Arrived two years late but who's counting anyways. You see, the seeds of this idea were planted probably over two years ago now. That is when the phone call happened and when Dyan and I first started talking through our (numerous!) ideas. Seriously, we both are full of great ideas. We are both pretty busy humans, as most women we know are, and we started to plan our business meetings around playdates with our kiddos. It worked for a while until it didn't. I am also a part time MEd student and am the queen of perpetual Too Busy, Too Much To Do, and also, Hey, I can do that? Let me take that on for you! Dyan is better at drawing boundaries but also has two very busy children, Honey the dog, and actual honey, in that they have beehives that also need to be cleaned, kept up, checked on and all other sorts of things that I don't understand which is exactly why she is the one with the hives and I am the one who buys honey off of her. We kept plugging away slowly at this idea as we knew we wanted to pursue it but then boom, one year ago something substantial happened globally that shut down our communities, our homes, and also my creativity. We weren't ready to give up on this idea fully but it was shelved, backburnered really, while we focused on so so many other things we needed to focus on to get through a global pandemic with inefficient leadership.
But, I am already off track. Surprised? Anyone who know me is not. So the seeds. What was that phone call all about anyways. Dyan called me up because she was working through her programming for her business she was starting (see, full of ideas!) and she was sick and tired of being told all of the things she already knew by people who were way less qualified than she was. She called me and said "Ray, do you ever just feel like you are the smartest person in the room and no one ever listens to you.?" To which I responded "YES, ALL THE TIME!"(but probably sprinkled with a few more profanities).
How do we get people to take us, and our ideas, more seriously? Why do we suffer with imposter syndrome? Why are we afraid to speak up and be more assertive? And the more we rolled these questions around in our heads, the more we connected with our friends that had remarkably similar experiences. I guarantee you, if you were to stop reading right now and reach out to your closest female friend, they would have loads of stories that reinforce this exact experience. Our ideas are often overlooked, or not taken as seriously, as our male counterparts. Look at the board tables, the 'leadership' panels. Do you see yourself on them? We know that this is starting to shift (about time!) but the majority of higher paying, leadership and decision making positions are held by men. White men specifically. So we wanted to start Kiss My Credentials as a way to share these stories that often go unheard. To promote locally owned, women-owned businesses and the incredible women that run them. So, are you one of these people? Do you know one of these people? Reach out to us and we will share your story, support your business, and just generally celebrate who you are. We can't wait to get to know you better!
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