#dearteenageme

a social campaign for International Women’s Day

I wrote this in March 2019 after taking part in The Girls’ Network’s #DearTeenageMe campaign for International Women’s Day. It’s a personal reflection on what I would tell my teenage self, and on finding a way to share that felt like me.

International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world on and around 8th March.

The Girl’s Network is a charity that connects girls from least advantaged communities with professional female mentors who inspire and empower them to thrive.

The charity launched an online marketing campaign to raise awareness of what they do, and why, and to celebrate #IWD2019.

In support of all aspirational women, the charity asked their mentors, supporters and wider network:

“What advice would you share with your teenage self?”

The charity invited women to share their inspirational and empowering advice via video across social media.

I contributed to this powerful campaign and posted my advice via Twitter. Even with years of experience chairing meetings and presenting in public, I didn’t feel confident enough to vlog or have my husband record me talking to camera; I felt quite emotional having reflected on my “advice”.

Still wanting to produce and share a video with the wider world, I dug out an old photo of me from when I was sixteen, updated my Contacts in my iPhone and screen recorded me texting my teenage self. It felt empowering to type the words and hit send, envisaging my younger self receiving and reading the text moments later.

I tweeted the video with an update on how I was doing 20 years on:

#DearTeenageme,
Today I’m confident, independent and happy, I’m proud of who I am. Friends and family surround me with empowerment, belief and support. Here’s some advice to help you get here.
Don’t let your class mates influence your thinking or allow their narrow-minded thoughts to define who you are. You don’t need to be someone else because you lack self-esteem.
And never allow others to influence your decision-making.
You are a thoughtful, kind and considerate person and those qualities can’t be beaten.
Stop doubting yourself. Have courage and trust your gut feeling, it’s rarely wrong.
H x
#InternationalWomensDay #WomensDay2019 #IWD2019 #DearTeenageMe (@TheGirlsNet)

Thank you The Girls' Network for inspiring me to reflect on my teenage years, how far I've come and what a difference positive words can make. I've enjoyed reading others' advice; a great campaign that generated overwhelming support.

The charity shared a video that collates some of the key themes from the day.

Finding your own way to contribute

There’s a little marketing lesson in this too. The campaign gave me a clear prompt, but I found my own way to respond to it. Using a photograph and text let me contribute without recording myself talking to camera.

If you’re asking people to take part in a campaign, make the request easy to understand and think about how they might prefer to respond. A written answer, a photograph or a conversation may suit someone better than a video. Give them enough direction to get started and enough room to sound like themselves.

That matters when building your person building your personal brand l brand too. You can share something meaningful without copying how everyone else does it.