International Women's Day Interview with Emily Stevenson from Beach Guardian
Emily Stevenson founded Beach Guardian alongside her father Rob to organise community beach cleans and conduct educational workshops with schools, having witness first-hand the damage plastic and rubbish pollution can do to local beaches.
Emily studied Marine Biology at Plymouth and over the past few years has been raising awareness through her work and her regular Tune In Tuesday videos online. We spoke to her about influential women in her life, her proudest achievements so far and her view on this year’s IWD theme #balanceforbetter.
Who is the most important woman in your life and how have they influenced you?
Without trying to sound too cliché, I would definitely have to go first and foremost for my Mum, Jo. She is literally the most resilient and determined person that I know and she is the only person I know to always achieve her goals. I cannot think of one thing that my Mum has said she has wanted to do that she has not done. I think that just shows how strong and powerful of a person she is and I really admire that.
What has been your proudest achievement so far?
In complete honesty, I can think of so many achievements that I am proud of, but what worries me is that I feel bad for feeling that. Like it may seem somewhat arrogant, immodest and boastful. I firmly believe that it is so important for us to acknowledge, appreciate and congratulate ourselves when we have achieved something that we are passionate about and proud of. There are so many things to knock us down in life, and if we do not even appreciate ourselves, then how can we appreciate others. But to answer the question, I think I was most proud when I collected the certificate for the completion of my Marine Biology Degree at Plymouth University wearing a dress I had made out of Walkers crisp packets. This was a degree and career choice I had dreamed of since I was a small child and the Walkers Dress stunt was totally empowering. It is something special to be seen and heard for something you feel so wholeheartedly passionate about.
The theme for International Women’s Day this year is #balanceforbetter what do you think businesses can do to help achieve this? Are there steps that you are taking in your own business to achieve greater balance?
Like many other young women, I was very lucky growing up to have parents that didn't raise me according to the stereotypical gender boundaries and activities. It wasn't actually until I grew older and into my profession that I realised how rife society still was with gender inequalities and imbalance, and not just for women. But what is most worrying is that many of these cases of inequality are just 'small' incidents that most would just shrug off. Its these 'small' cases that we need to be rid of, passing comments, degrading looks and gender based assumptions. To some these may continue to feel small, but for the victim, they may be a huge part of their lives.
If you were to turn back time and give yourself one piece of advice before you started your business what would it be?
You are somebody.
In our International Women’s Day Interviews series, we also spoke with Amanda Winwood, founder of Made For Life Organics, Katherine George, founder of Oh So Social, Vickie Heaney founder of Vickie Heaney Printmaking, and Gail Irvine of Dynamo Healthcare Training,. Keep your eyes on our news stories as we share the experiences of more local business women and entrepreneurs over the coming day.
It wasn't actually until I grew older and into my profession that I realised how rife society still was with gender inequalities and imbalance, and not just for women... we need to be rid of, passing comments, degrading looks and gender based assumptions. To some these may continue to feel small, but for the victim, they may be a huge part of their lives.
