Corporate Sari revealed

This week I asked a question on my social media outlets - what does the term Corporate Sari mean to you. The answers were interesting and it seemed that we all thought within the "box" as such and made the assumption that Corporate Sari was about Asian or Indian women in particular in business.

Lets think outside the box a little. However lets understand what the Sari is or what it represents.



The traditional Indian sari, is a six meter long length of exotic fine silk fabric, hand-dyed into a rainbow of rich deep colours. It is steeped in tradition and culture.

Women wrap the Sari around their bodies, showing just enough skin to make us look sultry, alluring and sexy.

However….. the irony is, this same tradition and culture can also be an ugly burden – a burden that weighs you down.

The beautiful image created externally can often mask the ugly inequality contained inside.

I have found that In Australia we have another Sari – I call it The Corporate Sari

Look only at the outside and you’ll see the lure of reward, of position and of possibilities.

On the inside however, lurks the limiting expectations of society and the heavy hand of discrimination. And perhaps most importantly of all the weight of our own guilt and self imposed limitations.

Too often we impose a limit on what we can be and what we can achieve. We impose self-fulfilling limits, we create glass ceilings that limit our vision and our reach – and all the time we should be shooting for the stars.

The concept of Corporate Sari came about post my Vic Telstra Win. I had the opportunity to meet and network with incredible women who run successful businesses. They all have so much to offer and we all had similar experiences and stories.

Corporate Sari is a play on my Indian heritage and my Australian life.

Corporate Sari is about networking but networking with a twist.:-)

Corporate Sari is about women leaning in (Sheryl Sandberg)

Corporate Sari networking with women - women from various industries have the ability to get together over dinner and share stories and perhaps help coach or mentor someone.

Corporate Sari networking with men - I believe for changes to occur in the workplace men and women need to start networking together. So once a month we will have breakfast and the women attending will invite a "bloke" to attend with them.

Corporate Sari youth - women in business today are paving the way for our daughters and sons and it is important we network with them and pass on the experiences, coach and mentor

Corporate Sari will evolve and I look forward to evolving with it.

My message to every woman is wear your beautiful sari. Wrap yourself in its beauty, the richness, colour and its possibilities.

Your Corporate Sari allows you to be different, vunerable, smart, driven, successful and enables you to aim to have it all.

Our face book page is called Corporate Sari, I look forward to connecting with you and please share this with your friends.