International Women’s Day Inspire & Include
My daughter Dene cried when I gave up my job to work on Root2Ginger full-time
and build our brand. She was worried and anxious that it would not be a viable business. I was keen to teach her the importance of taking risks and not being afraid to have a go at whatever it is you want to do in life! Raising a daughter has come with different joys and challenges than raising my sons and I am so grateful.
Dene has now started her first year of college and is happy with life! She is quick-witted, insightful, smart and great company. When she is not busy, she works with me and her brothers on market stalls and events like BBC Good Food Show. She is superb at representing our brand and explaining our products to customers. She regularly shares ideas to improve our business and expects to be included in business planning alongside her brothers. She has grown in confidence and gained a wide range of skills while working for Root2Ginger.
In the February half term, she visited our production kitchen for the first time, and we had a fantastic day whilst making Root2Ginger! It warms my heart that I can pass my skills and our family traditions to the next generation of ginger drink makers. She got stuck in as we walked her through all the steps of our manufacturing process. When she wasn’t dancing, she was stirring the ginger, sticking on labels, taking temperatures, filling bottles and putting in stoppers. She even put effort into the thorough clean-down process we have and worked alongside us for the entire day. I was so impressed with her for keeping pace with us.
When she took her apron and hairnet off at the end of the day she laughed and said, “That felt like labour Mum I’m too young for this!” On the drive home she asked when we were going back, hard work can be so much fun when you love what you do.
On this International Women’s Day and every day, we celebrate the advancement of women and girls throughout the World and support the need for change where this is not being made possible. Deanne - R2G