As a part of our ongoing coverage of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, Oola is highlighting inspiring women across a variety of sectors.
It’s pretty widely accepted by now that women have taken a hit during this pandemic. This is particularly true for working moms, many of whom have found themselves in the delicate balance of work-from-home and parenting/schooling/entertaining their kids stuck in the house.
The result has been a whole lot of women who have had to take a step back in their careers or have found their work suffering. There’s no doubt this has also been the case for some men. But because of traditional gender roles, perceptions of working moms, and typical distribution of household tasks, women have borne the brunt of the setbacks.
In honor of International Women’s Day, we enthusiastically recommend a website that can offer a boost to women’s careers during this challenging time. Skillshare offers over 140,000 classes for everything from personal to professional development. And there’s never been a better time to give it a try. Right now, you can get 40% off an annual membership! Here are even more reasons why you should sign up with Skillshare.
Skillshare: Improve Your Career, Explore Your Creativity
Skillshare is an online community offering thousands of classes for creative, curious, and career-oriented folks. They aim to not only foster creative exploration but also to help people develop and improve their career-related skills. It’s the perfect learning tool to try out during this isolated, stuck-at-home period of time. And it’s an incredible way for women to give themselves (and their careers) a gift this year.
Learn All Kinds of Skills
One of the awesome things about Skillshare is how many different kinds of classes. There are three main categories of classes: Create, Build, and Thrive. Skillshare’s Create section includes a variety of artistic and creative pursuits, including Creative Writing, Illustration, Graphic Design, and Music. A few of their coolest Create classes are Creative Nonfiction: Write Truth with Style (by the incredible Susan Orlean!), Fundamentals of DSLR Photography, and Iconic Women in History: Draw Your Inspiration. But there are so many other amazing options that are worth exploring and will keep you inspired for months (if not years!).
Skillshare’s Build section is perfect for entrepreneurs, marketers, social media managers, leaders, and the like. The Build topics include Business Analytics, Freelance & Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Management, and Marketing. A few classes we love are Grow Your Business with Pinterest Analytics, Inclusion & Diversity at Work: Skills for Confident Conversations About Race, and Work from Home as a Creative.
Skillshare’s “Thrive” section is a little more life-centered than career-centered. Lifestyle and Productivity are the main topics of “Thrive.” Some great classes include Design for Renters: Reversible Interior Design, Real Productivity: How to Build Habits That Last, and Knitting I: Learn the Basics with a Simple Scarf.
Individual classes tend to be between 20 minutes and three hours. Some classes work great for standalone learning, while others are more of a series that allows you to invest even more time in your desired skill. If you’d like to try it out, you can get 40% off an annual Skillshare plan now through 3/31/21!
Skillshare Plans and Pricing
One of our favorite things about Skillshare is that it’s affordable—especially when you realize how many helpful classes are available! Skillshare has a few different pricing options, depending on your needs and interests.
First off, Skillshare does offer some free lessons so that you can get a sense of the style, content, and topics of their classes.
The cheapest (and most popular) option is their Premium Annual plan. Billed annually at $168, the annual plan breaks down to just under 14 bucks a month. This is a huuuge markdown from the Premium Monthly plan, which comes in at $32 per month, a total of $384 for a whole year. That’s why committing to an Annual plan is, in our opinion, well worth it.
Both Premium plans allow unlimited access to all Skillshare courses, interaction with a creative and inspiring community, the ability to download classes to your devices, and ad-free learning, as well as some fun, varied perks. Memberships also fund the royalty pool that pays teachers every month, which means members get to help support the talented group of people who share their knowledge on Skillshare.
The good news is that you don’t just have to take our word for how great Skillshare is. The company allows curious customers to do a seven-day, free, cancel anytime, no-risk trial. There’s really no reason not to give it a go and see what they have to offer!
Get Inspired and Start Creating
Skillshare is a motivating, useful service for any year. But it’s particularly well-suited for the situations and struggles we’re all facing at the moment.
So many of us are feeling like our careers are lagging or that—contrary to popular belief—we’ve actually had less opportunity to cultivate our skills and passions. Skillshare is the perfect antidote to this slump. And it’s also a great replacement for the in-person learning that some of us may be dearly missing during all these lockdowns.
So, if you’re looking for a new source of inspiration and challenge, or if you’re looking for a way to boost your career and creative skills, Skillshare might be just the thing.
In honor of International Women’s Day, give the gift of fun, creative learning to an important woman in your life, or better yet, yourself! As women living through this pandemic and all its challenges, we’ve earned it.
If you’ve always been curious about a certain subject—like interior design, real estate, or graphic design—or are just looking to brush up on some skills, Skillshare has the knowledge you need at a (more than) fair price. Plus, it’s fun and easy! Sign up today for 40% off an annual membership.
