Breaking barriers

Persistence. Resourceful. Guts. 

That’s what Ginella Massa believes got her to where she is today  -  the first hijab-wearing woman to be an anchor with a major Canadian TV station.

As I listened to her talk at a recent Women of Influence event, it struck me that these are three key ingredients vital to success for women entrepreneurs too.

She credits much of her persistence to her mother.  When Ginella went to school in Toronto, there were only two girls wearing the hijab – Ginella and her sister.  Her mother lobbied for their religious celebrations be respected at the school, and Ginella learned that first, you have to ask.  And if that doesn’t work, ask again.

Following her studies at York University and then Seneca College, she started to pursue her career in broadcasting.  She wanted her voice to be heard as a woman, a woman of colour and as a hijab-wearing woman.  But she also knew that she’d have to work harder, aware that wearing the hijab could be the death knell for her career.

Much of her early career was spent behind the scenes as a news writer and producer.  But Ginella’s dream was to be on television reporting the news herself.  In a leap of faith in 2014, she quit her full-time job so she could focus her energies on making that dream a reality.

Three times she applied for a position in Kitchener-Waterloo.  The first time when she got turned down, she decided to get more training and volunteered at Rogers.  The second time she was informed that they’d filled the position internally.

The third time, she got the chance.  “I’ve learned to be my own cheerleader. Unlike others in this industry, I didn’t have the networks.  I couldn’t draw on my parents’ connections. I had to create my own network.” she shared.

Ginella demonstrated her resourcefulness when she shared the story of an interview that took place in a restaurant.  She arrived early and the waitress recognized her and was quick to tell her how wonderful she was, and so on.  

After a moment’s pause, Ginella went back to the waitress and asked if she’d do a repeat performance, in front of the two men who were interviewing her. And she did.   When asked if this happened to her often, Ginella was quick to smile and say “yes.”

But in some ways, that wasn’t stretching the truth in that when she first arrived on the Toronto scene as an anchor at CityNews Toronto, her story caught media attention.  Her story appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, FLARE, Aljezeera and the Washington Post.

However, not all the attention was positive and she also received her share of hate emails and tweets.   Racism, she observed, is often the elephant in the room. “We fear what we don’t know.”   And she could tell when people were giving lip service.  It would the tone of their voice or the back-handed compliments. 

All of which left her feeling at times that she wasn’t good enough. “Your own self-doubt  can become your biggest barrier to success.”  We are our own worst enemy and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.” she cautions the women in the audience.

Ginella was quick to say at the beginning of her talk that she preferred to talk about representation, rather than diversity, which she feels can get laden with tokenism.

She feels her role is to report the news, which at times can be challenging and upsetting to her personally,  but she remains professional feeling that she’s not there to talk about or defend her religion.   She just happens to be a hijab-wearing woman reporting on the news.

Being the first, the trailblazer takes guts.  You’ve got no role models to follow, you are paving the way.  And there are times in our own businesses, that we are carving out our own path, breaking down barriers too.

Ginella’s story was inspiring.  Her lovely smile drew you in and the standing ovation at the end of her talk was well-earned.

Stop. Start. Continue.

September always marks a time of renewal, a time of transition as we move from one season to another, one school year to the next.  And for me the Fall has always been a fresh start.

The summer gives you more time to reflect and determine what worked and just as important, what didn’t in the previous months.   Each year at Company of Women we go through a stop, start and continue exercise.  Trouble is, we often didn’t stop anything, but kept adding to our plate!

Often the stops are areas where financially it doesn’t make sense in terms of the investment of time.   Another stop can be to stop trying to do everything yourself and delegate.  With my new admin help, I can tell you it is SO freeing.

 As for continue - while we are continuing with much that we do, we are also looking at ways to maybe do it differently.

 And for the start… well we have several exciting new plans. Back in March we started a strategic planning process that we are still working on, but we are getting closer to implementation.

Changes are scary aren’t they?  It can be a risk to change the status quo, but Company of Women turns 15 this September and if you don’t freshen up or reconfigure what you are doing, you run the risk of getting stale. 

So we have been busy - working on rebranding, our website and the type of programs we want to offer moving forward.  We are excited about our new “look” which will be unveiled later this month.

What I will share now is our new slogan - Success on your own terms.   Success means so many different things to each of us, but the important piece to remember is that it is YOUR definition of success, not your partner’s, not your friends – it is all about you.

