Championing self-advocacy this Women’s History Month

March marks Women’s History Month, as well as International Women’s Day on the 8th. To support women in advancing their careers, we’re focusing on shifting negative perceptions on self-advocacy. Being vocal about your accomplishments is essential to receiving greater opportunities, and no one can tell your story as powerfully as you. It’s time we take the shame out of self-promotion and conquer the self-judgment that often comes with it. In this edition of In the Loop, hear from a group of women about how they are shifting perspectives around their success:

• Finding confidence with Rent the Runway CEO and co-founder Jenn Hyman

• Former England footballer Karen Carney’s tip for career transitions

• Affirmations from the LinkedIn community

Root for yourself with help from Rent the Runway

Rent the Runway CEO and co-founder Jennifer Hyman is refashioning the way women celebrate their workplace wins. As only the 30th female founder/CEO to take a company public, she knows all too well the pressures that women face in the workplace—and why they may find it hard to promote their successes.

To shift the narrative around self-advocacy, Rent The Runway is launching an International Women’s Day campaign on LinkedIn, encouraging women to be loud and proud when sharing their achievements with their community. Rent the Runway will be giving away $1M worth of complimentary subscriptions, as well as donating $1M to Dress for Success, which provides workwear and other resources to underserved women. 

Today, Jenn joins In the Loop for an exclusive Q&A on what this campaign means to her:

What inspired you to start Rent the Runway, and how do you see its impact on women’s empowerment in the workplace?

My a-ha moment for Rent the Runway took place in 2008, when my younger sister splurged on a dress that sent her into credit card debt. My sister described her closet as being dead to her and the exorbitant price of a new dress was worth it for the experience of showing up feeling confident. I asked myself: what if the closet were alive? My vision was a limitless closet that transformed the way women get dressed by letting them wear whatever they want, without having to own it. In the working world, women are told to “dress for the role that you want”—but so often there is an incredibly high cost of doing this. This is where RTR can step in—we serve as a working woman’s power tool, enabling her to affordably show up as her best and most confident self at the office. 

Why do you think it’s important for women to advocate for themselves in their careers?

Women often feel more comfortable self-promoting personal milestones like engagements, weddings, births/pregnancies, etc. than sharing a career accomplishment like a promotion, achievement, etc. Reaching the upper echelons of the work world is based less on your resume and more on people who believe in you and are willing to publicly take a bet on you. The bigger the community of people who are propping you up and promoting your achievements, the higher the likelihood of career success. Men seem to have no worry about self-promotion in the workplace, and women should feel empowered to do the same without any sense of shame or hesitation. 

What advice do you have for women who may feel hesitant to share their accomplishments or advocate for themselves in the workplace?

You don’t have a choice—if you don’t advocate on behalf of yourself, no one will for you. We have to advocate for the job, salary, opportunities, and lives that we want. The building of your personal brand starts with you. Women often think “let me put my head down and just work hard.” While that’s part of the equation, the other part of getting the more senior role is having a reputation in the office built around success. That reputation is built starting with you and advanced by a community who is willing to publicly advocate for you. 

How do you hope this initiative will impact the way women perceive their achievements?

We hope that women seeing thousands of other women talking about their accomplishments will inspire a virtuous cycle of self-promotion. If you’re achieving in the dark, nothing is going to happen—you have to be comfortable discussing your own wins and telling your own stories. Rent the Runway has always been a champion for women, providing them with the tools to navigate their professional and personal lives with the confidence that comes from freedom of self-expression. Whether it’s a pivotal career moment or an everyday triumph, Rent the Runway is there to support women at every turn. This campaign underscores commitment to empowering women through every phase of their careers, ensuring they feel confident at every phase and moment of their lives. 

What steps can companies take to create a more inclusive environment where women feel comfortable advocating for themselves and celebrating their accomplishments?

The status quo is that powerful men talk about and advocate for powerful men, so they get the highest visibility—and therefore more promotions and upwards trajectory in their careers. If both men and women alike started to talk about extremely talented women, it would create a significant domino effect on women’s career momentum. Men are doing a good job of bringing female leaders into C-suite positions—now they need to speak loudly about these women and their transformative effects on the company. The more that senior people within an organization publicly celebrate success and wins, the more they normalize this self-promotion for the rest of the company. 

Now through March 31st, visit Jenn’s post to nominate a deserving woman (or yourself!) for one free month of Rent the Runway’s 10-item plan using the hashtag #RTRShowOff. 

Karen Carney’s game plan for career success

Former England footballer Karen Carney is known for dominating on the pitch, but she’s also played her way into successful roles as a sports journalist, career development advocate, and advisor on the future of football in the UK. On International Women’s Day, Carney joined LinkedIn for a live event discussing her career transitions, inspirations, and the winning mindset that has helped her when entering new roles: “The lesson I learned was to believe in myself a bit more, and the only person that stopped me from achieving more in my career was me.”

It was an inspiring conversation for anyone thinking about future career possibilities, and a powerful reminder of where your passions can take you. The recording is now available for all to watch on demand here.

Increasing leadership opportunities for women

The data shows us that industries with a higher share of women in the workforce have greater resilience to ups and downs in the labor market—suggesting that gender-diverse leadership helps companies weather economic storms. However, new research found that when there are fewer job opportunities than there are people looking for work, there's a drop in the number of women getting hired into leadership roles. The problem isn’t that women aren’t applying for these roles, rather it suggests that certain hiring biases tend to resurface when things get rough.

To target inequities in the hiring process, embracing skills-based hiring over traditional markers like previous titles or educational backgrounds is key. According to the research, prioritizing skills-based hiring in fields where women are underrepresented (like leadership) increases the proportion of women in candidate pools by 24% more than for men. See how this approach comes to life with member stories from teams in India and Singapore.

GRWM to achieve personal empowerment

In this video, Cinneah El-Amin, M.S.M shares how she uses affirmations and her community to shape her inner voice to be her biggest advocate:

Whether it's a friend, mentor, or even yourself—who do you celebrate this IWD? Let us know in the comments or make a post using the hashtag #IWD2024. ✨ Find more inspiration in future issues by subscribing to In the Loop.