Because She Did, I Can: My Story for International Women’s Day

By Dorothy Gregson, Lantern HR Operations Manager / HR & LR Consultant

This International Women’s Day, I find myself reflecting not only on the women in my life—my mom, my mentors, my colleagues—but also on the women I will never meet, whose perseverance and progress made my path possible. If someone had told me back in university what my career, opportunities, and work–life rhythm would look like today, I wouldn’t have believed them. The shift from the early 2010s to now has meant something remarkable: I can give my all to my work and clients while still being fully present with my family. That balance exists because generations of women pushed, demanded, and imagined something better long before I ever stepped into a workplace.

I want to invite the leaders reading this to pause and consider:

When designing how, where, and when teams work, ensure your choices match the true needs of the role—not just “how things have always been.”

Flexibility can matter as much as compensation, sometimes more, and it has the potential to widen your talent pool, removing barriers for incredible talent who might otherwise be overlooked.

When I started my career in the early 2010s, HR was already in a period of transformation. Long-held beliefs and practices were being challenged by new ideas, new technologies, and new expectations. The phrase “we’ve always done it this way” was heard on a weekly if not daily basis as the way people worked looked largely the same for decades. But changes just kept coming and companies needed to adapt. One of the biggest tech changes experienced was the “cloud” which began reshaping everything. Cloud computing was becoming more widely adopted, but the idea of working remotely with these tools still wasn’t mainstream. At the same time, hiring practices were shifting: the old networks of “who you know” were being confronted by louder calls for equity and fairness. Slowly, the standard moved toward valuing skills, capability, and potential over connections alone. These changes would dramatically shift how and by whom work would be done over the next decade.

And woven through all of that change was the legacy of International Women’s Day. The freedoms we were beginning to experience: hybrid work, choice, the ability to design our careers, were built on decades of advocacy from women who fought for financial independence, workplace rights, and the recognition of unpaid labor. Their victories became the foundation of the world I entered, even if I didn’t fully understand that at the time.

The last five years have felt like a season of profound transformation, personally and professionally. COVID reshaped how we connect and work. Life brought the biggest changes: marriage, a baby, a return to “normalish” work, another baby, reacclimating to a landscape newly infused with AI, and, just to stir the pot, a company change to round out 2025.

Throughout those years, there were moments I felt like I was falling behind at work, at home, or both. I found myself asking: Am I where 21 year old me imagined? Have I accomplished what I hoped for professionally? Will my children remember a parent who was present? Will my daughter grow up seeing that professional fulfillment and personal fulfillment can coexist, not compete?

These questions aren’t new. Women have been wrestling with them for generations. The only reason I get to ask them from a place of choice rather than constraint is because of those who came before, those who insisted that women deserve both ambition and family, both opportunity and autonomy.

I grew up with a powerful example in my mom. She carved out a niche in small business bookkeeping that allowed her to build a schedule around us while still contributing financially. As my brother and I grew older and more independent, she expanded her business. And now, with grandchildren in the picture, she has chosen to scale back so that she can spend as much time with them as possible.

We butt heads often (and consistently), but her choices shaped what I believed was possible. She modeled a version of work and motherhood that wasn’t about sacrifice, it was about design. I celebrate her not just on March 8th, but every time I’m able to work, learn, and thrive both personally and professionally. And on International Women’s Day, I recognize that she stands in a long line of women who carved space where none existed.

I’ve been fortunate in my work as well. I’ve had mentors who supported me, challenged me, and trusted me with autonomy. I’ve worked with companies I’ve poured myself into and with teams who believed in my contribution. Their encouragement has been part of my growth—but so has the quiet legacy of the women who fought simply to be allowed in these rooms, whose stories laid the groundwork for mine.

My career change to join Lantern HR is yet another example of the kind of choice I’m able to make because of the women who came before me and because of the women who continue that work today. I had the privilege of working alongside Amy and Emily for several years, and when the opportunity arose to join them, not only to continue supporting the clients I love, but also to help support and grow their business, it felt like the natural next step in my career. Their commitment to equality, their belief in creating workplaces where women can lead authentically and work sustainably, and their dedication to building a business rooted in those values are just a few of the reasons why saying yes felt so right.

As I reflect on my past and look to the future ahead - I’m reminded that nothing happens in isolation. My ability to build a meaningful career, to shape a life that holds both ambition and presence, to choose partners who value equality and workplaces that honour it, is the result of generations of women who pushed boundaries I’ll never see and fought battles I’ll never know. This International Women’s Day, I carry them with me: my mom, my mentors, Amy and Emily, and all the women whose courage created the conditions for choice, flexibility, and opportunity. Their legacy lives in every decision I get to make, every door I get to walk through, and every moment my daughter watches me carve out a world where women belong in leadership, in family, in possibility. And while there is still work to do, I’m grateful to be part of the ongoing story, adding my chapter to the progress that made all of this possible.