Kerrin Miller – A Radical Activist with Ease and Grace

By Ednah Khosa and Audrey Riley

For this month’s blog article, and in the month of her special birthday, we would like to introduce you to Kerrin Miller, Factor10’s co-founder and share a little of her story with you. Kerrin’s email signature modestly signs her off as ‘Coaching Psychologist and Co-Founder’ and yes, she is those things, but she’s so much more as well – entrepreneur, change activist, mother, champion of justice, wife, reader, animal lover, deep thinker, people developer, empathic listener and a believer in abundance – are just a few of the titles we can add.

The different titles are a reflection of the many different roles we play and our roles and titles are usually a reflection of our story. We all have a story – a story about our past that has shaped the story about our present and influences the story of our future – and Kerrin has graciously agreed to share her story with us. This is an act of deep courage and kindness. As Iylana Vanzant says, ‘It’s important that we share our experiences with other people. Your story will heal you and your story will heal someone else. When you tell your story, you free yourself and give other people permission to acknowledge their own story’.

Kerrin was born a feminist. Coming from generations of strong women, Kerrin is the third generation of degreed women in her family, which she is very proud of. Defying the norm and changing the narrative, all the women in Kerrin’s family continued to work, even after marriage, which was rare during those times. Kerrin also credits the men in her family for helping shape her views. ‘I think your early family system frames so much of your world view. To be honest, the men in my family – my father and my grandfather – were actually more of an influence as a feminist. They had been raised by strong women, women who held the fort and were the rock in their families.’ Kerrin’s dad, in particular was a feminist – probably because he was raised by a single mother – and was very focused on the women in his life having their own career and own money. These values of independence, empowerment and equality shaped Kerrin and are key in how she is raising her two daughters.

Kerrin’s fire for women empowerment was ignited as a teenager in an all-girls school. After school, it was with eagerness and a drive to make a difference for women’s rights that she joined a feminist group at university, however once Kerrin realised she’d have to burn her bra and ditch her lipstick, she realised that feminism can mean different things to different people. For Kerrin, feminism means ‘women – and men – having equal access to opportunity and possibility without your gender getting in the way’.

Work has always been such an important aspect in Kerrin’s life and working with organisations to grow and develop their women has been something that she’s always wanted to do. Kerrin is really passionate about women unlocking their own meaningful, purpose-filled and independent lives – earning their own money and influencing purchasing decisions. ‘Being able to be and do something that is meaningful and not being held back by your gender is critical. In the workplace it’s about casting aside beliefs that hold us back as women and building space for everything we want and desire to be.’ Kerrin goes on to say, ‘an ignited woman has a different view on the world, her instincts says that she can be who she chooses to be, fully unlocked and can step into her potential and is able to spend her time where she can and chooses to’. Whilst acknowledging the baked in biases and obstacles that women face in their everyday existence – ‘research shows that it is going to take 200 years to equality and it is just not acceptable that someone’s granddaughter will not experience equality. There is so much work that needs to be done, we need to be further down the tracks’ – Kerrin is also aware that much has been done by many pioneering women and organisations and we need to remember to celebrate the small wins.

Kerrin also shared that for years she struggled to speak up and believed that her work and the outcomes would speak for themselves. Part of her past story was about being a ‘good girl’ – responsible, conscientious, playing by the rules, and how good girls did not upset the apple cart by disagreeing with anyone. This has been a learning experience for Kerrin, and it takes courage to be so vulnerable and speak of the weaknesses that have shaped her and more so to use this knowledge to ignite other women around you. ‘In general, I’m a women’s women – I am happy to surround myself with women and I really want women to win.’

Kerrin has a strong desire to leave the world a better place and by tapping into this value, she has discovered her brave heart. She has removed the armour of perfectionism and has some pertinent advice to share, ‘Be brave, be brave sooner. I wish I had ‘ignited’ earlier, that I had taken bolder action at an early age, so yes, be braver and take risks. Use your intuition, breathe, exhale and trust. Relax, you have all you need ’.

It is so much easier to say that in order to succeed in life you have to follow your passion than it is to actually do it and succeed at it – something which Kerrin has managed to do and is succeeding gracefully.