by Kate Dubauskas
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Choose to Challenge”. From challenge comes change, and by challenging the things we hear and see we help forge a gender equal world, where we can celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness against bias and take action for equality.
To celebrate IWD I sat down with Sharna Pankhurst from the COS Replenishment team. Sharna has worked at COS for 3 years and last year she came out as transgender, so we had a lot to talk about regarding gender equality and bias.
What does ‘CHOOSE TO CHALLENGE’ mean to you?
“From a trans perspective we are always challenging othering”, this is when trans people are defined as not fitting in, trans women are of course women and shouldn’t be put in some kind of separate group.
“Making sure that trans women are grouped in with all women because, trans women ARE women. It’s one umbrella for different types of women, like tall women and short women, you don’t “other” them.”
Sharna is challenging this by being out and proud and making sure that she stands up and corrects it when she sees these biases against transgender people happening, even if it could potentially cause her harm. She’s upfront about it, challenging it both for herself, and for others who may not be as confident as her. “I’m in a position where I’m a little more confident than some people are, so I want to be that power for others.”
Can you tell me a little bit about your journey?
“I started to question my gender about 3 or 4 years ago, it happened over time but because of the biases against trans people I discovered I was trans pretty quickly but I became terrified of what could potentially happen if I came out. So it took around a year for me to say I NEED to do this.”
When she first started to come out to friends and family she was terrified, but was happy to find that she experienced no pushback and was embraced by everyone that she knows, that includes at work.
Coming out at work was the scariest. COS is a big company, and while Sharna knows plenty of people here there are a lot of people she didn’t know well enough to know how they would react to her news, “That unknown is the absolute scariest part.”
Once Sharna made the decision to come out at work, she spoke to HR in February of 2020, and then sent an email to all staff in June. It all happened so quickly!
I was curious to know what it must have been like to go through all of this right as COVID was kicking off and changing all of our lives, working from home and being separated from everyone. It turns out that COVID became a bit of a cocoon for Sharna, allowing her to go through her transformation a little more privately. “It was actually a benefit because I was trying to hide hormonal bodily changes without people noticing while I was preparing to come out, so COVID actually helped me in that way. It meant that when I was working from home I was able to be my true self instead of having to put on the disguise of my pre-transition self to come in to the office, which further along in my transition became that much harder to do.”
We discussed how a lot of people might feel like they need to leave a job before making such a big change, and then start a new one as their true selves. I asked Sharna if she expected to be able to stay at COS so easily. “Once I had the meeting with HR to let them know they let the executives know, then I had a meeting with Belinda and she let me know that I had the backing of the executive team and I got a call from Amie as well saying the same thing. And when I told Ray (Sharna’s manager), he instantly put me at ease too, so I knew I had the backing of the company.”
I shared with Sharna that this whole journey of hers has left me feeling great about COS as a place to work, I mean of course I already did but this has just really lifted my perception. To know that we work for a company that is so inclusive, supportive, and open is just so reassuring, Sharna says “it’s been one of those things where it cements me wanting to stay with COS for as long as possible, with how open and accepting they’ve been. When I first looked into coming out to work I went to look through the workplace regulations to see what discrimination stuff they had in place and I noticed that they already had gender identity covered under workplace discrimination, so it was already part of the COS workplace policy!”
The good and the bad?
Everything timed out so perfectly, and COS made this so easy that it seemed crazy to ask Sharna what her challenges have been. She expected people to make mistakes occasionally with her name and pronouns (she/her) of course, she says that mostly it’s unintentional (a bit of a “brain-fart” most likely) and with a quick, and confident correction the problem is solved (even though it does hurt). Other than that she says she hasn’t had any challenges to deal with. She says she’s treated with the same level of respect, or perhaps even a little bit more now that she is out.
Sharna says that she’s happy that she can be her true self at work and can now work free of the cloud that’s been hanging over her for the last few years, causing her all sorts of stress and worry. She’s finding that she’s thinking clearer, her work has improved, and she’s less stressed because she’s a far happier person. The weight on her shoulders is lifted, not just at work of course, but in all facets of her life.
Today has honestly been one of the best days I’ve had in my time at COS. Getting to sit down and have such a good chat with Sharna has filled me with joy, it’s made me so proud to be a woman, to have a colleague like Sharna, and happy to work at COS.
Happy International Women’s Day! xoxox
