There’s a quote from American cosmetic queen Mary Kay Ash whose marketing plan was designed to allow women to advance by helping others to succeed. I like that marketing plan’s sentiment very much but I like this quote even better: “There are two things people want more than sex and money -- recognition and praise.”

Recognition and praise are fantastic to receive and even better to give.

This month I feel as if the past 12 years of my working life in Women’s Markets and the work we have done to support others to succeed is coming home to roost.

I know I can be a dog with a bone. It’s just that developing the business for women, supporting them to be the best they can be and to prosper financially at all stages in their lives, really matters to me. Recognising what women are capable of and supporting their potential to actually do it have been my most important goals.

Over the years we’ve built a strong, recognizable brand and now, with Ruby as our very public face, we’re stepping up to the plate and taking that brand even further. The raft of initiatives we are launching this month are so ‘on the mark’ we’re bringing them into your own living rooms via TV ads that will leave you thinking.

During October we’re running a campaign that’s not only creating awareness about superannuation and insurance and women’s life-stages; we’re providing bricks and mortar initiatives for you to take advantage of as well. Step into a branch, have a look at what’s on offer and in doing so you’ll be helping others on all sorts of levels.

Why the buzz around super and insurance? Because they’re two areas women and families have left languishing for too long. Why do we know they’re languishing? We have the research that proves women’s super is not okay… as for insurance, only four percent of households with dependent children have life insurance and that’s a really poor outcome we want to see change.

Correcting the balance and making sure each of us is ‘all right’, means taking action. That action could be as simple as seeing a Westpac Financial Planner this month, or opening a BT Super for Life (BTSFL) account and contributing $5000 or more into the account before 15 December, or maybe you’re considering an insurance plan.

(Whatever you’re considering, have a look at these links for some really interesting facts and ideas:
http://rubyconnection.com.au/articles/asfa-retirement-standard-new-calculator-updated-figures
https://www.davidsoninstitute.edu.au/learning-centre/personal/online-courses/superannuation-basics)

And we’re going to donate $50 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) each and every time one of you takes up any of the three initiatives we’ve spoken about here. It’s about everyone benefiting in creating peace of mind.
October is breast cancer month and with the NBCF we want you to take part in NBCF’s Register4 project: www.register4.org.au/. NBCF launched Regsiter4 in 2010 with all of us from Westpac in pink T-shirts led by CEO Gail Kelly marching up to Martin Place. This year is set to be even more spectacular.

Register4 wants 1,000,000 members to join and take part in its surveys, research trials, data collection programs and projects. It’s up to you how much you want to do: fill in a simple survey or get involved in clinical trials. What is important is getting a really clear picture about community health. The more of us taking part in Register4, the greater the diversity, the clearer the picture we get about community health, prevention programs and finding a cure for cancer.

On an even wider global scale, the Global Banking Alliance Summit is also here during October. The dinner on October 11 in Sydney, features Gail, as well as the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Senator Penny Wong, as our keynote speaker and a performance by Bangarra Dance Theatre. The opportunity for Ruby members to be part of the night and network is without precedence and will be truly fun.

Westpac has long been the global benchmark for GBA members, all of who are ahead of the wave when it comes to understanding that supporting women and their financial success is the economy of the future. We’ll be pushing those benchmarks even further with our colleagues with our Mary Reibey scholarship initiative and the new Mary Reibey community grant.

For two years Ruby has been on the path of accelerating the potential of women executives by helping others succeed through the Mary Reibey scholarship in partnership with the Australian Graduate School of Management Executive Programs. Now we are setting out to support women entrepreneurs in our Australian communities through the inaugural Mary Reibey Grant, a new category of community grant of $50,000, created by The Westpac Foundation.

The Westpac Foundation is an independent not-for-profit with a mission: the improvement of community well-being in Australia. The Foundation has given more than $21M in grants to community organisations since 1999, including NFPs such as Fitted for Work, The Social Studio, STREAT.

The Mary Reibey Grant is dedicated to accelerating the potential of a social enterprise founded and led by a woman. If you are such a woman, I encourage you to look into applying or if you know of someone who may be interested, look on Ruby and find out more (see the link below).

Marking a month of major initiatives for women, we’re also inviting Ruby members to participate in our ‘It Runs in the Family: Finance Survey’. The survey was put out to the General Public to gather information about how people and families deal with their finances and plan ahead for the future.

We decided it would be fantastic to see what our Ruby members thought. It fascinates me that you may have very different considerations or, if they are the same, very different ideas on how you deal with finances and planning. I don’t want to look as if I am bombarding you all, but by going online and doing the survey you will help us drill down further. We are looking forward to presenting the results of the comparison in the months to come and developing further initiatives that support women’s success.

Now I’m off to get ready for dinner and indulge in a little mutual recognition and praise… you coming?