Lighting A Fire
By Karen Edwards
Karen Edwards is director of The Ossur Women’s Leadership Institute.
In 2013, I woke up from a lifelong cultural slumber. After 48 years of unconsciously accepting my socially acceptable role as lesser, not good enough, not perfect, non-wave-making female, the company I work for began a women’s leadership initiative.
This initiative included a book club, and our first read was Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In.” I was now fully awake, and a fire was lit.
Simultaneously, the profession in which I work, the orthotics and prosthetics profession, was experiencing a flood of women into our formerly male-dominated field. As a sales rep, I saw and heard the challenges these young women faced, such as creation of maternity leave policies, equal job opportunities, and sexual harassment.
I recognized that the education my company offered was exactly what our profession needed. So, I did exactly what Sheryl suggested and asked for what I wanted. I went directly to my VP of HR and asked to start a Women’s Leadership Initiative for our customers and for the ability to lead it. Within a month, I had approval from management and a budget.
Today, the Ossur Women’s Leadership Initiative has over 400 members from across the globe, and we have expanded to include an annual conference. We have spurred the profession to address sexual harassment. Women have been empowered to ask for raises, better working conditions and family leave. And we are now addressing the profession’s lack of racial diversity.
Lifting women up is like lighting a fire. When one woman lifts up another, and she, in turn, lifts another, the fire grows, and we wake up to all of which we are capable. I am proud to be making an impact on the lives of other women, and it is a joy to witness this profession grow as a result.
““Lifting women up is like lighting a fire. When one woman lifts up another, and she, in turn, lifts another, the fire grows, and we wake up to all of which we are capable,” writes @KEdwardsLeader. #PowerToChangeStories”
The company I work for, Ossur, is an orthopedic and prosthetic device manufacturer based in Reykjavik, Iceland. Our US headquarters is in Foothill Ranch, CA. I am a prosthetic sales representative and am also the director of the Ossur Women's Leadership Initiative. I won the 2018 OPGA O&P Woman of the Year Award for work empowering women in our profession. Twitter: @KEdwardsLeader