Women Of The Future Awards

Station News WOMEN OF THE FUTURE AWARDS

AS1 Samantha Holden, Photo Ops ACSSU

Imposter Syndrome – ‘the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.’

If you had told me a year ago I’d be a finalist in the media category for the Women of the Future Awards, I’d probably laugh, put myself down or make a sarcastic comment and then get on with my day.

What a mad concept; but there I was sat at the awards on 9th November, with my face on a screen, someone reading my citation and hundreds of people listening to my achievements. I couldn’t have been prouder of myself, however, I still struggled to understand why I was there.

For those who don’t know, the Women of the Future Awards were conceived to provide a platform for the remarkable female talent in the UK. The awards recognise the inspirational stars of tomorrow across diverse sectors.

I remember FS Moore coming into the office, handing me the nomination paperwork and asking me what I thought. Of course, I questioned why he asked me what I thought, thinking to myself ‘who would I nominate’. Never did I think he meant me when he handed me those forms.

‘But I don’t do anything, I just do my job and like helping’, this is all I would say whenever it got mentioned. However, several people saw something in me that I don’t see, so one nomination and five recommendations later, I had been put forward for the Media Category. The nomination recognised the hard work that both myself and the team at ACSSU put in every day. Delivering operational support to domestic and overseas military activities and working closely with senior military and government stakeholders to deliver strategic Defence messaging on deployed multinational combat, humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. It also recognised that I act as a mentor and liaison for my peers around the RAF Photographic Profession and wider Service, providing advice, guidance and mentorship on both professional and personal matters.

A couple of months passed, and I received an email, ‘I am delighted to inform you that you have been shortlisted for the Media category. We have received a record number of nominations this year, so this is a truly fantastic achievement!’. I couldn’t believe it! I was amazed I had gotten this far.

From there I was interviewed by three judges. We discussed my career, where I’m from and my background, my ambitions and what I intend to do with this prestigious award. After that I had to just play the waiting game until the awards night.

The awards night; a chance to attend a black-tie event with my fiancé, dining on amazing food whilst surrounded by some of the most inspirational people I’ve had the pleasure to meet. The diversity of the women there was incredible! Hearing their stories and how they’ve influenced and pushed for change in different circumstances was just amazing. The award categories included business, sport, community spirit, science and many more. As I waited for my category to be read out, I sat nervous and slightly panicked at the thought of getting up on stage and having to do a speech if I won! Unfortunately, I didn’t win. I did, however, have a great yet surreal night. I left content knowing that I was 1 of 4 finalists in the media category. I was still amazed that this had happened and I’m very appreciative and proud of the achievement. Plus, this has allowed me to slowly but surely, start to see in myself what others saw in me from the beginning.

Now that its sunk in and I’ve removed my Women of the Future tiara and sash (couldn’t very well wear that around the office forever could I), I looked at how I can use this platform to help others, and to influence decision making. I’ve signed up to the Women of the Future Ambassadors programme, allowing me to assist in events, mentoring schemes and attending schools to share my story and to hopefully inspire the next generation of female talent on their career opportunities.

I’ll leave you with probably one of the best parts of a speech I heard that night from the winner of the sports category ‘Be a bulldozer – a bulldozer is a piece of construction equipment, it demolishes things and it’s a metaphor for what I’m doing and who I am, I’m smashing the stereotypes of what’s expected of a woman’.