My two oldest are both boys. After nine years of mud-caked\nclothes and bugs, I felt I had a pretty good handle on that side of the house. Three\nyears ago, things changed for me with the arrival of a third child\u2013my first\nbaby girl. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This new little human with big brown eyes stared into my soul and triggered a self-reflection that illuminated some very real truths about myself\u2013something I had never experienced with the boys. Heavy feelings of self-doubt and unworthiness rushed to the surface from their compartmentalized place and demanded I give them the attention I had been denying them. Of course, I knew these feelings existed in me, but I didn\u2019t know how strong they were until I was given the job of protecting and guiding this little girl in a world that I knew could be so unjust to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recognizing that I owed it to my daughter (and to myself) to\nbecome the strong role model she deserved, I embarked on an emotional journey\nthat, in many ways, culminated with the women’s panel we recorded earlier this\nyear at Legal Week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I, like many of the women reading this, have experienced years,\nif not decades, of inequality in the workplace. We’ve endured the subtle (and\nnot-so-subtle) reminders along the way that women should remain in our place,\nand that our place was always below that of our male peers. A lifetime of\nexperiences like these add up and take a toll on a person\u2019s psyche. They build\na foundation of self-doubt that can be seemingly impossible to tear back down,\nafter decades of being reinforced daily. I\u2019ve come to understand that feeling\nas if we\u2019re \u201cnot doing enough\u201d is almost universal among women. Even more importantly,\nwe often feel like no matter what we do, we will never be able to measure up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, three years later, my daughter is entering preschool and I\ncan see the progress we’ve both made. I’m a stronger, more confident woman, and\nI feel a sense of self-assurance that was missing before I was gifted this\nlittle girl to care for. I\u2019ve found a passion for where I am professionally,\nwhich gives me the bravery to forge a path to stand on. I am the example and\nrole model that my daughter deserves. I’m also proud because I earned this role;\nI fought for it and still do. By refusing to let others define me or make me\nfeel unworthy, I know my daughter sees the person I am today. I hope that she holds\nonto her fighting spirit so that she may never feel diminished by the same feelings\nof self-doubt that I had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The truth is, we will continue to face challenges going forward. The subtle and not-so-subtle moves will still be made. We will continue to be undervalued\u2013personally and professionally\u2013by men and women alike. It’s critical that in those moments, we’re prepared to meet the challenges: to be our own champion and speak from a place of confidence, not just in support of ourselves, but for our friends, our family, and our fellow women in the workforce. I know that this post and this video panel may be \u201ctoo personal\u201d for some, but I hope everyone understands that by being vulnerable with each other, we are supporting each and every person, women or otherwise, in their own journey to knowing and defining their value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n