By Gulnaz Brennan
This is where the heartbeat of She Inspires lives between the headlines.
The Founder’s Journal is my space to reflect, share, and sometimes simply pause. Here, you’ll find stories that don’t always make the stage — moments behind the scenes, thoughts on leadership, community, resilience, and the quiet revolutions led by women every single day.
You’ll also find The Judging Diaries, a weekly glimpse into the vibrant, unpredictable, and deeply human world of our awards judging process — from early morning Zoom calls to the powerful stories of our finalists.
Whether it’s a letter to our community, a moment of personal reflection, or a celebration of quiet courage, this journal is a window into the journey we’re on — together.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for walking with me.
Gulnaz x
The Judging Diaries – Friday Wasn’t Cancelled
By Gulnaz Brennan, Founder – She Inspires Awards
No matter how many years you’ve done it, there’s always something sacred about this time of year—the moment the She Inspires Awards move into Stage Two.
It’s the part few ever see, tucked away behind the stage lights and photo frames—the quiet intensity, the quiet chaos, the quiet courage. Welcome to The Judging Diaries.
Stage Two is the beating heart of our awards. It’s where stories are no longer just written on paper—they are spoken, felt, and witnessed. It’s where our finalists meet their judges face-to-face (or screen-to-screen), and in those fifteen minutes, lives shift. Some cry. Some rise. All inspire.
We began this week with three powerful panels:
🔹 Women in Business – Hair & Beauty
🔹 Women in Education – UK
🔹 And we ended with Agent of Change – Local, a category that pulses with community fire and grassroots magic.
Each panel is crafted with care—minimum three judges per category, sometimes four. It’s never random. It’s always intentional. Our judging process, refined year on year with the wisdom and kindness of Jackie Hyde, is robust yet gentle. Fair, yet flexible. Encouraging, always.
But no matter how watertight the planning, life has its own agenda.
Friday morning. Agent of Change. Everything set. Zoom links shared. Time slots ready. Questions printed.
Then: ping.
An email from Paula, one of our most thoughtful judges and a past winner herself. She woke up in excruciating pain—rushed to hospital. Even in distress, she said she’d try to log in from a hospital bed if she could. That’s dedication. That’s love. That’s She Inspires.
Before I could process that, another ping.
This time, Joana. Her four-month-old baby was unwell. She couldn’t join, and her message was filled with such care and apologies, you could feel the weight she carried.
Two judges down.
Now what?
We couldn’t cancel—not with finalists preparing for weeks. I did what anyone would in a moment like that. I sent out a quiet SOS into the universe.
And the universe responded. Professor Christian Harrison answered the call. Without hesitation, without fanfare. Just stepped in. Stepped up.
Still, we needed a third judge. And so… I became one.
Yes, I—the founder—usually stay out of the judging process to maintain fairness and transparency. But sometimes, life asks you to bend the rules so the moment doesn’t break. I stepped in. The panel was saved. The day carried forward. And what a day it was.
Stories of strength that make your throat tighten. Stories that don’t shout, but echo.
What this week taught me—again—is that we are surrounded by people of extraordinary spirit. Judges who jump in from wards and nurseries, finalists who dial in from different time zones or tight corners of their lives. No one ever does this for glory. They do it for belief. For connection. For change.
These are the stories behind the sparkle.
The Judging Diaries will be my way of honouring them—from the chaos to the courage, from the emails at dawn to the late-night WhatsApps, from the trembling voices of our finalists to the firm reassurance of our panelists.
Because behind every She Inspires moment is a hundred unspoken ones.
And they deserve to be told.
See you next week,
Gulnaz x