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Diageo employees celebrate the stories of its women

Diageo employees celebrate the stories of its women

 March 06, 2018

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As the world joined together on International Women’s Day to collectively #pressforprogress, Diageo celebrated the women who make up its business via a short series of engaging films that tell some of their fascinating stories.

Watch the full collection below to hear from these inspirational women talking about their journey, at work and beyond, sharing their insights from their professional and personal experiences in a short, intimate interview.


Arlene Amitirigala, Head of Employee Engagement

"I automatically believed that all doors would be open for me, there was no barrier in place because of my gender."

Meet Diageo's Head of Employee Engagement in Europe & GB, Arlene Amitirigala. Watch Arlene talk about how she got to where she is today and explain what women bring to the workplace.


Gillian McBride, Process Capability Team Leader

"I'm not just a woman in engineering, or a gay woman, or a mother, or a nerd that meets my friends every Thursday night to play Dungeons and Dragons! I'm all of those things and more."

Meet Diageo's Process Capability Team Leader, Gillian McBride. Watch Gillian talk about how she started her career on an engineering apprenticeship at the age of 24 and why she loves working in an inclusive and diverse workforce.


Menen Wondwosen, Head of Functional Effectiveness

"The most powerful and important trait that women should have is persistence."

Meet Diageo's Head of Functional Effectiveness, Menen Wondwosen. Watch Menen talk about the lessons she's learned over the course of her career, and what she would do if she could have any superpower in the world.


Gráinne Wafer, Baileys Global Brand Director

"Very early on in my career a guy I was working for said: 'the only thing stopping you going all the way to the top is the fact you want a family.' And I looked him in the eye and I said: 'well why would it stop me, it didn't stop you?'"

Meet Baileys Global Brand Director, Gráinne Wafer. Watch Gráinne talk about how she balances her work life with her family life and the lessons she's learned along the way.


Annmarie Phillips, Channel Director On Trade, ROI

"More and more men are understanding of what it's like to be a working mum because they're married to working mums. It would be wrong of us not to bring men into the conversation, they have to be a part of the solution."

Meet Diageo's On Trade Channel Director for the Republic of Ireland, Annmarie Phillips. Watch Annmarie talk about how she got to where she is today and what she learned along the way.


Louise Prashad, Global Talent Director

"I love to hear my seven-year old son describe our roles. He sees Mum as the person who gets up every morning, goes to work and has a fulfilling job she loves. And he sees Dad as the person that is there for him every morning and afternoon when he goes to school and comes home from school and I think that's reshaping his perspective on what's possible."

Meet Diageo's Global Talent Director, Louise Prashad. Watch Louise talk about how her family, particularly her stay-at-home husband, helped her achieve a successful work-life balance.


Syl Saller, Chief Marketing Officer

"Forget work life balance. Nothing is ever perfectly balanced and if it feels like it is, it's likely to tip over any second." Meet Diageo's Chief Marketing Officer, Syl Saller.


Diageo continues to Press for Progress 

Diageo's popular Johnnie Walker is rolling out a female version of its iconic logo, an attempt to draw more women to the world’s best-selling scotch and acknowledge a broader push toward gender equality. A limited U.S. edition of the whisky has a striding woman on the label rather than the traditional top-hatted man. The spirit carries the name of "Jane Walker". Johnnie Walker is donating $1 from each bottle produced to two women’s causes - for a total of $250,000 to the Monumental Women nonprofit, to erect a statue of suffragettes in Central Park, and to the She Should Run organization, to boost women seeking election to public office.

Diageo's Smirnoff brand and Spotify have also teamed up to promote equality for women musicians around the world. The Smirnoff Equalizer analyzes Spotify users’ listening habits to provide them with a percentage breakdown of the number of men versus women artists they have listened to in the previous six months before providing an equalized playlist tailored just for them, where artists of both genders are equally represented.

Diageo, based in London, is looking to increase female representation internally. Its board will be 50 percent women in April and the company also is calling on advertising agencies to put forward at least one female director as part of any work pitch. Diageo is committed to forging a diverse and inclusive workplace and has many impressive women enjoying thriving careers with the company.

 

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