Your vibe attracts your tribe. It’s a cliche term we’ve (over)heard a thousand times, yet the message and the fundamental importance of the words ring more true now than ever before. As we see the shift towards female empowerment translating to female camaraderie – women looking for collaboration not competition – we find ourselves surrounded by the strength and compassionate female energy we were designed to encompass. 

I feel so fortunate to be a part of an incredible creative community, one that is comprised mainly of entrepreneurial, focused and passionate women. Within this circle, there are many wildly talented minds foraging their paths forward in different industries, yet side-by-side, hand-in-hand with each other… by opening ourselves to the natural bond of sisterhood (so to speak), we have innately come to understand that the sum of our collective awesomeness is far greater than the singular abilities of any of us individually. While we each pursue our own passions and praise the personal achievements of one another, there is an underlying knowingness that should any one of us stumble, the “tribe” would be there to catch her. As modern women, having the unwavering belief in and unabashed endorsement of one another creates an overall support network that would I’m sure shock the hell out of female generations of the past who were not afforded our intellectual and social freedoms. 

What I find intriguing (and amazing!) about the metamorphosis of modern ‘feminism’ and our divine tribes, is the ways in which we connect with one another. In previous times we as working women followed the steps of our male counterparts and hosted business interactions with the perceived formality that we thought we needed to in order to be seen as equals, or ‘serious’. Business meetings were held in boardrooms or other such spaces that didn’t naturally allow the beauty of the feminine brilliance to flourish. I love that we have moved past this. We have said ‘f**k it’ to the formalities and structures that stifled our femininity and have created the new ‘boardroom’ in spaces that celebrate our womanhood along with our fierce minds. 

Last week I was included in an evening that completely embodied this new perspective on the female workspace. Not females IN the workspace, but rather the spaces we create that WORK FOR US as entrepreneurial females. Smash + Tess, an incredible loungewear line created by local babes Ashley Freeborn, Mercedes LaPorte and Teresa Freeborn – alongside Erin Sousa of Sparkle Media – hosted a group of girls from their tribes to partake in the celebration of the brand’s first anniversary. In true female form, the event was hosted at Pure Nail Bar and guests were treated to manis, pedis, a guilt-free popcorn bar, pizza and (of course) various wines from Church & State Vineyard. While the evening was obviously designed to be a blast – and it was, the group of women coming together in support of Smash + Tess were also able to talk shop, catch up and network with one another. There was just as much chatter about the goings on of each others creative endeavours and possible future collaborations as there was about what nail polish to choose and which wine label was more hilarious (seriously, the C&S Lost Inhibitions labels are beyond hysterical… I may have been known to pull every bottle off the shelf to choose the one that best suits my mood!). My biggest takeaway from the evening – besides my perfectly polished toes and a few new favourites on my shopping list from Smash + Tess – was that the modern boardroom is really wherever we as women can interact and bond in ways that are natural to our gender. Some days it might actually be the office; but I love that some days the best meetings are held over wine, pizza and pedicures. And that it’s totally, perfectly the new professional.