By Shenay Lewis-Hairston
In the old days, the term “power suit” conjured up images of sharp blazers, tailored pants and walking into boardrooms like you owned the building. No, but in 2025 the most powerful accessory a woman can wear isn’t a double-breasted jacket — it’s the power of her circle. Her power suit is the sisterhood.
In a climate in which obsolete dictums like “there can be only one” are still whispered around the world, women are converting their whispers into war cries. The age of comparison is receding. The age of the link has dawned..
From Competition to Collaboration
For years, multitudes of women functioned in settings that subversively fomented competition. From high school cliques to corporate ladder climbing, the prism of success was frequently presented as a solo act. You were that guy…or you were no one.
But more and more women are rethinking that old scarcity mindset. We’re finding out that shining a light on another woman doesn’t make us dimmer — it makes us brighter.
As feminist icon Bell Hooks wrote,
“Sisterhood is the connection between women that is drawn from shared experiences, a willingness to help, and a determination to remain united in struggle.”
This bonding isn’t limited to obvious quarters — it’s absolutely everywhere. From group texts with your ride-or-die girlfriends to all-women co-working spaces to spiritual retreats where strangers become your soul sisters in a weekend.
The Rise of Women Who Lift
💼 In Business:
Women entrepreneurs are working together more and more as opposed to competing. Think: an Instagram shoutout, a shared vendor list, a pop-up shop or a referral that flows through the room like wine on girls’ night.
A prime example is Issa Rae, the visionary behind Insecure, who has established a platform for up-and-coming Black creatives not only on screen, but also behind the camera. When she produces, she seeks out women on purpose, lifting up novices and establishing not just series, but tracks.
“I’m rooting for everybody Black,” Rae famously declared, and her work suggests that she truly meant it. Her advocacy for women in film and tech is a testament to the idea that when you make it, you can take your whole community along with you.
“I just feel like my purpose is bigger than me. I want to leave a world with more women raising each other up,” said business magnate Sophia Amoruso, founder of Girlboss.
🎓In Education and Mentorship:
Whether it is a professor nudging her student toward applying for a grant or a CEO mentoring the next generation, women are consciously creating space. They’re not just sending the elevator back down — they’re building new floors.
The Soul Science of Sisterhood
Let’s get nerdy for a second. Women with a strong female clique are more successful, less stressed and they live longer according to research by Harvard and Stanford. Why? Because connection is not a luxury — it’s a lifeline.
When women gather, we:
• No gatekeepers (share everything you got)
• Acknowledge Each Other’s Experience
• De-stigmatize ambition, and vulnerability and everything in between.
• Share with each other that we are not alone
That’s not mere support — it’s strategy.
The Quiet Power of Everyday Sisterhood
Sisterhood does not always look the way it does on Instagram or deep on the red carpet. Some are found in:
• The mom who sends a text message during a crazy day that says “You’re doing great”.
• A barista who knows your name and your caffeine order
• The cousin who never stops hyping your side hustle
• The online group chat that doubles as your therapy session at midnight
Sisterhood is made not only of the grand moments, but the small ones. And more often than not, it’s less about blood ties than it is about chosen kinship..
How to Build (and Be) a Power Sister
Not sure where to start? Try this:
• Be the first to cheer: Cheer your sisters on loudly and regularly.
• Names in rooms of opportunity: Recommend, refer, repeat.
• Show up when it’s hard: Fun is easy — true sisterhood shows up at times of struggle.
• Apologize and grow: Women supporting women isn’t silence — it’s learning to grow through tension.
Most of all, know that you deserve to be in powerful spaces, and you don’t have to get there alone.
Sisterhood Is the Uniform of the Future
Here’s the kicker: Sisterhood is not a fad. It’s not a “girl power” hashtag or a cute tagline for matching tees. It’s the uniform of the future — the secret weapon for women who are entering rooms to make decisions; to make art; to make change.
So, let the world dominate in pinstripes. We’ll wear connection.
We’re no longer cutting ourselves up to fit into boxes. We are joining arms, lifting voices, and rewriting the rules.
For this is what happens when women stand together:
We don’t just survive.
We innovate, we heal, we save, we build and we secure.
✨ Final Thought:
The next time someone asks what you’re wearing to that big meeting, big audition, big day—tell them this:
“I’m wearing sisterhood. And it looks amazing on me.”
