The Women in Planning Yorkshire branch celebrated International Women’s Day with a breakfast seminar entitled ‘Advice for my Younger Self’.
The breakfast seminar was sponsored and hosted by Cushman & Wakefield at their office at St. Pauls House, Park Square South, Leeds.
Read committee member Katharine Morgan (Cushman & Wakefield) thoughts below:
‘Insightful, thought provoking, inspiring and powerful’ just some of the feedback provided on the presentations from our excellent speakers at this event held on 8th March 2019 to mark International Women’s Day. The insightful speakers shared their thoughts, career trajectories and what they would tell their younger selves. We learned that Alison Ogley’s (Walker Morris) key motivation for becoming a lawyer was the iconic “you can’t handle the truth” scene in the film A Few Good Men. On a more serious note, Alison’s advice about being bold, avoiding ‘imposter syndrome’ and seizing opportunities was insightful and truly resonated with the audience. Tamsin Hart Jones (Homes England) provided excellent advice about seeking out opportunities and doing things that (at first) seem scary and intimidating. Sarah Carr (Redrow Homes) provided frank advice about her career trajectory changing from a PHD in History to a career in planning in the public and private sector and latterly at Redrow homes. Sarah said that she would advise her younger self to worry less about other people’s expectations and to follow your own instincts. She is an excellent example of this approach. Jenny Purple (Avant Homes) said that the advice she would tell herself is still as relevant now as it ever was. Jenny advised that she always says YES to new opportunities in work which has led to a great range of experiences and opportunities. Jenny emphasised the importance of work/life balance -making time for the things you want to do (this was echoed by the rest of the panel). Marianne McCallum provided advice on balancing her career with breaks for two children and a move from Kent to Bradford. Marianne provided invaluable advice on being confident in your own capabilities and actively seeking career progression.
Constanze Bell (Kings Chambers) chaired a lively panel discussion which considered positive discrimination, the gender pay gap and whether being a woman is a distinct advantage in some situations.
For me the ‘take away’ from the event was to be bold and seize new opportunities.
The event was a great success and was a sell-out.