Becoming the world’s most beloved, people-centric retail tech company requires an intentional and thoughtful effort to highlight the diverse people that make Shipt, well, Shipt. So when Women’s History Month came around this year, empoWered, our employee resource group for women and allies, put forth a powerful month for the company that recognized and celebrated all of the achievements of women both near and far.
Rooted in the chosen theme, “Women Who Advocate,” empoWered hosted events that blended fun, community, volunteerism, mentorship, and of course, advocacy.
But let’s have some of the team members of empoWered who put together the month's programming share with you their biggest takeaways:
Finding Your Advocates
To kick off the month, empoWered invited a special guest to speak at their ongoing Words of Wisdom series. Meant to provide the community with just that – words of wisdom – Katie Stratton, chief growth officer at Shipt, joined to share some gems of knowledge.
“In the theme of advocacy, you have to find your professional inner circle. Who is your own ‘Board of Advisors’? Early in my career, I found women who made that board for myself,” she said. ”When things were ambiguous or confusing, we leaned on each other and coached each other through hard conversation. Many years later, we are still an active support system of advocates.”
Leading the conversation was KB C., a partner success coordinator at Shipt. KB added her own perspective, highlighting that “Advocates see your blind spots. Where you may be too afraid to lean into something, they encourage you, show you where you’re great, and nudge you to keep going.” Katie echoed this sentiment, saying, “Advocates don’t hear your doubting inner voice.”
Fostering Community
“Women are a multitude of things – we’re professionals, we’re friends, we’re daughters, we’re moms, and sometimes we’re not!” said Bianca V., an associate communications manager at Shipt and empoWered’s Workforce Pillar lead. “At empoWered, it’s important to us that we create spaces where the women at Shipt feel like they can show up as their full and truest selves. We try to do this year-round, but Women’s History Month is a special time when we really pour fully into our community and provide moments for connection.”
As one of the leads of the employee resource group, Bianca hosted an empoWered Social Hour, where folks had the chance to join and meet women across the organization and the country! Starting off as strangers, by the time the hour was over, they had built friends and communities, tied together by the hobbies and passions that they each carried.
Affirming One Another
In addition to finding and strengthening our community of women, throughout the month of March, empoWered curated a platform for team members to affirm one another.
Sarah A., a digital merchandiser at Shipt and empoWered’s Workplace Pillar lead, launched a challenge through Shipt's employee engagement and rewards platform, where team members across Shipt could send a note of affirmation, encouragement, and inspiration to someone who they wanted to recognize.
“Advocacy happens in big and small ways. Sometimes, it’s as simple as seeing the work someone is putting in or the ways they are shining in their day-to-day, and then telling them so,” said Sarah A.“We know that no journey to success is linear; sometimes, those small nods of affirmation make all the difference. The heart of this challenge was about empowering us to notice and acknowledge the little things. And it’s been inspiring to watch those affirmations come through.”
Through this challenge, over 500 messages of encouragement and affirmation were shared across teams, business units, and communities!
Advocacy in Action
In the spirit of community, empoWered unveiled its partnership with Girls Inc. of Central Alabama, creating pathways for Shipt to play a role in the lives of future leaders. With a mission to empower girls to be strong, smart, and bold, the Shipt community was eager to pour in.
Zaressa R., an associate engineer at Shipt and empoWered’s Community Pillar lead who spearhead the partnership, invited nearly 30 young women from Girls Inc. to visit Shipt Tower and envision their futures through a 2024 vision boarding activity. “The girls thought Shipt was the coolest place”, said Zaressa R. “They were so excited to visit, and it brought us so much joy to interact with them. We listened to their dreams and their fears and helped them create a vision board to take home.”
The partnership didn’t stop there. To close out the month, Zaressa led a beautiful moment of reflection for the empoWered community with an activity called “Letters to My Younger Self.” Creating a space for team members to give advice to their younger selves allowed them to feel proud of how far they’ve journeyed and how much they’ve learned to be the women they are today. These messages will then be shared with Girls. Inc. so that they may learn from our mistakes, but also grow and be empowered from our encouragement.
The theme “Women Who Advocate” goes beyond just a month. It’s a mindset that empoWered used to uplift team members across Shipt. We’re proud of the thoughtful and multi-dimensional celebration of women that occurred this Women's History Month, one that will continue throughout the year ahead.