With echoes of the 2021 International Women’s Day still in the air, our SARA By Wema hosted a webinar to discuss how women can challenge today for an equal tomorrow.

Here are the top 5 takeaways in case you missed it.

“Saving is a way to keep money, investment is putting the money to work.” – Tomie Balogun

Saving and investing are often used together, but there is a difference. Saving is setting aside the money you don’t spend now for emergencies or a future purchase. Investing is buying assets such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds or real estate with the expectation that your investment will make money for you. Use your income to build your investment portfolio so that you don’t spend all your years working.

“Your aspirations will influence your negotiations.” – Dupe Akinsiun

Your aspirations are your hopes, dreams, and goals. They help keep you moving purposefully through life. They help you be the best version of yourself. The bigger your aspirations, the stronger your bargaining power. Big aspirations force you to want more and demand better. If you aspire towards nothing, you accept whatever is thrown at you.

“Be visible for the work you do and negotiate your ability to earn.” – Tomie Balogun

Visibility is far rated than ability. It doesn’t matter much what you can do if no one knows you can do it. Yes, create value wherever you are by getting skills to solve problems that will help your organization’s bottom line. It is, however, more important to note your accomplishments, compile them and be ready to present them.

“Leadership competence has nothing to do with gender.” – Dupe Akinsiun

Good leadership is about competence. You don’t need facial hair, muscles or a dangling organ to be a leader. As a woman, you tend to nurture, care about your team and your ability to deliver results, but there are no typical male or female leadership styles. Rather, a person’s background, experiences and personality make the difference. Your unique experiences as a woman, however, help you to see things differently and allow you to tackle change processes differently.

“You can choose to be a stay-at-home mum and nurture your kids.” – Dupe Akinsuin

Like Professor Albus Dumbledore said in the popular novel, Harry Porter: it is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. If you want to be a stay-at-home mom and nurture your kids, you can. Your dreams are very valid, whatever they are. You can be anything you choose to be. You can choose to be a woman can be at the centre of the globe and industries just as you can choose to be a stay-at-home mom and nurture your kids. Managing the home and the children is a skill that you can monetize. You can take your learnings and insights, package them into an online course and sell it.

Women are thriving in their careers and businesses. Celebrate women doing amazing things.

That’s it for now. Oh, and don’t forget to be kind always. You can start by spreading the news. Share this with a friend. Friends don’t let friends miss out on stuff like this. We’ll see you soon.