One of the first lessons you learn when becoming a journalist is the "five Ws."
These dictates provide the framework for a complete, unbiased story - simply put, the tools to get the facts. Once you know the foundation, you start to ask questions about the application.
But the last question is arguably the most important. "How" takes you to the future; the "five Ws" focus on the past.
Women no longer need foundation building; they know their "five Ws." Instead, they need the tools to understand how to make their goals a reality.
So taking the advice from Arlan Hamilton, "when Beyonce says, 'get in formation,' she's also saying, 'get information,'" C2C getting the information, sharing the "how," and kicking off Women's History Month with career conversations.
We'll take you a journey through the careers of six women from our community. We'll touch every level of business, from the creatives who discuss the impact Google Cloud products have on our daily lives to the leaders who are working to cure cancer and drive business.
We believe these kinds of career conversations are essential because it helps other women see how anything truly is possible, at any age, stage or place.
When we read stats like, only 17% of the digital workforce is composed of women, or that only 23% of the employees at Google are women, I hope, we as women, are not discouraged by these numbers but are instead seizing the opportunity and motivated to prove them wrong.
Through Vijeta Pai's story of melding her passions to evangelize Google Cloud to Andrada Morar building and uniting communities worldwide and Stephanie Wong creating a brand new indispensable role, we demonstrate our C2C values: work fearlessly and openness. And we certainly explain how they did it.
With Heather Tran's story of moving her way from advising others to pursue STEM careers to becoming a leader of technical teams and Su Song's 13-year journey to a position of leadership when all her teammates have been male, we demonstrate the C2C value of curiosity. After all, asking questions and wanting to pursue the next challenge takes bravery and self-belief.
We culminate with Kelly Wright's story about being a mother, a Fantasy reader, and being an engineering team leader to demonstrate the C2C value of humanity. After all, we are more than our careers; we are humans first.
As we inch closer to International Women's Day on March 8, you'll begin to recognize common threads through these disparate stories:
Be ready to work hard
Advocate for yourself
Find and nurture mentor relationships
Believe in yourself
...and don't forget the champagne to celebrate your successes
When we know how others are overcoming barriers and shattering ceilings, we create space for more significant innovation, leading to a better world.
I'm thrilled to amplify these stories. Spending a week talking about incredible women is the best birthday present a content lady could want. Thank you for celebrating my day and honoring Women's History Month.
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As a former journalist, I am already ready for a good story. So, tell me a story! Reach me at sabina.bhasin@c2cglobal.com, or comment below.