Stop saying, “I’m sorry.”

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.