💥 Were You a Promising Young Woman?

Growing up, my girlfriends and I often heard a specific type of compliment from adults.

I first remember hearing it around middle school, when my peers and I were deemed mature enough to leave the proverbial kids’ table and start speaking for ourselves.

I heard it more in high school as I took on the leadership positions expected of someone pursuing a “good education,” and I heard it the most at my internships toward the end of college, where I was often the youngest person in the room. 

“What a promising young lady, so much potential!”

“She’s going places!”

“So impressive for her age!”

These messages instilled in me a belief that I was on the “right” path, one that would eventually arrive at the “places” I had heard so much about.

And then, without really noticing it, I stopped hearing it altogether.

In a conversation a few months back, my friend and fellow entrepreneur Marissa opened up about her similar experience growing up as an Impressive Young Woman. The two of us, both turning 30 this summer, seemed to arrive at the same thought at the same time when we asked each other in a near-whisper:

“So shouldn’t we… be places by now?”