For the first time in my life, I have found myself in a womxn-only organisation. After working predominantly under men, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to be working under a woman and surrounded by empowering strong, and extremely driven womxn.
Working at Lily Shippen is unlike any working environment I have been in. There is a unique energy and compassion, a collaborative nature that feels like you are included in the discussion. You feel like you have an actual seat at the table. We are a team.
Lily was just 22 when she founded Lily Shippen in 2016. Entrepreneurship should be commended in any shape and form, BUT to be a 22-year-old womxn in recruitment, and to branch out and build something of your own, IMO is a special kind of commendable.
Recruitment often gets a bad name; people assume that all they want to do is push people into roles to make money and hit targets. I am not going to lie to you; some probably are. Just like in any business, unfortunately, you will find some bad eggs. Lily created Lily Shippen to do things differently. We don’t work by KPIs; we don’t cold call. We will not convince you to take a role that would make you miserable.
What we do is listen, learn, guide, and develop. We are all ambitious, but we are most importantly dedicated to building authentic, genuine, and honest relationships with our candidates and clients.
In my last article, I touched on what makes womxn successful at work, and what inherent attributes we have that make us leaders. For me, I think this is part of the reason that we are passionate about doing what we do and how we do it, and it is what makes us special. Every day, I work with strong, compassionate remarkable womxn who come in, and without fail, absolutely smash it!
I know they will build me up if I begin to wobble. I know they will listen if I need to cry. I know they will be honest with me, and above all, I know they will support me. We provide each other with strength and confidence in a space that can still make us feel small, no matter how far we have come in gender equality.
It didn’t feel right writing this blog on my own without asking the amazing womxn I work with to say a few words, I asked them to tell me their thoughts on working in an all-womxn team and how they felt empowered.
“What makes me feel empowered is that we all have a voice in Lilly Shippen and therefore, we are amplifying the female voice on a wider scale than in just one business.”
“I find working in an all-womxn workforce incredibly supportive.
Womxn get womxn - some of the best womxn I know are those I have worked alongside in all female offices and these womxn remain friends to this day. Perhaps this is down to shared personal experience and being more open about things. The womxn I have worked alongside in all female offices are just as driven and as ambitious as male counterparts, but they have been/are more approachable, more empathetic and have stronger listening skills.”
“There can still be a stereotype and stigma attached to womxn being in positions of power, so I feel empowered being in one of London’s top recruitment agencies which is run by womxn. Proof is in the pudding!”
“I feel proud to work in an all-womxn workforce and extremely lucky that the womxn in our team are caring, supportive and build each other up. We are all each other’s biggest cheerleaders, which can be quite rare”
“I am so proud to work with such inspiring womxn. Whilst we are keen to add diversity to our team, I feel lucky to come to work with such strong womxn, who I learn from every day. We support and champion each other, and I think that is rare to find in a sales environment.”
Just as a side note, we welcome everyone at Lily Shippen, this is simply a factual reflection of our current team. Our doors are open to anyone, just make sure you can keep up!
