Sisterhood Is Not a Strategy- It's Everything
A reflection on International Women's Day and the women who remind us to live fully
International Women's Day arrives on a Sunday this year, and I find myself thinking not about achievements or accolades, but about the women who have shaped my life in the most profound ways.
My daughter. My sister. My sisters-in-law. My friends.
The women who have shown me what it means to be fully alive.
What really matters
This year, I'm not measuring International Women's Day in milestones, grand achievements, or KPIs. I'm thinking instead about what makes me feel genuinely, wildly alive.
For me, that looks like:
Dancing recklessly in my kitchen with my daughter
Belly laughing with friends until my face hurts
Singing too loudly in the car with the windows down
These moments don't make it onto LinkedIn. They won't appear in any performance review. But they are where I have found my truest self.
The power of sisterhood
Sisterhood is not a strategy. It's not a networking tool or a career accelerator.
For me, it's everything.
The women in my life have celebrated me and held me up through every chapter—when I was a mess, when I was demanding, when I was excelling. They've seen me at my worst and loved me anyway. They've witnessed my victories and made them sweeter by sharing them.
We spend so much time chasing the big moments—the promotions, the milestones, the visible markers of success. But I've learned that it's in the simple, unscripted moments that we truly blossom.
It's in the spontaneous phone calls that last three hours.
It's in the shared silences that need no explanation.
It's in the knowing glances across a room that say "I see you, and I've got you."
#IWD
So today, as we celebrate International Women's Day, I want to make a suggestion:
Less striving. More singing.
Less anxiety. More dancing.
Less isolation. More sisterhood.
The world does not need more women dimming their light to look composed, polished, or "professional." It does not need us smaller, quieter, or more restrained.
It needs more of us being gloriously, recklessly joyful.
It needs us laughing too loudly, taking up space, and celebrating one another without reservation.
It needs the raw, unfiltered version of us—the one that dances in the kitchen and sings off-key and loves fiercely without apology.
An invitation to joy
This International Women's Day, I invite you to honor the women in your life—not for what they've achieved, but for who they are when no one is watching.
For the friend who shows up with wine and wisdom when your world falls apart.
For the sister who tells you the truth even when it's hard to hear.
For the colleague who celebrates your wins as if they were her own.
For the mentor who saw your potential before you did.
And I invite you to honor yourself—not for the résumé version, but for the real one. The one who is still learning, still growing, still figuring it out.
The one who is beautifully, imperfectly human.
Here's to Us
Here's to the women who hold us up.
Here's to the ones who make us laugh until we cry.
Here's to the sisters—by blood and by choice—who remind us that we are never alone.
And here's to choosing joy, even when the world tells us to be serious.
Especially then.
Happy International Women's Day, Sisters.
May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.
And may we dance recklessly through our kitchens with the ones we love.
What does sisterhood mean to you? How do the women in your life help you feel alive? I'd love to hear your reflections in the comments.
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About the Author:
Kate Bowes Renna is the founder of Vermillion Coaching, where she helps professionals find their authentic voice and build genuine confidence through neuroscience-informed coaching. A former professional actor with over 20 years of experience, Kate believes that true leadership begins with showing up as your whole, imperfect, gloriously human self.
Connect with Kate:
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