Hi.
So Teresa and I had this experience a little bit ago
and I wanted to ask you all
if maybe you’ve had something like it?
Ok, so Teresa, Ken and I were volunteering at this local event
and there was this big brainstorming session
in which we were working on all this problems
and this leader guy, well, every time I made a suggestion
he kind of just glossed over it
and asked if anybody else had any suggestions,
almost as if what I had said wasn’t worth discussing,
or maybe that I didn’t even matter,
which would be even worse,
and Teresa was having the same experience
and so we were getting really confused and frustrated.
And Ken was getting frustrated, too, because he liked our ideas.
So he repeated them so that they could be heard
and the guy heard them.
And then he said “great idea, Ken”.
“Oh, that’s exactly what we were looking for, Ken”.
And I was like what is going on?
So we tried an experiment and I would say something
and then a minute later
Ken would say the exact same thing word for word
and the leader would hear Ken and say “great idea, Ken”
and not even acknowledge that I had spoken at all.
So what’s up with that?
International Women’s Day is this week and you all know
that this is one of my favourite days of the year
so I’ve been really trying to think of a vlog that I could do
that would truly honour all the amazing women across the world.
Mothers and daughters and sisters and aunts
and grandmothers, the humanitarians,
the scientists who have made this world a better place.
The artists who make sense of all the things
and the inventors that move us forward.
These are the women that remind us that we have choices.
But no matter what I think about
I just keep coming back to you and me and the day to day.
And the strength it takes sometimes to just be heard.
To be recognized at all.
I felt pretty bad in that brainstorm.
I wanted to quit and go home.
And I don’t do quit, but I wanted to quit.
Ken and Teresa wouldn’t let me because the cause
that we were there for was a really important cause
and my ideas were good and this leader guy
probably didn’t even know what he was doing.
So we stayed.
But Teresa and I made a point of making sure that we were heard
by supporting each other.
And I would say, “Oh, Teresa, that was such a great idea.
"Did you hear what Teresa just said?”
Or she would be like, “Oh, yes, like Barbie was saying,
"I think that’s really interesting.”
And I think it actually made a little bit of a difference.
We talk a lot about strong women who have made it,
but I think we need to talk about the day to day stuff, too.
We need to keep shedding light on the small things
that could defeat us
and we need to make sure that they don’t
by speaking up for each other always.
And by letting each other know
that we’re not alone in what we’re feeling.
And by staying in the conversation.
And bit by bit I believe we really can make a difference,
like these women that we admire so much.
So, to us, the women around the world
who I just want to squeeze in a big hug.
Positive attitude really can change everything.
Step by step, arm in arm,
we will give each other a voice,
and that is power.
P.A.C.E.