New Honor Society Launches #notsorry on International Women’s Day
From the desk of Heidi Singleton, Chief Creative Officer, New Honor Society
The other day I was in a meeting to discuss a marketing strategy for one of our clients. One of the team members in the room, a wicked smart and exceptionally talented female copywriter started a sentence with, “Sorry, can I ask a dumb question…” Not a minute later, another female coworker, an Account Director who oversees a team of 16, starting speaking and, when she was interrupted, said, “Sorry, you go ahead.” It’s shocking to think that in an agency where over 60% of its employees are incredibly smart, empowered women, we are constantly apologizing for ourselves.
Turns out, we aren’t alone.
Women are conditioned from a young age to be polite, ask permission and not take up too much space. And “sorry” has become the word we use – often unconsciously – to adhere to those societal expectations, especially in the workplace. But every time we say “sorry,” when we have nothing to actually apologize for, it undermines our worth and makes our ideas, opinions and questions seem less valuable. Studies show that while both men and women use the word “sorry,” the threshold for the word’s use is much lower in women.
Sorry, but that word has got to go.
From now on, we’re not sorry for speaking up, we’re not sorry for having a different opinion, we’re not sorry to ask for what we need, and we’re definitely not sorry for taking up space.
In honor of International Women’s Day, we created NotSorry.com to help women everywhere break this sorry habit once and for all. Won’t you join us?

Recent Articles
- MullenLowe London Creates Campaign for Winston Fletcher Fiction Prize - Published on 02/14/2019
- The Martin Agency and Oreo Launch New Work with Wiz Khalifa - Published on 02/13/2019
- Deutsch Works with Me Too on New Campaign - Published on 02/08/2019
- McCann Shanghai and Coca-Cola Launch Annual Chinese New Year Campaign - Published on 02/06/2019
- Michael Roth Accepts the BRT Sustainability Challenge - Published on 02/04/2019
- Weber Shandwick and Stella Artois Partner Again with Water.org In Super Bowl Spot - Published on 02/01/2019
- FCB Canada Develops Campaign for PTSD Sufferers - Published on 01/31/2019
- MullenLowe London Brings Attention to Child Sexual Abuse - Published on 01/17/2019
- Helping Disappointed U.S. Soccer Fans Find a New Fandom - Published on 01/14/2019
- Hitting a Homer with Mall Ball - Published on 01/14/2019