International Women’s Day, Q&A with Jayne Hennessey

International Women’s Day is a day dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women throughout the world, as well as acting as a catalyst for change when it comes to gender equality.

At Blume, we pride ourselves on having a truly collaborative working environment where our differences are celebrated.

That’s why we’ve taken International Women’s Day as an opportunity to reflect and recognise the value of women in our business. Currently, over half of our managers are women and our staff total is an almost even split.

To mark International Women’s Day, we caught up with our Head of People, Jayne Hennessey about what the day means to her, her experience within Blume and her own personal journey and achievements.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you? And why do you feel that it is important to recognise the day?

It’s important to remember that every day we still fight for a world that is equal and free from stereotypes and bias, when you look back on the timeline of women’s rights, we still need to raise each other up and call out bias when we see it in the world or workplace.  Every year, International Women’s Day allows me to reflect on my personal journey, as well as the incredible woman around me and their achievements.

What makes you proud to be a woman working at Blume?

Blume feels like a different world compared to some of my earlier roles where leadership teams were all men and some natural attributes of being a woman had to be hidden for fear of being perceived as weak; Blume embraces diversity and differences and each person here is reviewed on their results.  I am proud that I have helped shape this as Head of People with a leadership team around me that are open to doing things differently.

What’s your biggest achievement?

When I look back through my life, I know that I have friends & family that have always supported and loved me. I have been lucky to achieve a lot in my academic life, but my proudest moment was completing my degree in psychology at 25 as I had to work 40 hours a week at minimum wage to pay for rent, food and look after my cat while also attending lectures. 

In my personal life, I love adrenaline sports, so jumping out of a plane at 15,000ft was incredible and is up there with completing the Via Ferrata at Honister with 50mph winds and lashing rain.!

What advice do you have for women starting out in their careers?

Surround yourself with people who challenge you, make you think differently and never stop asking why. 

Share with us a woman that inspires you most, or a quote that inspires you most.

“Give a woman the right shoes and she can conquer the world”; this quote has always made me laugh as I climbed the Eiffel tower in 5” inch heels. 😊