Consider two interviewees who are similarly qualified. One appears uncertain or apprehensive, while the other confidently and clearly states how she will benefit the company. The “woman who thinks she can” is the “woman who wins”.
But, for a lot of women who are blind or have low vision, cultivating the confidence to nail an interview can be very daunting.
“No one will ever walk into an interview or their first day at a new job feeling completely adequate,” says Vision Australia’s Service Designer Vildana Praljak. “But there are a few ways that can help you to feel more confident which will give you a head start.”
This was the driver behind the Fashion and Leadership event created by and held at Vision Australia in late March, which was attended by more than 70 clients and five inspiring speakers.
Image description: The speakers of the evening, some Vision Australia staff, and a young girl, smile at the camera from behind the speaker’s podium.
With an overarching message of ‘being your authentic self’ throughout the presentations, our speakers tackled mindset challenges such as procrastination, self-sabotage and lack of self-belief, all drawn from lived experience.
Lisa Jones was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening and she provided additional commentary to the issues raised that added to an already incredible night.. Lisa is currently the Executive Officer to Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner.
Fur Wale, who runs SHE Talks (links to external site), a public speaking course for women, focused on inspiring and empowering the audience to use their experiences and presence to share unique messages with others.
Navanita Bhattacharya (Nav) is a gender transformative change practitioner and she has built her career around celebrating women, particularly in vulnerable and marginalised contexts. She spoke about how anyone can be a leader, regardless of gender or any other binary grouping. As Nav says, “You don’t have to be a CEO to be a leader.”
Image description: A group of women attending the event looking through the various clothes donated by The Ark Clothing Co.
There’s a misconception that blindness or low vision equals frumpy and unfashionable. Likewise, there’s a silent societal expectation where people who are blind or have low vision shouldn’t be fashionable. The truth is, there are people with vision who either have no interest in or lack fashion sense. Conversely, there are people who are blind or have low vision that are fashionistas.
Thankfully, maintaining a sense of style and keeping a finger on the pulse of trends isn’t wholly reliant on eyesight. Like anything else, people who blind or have low vision can continue to enjoy and immerse themselves in the world of fashion, if they desire.
Image description: Two clients trying on clothes at the event.
Being legally blind didn’t stop our third speaker, Nikki Hind, from founding Blind Grit (links to external site), a fashion label specialising in "athleisure" clothing that is designed by people overcoming challenges, for people who want to overcome one.
The final speaker, Lauren Di Bartolo, founded the Australian Style Institute (links to external site), a leading fashion styling school that has produced some of Australia’s most noted stylists.
Between these five speakers, the night was a huge success. Preconceived notions were stripped down and replaced with insights into the world of strong women and fashion that many clients had perhaps considered out of their reach.
Clothing at this event was donated by The Ark Clothing Co.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIM JANE (links to external site)