Being yourself isn’t that easy,” Meredith Walker, Executive Director and Co-founder of Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, said at the first Young Women’s Alliance General Meeting of the year.
Walker empowered the group of nearly 80 women by sharing her personal story. She worked in the TV industry, after finally landing her dream job on Saturday Night Live she realized, that in fact was not her dream job. This is when she decided she wanted to do more to make a difference in women’s lives, inspiring them to do what they want to do and not what they are pressured to do.
After having rubbed shoulders with a network of celebrities at her time working on Saturday Night Live and becoming best friends with actress Amy Poehler, Walker was very relatable and down-to-earth.
“Sometimes we have to learn from experience, which means falling on your ass,” she said.
Walker encouraged the group to ask themselves what they genuinely enjoy doing, what brings them passion and what they liked about themselves. Sometimes people don’t even know what brings them joy and they must go out, try new things and discover it.
“Don’t give yourself away for a false sense of belonging,” Walker said. She encouraged all women to not be defined by the “supposed to ‘s” and to put effort into finding themselves.
“We have to spend time on our weirdo selves,” she said. “Finding yourself interesting is the accomplishment.”
