Last Friday was International Women’s Day and there were so many fabulous events taking place around London.

My first stop was a Lunch Extravaganza at Home House, followed by a female panel discussion, hosted by Cecilia Harvey. The theme for IWD 2019 was Balance for Better and the panel spoke about an event or trigger that had focused them on making a change in their lives to improve their mental or physical health. Most of the audience were female business owners. As business owners, we have a tendency to push ourselves to succeed and there can be an imbalance between our work and personal lives. Most of the panel had actually become ill before they decided to make a positive change to their wellbeing. The main takeaway was self-care and to try to achieve greater balance in multiple areas of our lives. All attendees received a wonderful pamper goody bag to help us do just that.

There were lots of familiar faces at this event and it was lovely to catch up with friends whilst marking the occasion.

There was an evening panel event at The AllBright, in conjunction with Warehouse – ‘I Define Me’. Warehouse had put together a panel of five women and asked them to share their defining stories. The inspirational panel was hosted by Laura Jackson and consisted of:

  • Bryony Gordon, journalist, author and mental health campaigner;
  • Nafisa Baker, CEO of Amaliah;
  • Natalie Lee, blogger Style Me Sunday;
  • Esme Young, designer and judge of The Great British Sewing Bee;
  • Lauren Mahon, founder of GIRLSvsCANCER

I loved hearing from each of the wonderful panellists. The discussion was very natural, warm and there were lots of laughs. It was an energising, funny, galvanising and uplifting discussion about women and their lives. On a serious note, lots of people seem to think there is no longer any need to mark International Women’s Day any more, but the stories just confirmed that there is still a long way to go. All in all, this was the perfect event to end the day with.