FIRST THOUGHT: How to Be a Role Model
There are some things that are hard to remember about being a young girl: What made me happy? What were my passions? Others are much easier: my insecurities, my mistakes. Girls are brilliant and complicated and ambitious and shy. The thing is, women are all those things too. Perhaps you have a young niece or a junior colleague who needs guidance, whether she realizes it or not. Maybe you don’t recall the wide-eyed beliefs you held when you were that age, but something tells me you remember what it was like to stand in a room and feel unsure of yourself.
WOMEN IN NUMBERS: 33,050 Followers
We could all use a pick-me-up during those times of insecurity. Here’s where the number 33,050 (and counting) comes in. That’s the number of followers that Operation Beautiful has on Facebook. Operation Beautiful aims to end self-hatred by inspiring girls and women throughout the world to stick a Post-It note with a positive message on a public-bathroom mirror. Finally, we can look past the sloppy, scrawled-out messages in the bathroom stall and focus on something positive. Glance at the Operation Beautiful website and you’ll see examples like this one: “Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.” Hey, that’s what On The Dot is all about!
WOMAN TO WATCH: Anna Maria Chávez, CEO ofthe Girl Scouts of the USA
While many say Christmas is the happiest time of the year, for me, it’s when I see Girl Scouts out and about with cookies under each arm. My eyes turn into crispy Thin Mints, and I think to myself, “What self-control?” There’s more to the Girl Scouts than darn-cute sashes and berets. It’s called girl power. The first Latina CEO of the Girl Scouts, Anna Maria Chávez, knows a thing or two about girl power. She sported the Girl Scouts green as a troop member herself. Chávezcredits the organization for helping her find her strength. When she outgrew her days of being a Girl Scout, Chávezwent on to earn her law degree, as well as work in President Clinton’s administration and serve two female governors in Arizona. She’s been in charge of the Girl Scouts since 2011, and launched a campaign called “To Get Her There” to encourage female leadership at the top. Chávezinsists you don’t need to wait a year or even a minute to start leading; you can do it now. Her spirited devotion to the Girl Scouts’ mission really gives you something to chew on.
QUITE THE QUOTE
It’s time to look in the mirror and really see who we are and who we want to be. Founder of Empowering a Billion Women by 2020, Ingrid Vanderveldt says, “I personally believe that if we are ever going to create a new world, it will happen through the leadership, vision and involvement of a new set of eyes—the eyes of women.”
That’s all for now. Be sure to share this so more women can have a voice! Thanks for getting ready with us.
To learn more about our conversation, check us out at OnTheDotWoman.com and talk to us @OnTheDotWoman on Twitter and Instagram. We’d love to hear your voice.