“Now more than even it’s about the community of women supporting other women.” – Kate Hudson, Business Chicks Sydney Lunch
At LEP Digital, we’re a bunch of kickass, goal driven and all round awesome #businesschicks. So naturally, we had to attend a recent Business Chicks event on Tuesday 20 Feb. Sponsored by Forever New, we were treated to a beautiful lunch with… wait for it… Kate Hudson. Kate. Hudson. Yep, you read it right. A room full of empowering women, wining and dining, all whilst hearing from the legendary Kate about her life, her business and her new book Pretty Fun. Jealous?
If you’ve been living under a rock, or you aren’t a fan of classic Hollywood romcoms, (yes, we are and we aren’t ashamed), you wouldn’t know that Kate Hudson is a successful US actor, having performed in such movies as, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Almost Famous and Bride Wars. Aside from starring in award winning films, having some seriously famous parents (we see you Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell), being a mum of two boys, she’s also a successful businesswoman and founder of, Fabletics. Phew!
We sent along a couple of our team members to join the #girlboss fun. We’d thought it would be awesome to share with you a little bit of what they got up to.
“More champagne?” Cheers!
The afternoon began with over 1,700 business chicks (and a handful of dudes) travelling from all over Sydney to get together, network and sip on pink champagne. Seated at a table with some seriously successful women, the LEP team connected with like minded professionals over a beautiful three course lunch. (We may have told our boss we were at a meeting discussing “strategic synergistic business solutions.” Sorry not sorry.)
Waiting in anticipation…
When Kate was introduced by Emma Isaacs, the CEO of Business Chicks Global, she was just as bright, engaging and funny as she is in her films. She glowed and you could truly feel her energy throughout the room. She was extraordinarily adorable, and it made us love her even more than before.
Picture perfect! Kate Hudson and Emma Isaacs (Photo courtesy of Business Chicks)
Kate revealed to Emma and all of us, her future plans for movies (We’ve got intel!), discussed her family, what it was like growing up with famous parents and revealed to the room, what success really means to her. She explained that she was driven by a goal, “but never the idea of success” and noted that “nothing ever threw [her] off [her] goals.”
For us women, we work across a range of competitive industries, and are still feeling gender pressures across the board. We’re all aware of the gender pay gap, inequality in the workplace, and the struggle of raising families whilst maintaining successful careers. So naturally, it can be tough to remain driven, especially when faced with setbacks and unexpected failures. Kate confessed that she’d also felt this pressure too.
“Growing up with four brothers, I had to prove myself. With all the testosterone in the house, it gave me a competitive edge.”
It was also around this time that Kate shared her thoughts around the topical ‘Time’s Up’ and ‘#MeToo’ movements.
“It’s an overall presence of women being stronger and saying ‘I’ve had enough of being put in this corner’ whether it be domestic abuse or in the workplace. We’ve had enough; let’s learn from our history and move forward to create an opportunity for men to raise their consciousness and now meet us on a different level.”
It was really inspiring to see Kate backing the movement and highlighting the importance of women supporting other women.
Kate on a different type of big screen.
Kate also shared the succession of her ‘athleisure’ clothing brand, Fabletics, which she started with her business partners in 2013. She explained that whilst it did begin as a startup, impressively, within four years of operation, they had opened 22 stand alone stores, hired over 600 employees, gained 4.4 million Facebook followers, and attracted over 750 thousand Instagram followers. She revealed that Fabletics turns over a whopping 250 million dollars annually. #majorbusinessgoals
As humble as can be, Kate admitted that she wasn’t prepared for the rapid growth and that it truly took her by surprise.
“I did go into it thinking ‘ok, let’s kill it’, but I didn’t think we’d be where we are after four years.”
At LEP Digital, we all know how hard it can be working in rapidly paced environments. Sometimes it feels like our to-do list is never ending, and trying to achieve mega-goals can be so exhausting. We get stressed out, we lose our notepads and, worst of all, we run out of wine! (WHY!?) So it was refreshing to know that even big Hollywood stars like Kate are faced with daily struggles.
“I think every woman in every walk of life, especially when you have kids and complicated relationships and you’re working, has those moments when you think you’re failing at everything and trying to keep everything afloat.”
Finally, Kate revealed the importance of keeping afloat and staying calm when these internal “AHHH!” moments occur. She believes that it’s in these moments, that one must pause and reflect, without pointing the finger or blaming others.
“You have to go, how did I get myself here and how do I make this better for everyone?”
It was encouraging when Kate admitted that she had made mistakes in her career, business and personal life. Thankfully though, she doesn’t regret a single one. (Well that’s lucky, because we’ve made more than a few!) Kate’s a “glass half full kinda gal.” She encouraged the crowd to see the bigger picture, let things go and not sweat the small stuff.
“I have the optimistic gene. Life is so fleeting and short, and I just want to have a great time doing it.”
Well said, sister. We left the lunch feeling wildly optimistic and inspired. We had a full belly, a full heart, a mind full of new ideas, and to be frank, we were a little bit tipsy.
Kate believed she can, and she did. And, to be honest, so will we.
