What happens when you invite eleven women, of different ages, from different backgrounds, with different passions, to speak for 140 seconds on an actual soapbox? Magic. Magic is what happens.
You get a room full of people laughing, crying, cheering, discovering and thinking. You get a room full of people contemplating change.
You get a room full of people empowered and energised by the fact that, together, they can be that change.
At our #PositionOfStrength event with Twitter last night at AdRoll’s function space in Sydney, we gave a diverse range of women a soapbox, a microphone and 140 seconds.
Each of the 11 women used it to call for serious change on an issue they care deeply about.
For Lucy and Rosie Thomas, CEOs and Founder Project Rockit it was a call to send a new message to the girls of Australia. A reminder that there is great strength and knowledge in being a girl, and that no girl should have to change who she is to be a leader. “Dear Girls, what makes you different is the biggest influence in your life.” Use it.
Diana Ryall AM, a former MD with Apple and founder of Xplore for Success, said it’s time, overdue even, for women to stand up for what they’re worth. “I bet everyone in this room is being paid less than a man in the same job,” she said. “We have got to get rid of that pay gap, it’s on all of your shoulders to speak up and demand better.”
She said that if women don’t talk to their bosses about money, they won’t be paid for what they’re worth. “If you don’t bring it up, if you don’t tell them why you’re worth more” they’re not going to reward you appropriately.
For Rackspace sales manager Brooke Cerfontyne, it was a call for young women to stop waiting for the careers and opportunities they want and to simply go out and take them instead. “I always knew I was going to have an amazing career. Who says that I have to wait my turn?”, she said. “Do the job you want, not the job you have,” she said. “If you see something you want, go and do it.
Too fat? Too tall? Too curvy? Too skinny? Too ridiculous. Dr Jane Burns, founder and CEO of Young, called on everyone in the room to give the middle finger to negative body image issues. And following 140 second pitch, the entire room obliged and gave the finger in unison.
For Tara Moss, it was a call to end violence and raise awareness for the plight of women and children in conflict zones around the world.
“What if we gave as many column inches to random acts of kindness as we do to random acts of violence?
What if we valued humanitarian aid as highly as we value human might?
What if we focussed as much on the saving of lives, as we do on the taking of lives?”
Tara spoke about her upcoming trip to Syria with Unicef and the need to offer more humanitarian aid, not more suffering. More books, not more bombs. More vacancies, not more violence. And more education, care and psycho-social support, not more psychological terror. “Let’s end violence against children. All children. And show the kids of today — the adults of the future — that there are non-violent alternatives.”
Lucia Osborne-Crowley, a law student and journalist with Women’s Agenda, spoke of another women – the 38th women this year – killed by violence the night before. The upside to this horror, is that as Lucia spoke she saw everyone in the room nod. “You knew what I was going to say, because finally we are having a real conversation about gendered violence in this country,” she said. “We can not empower women until we make them safe, especially in their own homes.”
Social media is helping the conversation about violence gain momentum. “Keeping up this relentless pressure is critical.”
Renata Cooper, an angel investor and the founder of Forming Circles, said it was for more men and women to invest in women and to support great female entrepreneurship. “Let’s talk about money!” she said. “Where there’s a will there is a way. Women need to support and encourage female entrepreneurship.”
For Danielle Fletcher, founder of PropellHer, it was all a call to start using the ‘C Word’. “How many of us woke up this morning and said, ‘I have the confidence to make it happen today?” Confidence is still a dirty word for women – something that needs to change.
Young Australian of the Year 2015 and deaf advocate Drisana Levitzke-Gray used her soapbox to promote Auslan (Australian sign language) as a human right for all deaf children to access. “Too many people see sign language as a last resort,” she said. It is a beautiful language and needs to be recognized.
Finally, the VP of Twitter Shailesh Rao, wrapped up the event by declaring that “when women succeed, the world succeeds” and that “good decisions comes from getting different perspectives in the room”.
What would you say if you had a soapbox, a microphone, and 140 seconds?