International Women's Day - Accelerating Action Toward Gender Equality

The theme for this year's International Women’s Day (March 8) is to accelerate action toward gender equality. To support action toward a more inclusive world free of gender bias, stereotypes and discrimination. I wanted to offer a different perspective on how we achieve this.

The Importance of Autonomy and Empowerment

In a time when women’s rights are being challenged, where our autonomy to make decisions on our own bodies is under threat, and where a new generation of women are growing up to see “trad wife” trends on Instagram as a trend to follow – the mission that we have set ourselves at Everee Women™ – to empower women in their own lives - has never felt more important.

A critical part of autonomy and empowerment is our equal participation in the workforce and being able to establish financial systems to support our own needs. When I look back over my own career, it has included a number of challenges when it comes to even being in the room, let alone being taken seriously.

Challenging the Status Quo

I have actively chosen to work in industries that have historically been male-dominated: healthcare, agriculture, and biotech. This choice is about participating in something I am really good at – but also what I am passionate about and where I know I can make the most difference in the world.

What I have come to understand after decades of feeling ill at ease; of trying to make myself more of what the men in the room will feel comfortable with; of laughing along and going along when something feels deeply off or uncomfortable; is that I am done with “leaning in” or “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable”.

And you should be too!

Leaning Out of Broken Systems

The idea that women should have to "lean in" to spaces that were never built for them, instead of questioning why those spaces remain so exclusionary in the first place, is an idea I would like to challenge every person and organisation to consider. The problem isn’t that women lack ambition or confidence or leadership skills; we don’t need more Women in Leadership courses to help women “fit in”. The issue is that patriarchal systems still dominate workplaces, leadership, and society at large.

Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In was meant to encourage women to assert themselves in their careers (it’s a great read – and Sheryl had great intentions); however, this idea places the burden on women to fix a system that actively works against them. It doesn’t address the structural barriers like unequal pay, lack of parental leave, workplace harassment, and deeply ingrained biases that make those spaces unwelcoming. Instead, it suggests that if women just work harder, speak up more, push their way into the conversation, they’ll be rewarded. But that’s not how systemic oppression works.

The alternative to “leaning in” isn’t necessarily giving up; it’s recognising that the problem isn’t women’s lack of effort, confidence, or knowledge, but the systems in place that were never designed for them to succeed. Women should have the freedom to "lean out" of toxic environments and instead build, demand, and shape spaces where they are respected, valued, and included on their own terms.

The real conversation should be about dismantling patriarchal structures, not just squeezing more women into them while those structures remain fundamentally unchanged.

Leaving the Room to Create Change

I have found through my career that women are capable of incredible resilience, incredible courage, and extraordinary results. The problem is that all that energy is directed at being “allowed” in the room in the first place. Imagine what we could achieve if we didn’t have to do that. If we permitted ourselves and each other to say in the most Kiwi of ways – “Yeah, nah…. I’m not going to contribute to this ongoing bullshit.”

My personal commitment to myself for this year to accelerate action is to “leave the room.” This may sound counterintuitive – but I have learned that my efforts are best applied elsewhere, positively making change rather than fighting to be seen in a space I shouldn’t have to fight for. As a woman in business, I will no longer be engaging with people who behave in misogynistic or mansplaining ways – I’ve got better things to do.

I encourage you to do the same to accelerate action. The women around me (and the 15 extraordinary women that Tertiary Extracts and Everee Women™ employ) deserve this commitment from me. If I show them that I don’t put up with it, neither will they. And this is a good thing.

A Story of Women Supporting Women

Six years ago, I attended a trade tour of Malaysia and Singapore with the ASIANZ Foundation. At the time, I was going through particularly challenging personal circumstances. On that trip, I met an extraordinary woman named Sharee (you can see more about Sharee's story here). Sharee and I had some shared personal histories, but more importantly, we shared a vision for “business done differently” in New Zealand and our place in contributing something of real, lasting value.

Over the years, we have quietly supported each other, cheering each other on to success, providing contacts when needed, and sharing knowledge. Sometimes, that’s all it takes, quiet support in the background.

Sharee and her business Moka Eco Fibre have gone on to develop the world’s first non-toxic eyelash glue. This is an extraordinary achievement from vision to materials used to the scientific technicalities that have been overcome.

On the other hand, I have been part of the team that invented Ovitage®, the world’s most complete collagen, built the Everee Women™ platform, and developed a range of products specifically tailored to women at every stage.

These things have been possible, in part, because of the support and confidence we have given each other as women supporting women.

Celebrate and Commit to Supporting Women

To celebrate the women in your life who make it possible for you to strive for your dreams (whether overtly or more quietly in the background), we’re encouraging you to acknowledge them this International Women’s Day and make a commitment to what you are going to do in the next 12 months to support each other to accelerate action.

If you want to do this publicly (we think you should!), jump on our Instagram and tag the amazing women in your life on our competition reel - click here. We’ll be giving away three months of Everee plus the Moka fibre brush kit to you and three of the women in your life you tag.

Happy International Women's Day

Kim Bray
CEO, Everee Women