There are women from all walks of life who are inspirational, but as a woman in the media, I wanted to pay homage to the other women sticking their heads above the parapet to get their voices out there and give a platform to those that need it.
From vlogging to blogging and podcasting to social media, TV, and radio, there are so many people making waves online and in the media.
From the production crews such as my best friend Daria Nitsche who is a top producer to our editor at Sparkle Community Media CIC Esther Olaoye.
To the presenters such as Christa Ackroyd and Christine Talbot who is inspired by Judy Finnegan from This Morning and Mary Nightingale.
Working at Channel 4 news the once assistant editor Nevine Mabro helped and inspired me as did Cathy Newman.
Then when it comes to newspapers and magazines Bryony Gordon inspires me for her work on mental health as do all of my female colleagues at Yorkshire Post.
Yorkshire Life’s Kathryn Armstrong is another awesome woman in our local media.
Celebrities, influencers, and reality tv stars
The awesome Karen Wright from Great British Bake Off said that judge Prue Leith inspires her.
“I, went to her show at the weekend, and what a fascinating and inspirational show it was, plus at 83 years old she has attitude, stamina, sex appeal in abundance, she fired me up that’s a fact…. I am 65 next month, only just getting started.”
I also love comedian Shappi Khorsandi and Rosie Jones.
When it comes to content creators there are so many from vlogger Sarah Ingham to instagrammer Shazza P and my fave fashion designer Jordan Wake who introduced me to the fab Jodie Hill and She Talks Cars. As well as my good friend Frida and Gita Mistry who cook up a storm online.
As this International Women’s Day was all about embracing equity, rather than just striving for ‘equality,’ it means we make necessary adjustments which may be made to make something equitable.
That’s why we set up Sparkle (Community Media CIC) to help further those who are already in the media but to also give a platform for those who don’t have the confidence or know-how so that they can have a voice beyond their own echo chamber.
So organisations such as Hawwa Appeal, Crafting for Good CIC, Empath Theatre CIC, and CoActive Arts (all female-led or jointly so), can have a platform through us sharing our skills and expertise either on their own platforms or wider in the media.