I have decided to keep this simple for now, as the THE TRIBE is a brand new, evolving concept. I wanted to share a simple post as the founder of THE TRIBE. Firstly, thank you to our sponsor Courvoisier ® for fully embracing the concept and helping to pull together such a special evening. Thank you to the women in our leadership circle – Aneeqa, Valeria and Deborah – for coming on board to celebrate our launch and grow this into something magical.
As a little bit of background, I have been in the fashion industry for a good few years now and whilst I truly enjoy my work, what has become painfully clear to me is that real growth of any kind – personal or professional – only feels good when I have had the chance to celebrate what has already been accomplished. These days we work like hamsters on a wheel and rarely get the opportunity to celebrate our ‘wins’ – personal or otherwise. It’s always “What’s next?”….THE TRIBE encourages you to celebrate who you are today, and not alone either, but in the company of other empowered and inspiring women. My desire is to provide a space for women to meet, get together, vibe, celebrate ourselves and encourage each other to do the impossible. Finally, since I am obsessed with the Studio 54 era it would not make sense if we didn’t make this evening an epic party too! One of the things I always loved about the Studio 54 days was that boy did they seem to know how to have fun, come rain or shine. THE TRIBE believes that women need something like this, a night like this, and I didn’t see one – so I started it. Each evening hosted by THE TRIBE, women representing a plethora of industries including Fashion, Media, Business, Law, Food, Drink, Art & Design, Lifestyle, Sport & Entertainment, Science and Public Life, will come together in a positive space to celebrate the now and be supported with the positive mindset needed to tackle the future.
As a former Future500 member I am proud that Courvoisier are sponsoring THE TRIBE launch. After we launch we will be inviting women to join us based on your recommendations, alongside women who shine on the online forum (found on The—Tribe.com). We want to protect this positive space and make sure we bring in women with the right energy, women who will be granted access to our momentous shindigs. How momentous? Well, I put a message out through my network about what I wanted to do, and the words of encouragement and instant ‘yes’ responses I got was nothing short of overwhelming. From a extremely open and refreshing email from my friend Olga Kurylenko to endless enthusiasm from another dear friend Suzy Amis Cameron (founder of Red Carpet Green Dress), who has signed on to share a rally cry at our second party, I was left astounded. This is all simply to say that the best is yet to come.
Doubling as both a quarterly evening and a collective, THE TRIBE brings together a curated phenomenal group of women to inspire, encourage and support each other in a celebratory atmosphere. The Golden Era has returned, and THE TRIBE defines it by celebrating who we are now. THE TRIBE evenings are all about encouraging women to look forward to a night with their fellow women with anticipation and excitement. Anticipation of the real connections they are going to make, the women they will spend time with, and deep anticipation of cutting through the tech-ridden noise of living in this day and age, to forge authentic, lasting relationships in a supportive and affirming environment. This is basic survival, hope for better is part of our hierarchy of needs. Recent studies, including the recent Women Under Pressure White Paper (which surveyed 6,000 women) revealed that whilst women are under more pressure than ever before, we have fewer outlets to release tension and see fewer positive messages to encourage us. Now more than ever an environment of positivity is needed. We are facing times of great uncertainty, but also of opportunity. We need to come together, it’s not every woman for themselves and never should be. That is what THE TRIBE is all about, both facing and celebrating the now together, not tomorrow.
A photo posted by Life & Style of SAMATA (@iam_samata) on
From having ‘too much to do and too little time’, to managing change and balancing both work and life, today’s woman is adept at spinning multiple plates, even with insufficient encouragement and, more importantly, not enough time spent celebrating her current achievements before more expectations are heaped on. Understanding the immediate need for a positive mindset and a space to celebrate the now and all that has already been achieved, THE TRIBE encourages a shift towards a different mindset, one calling for celebration of the now and true affirmation of self. Whilst the expectations mount, now, more than ever, women need an outlet and rallying cry to energise us, we believe that women are realising more and more that we need to opt-in to creating the spaces to nurture ourselves, or we will never have them.
On Thursday we launched the hashtag #WhyITribe, a hashtag with which we encourage you to share something positive about yourself. Maybe you landed a promotion, went for a long overdue run, broke a habit or started a new one, or maybe you were there for a friend when they needed it – whatever your reason #WhyITribe is a way of giving yourself a pat on the back for all you are right now and sharing why you want to celebrate yourself today.
Why is this important? Well, THE TRIBE believes that until we all learn to appreciate the ‘now’ – and all the small and big moments which make up our present – all our future successes will never truly satisfy us! We have created a forum for THE TRIBE women to talk online – to chat, encourage each other, reminisce about our epic events and build relationships. Whilst our event is in London, we believe women around the world will benefit from this concept, an evening and collective celebrating all we already are, so we created this private forum to start building our global community of self-affirming women, women who no longer believe the lie that they are not enough. If you like the content on our Instagram feed (@The_ _ _ Tribe), then you will love our forum, a space to encourage each other, plan get togethers here and elsewhere, from New York to Los Angeles, from Sydney to Accra. So once again, thank you for being here and thank you for being part of the launch for THE TRIBE. The only way is up. Follow THE TRIBE here to keep up with our news or visit the official website.