Legacy of disruption...

'If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito.'  (Attributed to many.)

In March 2022 I presented for the second time at a #WomenEd Northern Ireland unconference. 

I had to be #10percentbraver plus more as sharing personal information does not come naturally to me. Thankfully, my friends, Mairead and Chantal, were there and I felt their support. 

The final slide in my presentation was a collage of photos; women who had been important in both my professional and personal journey. I talked through each of the photos and explained why each had been impactful upon me. 

The final photo was Mrs Mary Spratt, my Nana. She had two sons, I am her oldest granddaughter, we were very close.

I had initially planned to follow up after the presentation with a blog, but it is only now that I can find the words again.

Mary Spratt was an astute, innovative, quick-witted, and shrewd lady. A disruptor. 

She was a businesswoman in a different time when not many women were in business and those who were found misogynistic comments and actions everywhere. When I was little, she was my hero, she was out there proudly doing her thing and being brave every day. She would tell me later, when I was older, about the comments and resistance she endured from male colleagues, but not as a warning, as a challenge. She would say that this just made her more determined to be successful. And she was. She disrupted.

She died the week after my presentation. Very suddenly and unexpectedly. She didn't know that I had featured her in my presentation.

Her legacy is me and my legacy is my daughter. She didn't know it, but her actions were being watched closely. 

Many times, I have been told that I can't do something or underestimated because I am a woman. Every time I see this as a challenge. Tell me I can't do something, and not only will I do it, but I will also exceed. 

That is my Nana's disruptive influence in me.

The key takeaway I wanted my presentation attendees to have was that we are all impacted in many ways by the women around us. In turn the women around us are impacted by our influence.

Let's use it to disrupt!