Originally published 12/30/2015
I recently got to meet Tania Katan, the genius behind the #ItWasNeverADress campaign. She challenged everyone to rethink a simple image we have all seen hundreds or thousands of times. Rather than a dress on the familiar ladies’ bathroom sign, it’s actually a cape.
Inspired by this new insight, I decided to have a bit of fun with it myself during a recent photoshoot with my good friend Jen, owner of Jen Riedel Photography. While I am wearing a dress, the cape is a reminder for me to be a #corporatesuperhero (feel free to repurpose this for whatever setting you find yourself in). By this I mean challenging assumptions and the status quo, never accepting “that’s the way it’s always been done” as a legitimate reason for doing anything. It is so easy to get stuck in a routine, or to tell yourself you don’t have the power to change yourself, your organization, or your community. I think it’s healthy to question everything to a certain extent (think curious rather than paranoid). Whenever I’m in a situation that gives me a gut reaction that something isn’t quite right or a change is needed, I use Emma Watson’s approach from her HeForShe speech and ask myself, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”
