About Her Collective
Her Collective as a concept was born out of many years of searching for a space in the media & advertising industry in South Africa for women to come together, to share, to connect, to nurture and celebrate one another authentically, empathetically and in integrity with one another.
Her Collective was a dream that I had for many years, that eventually was bloomed to fruition after I had held leadership roles and seen how empowering true leadership rooted in values such as honesty, transparency, communication, empathy and integrity, can grow and nurture team members. How this builds trust as a foundation and team cohesion, and from that high performance as a by-product.
The world needs more authentic and prepared leaders now more than ever before. Not to just make a difference at a larger scale, but for people. To impact each person in a way that inspires, empowers, initiates, and has a ripple effect.
I was inspired to create the Her Collective after reading about The Man in the Arena Speech by Theodore Roosevelt in Brene Brown's book “Daring Greatly”. “ It is not the critic who counts; not the (wo)man who points out how the strong (wo)man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the (wo)man who is actually in the arena…”
I believe we need more women in the arena. Telling our stories. Supporting each other and in doing so celebrating each other’s growth. Rising to meet one another in truth and in congruence.
Her Collective is a space where women can come together in the corporate world where women often feel unsupported for growth and know that they have a community. A community that has been created to uplift and empower one another.
Because as Phylicia Rashad says "when women come together with collective intentions, magic happens."
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“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about”
Margaret J Wheatley.
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“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”
Helen Keller
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I believe that through the industry-wide mentorship program, workshops, consulting and coaching, I am intentionally creating spaces for more women to grow and thrive. These platforms are built to connect, share, guide and empower one another so that each woman can be uplifted to perform at their highest potential, with the knowledge and shared learnings to equip them on how to navigate challenges found in the workplace.
Her Story
Kirsty Carlson
Owner and founder of Her Collective & Synapse Media
I have been working since I was quite young, determined to make a life for myself outside of the one that some may say was predestined for me. Through hard work and determination, I created a life of independence, a career I have been so proud of and a life that I could only have imagined as a young girl. I yearned for safety and believed that success and independence were my gateway to always being safe, but later on, I realised that safety is created in oneself. Little did I know the challenges I would face throughout my career. I have navigated much but have always maintained that my values are my compass. I have learnt as soon as I am out of alignment that’s when the difficulties become even more difficult. Staying in the integrity of myself and my value system has been my true north.
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Throughout my career, I have worked across multiple large media agency groups in senior leadership roles, overseeing teams of various sizes and managing operations across multiple markets across Africa. I have been fortunate to work with some industry greats, which has provided valuable learning experiences. I am proud of my career to date and continue to strive forward. However, I want to emphasise that the most rewarding aspect of my career has been the opportunity to lead and work with exceptional teams and individuals. This I believe is probably one of the major contributing factors to creating “Her Collective”.
The teams I have built and nurtured and seen grow have been the most fulfilling part of my career. I have seen interns grow to stand on stages and present. I have seen juniors become seniors and be nominated for awards. I have seen teams pull together in the darkest of times (Pandemic), and still push forward to achieve high-performing results because they believed in the team of which they knew they were a part of, and they trusted the leadership. These teams have made me the leader I am today, and I continue to learn through the people I lead, and colleagues and people I engage and connect with. We are all constantly learning, evolving and growing, and I believe that Her Collective will provide the platform that can support this.
