‘SheTalks’ debuts in Surrey

WATCH ABOVE: A unique event has kicked off in Surrey. It’s called “SheTalks”. As Nadia Stewart explains, it’s modelled after TED Talks, but all the speakers are women.

A Made-in-BC speaker series geared towards women was launched in Surrey on Saturday.

Modeled after Ted Talks, the international speaker series focused on inspiring its audience through short motivational talks, She Talks founder Natahsha Raey says their goal is to give women a platform to share their stories–whatever that story might be.

“We had one of our speakers talk about having 3 suicide attempts and we had speakers that speak about their anxiety and drinking problem. These aren’t normally things that we’re OK with sharing. We’re trying to show that we all have these problems and we all need to feel free to share them so we can fully engage with eachother.”

This weekend marks International Women’s Day. At today’s event, speakers renewed calls for equal pay and an end to sexual and domestic violence. Even TransLink’s controversial transit plebiscite was part of the conversation and how it impacts women.

“Many people are standing at the bus stop late at night by themselves as women. When buses don’t come for a really long time, that’s not a great feeling,” said CLIP – Mira Oreck, Director of Strategic Partnerships for the left-leaning Broadbent Institute.

“When you’re trying to get home to your kids so you can see them before they’ve gone to school after working all night. Having better transportation service makes a really big difference in people’s lives.”

About 600 people attended She Talks’ innagural event. Organizers say the goal is to make this event an annual one and a national one, holding silimiar She Talks in Toronto and Calgary.