I returned to our office yesterday and, in successive meetings, we each were painfully aware of how often we’d preface or embellish an opinion with the “s” word. We noticed it in our other female coworkers as well. By the end of the day, every molecule of estrogen in that office was amped up about how ridiculous it is for each of us to constantly apologize for nothing. For everything. For being a woman with something to say. For conducting business just like any man would. For existing in our space.
Stop saying, “I’m sorry.”
I already mentioned this mantra was in the very air yesterday. If you don’t care to listen to me, how about these other items which came across my digital space since yesterday? It’s like the universe has something loud to say, and it’s not sorry about it.
