What Makes An Influential Woman
Discovering True Influence: Faith, Integrity, and Legacy Beyond Position
What Makes a Woman Influential?
By Dr. Kimberly L. Colbert
Being an influential woman is not determined by age, title, position, or the number of people who know your name. True influence is measured by the lives you touch, the people you empower, and the legacy you leave behind.
As a woman of faith, wife of 38 years, grandmother, great-grandmother, leader, counselor, educator, and servant, I have learned that influence begins with knowing who you are and understanding that every season of life has purpose. I refuse to allow age to determine what I can accomplish. As long as God gives us breath, there is still an opportunity to dream, grow, serve, and become.
My faith is the foundation of my influence. I believe God has uniquely planned, prepared, positioned, and purposed each of us. Faith does not mean the journey will always be easy. It means trusting God enough to continue when the road becomes difficult and believing that challenges do not cancel our calling.
I also believe integrity is essential to influence. Character matters. How we treat people matters. One of the greatest lessons I have learned is to love people more than I love a position. Titles can change, organizations can change, and seasons can change, but the impact we make on people can remain long after we leave the room.
Influential women also understand the importance of lifting others while they climb. Success should never be limited to what we accomplish for ourselves. I believe in educating, empowering, encouraging, and creating opportunities for others. There is room for more than one woman to succeed. Another woman's light does not diminish mine, and mine does not diminish hers.
The journey of an influential woman is not without challenges. Women often balance professional responsibilities, family, relationships, ministry, community service, and the emotional demands of caring for others. We may encounter stereotypes, unequal expectations, or spaces where our voices are overlooked. These experiences require resilience, boundaries, self-care, and the courage to remain authentic.
I have learned that taking care of yourself is not inconsistent with serving others. You cannot continually pour into everyone else while ignoring yourself. Influential women recognize when it is time to rest, replenish, establish boundaries, and protect their peace so they can continue serving from a healthy place.
Perhaps one of the greatest measures of influence is legacy. Generational wealth is more than the finances we leave behind; it includes the wisdom, faith, values, opportunities, education, and resources we invest in those coming behind us. As a grandmother and great-grandmother, I want the generations following me to see more than my accomplishments. I want them to see perseverance. I want them to know that dreams do not have expiration dates.
To every woman wondering whether her opportunity has passed, I say: keep going. Do not allow your age, past, circumstances, fear, or the opinions of others to determine what is possible for your future.
Be a woman of faith.
Be a woman of integrity.
Be a woman of compassion.
Be a woman of courage.
Be a woman who serves.
Be a woman who empowers other women.
And above all, be a woman whose life leaves something meaningful behind.
Influential women do not simply occupy positions—they impact people, transform spaces, open doors, and leave footprints for the next generation to follow.
My philosophy is simple: Your age does not give your dreams an expiration date.
