Tag: International womens month
It’s time to change the record. At Footpatrol we’re all about building a space to highlight creatives, and want to empower the women we have within our community. For International Women’s Day, we’ve teamed up with a female owned social media agency, spring, for a month-long campaign to change the record around stigmas and stereotypes that women face in their respective industries.
Meet long-distance runner Intisar Abdul-Kader (@intysar). We spoke with Intisar about how she’s raising awareness and inspiring the next generation of hijab-wearing athletes.
Footpatrol: Hey Intisar! Tell us about yourself and what you do?
Intisar: Hi, I’m Intisar Abdul-Kader. I’m a long distance runner based in London. I also work in public health for the NHS.
FP: What does ‘change the record’ mean to you?
Intisar: Change the record means – especially in my world of running – making running safe and accessible for everybody. I want the space to be safe and to also inspire the next hijab-wearing athlete to go out there and run. Getting to starting lines, looking to my right and left, and not seeing many girls and women wearing the hijab has definitely inspired me to change that narrative. It is our world too. Roads belong to us as well, so do the tracks.
FP: We hear that! What initially drove you to start long distance running?
Intisar: I ran in school, I ran mixed relays and then I moved onto cross country when I moved to the UK. I then gradually started road running as well. I had a slight health hiccup. Well, I wouldn’t call it hiccup. I’m living with it, and that kind of started my journey for long distance running where I just wanted to feel like I had control of my body when everybody was telling me to slow down. I didn’t want to slow down. I just wanted to go out there and run.
Running kind of became my therapy for getting out of this world of doctor’s appointments and so, I signed up for London Marathon 2016. I got in via a ballot and I never looked back. But now my goal is to earn my six world major stars. I’m four down, two to go.
FP: Do you face any challenges as a hijab-wearing athlete?
Intisar: I’ve come across quite a few stigmas. I’m visibly Muslim, so wearing a hijab at start lines, it’s kind of like, people look at me and they’re like, ‘oh.’
I can run, and I can practise Islam as well. I can show up to the same races that everybody else is showing up to, but with a hijab on my head, and that’s absolutely fine.
FP: Why is International Women’s Day still important and needed?
Intisar: As women and girls we’re changing the narrative every day. We should be celebrated everyday of the year, I think, not just that day but now we have a day to showcase and show the world that everyone is making a change, in their small little part of the world and that is something to be celebrated.
FP: What does the future look like for women in your community? What do you want to see?
Intisar: I would like to see more girls and women lacing up and starting at races. I want to be able to look and see yeah we’ve made that change, we’re making long distance running accessible to everyone. Running can be a lonely sport sometimes, but growing communities that nurture young people and helping them achieve their goals is definitely something that I want to be embedded in more, for the next young Intisar lacing up.
FP: Do you have a piece of advice for your younger self?
Intisar: Don’t listen to the tiny voice that says you’re not worth it or you don’t belong there. Imposter is very real – but you have to own it and say, ‘No, I’m going to be the change that I want to see in the world.’
Make sure to follow @intysar
Shout-out to the full female team that worked on this campaign:
Production: @springtheagency
Creative: @ttfinlay
Images: @alicetakingphotos
Video: @azcaptures
MUA: @tillyferrari
This campaign is powered by Nike!
It’s time to change the record. At Footpatrol we’re all about building a space to highlight creatives, and want to empower the women we have within our community. For International Women’s Day, we’ve teamed up with a female owned social media agency, spring, for a month-long campaign to change the record around stigmas and stereotypes that women face in their respective industries.
Introducing founder and creator of Neighbourhood Skate Lyndsay McLaren (@lynders). We spoke with Lyndsay about how she’s changing the record for women within the skate community, giving them a safe space to learn and share their passion.
Footpatrol: Lyndsay, great to meet you! Tell us about yourself.
Lyndsay: I’m Lyndsay, and I’m the founder of Neighbourhood Skate Club. I’m really passionate about positive impact and community action, so I started Neighborhood a few years ago to try and help make skateboarding more accessible and welcoming for everybody.
FP: What does ‘change the record’ mean to you?
