Why Professional Women Should Write Their Story
By: Julia Amante
Tags: Inspiring Women, Women In Business, Business Women, Writing Your Story, Women Helping Women

When my mom was young there were some things she couldn’t do. For example, she couldn’t have a bank account without my father’s permission. She also couldn’t take me or my brother out of the country without, again, my father’s permission. This tended to irritate both my parents because a couple of times my father asked my mother to fly to Argentina to help out my grandmother (my father’s mother) or to take care of other business. She was supposed to fly to Argentina with the kids and he would follow later.

Since he sometimes traveled because he had a trucking business, he wasn’t always available to sign documents. And she couldn’t sign things herself. This wasn’t so long ago.

Also, when she was young there weren’t many career options for women. Most women became wives. There were office jobs like secretaries to male executives, teaching jobs, retail positions, waitresses, and other mostly support positions.

But my mother is in her 80s and a lot has changed (and a lot hasn’t) and women who now hold important positions in the business world or in government should write about their lives.

What have been some of the challenges?

A few women have written about this, but not enough. Women benefit from reading stories of women succeeding despite challenges in the workplace or at home. How do women balance family life with a challenging business life? I tend to believe that balance doesn’t exist, but I’d be interested in reading stories of women who disagree with me. What is it like to be in charge, to run departments, to have major responsibilities at work? Is it easier today for women than it was in the past. Men seem more supportive and accepting of women in positions of authority, but perhaps they are not. What can you share about being a good leader?

Tell Us About You Relationships

But it’s not only stories of work and being a woman in the workplace that need to be told. Relationships are super important to women. Stories of love and romance or a lack of a love life, maybe sacrificed to have a career. Stories of friendships. Our relationships with other women and friends can be some of the most important in our lives. We form bonds with other women that are valuable for our growth. We learn from each other. We confide in each other in ways that we can’t talk to our spouses or children. Writing about these relationships can also inspire others

Fears and Vulnerabilities

Other important stories women, especially successful women should share are stories of fears or vulnerabilities. Young women today, and I see them in the college class I teach, have no concept of the struggles successful women have had to endure. Mentoring our young ladies and sharing with them the fears we’ve had or our insecurities can help them see that it’s okay to feel unsure when you’re just starting out and that it doesn’t mean you can’t still be successful. Young people, men and women, seem to think they need to get an immediate executive position right out of college. It’s good for them to see that it takes time and patience to get to the place where you might be now.

Celebrate You and Inspire Others

Lastly, I think writing down your stories is a way to celebrate the person you have become. Remembering the important milestones, the challenges, the high-points, the people who have been important to you and who have helped you. These chapters of your life memorialize your achievements, but also can inspire others. I think this is important to us as we get to a point in our lives when we realize that we have lessons that we’ve learned that can help others.

Something that I want to leave you with is not to prejudge your experiences and think that your stories are unimportant or that others won’t be interested. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if others are interested or not. You should first write for yourself, to express your thoughts and ideas, and maybe to find some understanding of why things happened the way they did. Your experiences have value because they contributed to your life and your successes and failures. Once you write your stories, however, you will find that others will most likely be interested and be helped by reading what you wrote.