If you haven’t already taken notice, today’s Delta Democrat-Times includes a special edition — Women in Business.
This is a special issue we publish annually to highlight various women in the community who not only excel at their work, but go above and beyond in their day-to-day lives.
In a small community like Greenville, I approached this project thinking it was going to be difficult to find new women who hadn’t already been featured in the past. But that wasn’t the case.
This is the first time for all of this year’s featured women to be included, which may seem surprising once you read their stories.
It’s quite an impressive list we have.
Allison Avis, Kim Dowdy, Evelyn Edwards, Joyce Hunter-Knox, Terri Lane, Denise Smith, Paige Suares and Romona Watson are all women who very much so deserve to be recognized for what they do.
If you read over our list of distinguished women and feel as though we left someone out, please know it was not intentional. After all, we can’t feature everyone in one year or we won’t have any names for the next edition. I’ve already started compiling a list of names for 2020, but if you know someone who deserves to be highlighted, please let me know and I’ll add them to the list.
As each of our featured women described their responsibilities and their day-to-day lives, I couldn’t help but be inspired. Whether you’re just getting started in your career or you’re a longtime veteran at your workplace, it’s worth taking some time to read over their answers.
Although I’ve been at the Delta Democrat-Times for almost five years now, I still consider myself new in the world of journalism. I am far from perfect and I want to continue to grow and become a better person not only in the workplace, but in my personal life, too.
Every single one of these women inspired me with the words they said. If these busy business women can do their jobs well while juggling the tasks of raising children and serving the community in whatever spare time they miraculously find, then why can’t I?
We are long past the days where women were limited to just being a housewife and raising children. There is nothing wrong with doing that if she so chooses, but we are now living in a world where women are bosses and CEOs.
No matter your political views on either presidential candidate from 2016, it was still impressive to know we had finally reached a point in history where we had our first female presidential candidate nominated by a major political party. It’s not a perfect world, but we are moving forward.
Yes, just as there are still racists in the world, we still have plenty of sexists, too.
I worked for a boss who favored men and said women weren’t nearly as talented. He told me during a face-to-face conversation women couldn’t help being dumber than men because of the extra chromosome in our DNA. Thinking surely he was joking, I tried laughing it off with a “Gee, thanks.” Instead of assuring me he was, in fact, kidding around, he proceeded to further explain the “science” of female stupidity.
I knew there was no changing his small-thinking mind, so I didn’t try. But what I wasn’t going to do was continue working for someone who thought this way. So, I left. While I am sure he thinks I quit because I am “weak,” I beg to differ. I quit because I have more self-respect than to tolerate being constantly disrespected and talked down to.
Ultimately, the biggest person holding us back in this world is ourselves. Make the best choices for you and your family. Go places where you know you can thrive and not just survive.
Just as I have worked for poor excuses for bosses, I have worked for some pretty great ones too, men and women alike. I am deeply grateful for them.
Catherine Kirk is managing editor of the Delta Democrat-Times. She can be reached at ckirk@ddtonline.com.
