Rebekah Cook - International Women's Day
For International Women's day, we wanted to shine a light on some of the amazing women that work for Johnsons Workwear and find out a little more about them.
Meet Area Operations Manager (North) who has worked for Johnsons for 21 years:
Talk us through an average day in your life:
What I enjoy most about my role is that every day is different and brings new challenges. I am based at Manchester but am responsible for 6 plants and depending on what is happening at each site, that will determine my day/week. My aim is to spend 1 day per week at one of the other plants. I will have a to-do list every day, but usually this is disrupted by whatever the day brings.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
When I was very young, I wanted to be a shoe shop lady. We had a sliding door at home and I used to get everyone to stand on the runner so I could use this measure everyone’s feet like in the shop! This was a short-lived career aspiration!
As I got older, I wanted to be a food technologist for one of the major supermarkets, audit the food manufacturers and have input into product development.
What is it like being a woman in Area Operations?
I have always found the team to be incredibly supportive, and for me it’s all about building relationships with people. The people you work for, the people you work alongside and your team within the Region. I don’t believe anyone really thinks about the fact that I am a woman in this role, I am recognised as one of the team.
What do you think are some of the biggest challenges facing young girls and women today?
Gender equality globally still has a long way to go. 6 years ago, I started sponsoring a young girl Olipa in Malawi who was 4 at the time, to enable her to have an education. This is still a real privilege for young girls and women in developing countries. Even with sponsorship she will only be able to access education until she is 14 years old. Educating young girls so they can support their family and community is vitally important.
In the UK, there are still prejudices and struggles your young women. In some environments and industries young women still face sexism, gender bias and there is still a gender pay gap. Women should have equal employment opportunities and be paid fairly for the job they do and be empowered to earn their fair share.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Live life as your true self and be more confident and assertive.
What changes would you like to see in the future for women?
I would hope that women would be accepted as equals in social, political and economic environments so these issues would never have a place to be discussed.
I am a firm believer that everyone is equal, and women should be given equal opportunities to earn their positions within any business. It can be difficult for younger women who must juggle family life and a career.
Who is your biggest female inspiration in life?
Constance Briscoe was one of Britain’s first black female judges. Her story is inspirational and shows that anyone of any gender, colour, background can achieve anything through hard work and determination
What makes you proud to be a woman?
I am proud to be a woman because we are fantastic at dealing with anything life throws at us - we can handle anything!
Women are strong, caring, compassionate, have good instincts and of course, we can multitask!