Happy International Women’s Day! Hope you take today to celebrate the women in your life who support and inspire you, shop and support female-owned businesses and dedicate yourself to the pursuit of gender balance, in ways big and small. Today on our social channels we are sharing a bit of our story and mission, and highlighting women who inspire us, through quotes and shoutouts in our stories (come check it out over at @MBAchicblog). We’ll also be launching our first giveaway (linked here!) to celebrate reaching 1,000 followers on Instagram. We are giving away our very own MBA / job interview survival kit, to help you nail that interview and move further toward crushing your goals and taking on the world!

If you’re receiving this today because you signed up for MBAchic through the Giveaway, welcome!! Thank you for joining us, I hope you’ll take a look around MBAchic.com after checking out this post on the Giveaway: we’ve got content for MBAs and future MBAs, as well as smart career and style content that will help you pursue your goals and level-up your life. Hope you’ll stick around, even after the Giveaway wraps, we’ve got a lot in the works and cannot wait to share!

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is #BalanceforBetter. From InternationalWomensDay.com:

The future is exciting. Let’s build a gender-balanced world.
Everyone has a part to play – all the time, everywhere.
From grassroots activism to worldwide action, we are entering an exciting period of history where the world expects balance. We notice its absence and celebrate its presence.
Balance drives a better working world. Let’s all help create a #BalanceforBetter.

We agree that a balanced world, in which men and women are equal, and are empowered to pursue opportunities and education (i.e., their MBAs) together, is a world in which everyone levels-up together. We are grateful to have you here and hope you’ll join us in helping women get into and navigate business school, their careers, and beyond.

We’ll leave you with our giveaway description and rules; please reach out if you have any questions.

1,000 Follower Giveaway!

To celebrate International Women’s Day and reaching 1,000 followers on Instagram, we’ve partnered with some amazing brands & Professors (as sponsors of the items inside) to create our very own MBA / job interview survival kit.

And we get to have THREE (3) winners!

Inside each winning kit you’ll find:

Originals by Adam Grant

Wharton Organizational Psychologist and Professor Adam Grant (www.adamgrant.net) generously provided a signed copy of his NYT-Bestselling book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. This book is about how to champion new ideas and fight groupthink. It will challenge you, get your creative juices flowing and inspire you to think big. I have read this book multiple times and cannot recommend it enough (I don’t even know who has my copy right now, I’ve lent it out again). It’s not his latest book, but certainly impactful to me in my career and one I think you’ll enjoy.

Be sure to check out Professor Grant’s other titles, Option B (written with Sheryl Sandberg), and Give and Take (preview available for download on his website), and subscribe to WorkLife, his podcast with TED that takes us “inside some truly unusual places, where they’ve figured out how to make work not suck.” I personally loved listening to the Daily Show episode, and learning how Trevor Noah and his team foster creativity under grueling daily deadlines, and everyone still genuinely likes each other and working there.

Presence by Amy Cuddy

Harvard Social Psychologist and Professor Amy Cuddy (www.amycuddy.com) generously provided a signed copy of her NYT-Bestselling book Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges. This book teaches the power of our body language, not only the power it has as a form of nonverbal communication, but also the power it has on our own minds: “our bodies shape our minds, our minds shape our behavior, and our behavior shapes our outcomes.” Understanding the power of the mind-body connection will help you to get your mind and energy right and to show up as the best version of yourself, to interviews, and really any situation you find yourself navigating.

Also be sure to view her 2012 TED Talk, “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are,” the second-most viewed TED Talk of all time. Her work on stereotyping, prejudice, nonverbal communication and behavior, presence and performance has had a massive impact on my career and my public speaking. #powerpose

The Pocket Palette

The Pocket Palette (www.thepocketpalette.com) kindly provided each of our winners with one of their single-use, cruelty-free travel makeup kits! Originally launched via Kickstarter campaign, GW MBA Lynda T. Correa Peralta, was interviewing on the road and didn’t want to carry a ton of makeup on her, and found she wasn’t the only one who had this issue (you need to read her founder story here!).

