To the Zebras, the Donkeys, the Unicorns and The Pegasus’ you do you!

Thank you Women in Technology WA Inc. (WiTWA) for hosting the Neurodiversity Masterclass workshop and for sharing the stories of three wonderful and amazing women Emily Kendall, Rose Paley and Amber Anthony 🌈

Rose emphasised the value of being an ally to neurodivergent people and she is a wonderful example of this giving people the space to be themselves. Thank you Rose for being you and being so supportive of the people around you. You have a lot to teach others. You are indeed a Master.

Stories of #neurodivergent people and those of our allies. I loved Amber analogy from her platform with Neurospicy Collective to remind people that:

“They are beautiful zebras, not broken horses 🦓”

Our family is not a fan of spicy but we are certainly fans of sparkly and certainly fans of Unicorns and Pegasus’. I wish that more people would represent our neurodiverse community the way these women are. I think if more generations were willing to stand tall and own their identity, the fear and the stigma associated with being neurodivergent would begin to dissipate.

As Marilyn Monroe said:

“Everyone is a Star and deserves the right to twinkle”

Being that person, that inspiration is a privilege “If you can see her, you can be her” being that person for someone else is something I always aspire to be.

Tina messaged me Wednesday evening and said you know I was quoting you right!!! I message her and said yes. A very proud moment.

I was that person, that the amazing Tina Ambrose talked about. The one who on receiving my WITWA Shinning Star award, said

“This award is for every Neurodivergent person in this room.”

I am proud to stand behind the women who presented their stories in such an enigmatic way on Wednesday of this week, I took time to learn from others and the next generation of leaders coming through. I watched them shine and support other Women in our network who are advocates for neurospicy and neurosparkliness. These women give others, who do not have the confidence yet, the confidence to be themselves to own their own identity and authentically embrace who they are.

 So to the Zebras, the Donkey’s (Yes I've added that one), the Unicorns and The Pegasus’ you do you!

Find your network of Neurodivergent people to support you. Because when you find them, life sure does get a whole lot better. My network of neurodivergents are amazing. They help me when times get hard, they validate my emotions, they give me direction when my "What If Scenarios" are in overdrive and they also allow me to hyperfocus when I need to. Finally they help me to be the best person I can be. I am a better person because of all of you. (I thought about tagging you but i know not everyone is comfortable with you differences)

I attended to learn from others and bringing back to my own organisation, it’s always important to have an outside-in perspective. I learnt lots above all, that the next generation is more courageous than my own.

"Disclosure is a privilege you ear through trust" Emily Kendall

This is why when I joined Capgemini I was very proud to state that one of our Values is trust. I was therefore able to tick a box that stated I considered myself Neurodivergent. I also had the option to tick another box to say if I considered it a disability. I was proud to own who I am. Knowing that if it ever it did become a disability for me I could raise this with full trust.

Now it’s time to go and support my own Capgemini Divergent Perspectives.  Time for me to go be a Unicorn and shine brightly, but also to help others shine their light and have the confidence to be themselves, uniquely different. Ladies you've given me a push to shine brighter.

Anyone else reading this who needs help in sharing their story reach out to the women above and know there is a safe space for you to be you. (Item number 1 on the below list) Hey why not think about making your own safe space and network.

A final shout out to the people like Courtney Carr and Janie Plant who volunteer to make these events happen. Awesome people doing amazing things.

“If you can see her, you can be her.”