With International Women’s Day celebrated on March 10, 115 years after its founding, it is the perfect time to acknowledge that the women at the very top of world leadership are living role models for how each one of us can make history daily.

And we can also acknowledge that women have been making history for longer than a century. And that you make history every day.

Learning and knowing how to make your efforts matter in the bigger picture is worth your time, particularly during Women’s History Month, when the country and the world salute women whose efforts have produced changes. Even if the end goal is not fully achieved. Yet.

Suffice it to say very few people in this country do one 9 to 5 job. Most everyone has a side gig, a hustle, a dip into entrepreneurship, or just a practical way to fill the economic gaps with rising prices and stagnating salaries.

Women are doing more of this, (more in younger generations) out of desire or necessity or boredom, and generating less income. So you do you get more when you’re doing more?

Read more in Take The Lead on side gigs

New Citizens Bank research shows, “Two-thirds of adults under 34 have pursued an entrepreneurial venture, including nearly a quarter doing work outside their primary job,” according to Axios.

Gratitude completely matters.

On the 12th anniversary of Take The Lead’s launch, we are extremely grateful to the global community supporting the mission of gender parity in leadership across all sectors through programs, events, trainings, coaching, mentorship and multiplatform resources.

To echo that gratitude, it is crucial to suggest the need for today’s leaders to express gratitude to colleagues, employees and clients in a challenging era when many feel anxious and overworked. The goal is to create and maintain a culture of intentional community with high expectations, fruitful outcomes and a sense of belonging, social connectedness,  value and purpose. Not with rote, brief recognition, but with true gratitude. The outcome is retention, profit, expansion, creativity and a sense of wellness at work.

As Black History Month celebrates 100 years of saluting the excellence and inspiration of history-making contributions by Black leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs in this country, Take The Lead celebrates the leadership of 10 outstanding Black women making history today.

Some of these leaders you may already know and some may be new to you. All of these women contribute their noteworthy talents across the fields of sports, AI, music, media, philanthropy, communications, culinary excellence, retail and banking.

At a time when just consuming the news can cause mental health distress, political division in this country is high and leaders are working to make their workplace culture safe and inclusive for all. And offices—remote, in person and hybrid-- can include people others disagree with.

Not everyone must conform to one mindset. But it may be difficult for leaders to ignore as activists proposed a National Shutdown for January 30 urging people across the country to stay home from work and school and not shop. This impacts businesses everywhere.