The most important woman in your life. Go.

Here at Mamamia, we’ve been running a competition about The Woman That Makes Your World. We’ve asked you to tell us about an amazing woman that has influenced your life.

The winner, who’s story really touched our hearts was Erin Foster. This is her beautiful story.

When asked who the strongest, most meaningful woman in our life is, most of us respond immediately with “mum”. Or at least, a mother figure.

For me though, I think mothers deserve a whole different kind of accolade. “Strong” barely covers the commitment and effort required to push a watermelon sized being out of our lady holes.

“Meaningful” doesn’t come close to describing the big heartedness of spending 20 years caring and worrying and being infuriated by someone who really should be grateful to you, and then being unable to not love them.

So when I read the phrase, “the woman who makes your world” I thought of someone who helped me when they didn’t have to, someone who wasn’t related to me by blood.

I thought of one of my first managers, from when I worked in the fast food industry. She was a woman named Kate. She was a…dynamic individual.

Kate was hired as an assistant manager when I was a junior casual on night shift; an angry girl in my mid teens, thinking the whole world was against me. Sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn’t, but a job in fast food with night hours and no sick leave, at 60% of the normal wage left everyone feeling used.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this series of posts is sponsored by Pandora. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.

I didn’t feel like giving it my all. In fact, I didn’t feel like doing anything at all.

Kate was a young, struggling single mum. Looking for a new line of work, she called her old boss, my then area manager, to see what was available.

As luck (or fate) would have it, my store needed an assistant manager. This position, as everyone who has ever worked in fast food knows, is the one you hire so you have someone to give the impossible tasks to, and then criticise the result.

I was a cynic. I knew what that job was going to be like for her. I wonder if she did. In fact, initially, I deliberately tried not to like her, complaining about her directness and her no excuses attitude. I called her harsh, and rude.

If she knew what was being said, it didn’t show.

Kate immediately set about determining what everyone could and couldn’t do. She was a savvy woman, and I respected her perseverance and admired her attitude to work. She turned a bunch of mistreated junior workers into high-level performers and young leaders, when some of us never believed we would be more than fast food employees.

This woman gave me confidence, and skills that went beyond making the fastest cheeseburger. Things I never thought were in my reach.

And she taught me obvious things, like having pride in my work regardless of whether anyone would see it, to be confident in myself so that I could keep being better, regardless of what anyone else told me. She taught me to have fun, and that the best way to feel inspired was to inspire someone else.

This woman brought me out of the night shift, took a risk and put me on her team when no one else wanted me. She then trained me and pushed me until I could stand in front of anyone and say, with the same level of confidence Kate always had: “Yes. I can get that done.” And then get it done, without trampling on anyone else.

Above all, she taught me the importance of teamwork.

The best advice she ever gave me was, “shut up!”

She said it with a smile, but she was serious. (Her capacity to do this, even in the most stressful situations, was incredible.) I was running my mouth when I should have been working. I doubt she’d remember that moment, but to me, it was an epiphany.

My capacity to shut up is what makes me good at what I do now, whether that’s to stop talking and get on with the job or to stop and listen. Because I’ve since learned that actions really do speak louder than words, and often the best statement you can make is none at all.

I called her last weekend. We hadn’t spoken in ages. If I hadn’t seen the Pandora series here on Mamamia, I don’t think I would have contacted her, and that’s a shame. My roster is always changing, but I’m going to make time to have coffee and catch up with her.

After all, women who make such a personal difference to people don’t show up in your life often.

As this is the final post in our “Women who make your world” series, we thought this gallery of inspirational quotes was fitting. Take a look. 

Who is the most inspirational woman in your life?

The Pandora ESSENCE Collection helps enable women to express their innermost self through 24 hand-finished sterling silver charms with key values such as joy, hope, love, loyalty, passion, balance, compassion and health, and crafted to exacting standards from symbolic materials.

The 24 meanings of the charms have been defined through an international survey with more than 7500 PANDORA Club members, who have rated the values in life most important to women. Despite cultural differences, the results showed that regardless of ancestry, religion, political attitudes and income, women all share fundamental values.