Lyndsay: Change the record is really about doing things in a way that feels good without worrying about how things were done in the past or how you think things should be done, just because someone told you that’s the way you need to do it. I think it’s about staying true to yourself and about what feels good, and following your passion and really trusting your gut and instincts to do ultimately what you want to do and be your own boss.
FP: Yes! How did Neighbourhood Skate club come into the world?
Lyndsay: Coming out of the lockdown in 2020, I started to see more women in the park that I was skating at, coming out and learning how to skate. A lot of them were beginners, and they all looked really terrified and intimidated. You could tell that they didn’t want to make eye contact with other people in the park. So as somebody who was a bit more comfortable on my board, I felt really driven to just create more conversation and help try and create a safer space.
FP: Do you face any stereotypes or stigmas as a female skateboarder?
Lyndsay: As a female skateboarder, within the skateboarding community, it’s great. Everybody is really welcoming, everybody cheers you on, and I definitely feel at home within the skateboarding community. There are more women, and more of a variety of people skating than ever before. However, it’s outside that core skate community where there are still issues in perception of why you’re skateboarding as a women and what you’re trying to achieve as a female skater so a lot of people think it’s to do with clout chasing or meeting a boy, it surely couldn’t just be because it’s something that makes you feel good and something that you’re passionate about.
I can’t tell you the amount of harassment I’ve experienced – street harassment, catcalling, groping, being followed home. There’s this idea that just because I’m out in a public space, doing something, that I’m welcoming your eyes, I’m welcoming your attention. I can tell you I’m not. So for me, it’s really important to open the dialogue about the abuse that we experience as women in general and as women skateboarders. And that’s why it’s so important to change the record.
FP: Proudest achievement to date?
Lyndsay: My proudest achievement to date is teaching over 100 women to skate in the first year that I started Neighbourhood Skate Club whilst having a full time job, wrangling a tiny big puppy and living my life to the fullest.
FP: What have you done to change the record in skateboarding?
Lyndsay: Something that I’m really proud of when it comes to changing the record and breaking down barriers within women’s skateboarding is not focusing purely on young skaters. So what I am really passionate about is letting women who are in their late twenties, their thirties, their forties, I think the oldest woman I’ve taught to skate has been 65. There is such a thing, I think in skateboarding, that you should start when you’re a kid and after that it’s too late for you and it’s really, really not.
FP: Why is IWD still important and needed?
Lyndsay: International women’s day is still so important and valid even in today’s world because it is accelerating gender equality globally, which is still such a humongous issue. So many women across the world are still experiencing violence at the hands of men and the system and until we’re not seeing women murdered because they left their house, then there’s still work to do.
FP: What does the future look like for women in sport and skating? What do you want to see?
Lyndsay: I think the future for women in sport and skating is very bright. There are more women taking part in our sports than ever before, which is hugely inspiring to see and be a part of that shift.
FP: Do you have a piece of advice for your younger self?
Lyndsay: If I had one piece of advice for my younger self, it would be to stop sweating the small stuff, believe in myself, trusting myself and get out there and don’t let anything hold you back.
Make sure to follow @lynders and @neighbourhoodskate
Shout-out to the full female team that worked on this campaign:
Production: @springtheagency
Creative: @ttfinlay
Images: @alicetakingphotos
Video: @azcaptures
MUA: @tillyferrari
This campaign is powered by Nike!
It’s time to change the record. At Footpatrol we’re all about building a space to highlight creatives, and want to empower the women we have within our community. For International Women’s Day, we’ve teamed up with, Spring The Agency, an all female-owned creative collective. For a month-long campaign to change the record around stigmas and stereotypes that women face in their respective industries.
Introducing silver medalist Paralympic Basketball Player Amy Conroy . We spoke with Amy about the journey to her paralympic success and the stigmas she’s faced as a woman in sport.
Footpatrol: Amy, great to meet you! Tell us about yourself.
Amy Conroy: My name is Amy Conroy. I play wheelchair basketball for Great Britain and I’m a three-time paralympian.
FP: What does ‘change the record’ mean to you?
