Time’s have definitely changed. It only seems like last week that I launched the Guardian’s “Women in…” series, a networking event for women across all levels of experience, across all sectors. There wasn't anything around to help support young women back then, all the groups I knew about, segregated seniority, having old and experienced in one ‘club’ and left the young, passionate, fresh women floundering without direction. So I set it up, it was great. That was International Women’s Day 2014 I think, 8 years ago. Look how far we’ve come.

I’m now not only running a completely female powered business, but I’m also in my third year of being a member and mentor for Bloom UK, the network for women in the communications industry. They have a huge pay it back mantra, which really resonates with me. I ended up hiring my mentee in my first year, in year two mind you, my mentee didn’t bother showing after the first session… was it something I said?

International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month is now a much more standard celebration, like Pride or Red Nose Day, it’s become expected and is firmly on the calendar for all men, women, non-binary folk and anyone else who might care to look at a calendar of important dates these days. So without further ado I thought I’d share my roundup of the best International Women’s Day events, Inspirational people and deliciously disruptive companies that are doing Women, and indeed everyone proud.

WOW

Women of the World Festival is back at the South Bank Centre this month, and boy is it a banger. The month-long series brings world-class speakers, performers and activists from all over the world, under one shattered glass ceiling for your viewing, and aural pleasure. This year’s line-up includes talks from content creators Grace Victory and Candice Brathewaite; an evening with co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Patrisse Cullors; a panel discussion with Lisa Taddeo and Pandora Sykes; and stand-up from Deborah Frances-White.

Carousel x The Female Chef

OK.. ANYONE who follows Goho and knows me, even a teeny bit will know that I LOVE food. I also LOVE Carousel. If you haven’t tried it yet, do it now! There’s really never been a better time, now they’ve curated an all female line up! Boom! And boy (or should I say girl) are they going big.

Taking place over 5 nights, in collaboration with Claire Finney, the award-winning author of The Female Chef, they are serving up a powerhouse of female gastronomic talent every day. Get booked in for 5 courses of delicious food cooked up by chefs such as Angela Hartnett OBE, Sam Evans and Julie Lin of Julie’s Kopitiam in Glasgow.

Psycle London

Yeah, yeah, i’m usually a 1Rebel girl, but Psycle are making Herstory (see what I did there) this month, and it looks superb. They will be offering special themed spin, barre and yoga classes across all their studios. Sweat away the Patriarchy at Psycle.

Alison Kriel and Above & Beyond

This isn’t something to do, but it is a nod to a woman who inspires me, a lot. Alison Kriel, a lifelong educator and super Headteacher (She's the one who turned round the worst school in the country, to being one of the best) has founded tech company Above & Beyond. A network for teachers and all those working in education to come together to celebrate and collaborate successes so that more children can benefit from good teaching and learning. Alison strongly believes that children should be taught in a happy, collaborative environment, and kindness really does make the world a better, more educated place. If you work in education you need to join this free network, if you have kids, then give her a follow and listen to her webinars, and if you just care about future generations then share the good work she’s doing.

Goho

It would be a missed opportunity if I didn’t take the time to celebrate Goho and the amazing women who work for our little PR, marketing & events agency. (I say little, but we are also perfectly formed, some would go as far as to say we’re the best PR, Marketing & Events Agency in London, but who am I to challenge that). I’ve managed to build a team of absolute superstars who amaze and inspire me every day, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some of their excellence with you, and just say thanks.

Liv - Having recently come back from mat leave Liv is juggling (extraordinarily well) being a Mum and a kick-ass Operations Director for Goho. She’s as calm as a cucumber and is super organised and analytical. Clients love her (as do I), she brings a wave of calm to Team Goho and is the final master of ensuring that everything that goes out of the building is top quality and on brand. I am still amazed she manages to perform a senior level job and keep two little humans alive. #WonderWoman

Mariana - Mari, our Brazilian beauty is one of the warmest, kindest young women I have ever met. She may be quiet but she listens to everything, she’s incredibly funny, her creativity knows no bounds, she will ALWAYS offer a helping hand, even when she is snowed under herself and she can sink a Neck Oil with the best of the lads. She’s a brilliant friend and colleague, and the most qualified among us. #ShesAKeeper

Em - Where Emma is small in stature, she certainly makes up for it in talent. I had not ever met a young woman, or man for that matter who excels at so much! Emma is literally a sponge, a wonderful, organic, clever sponge. If she doesn’t know how to do something, she pops on TikTok and learns it, she is a genius at excel, she has a magic tablet which she can somehow do everything on, she is an amazing photographer, she is one of the funniest people I have ever met (I love a dry sense of humour), and I learn so much from her young, yet very wise head she has on her shoulders. She’s very worldly and knows about literally everything. #CouldntLiveWithoutHer

Emily - Ahhh, Emily, my padawan learner. Emily reminds me so much of myself, she is a grafter, she works her socks off, working part time for us and completing her degree at Goldsmiths. She can hold her booze, she can party hard then get up for work and look amazing (Ok, I can’t do that anymore), but you get my drift. Emily has that rare quality where she is incredibly clever, sociable, funny, and outgoing but she also really, really cares about people, the planet, our clients, everything really. She writes the best blogs, she has me laughing out loud all day, she always makes the days go quicker, and she's always first to volunteer when we need an extra pair of hands for an event. I can’t wait to see what she achieves in her career. #FutureLeader

Anyway, that’s probably enough from me, it’s been a long one. I could keep going on and on about women I admire, places I’ve been that I’d recommend, campaigns I’m impressed with and much much more. I guess I’d just implore you all to keep communicating, share great things with one another, celebrate success, hold your heads high and be proud. Whoever you are, you deserve to be celebrated. Happy International Women’s Day.