17 inspirational quotes from trailblazing women to lift your mood

If like us, you could do with a mood lifter, these motivational quotes from women blazing a trail across the world in business, arts and politics, may help.

If you’re using this downtime to figure out your next creative or career move, or perhaps you’re just in need of a little mood booster while in self-isolation, these quotes from successful women from Ireland and around the world have served us well in the past.

For more inspirational women content, why not attend the IMAGE Business Summit, powered by PwC? 

1. “Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.” — Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx

2. “My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” — Oprah Winfrey, media mogul at OWN television network

3. “Experience does count for a lot, but you can never rely on just experience, you have to keep up-skilling.” — Louise Gilroy, Aer Lingus captain

4. “I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.” — Marissa Mayer, former CEO of Yahoo

5. “I check myself to make sure that I’m making the most of the opportunities and I’ve been more open to opportunities. That way if something doesn’t work out, you have other options and you realise your own value.” — Liz Cunningham, EMEA director of finance Google Ireland

6. “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes — understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” — Arianna Huffington, Editor of Huffington Post

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7. “I was a simple girl born and raised in Kansas, I grew up with a learning disability. I was a single mum, and I definitely struggled in a male-dominated world. But you need to allow yourself those moments to cry.” — Erin Brockovich

8. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady of the United States

9. “We need to rethink ‘lean in’ and I think we need to talk more about leaning out. Because there is still this sense that we have to be the very best mother and the very best housekeeper and the very best baker while also ‘leaning in’ and doing boardroom meetings and everything else. I think the issue isn’t necessarily that women don’t lean in — it’s just that they can’t let go of what’s behind them.” — Sinead McSweeney, managing director of Twitter Ireland

10. “Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it.” — Maya Angelou, author and activist 

11. “If you really have an itch to do something you really should do it because you don’t want to be at a stage where you regret it.”— Nikki Lannen, CEO of WarDucks

12. “The experiences that have not been so good, well, actually they’ve been some of the best learning curves that I’ve had.” — Heather Melville, director and head of client experience, PwC UK

13. “From my point of view, if you have a demand for your service and good people skills, that’s it. It shouldn’t matter how old or young you might be.” — Samantha Kelly, entrepreneur at Tweeting Goddess

14. “I don’t believe in this word balance, but I do believe in the idea of ruthless prioritisation every day.” — Aine Kerr, COO of Kinzen

15. “My motto has always been ‘Get out there and do it’ and when I now go to talk to young girls in schools, the line is that ‘If you can’t see it, you can’t be it’. So, the best thing I could do, as a working mother, was just to get out and do it.” Miriam O’Callaghan, broadcaster and journalist

16. “That is the motto women should constantly repeat over and over again: ‘Good for her; not for me’.” — Amy Poehler, actress and filmmaker

17. “Symbols give us our identity, our self image, our way of explaining ourselves to ourselves and to others. Symbols in turn determine the kinds of stories we tell, and the stories we tell determine the kind of history we make and remake.” — Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and human rights activist

For more inspirational content from leading businesswomen, including masterclasses, keynote speeches and panel discussions, see the inaugural IMAGE Business Summit, powered by PwC, schedule, taking place on September 16, 2020. Buy tickets here.