The Importance of International Women's Day at AOYC
As a female founder of Ahead Of Your Curves, my mission is to help women dress with confidence, while feeling stylish and having fun with fashion.
This year's International Women's Day is even more special, because I was able to make my dreams a reality, officially launching AOYC. I wanted to share with our amazing community what inspired me throughout the journey, in the hope that this advice helps others make their dreams a reality.
Can you share with us some of the best advice you received when you started out as a female founder?
Don't let fear drive your decision making.
Having never run a business or built a website before AOYC, at times I felt out of my depth, and when this happens it is very easy to let fear creep into your decision making.
Blocking out that fear and making decisions that you believe are the best for the business in the long run is vital. The overly safe option isn't always the best option.
You need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable at times, which includes backing yourself in and not letting fear stop you from making bold moves. It also helps if you have a bestie that drives this message into you every day! #bestie #erin
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
It’s a day to both celebrate all the amazing women within your own life and around the world, while also being a reminder that there is still work to be done until we’re truly equal. I choose to look at this day as a positive, as it gives me inspiration to continue to strive to be better at what I do and provide support to the incredible women around me, in everything they do.
How important have other women in your life been in the launch of AOYC?
When I made the decision that this was something I wanted to do, I didn’t even know where to start, so initially I did feel a bit lost. That changed as soon as I reached out to communities set up to help women in business. I joined the Lady StartUp course offered by Mia Freeman and off I went.
They got me on the right track straight away and gave me the confidence to know that I could do this. As I got going, it wasn’t just this community that provided support and guidance. Friends, colleagues, people I’ve met along the way, have all been willing to help. Whether it was advice, introductions or getting involved themselves, I had so many great women help me launch AOYC. It would be remiss of me to not pay tribute to the women before me who made this path possible. To my mum Kath and the previous generations of strong women, thankyou for inspiring me to be the woman I am today.
This journey has shown me exactly what can be achieved and what is possible when women support each other and want to see each other succeed.