For this year’s International Women’s Day (8 March 2020) we wanted to take a minute to reflect on the amazing women in our lives that have helped shape and guide our careers. Three posts from the three founders on their experiences.
For IWD this year, we are super excited to be having a tap takeover at the Empire Hotel in Annandale - so please come and celebrate IWD with us, have a beer & toast the women in your lives. We will be there Sunday afternoon to cheer on the Aussies in their T20 World Cup Final, whilst having a few bevvies! Check out our social media pages for more info.
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International Women’s Day feels less personal for me than it is for Alice and Grace, but it shouldn’t be. This is not another ‘Mother’s Day’ where we buy someone some flowers and chocolate, and maybe make dinner that night. This is about securing a fundamental right to equality, which will benefit every single one of us in the long term. So for me, IWD is about recognising that, in spite of successes, we still have a long way to go.
For the majority of my career, my managers have been women, and I cannot begin to understand how difficult it is to raise a family, maintain a career, and support so many workers in managerial roles, while fighting stereotypes and inequality. They didn’t get to where they were by being women, they got there in spite of it, and the support I have received from them has helped shape who I am today. So for that, thank you Philippa, Linda and Sari for all your support over the years. You have taught me resilience, determination and finding different ways to view problems and solutions.
And then there is Alice and Grace. Both have full time jobs, and work for Reckless in their spare time. On top of this, Grace and I have a young son, and unfortunately, no matter how equal we strive to be in our relationship, there are still many aspects of having a young child, whose burdens rely heavily on ‘Mum’. Grace is my inspiration, not because she is balancing two jobs and a child, but because of her attitude when doing so. We all know that nothing worth doing in life comes easy, but in our relationship, Grace faces an extra hurdle, simply because she is a woman.
Being heavily involved in male dominated industries means she has had to work harder to prove herself. To this day, when we are all together at events, most people assume that I am the brewer, and Grace and Alice are the ‘Bartenders’. My responsibility is to continue to challenge this approach. I understand that this underlying stereotype is not intended as discrimination for the most part, but it is very real and alive today. I make it a point when meeting people that I am one component of Reckless, and my role is not the Brewer. Alice has a very successful professional services career, and so has been responsible for all the financial, accounting and legal side of things. Grace is our head brewer and social media champion. I work on the brand and imaging, research, and the day to day operations side of things.
We are a female led brewery, and our success to date has been heavily dependent on women - and how bloody good is that!