Books | The School of Visibility | Women and visibility

Books

At The School of Visibility we love books! Here’s some of our favourite feminist texts – old and new – which we think should be on everybody’s night stand in 2019.

Books to read in 2019

Feminist books

Indigenous women

Women speaking up

Instagram post 2177351190140923140_474323235

It's #amplifyawoman day! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
If you've a business, a new project or piece of writing, some art work, or a social enterprise you'd like more people to know about, tag us in your post and we'll add up to 10 posts to our story today.

Instagram post 2176472876451231313_474323235

So often people in the entrepreneurial space will ask a question like this with a focus on you. What the consequence is to you of staying invisible. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But what about the consequence to other people? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Let's say you're a doula. The consequence of you staying invisible is fewer women receive the support they really need during labour. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Or you're a health coach. The consequence of you staying invisible is that fewer people learn what they need to know about taking care of their bodies and their health. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Or perhaps you're a relationship coach. If you stay invisible, more relationships strain under pressure of contemporary life without having the appropriate skills to support them. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Your choosing to be visible matters deeply to the people you're trying to reach. Next time you're feeling uncertain about stepping forward or promoting yourself, keep in mind that there are so many people waiting to hear and learn from you.

Instagram post 2175867610802322625_474323235

Do you ever get messages in that space between sleeping and waking?
I often do. Sometimes I really take note and sometimes my kids call out ‘Mummmmm!’ and I lose the thread.
Today’s was a beauty; ‘Start the day with Toni, end the day with Alice’, I was told.
So that’s what I’m doing.
Honoured to be in the energetic presence of these two incredible women, revelling in their deep thinking and exquisite way of placing words in sentences.
Barely a day passes when I don’t think about how much richer the world is because of their talent, their passion, their courage, and most of all, their willingness to use their voices.
📷 is by Jill Krementz. Wonderful isn’t it?! #alicewalker #tonimorrison #womenwriters #mentorsfromafar #womensvoicesfortheearth

Instagram post 2175317567334534301_474323235

Woohoo!
Last week I almost had a visibility wobble when it came to these awards. On the blog I spoke about what causes such wobbles.
You can check it out here: https://theschoolofvisibility.com/blog/ (link is in our bio).

Instagram post 2172851602229368001_474323235

Men are not doing women a favour by supporting them financially to stay at home and take care of the kids. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Women are keeping society afloat by continuing to do so much unpaid labour.

Instagram post 2171413010952817139_474323235

I was chatting with an entrepreneurial buddy of mine the other day and she was speaking about how often people will say 'I can't start a new course, I haven't finished this other one.' And then never actually get around to going back to that old program anyway. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I had a few thoughts about this I think are worth discussing. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
1. Not every course is the kind of course you need to work all the way through. Sometimes you get everything you need by being in the space with others or by focusing on the one module that's really the game changer for you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2. Sometimes this is our inner 'good girl' showing up. It's the one who still thinks she needs to approach her educational experience the way she absorbed information in school; by following along with every aspect of the syllabus, exactly as the teacher laid it out for her. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3. Not enough teachers are incorporating sufficient learning and integration time into their programs. This is largely about how to effectively sell programs online and offering people a short, sharp experience is a model that generally attracts a broader audience. It isn't however, conducive to holding space and allowing people to integrate what they've learned, and it's terrible for ensuring effective implementation which is a big problem in the online space.
4. We all need to think differently about how we approach learning. We need to be discerning. As business women, we need to better align our educational experiences with our business priorities (which isn’t to say we should all only do business courses, but that we should do courses that are supportive of our goals and priorities). And we need to honour the purchasing decisions we make by creating the space and time to learn what we need to learn from the programs we purchase. We ALSO need to recognise that an online program is like a buffet. Just because the teacher has placed everything on the table, doesn't mean everything is for you. It's good to be discerning. To pick and choose and create a plate that is exactly to your liking. Because at the end of the day, that's exactly how a woman who values her time and is clear on her priorities, acts.

Instagram post 2170654665908607400_474323235

At the beginning of this year I decided to focus on upgrading the educational experience we offer at the School of Visibility. We've been testing different program delivery models and watching our students, identifying who's getting the best results and why. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Initially I thought it would take no time at all to work through this and actually, it's taken far longer than I anticipated. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In the past I've jumped much more quickly into trying new things. In many ways, I've been the epitome of the agile entrepreneur. Testing a bunch of different approaches to see what works. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And although that's a well trodden approach in business, ten years into running an online business, I now choose to move more slowly. I choose to act from body wisdom, rather than respond to every inspirational thought that enters my head. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Next year we'll be offering two educational streams at the School of Visibility; EMBODY and ACT. In order to teach these two streams, I've had to become a woman who understands the process of embodiment and who then knows how to take that into the world and act from there. I needed to be able to hold all of that in my body before I could speak about it in a way that would resonate with others. (This, by the way, is my definition of embodied visibility.) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I share all of this because I want you to know; in a world that insists you speed up and say yes to everything, and pivot fast and bite off more than you can chew, it really is OK to move slowly. To focus on embodiment as a pivotal element of being visible in the world. To ensure that all of you is aligned to the message you're here to share. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And maybe, just maybe, while you've watched others race toward an imaginary finishing line, that's exactly what you've been doing all this time; becoming the woman you need to be to embody the wisdom you're bringing to the world.

Instagram post 2170156447707384707_474323235

Each month we release a visibility compendium at the School of Visibility. It's a collection of articles and other great visibility related resources we've come across online during the month. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In October we went long form with our articles, exploring the first two stages of building a visibility strategy; your intention and commitment. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
We also read and listened to some fantastic work on women, men, work and parenting; the notion of hysteria; and speaking up about sexual assault. Plus there’s a mind boggling example of mansplaining we saw on IG that you won’t want to miss. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
You can check out the compendium using the link in our bio. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And let us know what you loved best. We'd love to know!

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram Access Token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

Learn three simple strategies to help you confidently speak up in a way that feels natural to you.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Your free worksheet: Unlocking the secret to boundless energy

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Feeling invisible as a business woman? Learn the six steps you need to take to share your brand and your message with the world.

You have Successfully Subscribed!