‘The world is ready for Women of Colour leaders. The question is are you ready?’
Are you ready?
Winitha Bonney cuts through all the voices and messages we hear every day with this powerful question that invites us to take hold of the reigns in our own lives.
Listening to Winitha speak will give you the confidence to answer her question with a resounding, ‘yes.’
Her words are empowering and will leave you no doubt that if you ever need someone to be in your corner, Winitha is that someone you want to cheer you on.
She’s an extraordinary woman who is purpose driven, going about her work and shattering stereotypes at every step. It’s the stereotype shattering that sees her recognised as a thought leader in diversity and inclusion as well as a dedicated mentor and business and life coach for people of colour.
Her early years were not without challenges though and for a long time she went by the name Michelle (the middle name her Sri Lankan parents gave her so she would fit into her country of birth, England). She would then move to Australia as a young girl and continue using the name Michelle until just a few years ago.
Sadly this story has been the reality for many others too.
How did Winitha get to where she is today? Her work saw her travel overseas and return to Australia. On her return to work in Australia she began asking the question, ‘Why aren’t there other Women of Colour?’
Winitha says her antidote to the workplace stereotypes and being the only Woman of Colour was choosing to leverage negative emotions. She says, ‘I leverage those negative stories, those negative emotions that are coming up to propel me and push me forward into the work I’m doing.’
Her work now sees her linking arms with Women of Colour to champion them and guide them to accelerate their career, whether in a corporate space or through entrepreneurship.
Her thought-provoking stance on Women of Colour in leadership might even surprise you. To give you a tiny insight (you really must watch to soak in all her wisdom) Winitha suggests that you don’t have to solely focus on becoming the next CEO but rather first giving yourself permission to be you.
She then says, ‘Freedom for women of colour, I believe, and real leadership, actually starts with self-leadership and that is the giving yourself permission to be who you want to be, to speak how you want to speak, to act how you want to act and go after what you really want to do.”
So how do you take that notion and begin to step up?
Winitha’s take away points are:
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Speak up and out
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Set very clear boundaries and communicate them
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Educate yourself around racism
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Embrace personal branding- Use your real name
You can learn so much more from Winitha and watch our full conversation here or fill up your cup with previous episodes of the Migrant Women of Colour Rising series.
Connect with Winitha:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/winitha/bonney
Linked In https://au.linkedin.com/in/winitha-bonney-oam-ma-mmktg-bbm-di-a-dip-intl-5132a87a
Website https://www.winitha.com
Want to become a genuine ally and advocate for People of Colour? My FREE PDF Guide on How to become a Genuine Ally & Advocate is now available to Download.
Are you an online business owner who missed out on this round of REPRESENTED (an online program for business owners who want to learn the steps to truly build a culturally diverse and inclusive online business)? Now is the time to jump on the waitlist to receive all the details for the next REPRESENTED intake.
With Love,
Annie
