IWD 2023: with our CEO Emily Chadwick

As we reflect on International Women‘s Day this year, it‘s important to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the incredible progress we have made in advancing gender equality in the workplace. At Marketing Logic, we are proud to be led by an inspiring female CEO who is passionate about creating an inclusive and equitable work environment for employees of all genders. We strive to create a workplace where everyone can thrive and reach their full potential, and International Women‘s Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the progress we have made.

Our own CEO, Emily Chadwick, has lead our company to tremendous success, and she is here to share her insights on the importance of International Womens Day and the power of female leadership in the business world. Join us in honouring International Womens Day by reading our exclusive interview with Emily and learning how her experience has shaped her approach to leadership.

Why do you think it is important to celebrate International Women’s Day?

Honestly, it’s a concept that I wasn’t entirely comfortable with for many years.

I remember back in my earlier career working for IBM and being encouraged to attend ‘Women in Business’ groups internally because it would be good for networking and would improve my career trajectory. I didn’t want to because I didn’t feel I should have to lean on other women to get me noticed or recognised and that should be done on merit alone regardless of my sex. With age though comes a bit of wisdom and more experience and I see that while my beliefs are true, it is not always that simple.

I can now see that International Women’s Day is an opportunity to inspire and learn from those who have trodden a similar path to you and through the sharing of knowledge comes growth. Learning and growth should always be embraced and if we meet some great people along the way we are all the better for it!

Have you faced any barriers in your career due to being a woman? If so, how did you overcome them?

Barriers no, challenges some.

I often still hide the fact that I might have to collect my daughter from after school club because I don’t think it’s the right thing to say professionally and it shows a chink in my armour .

I work my evenings because it works for my lifestyle being a mother and running my own business, I need those extra hours in the day but I hide that too

I have had instances where I have had to work with difficult men but I have also had many far more difficult women to deal with over the years too!

My biggest challenge is giving my time to being a good mother and a good CEO and proving that I can do both. There will always be compromises it is a balance of compromise because your time cannot always be devoted to one or the other. Alongside the compromise though comes new qualities and leadership strengths both at home and at work.

How do I overcome them… I’m not sure as we do but the most important thing is to be aware of them and to recognise when the balance falls out of line.

What is the most important piece of advice you have been given?

There’s never a good time..

My mum said that to me when I was putting off having my daughter because it wasn’t the right time for my career…. She was absolutely right. I’m fortunate that I have been surrounded by many great people over the years and they managed just fine without me for a while!

It doesn’t matter though whether it’s children, fresh starts, new careers, as humans we are full of excuses … just do it!

How can we encourage more women to pursue entrepreneurship or senior leadership roles in their career?

By making it more accessible. I don’t have the answers as to how because the work needs to be done..

There are 2 sides though:

    1. Companies need to offer the flexibility
    2. Women need to believe that they deserve the right to be sat at the table

What is the most important message you want to send out to young women thinking about their careers?

Focus on yourself and what you can control.

By which I mean the way you project yourself, the clothes you wear, picking the right moments to say insightful things, being prepared. Look after your health physically and the mental will follow. Doing hard things physically always helps give me extra belief that I can do hard things professionally

Why do you think diversity in the workplace is so important?

Different ideas, backgrounds, experiences make us all better.

It still fascinates me how different 2 peoples perspectives can be on a single event, topic etc.

Diversity brings creativity. In our team I firmly believe that if we all pool our ideas, together we will come up with something stronger than any individual achieves.

If you could have dinner with three inspirational women, dead or alive, who would they be and why?

I hate these sort of questions ..

Someone who lived in a very different time to us that was strong but shady .. maybe Queen Victoria, she’d be fascinating!

Maybe Dame Kelly Holmes.. I saw her speak at a Ministry of Defence conference once and I think it would be fascinating to understand how she has channelled her mental and physical challenges over the years.

Then I should probably say somebody corporate and professional and go get-tery but I can’t think of any one person so let’s not. I think we have a lot to learn from other professionals male and female, for me particularly around organisation, structure, prioritisation etc.

 

Where are we going for dinner then??? Book it in and I’ll work out my corporate table guest …