AC: For me, I guess it means levelling up your views, who you are, and what you believe in. Not just sticking to the same status quo. I love the quote, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always have what you’ve always got.” So I guess just having a progressive mindset, meeting new people and hearing their views. I think ‘change the record’ is a really powerful slogan.
FP: You’ve spoken about not enjoying wheelchair basketball at first – what was that breakthrough moment / driving force that made you decide to go for it?
AC: I saw my now teammates playing on TV at the Paralympic World Cup and they were these confident, powerful, talented women – polar opposite of me at the time, anyway. I thought, ‘people can see you, you’ve got one leg, and you don’t care?’ And I just thought, ‘I want to do that.’ And I think that’s the power of awareness. Sometimes you don’t know what you can do until you see it and you think, ‘if they can, why can’t I?’
FP: As a female paralympic basketball player, do you face any stigmas or stereotypes in your industry?
AC: I definitely think there are still a lot of stigmas around Paralympic sports and wheelchair basketball. I mean, when I first heard about it I thought it was going to be lame. I think people are often quite surprised at how often I train. It’s an elite sport. We train every day, we work hard, and it’s really competitive. There are massive highs and massive lows. If I could change the record on anyone’s mindset I would say: Paralympic sport is real sport – people have just gone through some extra stuff like the odd car crash or cancer. More awareness of Paralympic sports would make me so happy.
FP: We hear that. What’s your proudest achievement to date?
AC: It’s gotta be winning silver at the World Championships against the Germans in the semi-final. We’d lost to them all year and they’d won the semi-finals for the past few years and there was a lot of grit and fire within us that drove us to win. I don’t think anyone except us thought we could do it.
FP: Can you tell us how you’ve been breaking down barriers in your industry?
AC: To break down barriers, I’ve been trying to go for campaigns, I think visibility is really powerful. I love when brands represent everyone authentically. My sister and I are currently trying to start a business to promote inclusivity in the workplace, so stay tuned on that one! I think just go for things, regrets are the things you don’t do!
FP: Why is International Women’s Day still important and needed?
AC: I think IWD is still so important. It’s amazing to reflect back on how far the movement has come in the past 100 years. For everyone to reflect on themselves, their own attitudes and beliefs and how they can improve. I think it’s important to keep ourselves accountable. Everyone has ignorance about things. What doesn’t occur to you, doesn’t occur to you and not to feel embarrassed if you do have ignorances but to work on yourself and shine a light on injustices still in the world. People need to check themselves, everyone has busy lives so often don’t stop to think about bigger issues.
FP: What does the future look like for women in para-sports? What do you want to see?
AC: My team have just started the first-ever Premier Women’s League in the world, so that’s quite cool – and the BBC is showing some of the games. My dream would be to have true fans who love the sport, even if that comes with trolls! Like, come on, troll us like everyone else! It’s a real sport, do it! I want Paralympic sport to be a sport in it’s own right, instead of people being like, “aw bless you for going out, you’ve only got one leg, good for you.” No, it’s a real sport – it’s feisty!
My dream would be big crowds, big channels covering it and any kids going through cancer or something else can feel like hell yeah, I can still do that and make those big dreams come true.
FP: What advice would you give to your younger self?
AC: When I was going through the whole insecure, not accepting myself phase. I would tell myself not to care what other people think, if you stay true to you and act in a way that you’re proud of, it doesn’t matter what people think.
Make sure to follow @amyconroy10
Shout-out to the full female team that worked on this campaign:
Production: @springtheagency
Creative: @ttfinlay
Images: @alicetakingphotos
Video: @azcaptures
MUA: @tillyferrari
This campaign is powered by Nike!
To celebrate International Women’s Month, we’ve teamed up with The Imprint Collective on a series of talks that shine the light on woman who are constantly pushing the fields they work in.
Ranging from creatives, to agencies to brands, we’ll be sitting down to learn more about them, the paths that have got them to where they are now and of course, their professions.
Check out the line up below and CLICK HERE to get your tickets for our last talk with PUMA UK’s Louise Howley and Fran Lavelle.
