Everywhere I look, women are doing something awesome. I mean well and truly cool, inspiring, life changing kinds of things.
It’s no secret I think women are amazing. I talk often about my phenomenally fierce mother and grandmother, and my posse of talented and strong girlfriends. Women rule, the end.
I love dudes too, don’t get me wrong. I’m married to the coolest guy I know, and my own father and brothers are great guys. But today we’re talking about the power of girls, because make no mistake, girls are getting it done.
And by ‘it’, I mean everything.
For example, last week I went to hear a friend of mine speak at a conference for women, and learned a bit about her vast educational knowledge of The Classics, Greek + Latin histories and their languages. This friend is an unassuming, hilarious and slightly snarky (the very best kind of friend) fellow swim mom you’d never guess from afar is actually one of the brightest minds of her generation. She’s a former Rhodes Scholar who studied at Oxford, lived in Germany for nearly two years as a missionary for her church, completed a PhD in the Classics at U.C. Berkeley and is a full-time professor at a major university. Did I mention she speaks and reads two dead languages?
Oh, and p.s., no big deal, but she’s also raising 4 brilliant, kind and caring, hilarious children to boot.
All of which is part of this building narrative I see all around me: amazing women are absolutely everywhere.
I never would’ve known any of the aforementioned things about my friend, except for the fact that one day at swim she quietly mentioned to me that she noticed my son never quite stops smiling. Not in the pool, or out of the pool, or running or sitting or standing. It’s true, that little kid of mine always smiles. She unassumingly explained to me that his name, in Latin, means happy.
I didn’t know that, and I named the child, for heavens sake.
Which is to say, that was the day I learned my friend understands, speaks, and reads in Latin.
Like you do.
(Like I don’t)
So women everywhere are the coolest, no surprise there.
Let me tell you about some other cool women: an all-women’s boat currently sailing around the world in something called The Volvo Ocean Race. It has been called “the toughest offshore sailing race in the world” the history of which “goes back to 1973 and is considered the ‘Everest’ of racing.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m a little chilly just thinking about it.
“The race lasts for nine months, covering almost two laps around the equator”, and the women sailing this all-women’s boat trained together for two years before they even got in the boat. The 11 sailors and 1 journalist (who still had to train and get in killer shape before she joined the crew) hail from across the globe and all walks of life (a couple of mothers among them) who all have one thing in common:
they’re badass.
Sailing around the world has historically been an all-male, (or mostly male) pursuit, and these women (the first all-female crew for this race in over 10 years) are sailing right along the crews of men, holding their own in a tough-as-nails ocean race across the globe.
Can you even handle it? I love that this is the world in which I get to raise a strong, smart, uncompromising daughter. The possibilities for women to pursue whatever they’re good at, whatever makes them happy, are opening wider and wider across the globe and nothing could make me happier. Seriously.
We all know dudes are awesome, but we’ve known about dudes and what they can accomplish since the beginning of time. I’m stoked to finally have a spotlight shine on women and all the amazing they can accomplish in the same arenas.
Go check out more details about this all-girl sailing team to hear these women’s stories. You can check out where they’ve sailed so far and where they currently are on the globe in real time. Also, and this is maybe the coolest part, go upload a photo of a woman you think is amazing on the Amazing Women Everywhere ‘AWE’ mosaic to honor someone you admire.
SCA believes that everyone should have the opportunity to live life to the fullest, and we are committed to creating value for people and nature. To champion these ideals, SCA launches Amazing Women Everywhere, to celebrate women who have a positive impact on others.
The women of SCA’s all-female racing team, Team SCA, exemplify this spirit. They have come from all walks of life and backgrounds to take on one of the world’s most challenging endeavors, the Volvo Ocean Race. For nine months, their journey of hard work and determination will inspire millions around the world. Follow along with Team SCA on Facebook!
We aim to gather thousands of stories from all over the world and inspire thousands more by illustrating that amazing women truly are everywhere. Visit http://www.teamsca.com/awemosaic to submit a photo of an amazing woman in your life.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of SCA. The opinions and text are all mine.
Allison
Hello there! I'm Allison Czarnecki, founder + editor of Petit Elefant, a blog all about style on a budget for every part of your life: style / home / travel / family. I do a lot of how-to beauty + style tutorials, travel posts, easy recipes, home remodel projects, and cool DIY crafts you totally want to try. I'm super happily married (to a hot Polish immigrant) and am the mother of two kids, a daughter and son, all of whom are featured here on the regular. We live in the country but we're a little bit rock + roll. Welcome!
