How many times did you have your heart set on doing something exciting for yourself only to have it cancelled last minute? Do you find yourself negotiating with people to be able to do something that is important for you? Many people spend time and energy trying to fit good habits into their calendar only to have them overbooked by others. We hear so many women saying they’d take more time for themselves if they, eh, had more time. But we all have 24 hours in the day and when we can’t fit everything in, we must choose what actions or activities are really important for our own well being and s ..read more

Numerous studies have demonstrated how women suffer from lack of confidence. Which if we think about it, comes as no surprise. Some of us have followed the commonly acceptable path of building a career or opting to stay at home to raise a family. However, many have ended up in careers and lives that now need pivoting. Having worked with thousands of women whilst building DrivenWoman since 2013, I have seen many women who have lost themselves to the demands of others, either in the workplace or at home. They express this sense of loss by feeling stuck and procrastinating when in fact they feel ..read more

 Everyone struggles with self-confidence in one way or the other. And to keep it real, the world we are living in isn't making it any easier. However, from every gender, race and social class, everyone needs to feel self-confidence. Everyone should be able to love themselves.  We teamed up with Lunette for our Visibility Challenge.  They are on a mission to change attitudes about periods - hear their advice on how get your va-va-voom back on track: Ah, the peace of airplane mode. It’s too good to use on flights alone. When we unplug and stop over-exposing our ..read more

Do you have ideas and dreams inside you are afraid to articulate? Do you tell yourself that nobody wants to hear what you have to say? Many women are afraid to be visible and express their true essence. Many suffer from lack of confidence and prefer to stay invisible than show up ready to enthusiastically share their ideas and aspirations with the world. We avoid updating our LinkedIn profile in the fear that someone might criticise our new career direction or we fail to put our photo on our social media profile as we don’t want anyone to know we are there. Many don’t want to sh ..read more

Does this sound familiar? You have plenty of ideas but don't know which direction to take. You know you want something 'more' but feel unsure what it is because your life right now is okay and you don't want to sound ungrateful. You have a desire inside of you but every time you try to take action obstacles get in your way? We women tend to keep our goals and dreams inside our heads, rather than making things happen. But no matter how much we study more, acquire new qualifications or polish our plans we remain unsure. When we are unsure we hold ourselves back and take no action. And that ..read more

In 1624 John Donne wrote; “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is part of a continent, part of a main;" Well, he certainly worked that out a long time before I did. A long time before I joined the dots together and turned the linear me into a joyous circle.   The linear me, the corporate, driven, take everything and everyone on, ‘go for it’ me, can’t all be blamed on the male derived structure I worked in. In fact the world of advertising is probably less structured and more relaxed than most corporate environments, and I really enjoyed it. There is a large part of my per ..read more

“Can we see more women leaders in operations?” Of course, we can. I scanned the room of women who were present for an International Women’s Day event.  I asked, “How many of you applied for the role of operations manager recently advertised?”  Silence. I said, “I look forward to some of your applications.” Silence.  I held my breath. I said to myself, “Mary, don’t say anything. Just wait.”   Finally, one responded, “I don’t want to put myself out there if I am likely to fail.” Others responded with nods, a show of support to their colleague who ..read more

Nobody else can tell you what makes you happy or what makes you feel at peace with yourself. Nobody else knows what makes your heart sing, but we live in a society that is dominantly based on masculine values. These tend to be linear, hierarchical and structured and we all have this aspect of masculine inside of us. Our masculine is helpful when we need to get stuff done and get organised. In order for society to function well there are laws and standards to adhere to and so on, but the masculine lens has also influenced how we see success. Some women feel confused and ..read more

We will all remember 2020 as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting lockdown(s), general unrest, and personal challenges. For me, as a university professor, it meant a quick shift away from the university lecture halls to teaching online. The time I could spent on my research was much less, so my number of publications was very low. Since peer-reviewed articles are the first and foremost measure of success in academia, you could say that 2020 was a failure for me. The lower number of articles probably will mean that it will take a few more years than anticipated to make it to the next st ..read more

Does this sound familiar… You are content enough, every day life runs on its predictable tracks quite comfortably. But there’s a tiny voice inside, a deeper feeling that demands your attention. Perhaps you crave more opportunities or want to find more meaning in your work and life. Perhaps it’s an idea you have been carrying in your heart for years. Perhaps you have been fulfilling the dreams of others and now find yourself empty and disconnected from yourself? We meet thousands of women with different backgrounds and life circumstances at DrivenWoman. Some have a clear idea what they want to ..read more