MEET THE WOMEN OF TEAM SAMURAI

“What does courage mean to me? Courage for me means being brave enough to go outside your comfort zone, or show the world your skills you know you have, even if you don’t always feel confident enough to do so. It can relate to all aspects of life, including sport, career or even just the smaller things in life. Just having the bravery to try something new or face a fear.

“My proudest moments within my work are definitely seeing the teams we design for wearing the kits. Seeing it in person on a playing field or shown on television and watching it perform the way we wanted it to. Always great to see happy players and supporters wearing the design you have worked tirelessly to complete!

“Working as a woman can be challenging but mainly rewarding. Knowing I have got to where I am through hard work rather than because of my gender is definitely the best feeling, and something I am proud of daily.”

“Courage to me is the perseverance to carry on despite setbacks faced. It is the continued pursuit of your purpose and end goal, even with the hardships that come with it.

“Generally, I'm proud of what I've achieved independently, and the experience I have gained to elevate me to the place I am today. I am excited to see how my role at SAMURAI progresses.

“To work as a woman is to work smart. You must assert your strength when needed even when it's difficult and strive for a fair, hardworking team dynamic. To have a good character will carry you in the workplace.”

“Courage for me is about being honest with yourself. Sometimes it is easier to avoid the reality of certain actions, decisions or situations so it takes courage to open your eyes and see things from a distant point of view and without letting your emotions overwhelm you and cloud your judgement.

“When I started to design the first SAMURAI women’s range, I was very excited. I was new to the company and still trying to understand its internal dynamics and teams, but it was clear that the women's side of the story was never really told. The company was doing mostly men’s clothing and adapting the garments to fit the female body, but I always thought that women should have more relevance in the sports community and from us as a sportswear company. We needed to create clothing in which women could feel good, confident and empowered. How you dress and style is important, it’s the first thing someone notices about you and it’s a reflection of your mood, your beliefs and simply a reflection of you so we should be honoured to finally start taking care of these aspects.

“I could relate with the women in the rugby community because even though I never played rugby, I still came from years of swimming competitions and I know how hard and mentally challenging it can be to practice a sport at high levels. This collection means that finally women can have a say in what they wear on and off the field and I’m very happy to say that we will continue in this direction and constantly receive feedback to improve ourselves.”

“Courage to me is putting yourself temporarily in an uncomfortable position to reap the greater benefit. Courage has no measure of scale or degree. Taking up a new skill, going to a cafe on your own, changing career paths, moving cities, are all moments of bravery that help you grow, create new opportunities, and set good intentions. Every time you find courage you build strength, and that's something that can't be taken away from you. 

“In our industry which is often male dominated, I feel fortunate to work with a team where we respect each other for individual expert skill sets and a mutual passion and drive.

“I have been in positions earlier on in my career which I believe have shaped my path. I distinctly remember a tender to a club where for the entire meeting the clients’ focus was on the male Sales Director, dressed in a suit. The client fired a challenging question, which he had no answer to. The female Production Manager waited for her moment, for when their eyes finally took notice of her in the room. She then proceeded to answer with science, data and references. She held the floor with utter power and it was fantastic to witness. The cold corporate atmosphere broke into a warm welcoming environment as the clients’ opinions shifted in utter respect and admiration of her. It was eye opening to realise these are battles that I may face. Gender and appearance should never be perceived as a measure of success. There are so many qualities that are not visible: drive, intelligence, passion, kindness, courage.”

“I think defining a term like courage is really difficult because it means so many different things to different people. To me, courage is simply being brave enough to just be yourself, because sometimes that can be a really tricky thing to do. It's understanding your own self worth and appreciating all you are as a person. Courage is to empower not only yourself, but all those around you too. 

“The work I am most proud of is telling the stories of all these amazing women over the last week, and all the SAMURAI Family that I get to write about - sharing in their achievements and celebrating who they are. It’s a privilege to be a part of such a supportive and positive community.

“For all women in work, we need to remember that just by being where we are we’re making a difference - keep our heads up, speak out and help to Break The Bias.”