This International Women’s Day, a group of businessmen and women in The Blue Mountains area are paying tribute to the inspiring women in their lives.
At an event hosted by the Thornbury chapter of Business Network International tonight, there will be a blank canvas set up for individuals to add something representing a woman in their life who has been an inspiration to them. The canvas, once complete, will be displayed at The Blue Mountains town hall.
Anke Mayer’s choice is easy, she’ll be honouring her mother.
“I wouldn’t be here at this stage of my life it weren’t for her,” said Mayer. “She never got the education she deserved, yet she is so content in her life.”
Mayer’s mother was a child during the Second World War. She was living in East Germany, and fled from the Russians on one side and the allies on the other. She and her sister and mother became unwanted and unfavoured refugees in West Germany. She was 14 when the war ended. She still lives in Germany today.
“She didn’t really have a youth,” said Mayer. “She had to pretend to be dead, she was starving, she saw so much violence. She is still traumatized.”
But Mayer’s mother carried on, she married, had a family and made a home full of laughter for her family. She took care of her husband’s family members when they were ill, fed them on the weekends. Her husband didn’t want her to drive so she got a job and earned her own money to pay for driving lessons and her licence.
At 80, Mayer’s mother fell into a coma. The family thought she was at the end of her life, but she pulled through. She learned how to swallow, speak and move again, and three years after her coma, she moved out of the nursing home and into her own apartment again.
“She is so strong,” said Mayer. “What is there not to be inspired by? She is very resourceful. Maybe that’s the good thing that came from her experience in the war. Doing something with nothing.”
Mayer was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany. She was a banking officer, until she and her husband Helmut adopted a baby boy.
She and her family came to Canada initially on a work visa when her son was six years old.
They did move back to Europe when her husband’s work assignment was over but they were “homesick for Canada.” They sold everything, left their jobs behind and moved to Canada permanently.
She and Helmut started their own software consulting firm and built it together to 60 employees. She started as an accountant, and when the company needed someone to run the human resources department, she returned to school to fill the role.
In retirement, she returned to school again for training in holistic healing. She runs her own nutrition business and is head of a large team of network marketers.
She has established a women’s group that meets weekly just to talk about whatever subject has inspired them that week. She’s involved in the local business community as a soon-to-be board member for the local BNI group. She has also started a not-for-profit organization with other women in her network called Women United for Change. They support young women in impoverished situations all over the globe to help them earn financial independence by establishing their own businesses. They work with these women in countries like Guatemala to teach them how to market their skills or products, come up with a business plan and also help them with startup funds.
“We hope to create communities where women are empowered,” said Mayer.
She has released a book called The Happiness Cycle and she is a champion for community and support in society.
“I feel we’re not meant to be doing things on our own,” said Mayer. “We feed off each other, our ideas and our energy, we have unique gifts and we cannot do things all on our own… if we want to have an impact, we need to work in groups.”
While those groups aren’t exclusive to women, on this International Women’s Day, Mayer reflects on the importance of women stepping up together to improve the world they live in.
“I believe now is the time for women to utilize their unique potential to create a better world for generations to come,” she said.
The International Women’s Day event hosted by The Blue Mountains BNI group is at the Loft Gallery in Thornbury from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event includes a silent auction and other activities by donation with proceeds supporting the Beaver Valley Outreach building fund.
