Last year, we lost a consulting brief because I was pregnant.

We had been awarded the contract in writing and had been invited for a kick-off meeting. I was scheduled to travel overseas that same week, so I responded to move the meeting earlier by one day to accommodate my travel arrangements. When I didn’t receive any concrete feedback, my thoughts revisited how I had been teased on several meeting occasions by the Client (a male) about my pregnancy.

At the time, I didn’t understand why that mattered especially when it was my firm managing the project. There were also several other projects that would be managed in my absence and to my knowledge, this project did not require special attention. Pregnancy had never prevented me from working. Yes, I get very sick first trimester but this was my last trimester, and I was as fit as a fiddle, feeling like a roly-poly.

When my email was finally responded to, I was given reasons that didn’t even make sense to a 5-year-old. Then it dawned on me…I had just experienced discrimination. #Women face challenges at work that men will never face. I wish women would be allowed to make their choices for themselves. Don’t assume. Ask her.

Who likes assumptions being made about them?

Wouldn’t you rather be asked?

To be continued…