A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

A rising tide lifts all boats.

On Thursday evening the Birmingham Business Journal celebrated its 2015 class of Top 40 Under 40 with an awards ceremony at Iron City. I was among those honored, chosen for the work I do through See Jane Write. The evening was nothing less than fantastic.  I walked in the door and was greeted by several people I'd never met before who wanted me to know how much they loved my picture -- the one that ran with my article in the Birmingham Business Journal, the one I was once insecure about because I'd opted to wear a trendy Olivia Pope-inspired outfit instead of a traditional black or navy business suit. "Your picture was hands down the best," one fellow honoree said to me. This was a great lesson in daring to be different and daring to be myself.

A rising tide lifts all boats.

A table with my name on it and people stopping and asking to take my picture all made the night feel surreal and unreal. I tried to soak it all in. I tried to figure out what I would write in my blog post about the night ,but I just kept hearing the same thing in my head over and over:

A rising tide lifts all boats.

As each honoree received his or her reward, a video recorded the day of our photo shoot was played for the crowd. I'll be honest -- we were all dreading this moment. Seeing yourself on camera is bad enough. Seeing yourself on a larger-than-life screen while hundreds of other people look on is much, much worse. In the video we were each asked what helped our career take flight. Again, I dared to be different. My answer wasn't about a partnership or promotion. Instead I spoke about getting over my impostor syndrome and self-doubt. I talked about the importance of believing you deserve success and I declared that if I want people to take me seriously as a businesswoman I must do so first.

As the ceremony continued several women made their way over to my table to thank me for what I said in my video, to thank me for saying something they believed all women needed to hear.

Ironically, even though Thursday's ceremony was in part a celebration of me, it was also a reminder that my successes aren't about me. In fact, that's why I call my organization See Jane Write, not See Javacia Write. It's not about me. It's about empowering all Janes and all Writeous Babes; it's about empowering all women writers, bloggers, and entrepreneurs.

A rising tide lifts all boats.

An expanded version of this post appears on the See Jane Write blog.