career | Vertically Challenged

When was the last time you stood still for the sake of nothing other than being still in that moment?

I don’t mean standing whilst you wait for your City Mapper to load or for your friend to arrive, just being still for that reason and nothing else. I did this for the first time in adult memory just this week, I was walking along the river with nowhere to go, no where to be and only using my phone for music, not checking Whatsapp, refreshing Instagram, reading my Facebook newsfeed or checking emails. As a 20 something, we are living some of the best years we will ever live but we also have the added pressures of anything from getting on the property ladder to (dare I say it) having children at a ‘suitable’ age. So we can often get lost in the hustle and bustle, I think it is only as we get older we can start to stop and look around at what is right in front of us and not what may or may not come.

I stood there looking at the water; the ripples as they glided through and seemingly moved in time with the particular song I was listening to (End of the Affair by Ben Howard if you were curious) and just thought about what I was seeing and didn’t think about whether my hair was doing what it should, what time it was, what I should have for dinner.

Since I can remember I’ve wanted to be a career woman, high flying, sharp suits, (crippling) heels and this is still my goal, even with bumps in the road that come along, and for any of you who know what I normally talk about here this post is a little bit of a different direction, a bit deeper shall we say, but it was one of those moments in time when you just think this is nice. Any stress you’re feeling, worries you may have, anger bellowing inside you, I recommend just taking that one moment, it could be a minute or ten and think about what makes up that moment, the colour of the sky, wind in the trees, whatever, but just take in that moment.

Do you know just how differently men and women are paid?

When you’re in the office, ask your male counterpart what his salary is, firstly you’ll notice the sheer disdain that you dare break the boundary of work decorum, then if he answers you can do the math. Women have been entitled to equal pay since the Equal Pay Act was introduced in 1970, however there are still major issues 45 years on. The gender pay gap is still at 9.4% (Office for National Statistics, November 2014), which is actually an improvement of 0.6% compared to the previous year. David Cameron’s call this year to put more pressure on large firms to disclose their data is a welcome break as it is completely down to the companies ‘discretion’ as to how much they pay their staff.

Of course as a career girl myself I know I have to work harder and speak louder and be that ever bit more careful than my male colleagues. Is my blouse just slightly see through? Is my skirt too tight? If a woman gets promotion…… ‘Sleeping with boss ay?’ We’ve all heard it, there’s no denying. So reaching breaking those boundaries and reaching that career goal as women is more important than ever, whilst also having the added pressure of the size of your waist, marital status and the ticking clock within your ovaries. However, being the best at multi tasking, boy do women know how to do it.

For any woman you need goals in life, whatever those goals may be and here are some of my top career girls –

Annie MacManus (DJ)

I could start with Beyoncé or Angelina Jolie but I take my female role models a little differently. Born in Dublin and at 37 years old she has an ever growing empire, having started BBC Radio 1 in 2004 she has now recently taken over for Zane Lowe, making it 5 nights a week on (my opinion) the best radio station in the world. As well as this her AMP tour spans from Coachella to Glastonbury to Ibiza. All the while raising her young son with her partner, artist Toddla T. The curly hair, addictive personality and perfectly executed craft make her quite the lady.

Stella McCartney

Famous surname or not she is one of the best designers, (first making her mark as the Creative Director for Chloé 1997) as well as being British she is a firm animal rights activist and refuses to use any fur or leather in her collections. A lifelong vegetarian and supporter of PETA, married with four children, an all round Wonder Woman.

Carol Jean Pentland (Mother to this lucky kid)

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania she left Steeler nation and worked travelling the world eventually meeting her future husband. They had 2 children in a picturesque house in Johannesburg, before settling in England. Even with the odd judgmental look from other mothers when picking up her kids from school, straight from work, in a pencil skirt, heels and blazer with shoulder pads you could only envy, she was successful in work and now academia earning herself a top degree with highly credited work. Not to shabby I’d say.