Wearing your hero's name on your nametag
Women like Ada Lovelacee, Madeleine Albright, or Ann Freud, who were trailblazers at being "first" in their domain, paving the path forward for the rest of us
Women like Beyonce, Rihanna, or Roxanne Gay, who stand tall for something so much larger than themselves and somehow continue to manage and inspire people they'll never meet in person
Women we know personally, like our moms and our friends, whose stories may closely mirror our own, and whose perseverance and gumption serves as a constant reminder that we can (and we shall) It struck me that there was something beautiful about the delta in itself. To stand as a mid-level woman in your career and simultaneously introduce yourself and to share the path of the footsteps of someone you perceive to be at "pedestal level" of admiration takes some kind of guts. It's almost as if each of us was saying (in our own way), "Here's who I am today, and here's who I want to become." There's power in articulating these things out loud. Not to mention accountability when it's done live in front of a group. But perhaps my favorite part of this game was at the very end of the day, after we all finished brunch, after our Q&A time ended, and after the breakout sessions wrapped out. While looking around the room to close out the session and send everyone back to the "real world" in their offices and their all-hands meetings, my eye caught on the nametag of a girl sitting in the front row. Under her name, she had in big, bold letters: "BEYONCÉ." I couldn't help but grin. When else, I wondered, is it encouraged to put your name side-by-side with someone like Beyoncé? And how great must that make you feel to head into the rest of your work day? I like to think that woman spent the rest of her afternoon with a little more sass in her step. Maybe we should wear the names of our heroes on our chests more often.