International Women's Day Picnic Event

International Women's Day Picnic Event | Hello Molly

International Women's Day Picnic Event

This year at Hello Molly, we celebrated International Women’s Day with a group of empowering women. Together these women came as one for a day of discussion, all centred around this years theme #choosetochallenge. Our guests all share a beautiful story or initiative that we would love to share. In collaboration with our charity partner @dresstosucesssydney, we hosted an intimate brunch with @the.picnic.boutique, @graze.sydney and @beviproseccospritz, and we were beyond thrilled with how this day came together.
During this intimate brunch, to celebrate the cause of the day we had all our guests answer a few questions around the theme #choosetochallenge. All women had inspiring words to say and voice out, through their inspiring talents and initiatives we would love to introduce these empowering women! 
 
Taylah Gray & Jade Nicholson
​@jadeynicholson and ​@taylah_gray are First Nation Ladies. Taylah is an Indigenous Rights Activist and began the Black Lives Matter protest in Newcastle. 
We ask Taylah, what do you believe will be the biggest challenge for the generation of women behind you? She responded with “I think the biggest challenge for the generation of women coming behind us is raising the bar that little bit higher”. 
We then asked Jade, what is something you think women should challenge more? She says, “I think something women should challenge more is being kind to one another. Acknowledging the success of other women around you, women lifting other women up!”  
 
Nicole Graney
@nicolesgraney was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer at the age of 12. She is a survivor and someone who raises awareness around the illness through campaigning. We asked Nicole the same question, what advice would you give to the next generation of women? She tells us "to be someone you can be proud of, and be a nice human”. We then asked Has there been a significant challenge you've faced that has helped shape who you are today?, Nicole replied with “I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when i was 12. At 12 I was just starting to learn about my body when my youth was snatched away. In just 6 months I had put on 20kg, lost all my hair and a lot of friends. I think my journey has helped shape me into a more compassionate and understanding human. I strive to educate women on their bodies and signs and symptoms of one of the most deadly gynaecological cancers.”. 
 
 
Caroline Mckenna 
​@acountydownunder moved from Ireland to Sydney. She has created a community for people who live abroad and may feel isolated. She aims to improve mental health and create a community! For Caroline, moving abroad was not all fairy tale dreams, and through her experience and strong mind she pushed through by sheltering and caring for others on social media. We ask Caroline, what was your journey to get to this point? Has anything challenged you in life led you to what you do at the moment? She tells us that “I think it took for me to hit rock bottom in life for me to make a change. I was portraying my life abroad on Instagram very differently from my reality. Everything looked perfect. But the realities were, I was in a relationship I wasn’t happy in, I was struggling to make good friends in Sydney and I was feeling so homesick. 
I teach teenage girls and I’ve been an ambassador for mental health charities for years, so I felt I was living a lie and I needed to be a better role model. I leaped and started a podcast on what it’s really like living abroad and creating events so that no one had to ever feel alone living in Australia again. I haven’t looked back”. 
 
 
Nicole Mednick
Nicole from @the.picnic.boutique is a proud small business owner, who's following her passion and reaching success. We got to ask Nicole the same question of “Have you faced any significant barriers in your career? If so, did you challenge these?” She responded with 
“One of the main barriers I faced trying to break into the events industry, as I know so many others also did, was COVID and all the closures that came as a result. 
After spending 7 years in recruitment I just knew that I wanted to be in events. I was over the moon when I landed my dream job at wedding events. I gave my notice and waited on my start date. Then in March last year, I faced the news that all large events businesses would be closing due to COVID. Devastated would be an understatement, along with natural fears of wondering what I would now do for work.
This thinking time made way for me to be creative and follow my passion in a way I never imagined - setting up on my own.
From here - The Picnic Boutique was born. My whole attitude turned around and I have loved the journey, learning so many new skills, meeting amazing new people and collaborating with other like-minded entrepreneurial women”
 
Beverly Brock
Beverly represents Dress For Success @dresstosucesssydney our charity partner for the event. When asking what advice she would give to the next generation of females she said “Don't waste time worrying what others think or feel about you. Always be yourself. Not everyone is going to like you and that's fine. Be confident in who you are, be brave and be kind.” 
 
With the immense amount of talent and inspiration brought to our IWD picnic event, we are happy to say this was a huge success. Being able to open up and share stories of past events can be a challenge on its own and for these ladies to be able to do so was so inspiring. This year is the year of challenge and these ladies sum up that perfectly. Through our table talk series each woman was able to chat about what makes them the motivational empowering women they are today - stay tuned and find this on our Instagram - @hellomolly