International Women’s Day 2026 - Balance the Scales – At Work, At Home and In the Next Generation

Happy International Women’s Day. 

This year’s theme, Balance the Scales, feels especially meaningful. It is a reminder that while much progress has been made, true equality is not something we can assume has simply arrived. It still requires intention. It still requires leadership. It still requires courage. And it still requires all of us.  

For me, this year’s theme is not just about policy, systems, or workplaces in the broader sense. It is also about what balance looks like in real life. In families. In businesses. In relationships. In career decisions. In whom carries the mental load, who is encouraged to lead, who is supported to grow, and whose contribution is seen, valued and respected. 

I have always believed that there is more than one way to build a successful life and career. 

As an accounting practice owner, I never conformed to the traditional model. I built my business in a way that aligned with my vision for my practice and my life. I did things differently. I did things my way. And I have encouraged many others to do the same - with a little more balance, a little less stereotyping, and a little less bias.  

That message still feels just as relevant in 2026. 

Back in 1999, when I started my business from scratch, the idea of a mother continuing her career, being the primary breadwinner, and the father being the primary carer was certainly not the norm. Yet that is exactly what our family embraced. I have achieved some incredible things in my career- and continue to do so - and I could not have done it without Jason’s love, support, and the sacrifices he made in his own career to be a hands-on dad and a wonderful husband - well, most of the time over the past 30 years! 

It was not always easy. It was not always understood. And it certainly was not always applauded. 

But it worked for us. 

And that is something I think is so important to say more often - balance does not have to look the same in every household, every business, or every season of life. What matters is that it works for the people living it. 

Years ago, I wrote about my own Mum and how, in many ways, she was a trailblazer. She returned to work in the early 1970s when I was just 6 weeks old and had to get special permission from her employer to do so, and one of her favourite sayings was: “It’s about quality, not quantity.” That message stayed with me. It shaped how I thought about motherhood, ambition, contribution, and success.  

And I still believe that. 

Because so many women are still quietly asking themselves whether they are doing enough, giving enough, present enough, successful enough, available enough. 

The juggle is real. We know that. 

But so are the moments in the years that follow when you realise your children were watching. They were learning. They saw the effort. They saw the love. They saw the example. And often, they carry that forward in ways that make you incredibly proud.  

Together, Jason and I have raised two very independent sons who have seen firsthand what partnership, respect, hard work, and shared responsibility look like in a family. I see that already playing out in Callum’s personal and professional life, and more broadly across his generation - and that makes me extremely positive and optimistic about balance continuing to be achieved. 

That gives me hope. 

And so does this: I genuinely believe more men are showing up well. More are supporting, encouraging, and championing the women in their lives and workplaces. More are sharing the load. More are challenging outdated assumptions. More are recognising that this is not a women-only conversation. 

Because Balance the Scales is not just a women’s issue. 

It is a leadership issue.
It is a fairness issue.
It is a family issue.
It is a workplace issue.
And ultimately, it is a human issue.  

So today, I want to celebrate women - their achievements, their resilience, their contribution, their ambition, their care, their leadership, and the many ways they continue to shape families, businesses, communities, and the future. 

But I also want to acknowledge the men who show up well - the ones who value, respect, and appreciate the contribution women make, who acknowledge it openly, and who cheerlead just as much as they challenge bias when they see it. You make a bigger difference than you probably realise. 

My hope is that we continue to raise a generation who sees equality, shared responsibility, and mutual respect not as something unusual, but as something normal. 

Not something to debate.
Not something to defend.
Just something that is. 

That, to me, is what balancing the scales looks like. 

Not perfection.
Not sameness.
Not ticking boxes. 

But creating a world where women and girls are safe, heard, respected and genuinely free to shape their own lives - and where home, business and leadership reflect that too.  

Happy International Women’s Day. 

Let’s keep balancing the scales - in our homes, in our businesses, in our profession and in the next generation watching us.