What is an AdaMarie Mirror?
Our CEO Rebecca Tierney explains the concept behind “Mirrors”.
Human beings are social animals – we thrive when we feel safe and we feel safe when we belong. We aren’t great at the unknown or at uncertainty. I often say “life is an apprenticeship” to mean we don’t decide our next step or our big dreams or even who we will develop into by ourselves. We look around, we find people we admire or who have made choices we like and we take a little piece of them into our psyche. It applies to every facet of life – personal, professional, big, or small.
The thing is, you can only scoop up little pieces of people you actually see. The limit is exposure. But the more people you see who are one, two, or fifty steps ahead of where you want to be (or where you don’t even know you want to be!), the bigger you can dream, and plan, for yourself.
Simply, “If they can do it, so can I.”
The more you see yourself in the person you’re watching or reading about, the stronger the impact it will have on your psyche. This isn’t a theory, it’s a fact!
With this in mind, we’ve created Mirrors – based on several scientific principles, particularly the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon and the concept of Mirror Neurons. Mirrors show you specific examples of women – diverse in every way (socioeconomic, neuro-capability varied, racial, cultural, etc.) – with the firm belief that:
The more paths you see, the richer you will make your own roadmap.
The more we normalize and gain exposure to women and historically marginalized groups existing in STEM roles and spaces, the more you will see yourself in similar positions and have an inherent sense that you belong there.
And the coolest part? It takes zero effort. Just read and/or watch. Your subconscious will do the rest! So, look in as many of our Mirrors as you can. You never know what will speak to your subconscious. And know when you do that, you’re doing good work for yourself!