Thursday, December 21, 2017

Lawyer and woman for all seasons

Ms Sally Mahihu. PHOTO | FILE Ms Sally Mahihu. PHOTO | FILE 
Apart from running a law firm (Bowyer Mahihu & Co. Advocates) for the past 32 years, Senior Counsel Sally Mahihu also founded Seasoned Woman Forum. It is a forum where women gather with the intention of discovering their purpose in life through being challenged, provoked and encouraged through this journey of discovery based on their seven seasons.
These are seasons of waiting, isolation, submission, promoting others, threshing, preparation and harvest.
Sally met JACKSON BIKO at her law firm in Lavington.
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When was the last time you were provoked intellectually. spiritually or emotionally?
(Pause] Recently, during the elections. I am a born again Christian and all the tribal ideologies going around grieved me. I was concerned that well respected church leaders were speaking in different voices yet the church is supposed to speak in one voice since we are hearing the same one God.
What do you think is the biggest challenge that affects women in professions?
Balancing between work and family. Many women tell me that sometimes as a woman climbs the corporate or leadership ladder she may find that she may be partnered with a man, a husband who is not supportive of her success and this may cause challenges in the marriage or relationship. These are the kind of issues we address during our seasoned woman meetings. A lot of women choose to walk in wisdom.
Firstly by not disclosing or publicising their success or wealth and sometimes unfortunately some women end up underplaying their role and hiding behind the shadows to avoid standing out which means they may not end up as influential or impactful as they should. Others reject positions and appointments to avoid upsetting the status quo at home.
How is that resolved?
During our women meetings, I often provoke and challenge the women to understand and embrace the seven Ps in order to overcome the challenges of being a professional. Namely knowing your PERSON. Who are you, what are your gifts, talents, skills, goals dreams, aspirations and what are your weakness and proclivities so that you choose the right spouse who will not hinder you but together you will propel each other to your destinies. The other P is knowing your PURPOSE that which you are passionate about because once you know it you will not agree to forsake it for anything, the other P, is her PLACE locating her place / sphere/ mountain/ industry of influence where she becomes a voice.
The next P is the PEOPLE to whom you have been called to influence and impact and the people who have been assigned to influence and impact you. That way you will connect with the right people, the next president is your PRINCIPLES— developing and maintaining a personal code of ethics to guide you when making hard choices and decisions, the next is the PROCESS aka the seasons of life that a woman must undergo in reaching her goals, the next P is the PRICE that a woman must pay, the pain she must undergo and the necessary sacrifices she must make to reach her destiny. 
So what if a woman “downplays” her career at the expense of her marriage and years later it all goes acropper? Under what circumstances would you advise a woman to forgive her husband’s infidelity?
This is always very personal and each woman must make her own choices and decisions depending on her specific and unique circumstances, her values and her priorities.  I wrote an article about three years ago about Hillary Clinton. I called it “The Hillary Clinton Calculation”.
When Bill misbehaved, she  chose to focus on the bigger goal because she knew where she wanted to get to eventually and since she knew she would need his influence to reach her goals and actually he did play  a big role in her political career, even though things did not work out for her.
I am sure she had weighed her decision very carefully and no one has a right to judge her  because sometimes a woman may make a sacrifice that may not bear the intended fruit. So I had to write another article after she lost the presidency and explain that.
You have been married 30 years now, if you are to take another stab at marriage what would you do differently?
By the grace of God I have a good marriage and a husband who is a precious gift from God. What I would do differently is give as much support to my husband in his endeavours as he has given me over the years. Because he has sincerely been a great support to me. 
Because you run Seasoned Woman, what season are you in right now?
I’m in the season of reaping, the harvest season. When you are harvesting what you have been sowing throughout the other seasons. I am harvesting everything I have put into the women’s ministry, my giving to the church, my family, my career. I sense it. I can feel it even in my moods. I feel I am in the best season of my life.  Everything is flowing well. I have gone through the worst stages.  Right now nothing can shake me. I have such a grace to endure any manner of storm possibly also because I am more anchored in  my relationship with Christ.
I founded the season woman forum five years ago and beyond dealing with career and marriage we address several other aspects of a woman’s life such as parenting health and well being, fashion and beauty, and patriotism, among other issues.
My vision for the Seasoned Woman’s Forum is to provoke the woman in the marketplace to locate her sphere/mountain of influence in the society and nation so that she can be an agent of positive transformation and a voice in that sphere and the mission is to create a platform where women can meet together to edify and empower one another as we face the challenges of life in the marketplace.
At the Seasoned Woman Centre we address the soft issues such as character which I strongly believe is the bedrock upon which all the technical skills a women may possess is founded on.
In short I encourage the women to embrace the seasons of life and to allow those seasons to mould and sculpture her into a vessel of honour, dignity and strength.

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