The Pocket Palette travel makeup kit by a GW MBA; BB cream / foundation colors

We are so grateful for their sponsorship and for the chance support a female founder and MBA lady, all at once! Once winners are selected, they will be contacted to choose their BB cream or foundation color from one of four shades (light, medium, tan, dark [foundation]) to ensure the perfect match.

Pinch Provisions

Pinch Provisions (www.pinchprovisions.com) kindly sponsored each of our interview survival kits with their very own “Hot Mess” minimergency kit (they have assorted colors and themed kits and Hot Mess is a direct match for MBAchic pink!).

Pinch Provisions' Hot Mess minimergency kit; contents flatlay

Minimergency kits are super practical, compact, and full of things you might need in a pinch (should anything go wrong on “gameday”). Whether your hosiery rips, a button pops off or anything else goes wrong, you’re covered. It’s small, but mighty, and could really save the whole day.

One blowout at any Drybar location

Drybar (www.thedrybar.com) have generously provided each interview survival kit with a gift card for one (1) blowout at any Drybar location. Drybar is based on the simple concept of focusing on one thing and being the best at it: Blowouts. Let’s be real: when your hair’s on point, you feel ready to conquer the world. Stepping into an interview after your hair has been professionally handled? Confidence on 1,000. Get ready for them to ask to you clock in, right-then and there.

There are 100+ Drybar locations in the US and Canada, and they show no signs of stopping. Also, their product line (which, P.S., smells absolutely amazing) is available on their site, at Drybar shops, and in Sephora, Nordstrom, Ulta and Bloomingdales). The gift card is valued at $49, which covers any blowout from their lookbook of styles (don’t forget to tip your stylist!).

Branded goodies from CommonBond

CommonBond (www.commonbond.co) generously provided some branded goodies including a branded water bottle and hand sanitizer to help you stay hydrated and germ-free while on the go. Our friends at CommonBond can help you fund your MBA (or any degree you choose to pursue); they are the one of the top names you’ll hear when looking for an MBA lender.

They offer lower rates than the government, award-winning customer service, and even support the education of children in need through their 1-for-1 social mission. Their partnership with Pencils of Promise has provided schools, teachers, and technology to thousands of young students in the developing world.

Swag from MBAchic!

Obviously, we included some MBAchic swag; at this point, it is still decidedly low budget, but we still have to show love for our MBAchic fam. As we perfect our apparel situation (tees and hoodies and more) we included this fun casual tote to carry all of these goodies. Note: we love this tote but would not wear it to an interview; it’s fun but you should wear the bag you already planned to wear. You’ll find some stationery / stickers to wear and share in there as well – we hope you enjoy!

Giveaway Rules:

Our followers on Instagram may be familiar with this type of giveaway, but to avoid any confusion…

Per Instagram rules, this promotion is in no way sponsored, administered, or associated with Instagram, Inc. By entering, entrants confirm that they are 13+ years of age, release Instagram of responsibility, and agree to Instagram’s terms of use.

To enter the giveaway, we’ve kept things very simple:

Subscribe to MBAchic.com (click here to sign up).
Follow @MBAchicblog on Instagram.
Tag three (3) friends in a single comment on the original post.

Some more fun disclaimer-speak

Giveaway open to US residents only. This giveaway is not endorsed / sponsored by Instagram. This giveaway was created to celebrate IWD and reaching 1,000 followers on Instagram and our sponsors have been generous in helping make it happen. Giveaway Period will run from March 8, 12:00pm EST to March 15, 11:59pm EST (@MBAchicblog reserves the right to revise the Giveaway Period at any time without prior notification). All entries received outside the Giveaway Period will be disqualified. We will announce winners to MBAchic followers on Instagram the Monday after the end of the Giveaway Period.

Thank you so much for being a part of the MBAchic community. So grateful to have you here.

Good luck, and hope you have a wonderful International Women’s Day!