Unite - Meet Bri Lee
19 Feb 2021
At MIMCO, we're dedicated to empowering all women—and we believe that the right accessories can help you take on the world.
That's why, in line with the launch of our latest collection, we partnered with five trailblazing young changemakers who are paving the way for a better, brighter future.
Meet Bri Lee
Writer & women’s rights activist.
Bri Lee has had a complex journey through the Australian legal system—both as a judge’s associate in the District Court of Queensland, as well as the complainant in her own sexual abuse case.
We sat down with Bri to talk about her transition to a career in writing, and her passion for speaking out on the issues affecting women in our communities.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
“I am a writer and author of many different things. I write shorter pieces about important issues for newspapers, I write my books, I write whatever I want—which is a huge privilege in my line of work. To be able to follow stories I’m passionate about, interview people I’m inspired by and bring attention to things I think people should be speaking about.”
How did you get into writing?
“I actually come from a law background—I’m qualified to practise law. But what I saw in the legal industry I found truly shocking and thought it would be really important to write about. So, I quit law and became a writer. I promised myself I would give myself 10 years to make it as a writer, and if I couldn’t, I would go back to law on my hands and knees. But I’ve been very fortunate, and it looks like I won’t have to do that.”
What do you love most about what you do?
“I love that it’s different every day and that I get to be led by what I care about most. I’m in the incredibly fortunate position that I get to choose what books I write next, who I want to interview next, which stories I want to go out and hunt and research next. I feel a very deep sense of satisfaction and fulfilment in the work I do.”
What does empowerment mean to you?
“Empowerment means being able to do what I want and be supported doing it. It’s something that comes more easily to some than others, depending on community, depending on society… I think it’s really important that when we speak about women searching for empowerment, we make sure nobody gets left behind.”
“It’s an ever-evolving relationship and journey. Grappling with different stereotypes and different categories you get put into by society - age, race, where you sit on the socioeconomic scale - these are all things that we have to constantly deal with. You’re always going to grow and change and be different.”
Can you tell us about your own path to personal empowerment?
“I feel like I’m finally in a really good place, but my personal path to empowerment was rocky. I went through the legal system on both sides—I was the complainant in a matter that took two years and went to trial. But I’m here where I am now with all of my people still around me. Every day I am grateful for that.”
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“To treat people the right way on the way up, and not just because you think you might meet them on the way down. It’s about chasing your goals and being really ambitious and really hungry, but not losing sight of the kind of human being you actually want to be. Journalism and law can be really cut-throat industries where it’s easy to lose sight of kindness when you’re chasing a case or chasing a story. Being kind, every single day has done me well. I’ll never forget that.”
What is your hope or vision for women in the future?
“Honestly, that we will be governed by people that look like us. It’s hard to expect women to be able to unite when the people in power are not representative of the populations they control. We can’t have a conversation about uniting together until we have proper representation—real, true intersectionality.”
Tell us about your latest book, Beauty. What message do you hope readers will take away from it?
“Beauty is an essay length book which explores why women’s advocacy, rights and interests have come so far in the last few decades and yet we are still stuck in these stricter and stricter beauty standards. If I had to pick one thing that people take away from it when they read it, it’s that self-esteem is a valuable resource that is deliberately kept in short supply—for women in particular. If you can’t feel good about yourself on a daily basis, you can’t be being your best self, doing your best work or making the best possible contribution.
“People feel empowered and strong when they are able to show the rest of the world what they feel like on the inside. But there’s always a double-edged sword; it’s a gilded cage. Women can dress themselves, women can perform with their style, but women are also very obviously punished if they don’t, sometimes. Often, we know our society is kinder to people who are prettier. These are fights that we need to keep fighting.”
Shop the Unite collection, as seen on Bri Lee
