10 Ways to Empower Women Right Now

Saeteesh from @saeteeshunleashed and Jennifer Cermak from @naninalubeachwear shared personal advice and stories to empower other women at our Fashion After 50 Fashion Week MN Event. Photo credit: G. Marie Images

Have you ever asked yourself, “What is one small thing I can do to start a revolution?” Jane Finette did just that during the pandemic. She felt down and overwhelmed, so she started connecting with other strong women in her network to find out how they were coping and what they were doing. Although the media headlines were dismal, she discovered empowered women doing fantastic work to support the advancement of women and girls, and their efforts did not stop during these stressful and unprecedented times. 

Talking to other women, she also found their impact did not start with a huge business plan. It began with simple, quiet, and repeatable things that they did in sisterhood. She felt these empowering stories needed to be told, so Jane summarized the lessons into her new book, Unlocked: How Empowered Women Empower Women. 

Our Rumblings community had an opportunity to have a virtual conversation with Jane to discuss our ability to influence societal change, especially when systemic and policy changes necessary to address fundamental issues of gender, age, and racial biases seem so impossible. 

She emphasized that change starts by taking one action with another person in our world. The opportunity is great, and we need to understand that we lift up all women when we help one woman. When we collectively do that as a regular practice, enough women will be standing in their full power, and systems and policy changes will follow. 

Our conversation was so rich and empowering that we wanted to share the key takeaways for women who missed it.  

How do you begin? 

Start by seeing yourself as a female activist. If you think of your actions as feminist actions, you will realize the impact goes beyond helping one dear friend or work colleague, and instead, you will recognize your simple steps are for the sake of all women. When you embrace female activism as a part of your personality and identity, you will seek ways every day to fulfill your way of being that type of person in the world.  

We’ve all had our own lived experiences as we’ve climbed the corporate ladder, raised children, taken care of aging parents, and made our way in the world. We know it hasn’t been easy, and we’re not here to claim that carving out even more time to help more women is easy either. 

However, we hope we all agree that we want a smoother path for the women—our daughters, nieces, neighbors, colleagues, etc.— coming behind us. This starts with being vulnerable, sharing your experiences—good and not so good—and asking for help when needed. 

You’re the most important person in your life. The first act of being a feminist is committing to take care of yourself first. When you make yourself a priority, you have the capacity to help other women. 

10 Keys to Unlock the Potential of All Women

1. Say yes to help another woman. Make an introduction. Have a call. Give advice when asked. 

2. Tell her she is ready! Be her cheerleader. Sometimes she just needs a gentle reminder to own her truth and claim her destiny.

3. Stand behind her. Back her up. Support her through struggles. Let her know you’re there for her. 

4. Help her help herself. Help her see everything available for her to clearly make her own choice or decision. 

5. Talk about money. Women earn less, invest less, and two-thirds of women have the potential to retire into poverty. You must get comfortable talking about money, encouraging women to ask for what they’re worth, and sharing how to invest money. 

6. Stand up for her. Support fairness, equity, and truth, especially when those principles are violated.

7. Be the example. Share your stories and personal experiences. Role model helping yourself and other women. Having empowered women as examples empowers other women. 

8. Give her confidence. Help her see her strengths, showcase her previous successes, and move past her fear. 

9. Send the elevator down. Make the journey easier for her by giving her a hand, hiring her, promoting her, or showcasing her talents.

10. Be a sister. Show up as a sister. Offer a kind word. Listen. Smile. Share a hug. 

“To empower another woman is a selfless act with untold possibilities.”

- Jane Finette

Now is the time. Get started today!

It’s all about this moment. You are ready. All that you have done before now has prepared you for this moment. You know how to put the keys to work to unlock the potential of women around you. Just begin. Start today.

Jane summed up our conversation brilliantly. “We all have everything inside us to live our fullest, and most exciting, and wild lives. We have all the wisdom from the women who came before us, and we have an incredible community of women supports. Ask for help from each other and give, receive, and keep showing up to moments like this because it’s a village; we need a village.”

If this summary has inspired you, we encourage you to buy and gift the book to all the women in your life. The proceeds from your purchases go to The Coaching Fellowship, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing young women leaders working in the social impact space, founded by Jane and described as her life’s work. 

A foundational principle, or Rock, at Rumblings is to advocate for and inspire women around us. Read more about our Four Rocks to Flourish After 50

Reduce Stress and Improve Happiness: 14 Great Books to Read This Summer

One of the most inspiring perks of being partners in Rumblings is sharing what we’re reading with each other. Our text message chain is a volley of must-read recommendations. Often our business meeting conversations get distracted by sharing inspiration we’re having based on a book we’ve read. 

There is still something magical and simple about a book. The power to evoke an emotion, inspire action, ignite creativity, showcase diverse views, motivate change, and transport us to a different place and time through written language is a great gift. 

As lifelong learners, we both have been avid readers. Still, this past year has brought diversity in our reading and added fiction back into a routine that has previously prioritized nonfiction, professional books. What’s interesting — and maybe a little counterintuitive — is that reading fiction can contribute to overall well-being. 

Reading fiction is uniquely powerful in helping us imagine stories that activate regions of our brains responsible for better understanding others and seeing the world from a new perspective. Studies have shown that reading fiction can help us:

• Develop our imagination

• Build skills to be alone

• Be more empathetic

• Reduce stress (reading puts our brains in a similar state to meditation, eliciting the benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm)

• Experience slower memory loss and mental decline

• Develop a broader vocabulary

• Makes us happier

Although we've expanded our library to include digital and even audiobooks, evidence suggests that reading on paper increases comprehension and helps induce sleep due to being visually less demanding and less distracting, and lacking light-emitting screens. 

Health benefits aside, our biggest challenge is getting through our extensive list of “to-read” books. 

Whichever preference you have for reading, we thought we’d share what’s on our summer reading list. 

90 Seconds to a Life You Love: How to Master Your Difficult Feelings to Cultivate Lasting Confidence, Resilience, and Authenticity by Joan I. Rosenberg

All the Devils are Here by Lisa Penny 

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate 

Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking by Dr. Caroline Leaf

Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story Remaking A Life From Scratch by Erin French

How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith 

Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford 

Ten Poems series by Roger Housden 

The Monkeewrench series by P.J. Tracy

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Gift: 12 Lessons to Save Your Life by Edith Eger

Think Again by Adam Grant

Universal Human by Gary Zukav

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

What’s on your summer reading list? We’d love to hear what books are inspiring you and what you’re learning. Please share with us at  Rumblings Media or via social media with the hashtag #flourishafter50. 

Please support your local library or small independent bookstores whenever possible. 

Sign-up today to get more information on how to flourish after 50!

Together we Rumble!

Karyn and Rebecca