Ten years ago, when I first dreamed of Inspiring Girls International, nobody said yes. I knocked on door after door, and door after door stayed firmly closed. I was told it wasn’t viable. That the world didn’t need another charity, certainly not one focused on girls’ aspirations. That the idea was too ambitious. That I didn’t have the international reach or influence to make it happen.

Some of that rejection hurt. Being told no made me doubt myself. And there were moments when it would have been much easier simply to accept that perhaps that people were right. But today, as we celebrate International Day of the Girl and the charity’s tenth anniversary with our new campaign Thank You for the No, I want to tell you this: being told no was one of the greatest gifts I received.

Every “no” I heard only made me more certain that this work had to happen. Because behind every closed door were millions of girls quietly lowering their ambitions before they had even had the chance to discover how high they could reach. So when the usual routes to funding closed, I found different ones. When people doubted the idea, I went looking for those who believed in it. And when people questioned whether girls really needed role models, I listened to the girls who told us they did. And they have been telling us ever since.

Today, I’m proud to share what the charity has built. We now have 40 countries across our global network and over 1 million girls have engaged with Inspiring Girls International, online and in person. Over 300,000 girls have experienced our programmes directly, meeting extraordinary female role models. We have created a movement that has fundamentally shifted how girls see themselves and their futures

Of course, the rejections didn’t stop after the launch. They’ve continued throughout our journey, and each one has pushed us further, made us braver, challenged us to dream bigger.

This campaign isn’t just my story. Every woman I know has received her share of nos. The entrepreneur told her idea would never work. The scientist whose research funding was rejected. The leader passed over for promotion. The artist told to find a “real job.” The mother told she couldn’t have both a family and ambition.

As we step into our second decade, I want Inspiring Girls International to be a place where we celebrate what we can achieve in the face of people telling us we can’t. I want us to recognise the transformative power of being told no and doing it anyway. To understand that resilience, ambition, and breakthrough often live on the other side of rejection. What rejection pushed you forward? What moment of “no” led you to a “yes” you might never have found otherwise? How has refusal redefined your path?

The next ten years of Inspiring Girls will be even bolder than the last. We’re expanding our programmes, deepening our impact in the communities we serve, and continuing to say ‘yes’ to the work that others think we should abandon. To all the girls we’ve reached and the millions we’ll meet: don’t ever take no for an answer. To all those who said no to us early on: thank you, you made us unstoppable.

And to everyone reading this who has their own story of refusal transformed into resilience: I hope you’ll share your experience with us. Because if ten years of Inspiring Girls International has taught me anything, it’s that being told no doesn’t define us. Our response to that word does.

Inspiring Girls is an international charity dedicated to raising the aspirations of girls and connecting them with female role models from a wide range of sectors, careers and backgrounds, helping them discover possibilities they may never previously have considered. Donations made to Inspiring Girls between 6-13 October are being match funded by Big Give. More information and donation link here.