International Women’s Day is always a well celebrated day in our office.
This year’s theme is #ChooseToChallenge, and since we established back in 2011, there have been plenty of occasions where we’ve had to challenge the stigma and bias that sometimes surrounds a female-lead business – especially when our name is Pink.
As part of our recent rebrand, we wanted to address these stigmas.
To us, pink isn’t a colour – it’s a set of values – and our agency was named after our Managing Director and the values she’d instilled into the whole team. And yes, Pink is her real surname!
For this year’s International Women’s Day, the We Are Pink team is reflecting on what the occasion means to them – from the most influential women in their lives to why taking action for equality is so important.
Managing Director Nicola Pink said: “Since we established in 2011, I’ve always been incredibly proud of the females within the team that I have been lucky enough to work with. As an all-female workforce for the duration of our business, I’ve had a passion for recruiting and investing in many young women who have then grown and strengthened their skills to find their place in the business world.
“During my upbringing, I was inspired daily by my amazing Nan who was the ultimate role model and she showed me that you could achieve anything you wanted to with hard work and by trying your best whenever you could. That message has been instilled in me ever since and has helped me to power through several situations; including those when people have had preconceptions about male leaders dominating the PR industry or when we have been stereotyped for the use of my surname in our branding.
“International Women’s Day is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the amazing women that I spend my working days with. I constantly tell them that they are a force to be reckoned with!”
Head of Creative Alicia Murphy said: “Women’s rights and equality is a topic I’m particularly passionate about and will continue to fight for – on International Women’s Day and every day! I’d say my biggest inspiration and driving force has been my Mum. From a young age and even now, she supports me and encourages me to achieve all I want and beyond and has always been an amazing example of a woman who can do it all.
“Back in 2017, I sat on a board to establish Future Boss Club – a Liverpool based professional networking group for females aged 18-35. We set the group up as we wanted to put a focus on female-specific business matters and to support and empower young women in the early years of their careers, and it was so insightful to talk to people working in a vast range of sectors about some of the issues they’ve faced.
“I think this year’s theme (#ChooseToChallenge) sends out an excellent message. There have been times both in my professional and personal life where I’ve had to challenge what’s in front of me – whether it’s an off-the-cuff comment or a rather offensive ‘joke’ – and I think the more we challenge these inequalities in everyday life, the closer we’ll get to gender equality.”
Head of Content Dani Baldwin said: “International Women’s Day is a reminder to everyone that although women have come a long way, there’s still so much to be done. I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to pursue and progress in a career that I genuinely love (something not to be taken for granted) but it’s not been without its barriers.
“Being a young woman in a professional environment is both empowering and eye-opening, and this year’s #choosetochallenge theme I hope will give women of all ages and background the confidence to stand by their convictions and make their voices heard.
“My mum has definitely been a major influence on me, and has always instilled in me the importance of supporting other women. Another source of inspiration comes from my friends – I’m incredibly lucky to have a diverse group of friends all following different paths and proving that success comes in many different forms, whether that’s professionally or personally.”