And to help you get there, we are focussing on three pillars– business development, mentoring and leadership, and personal development.  Our goal is to provide you with the biz tools, connections and confidence to move forward and achieve success on your own terms.

So what are you going to start this fall?  What changes are you going to make to your business and life?  Here are some questions to ask yourself:

·      As you look at your business and life, what would you stop, start or continue? 

·      What could you delegate?  How would you spend that regained time?  

·      When you decide to continue something, ask how you can make it even better? 

·      Are there some ways that you can enhance what you are doing? 

·      Could you market it in a different way and spread the word further?  

·      What about something new?  Have you done your homework and thought it through?

Try it.  Going through this exercise can help you focus on what you really, really want.

And as for Company of Women – stay tuned.

Switching back on. Slowly.

It’s Thursday.   I have to write my blog.  After three weeks (and two days) away on vacation, it’s been a tough week trying to switch back on.

I can’t remember when I last took that amount of time off … and I  mean really off.  My business was totally off my radar.  We were travelling, meeting with friends and being the tourist.  Lots of fun, new memories were created.

I highly recommend it, but have to say ramping back up is challenging.  And perhaps if I am being honest, I don’t want to.   I still want to bask in that mellow, free feeling of being Anne Day, not Anne Day, business owner.

However, reality is that I do need to get myself into gear.  There’s just one week left until it is back to school, back to work and a whole new year of programming ahead of us at Company of Women.

I remember when my girls were young having such mixed feelings about this time of year – longing for them to be back at school, and back in a routine, but dreading the thought of the school lunches and homework, and being back in a routine.

I know I am not alone with these mixed emotions.  Summer is such a short but special time.  One that I think we need (and deserve) to energize ourselves – both physically and mentally – for the year ahead.

How do you get yourself ready for the fall? 

1.              Make lists of what you have to do. I am a list maker.  It’s my lists that keep me on track, as I try to bring my head back into thinking business and what I have to do. 

2.              Break down big projects.  You can reach your end goal, one step (task) at a time.  It makes it less overwhelming and easier to achieve.

3.              Pause.  Step back and look at what you really want and have to do, rather than over-committing yourself.  You don’t want to rush to get back on the hamster wheel again.

4.              Plan ahead.  You know how hectic the fall can be, so book some “girlfriend” time now, so you have eked out some time for fun and can stay connected to your “tribe.” 

5.              Be gentle on yourself.   Ease yourself back in.  Drop the need for perfection.

Already the temperatures are getting cooler, and you just know that fall is around the corner.

And with it comes a fresh start, a new season and maybe even a new you!

Best laid plans

This summer I learned an important business lesson – when Plan A doesn’t work, be ready and embrace Plan B.   To allow the failure of your plans to overtake your dreams, just fosters further disappointment and festers away at your intent.

I had spent at least six months planning a big family trip to Scotland and the Isle of Man to celebrate our 45^th wedding anniversary and 50 years of being together as a couple.  We’d decided to celebrate the 50 years now when we were all able to travel, rather than wait.

It was a complicated itinerary, as I worked to ensure everyone got to do what they wanted to do, and we also had some down time and space away from one another.

The first dent in THE PLAN, occurred before we left.  Thank goodness.  We discovered, by chance, that the airline we’d booked our tickets to get to the Isle of Man, had gone into liquidation.  So we had to scramble to get seats with another airline and as I write, we are still trying to get our money back from the first one, but not holding up much hope.

We had gone ahead of the “kids” and were collecting them in Glasgow to head off  together for a few days in the Highlands.   Except, last minute because a truck had hit their plane, their flight was cancelled.  It was 3.00am in the morning before they got checked into a Toronto hotel, where the three of them were left to share one bed.  Ever chivalrous, my son in law, spent the night in a chair.

A day late, we met them at the airport.  Now we’d had to move hotels, as there was “no room at the inn” where we were staying, and with two big concerts taking place in Glasgow, hotel rooms were scarce.  We ended up having to tough it out at a five-star hotel, which while lovely, was not part of our trip budget.

But I had decided early on with these unforeseen delays, that they were not going to spoil our vacation, which they could just as easily have done.  Instead I encouraged everyone to think about the great stories they’d have to share about what had happened. 

And with one day short, we focused more intently on we wanted to do and see in the time left.

As leaders in our businesses (and families) we set the tone.  Being pragmatic and coming up with a Plan B is a good start, but so is having a good attitude. 

As John Lennon once said “life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.”