In her brilliant book Becoming, Michelle Obama talks about a habit that has sustained her for life: ‘Keeping a close and high-spirited council of girlfriends – a safe harbour of female wisdom’.

Here at Virgin Atlantic we have our own version of that council called the Scarlet Network. Started in 2016 by head of category Caz Johnson and capacity control manager Dawn Horrod, the Scarlet Network has grown from an initial 30 members to nearly 600 today. The network dictum is ‘Taking women to the next level’, and their aim is to improve the lives of women and help progress their careers. They achieve this by holding networking sessions, bringing in some brilliant and inspirational guest speakers and by developing and sharing skills. It’s about letting women know that we recognise their talent, have got their back and support them if they want to do more.

The Scarlet Network helps women break out from self-limiting beliefs and a lack of confidence. It can help people feel fulfilled in their role, and able to tap into another source of support and development. It’s about positioning women at Virgin Atlantic to be at their best as much as possible.

Caz has recently earned a promotion, something she partly attributes to the experience gained from being in the network. “Working in finance, I was constrained by a particular outlook and mindset,” she says. “The network in Scarlet allows you to find different perspectives from around the business. To shift mindsets.”

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