ISSUE NO. 13
FEMALE TECH LEADERS
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WELCOME LADIES! by
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We are living different times... Lockdown in most of the countries are forcing people to slow down, finding new ways to connect and understanding that sometimes a hug is a huge thing! This edition is about hope... and sharing people experiences about working from home, managing remote teams and building a community. We are also rebranding to FEMALE TECH LEADERS! We continue with our mission and vision but it is time to move on and grown up!More focused then ever insupporting the female tech women! We are also just have our first online festival it was a sucess with more than 200 women signed up. and 30 speakers. Huge thank you to all speakers and atteendees! Stay safe! Candyce Costa - Founder and Disruptor
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To empower and nurture digital and tech women in business and life to achieve their true potential and connecting them to create a collaborative and powerful community.
OUR VISION To create the most collaborative and encouraging platform to accelerate the change of the role of women in business and in the modern society.
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INTERVIEWS CHRISTINE FLETCHER HELEN DISNEY INDERJIT BIRAK JANET SNEDDEN DR JANE THOMASON LAURA DEGIOVANNI MAAYAN GORDON MONICA NGUYEN LEANNE ROBERS TANIA BOLER SEEMA KHINDA JOHNSON ELSAMARIE D'SILVA AMY LYNCH CHRISTINA MANN SYLVIA CARDIM DE MELO
ARTICLES 10 TOP TIPS FOR WORKING REMOTELY THREE WAYS AI AND SMART TECH CAN HELP US WORK MORE EFFICIENTLY AT HOME 10 TOP TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE ONLINE MEETINGS 10 TOP TIPS FOR MANAGING REMOTE TEAMS TECHNOLOGY AND DATA ARE THE NEW WEAPONS IN THE WAR ON COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS) HOW SMALL BUSINESSES CAN BOOST SALES ADDRESSING RACIAL AND ECONOMIC INEQUITY A LEADER’S GUIDE TO SUPPORTING BOTH INTROVERTS AND EXTROVERTS THROUGH THE HIDDEN DANGERS OF SELF ISOLATION AND SOCIAL DISTANCING THE GIG ECONOMY IS ON THE RISE - IS IT FOR YOU? BASICS - MY TOP ADVICE TO HELP PEOPLE GROW MARTECH – A BUZZ WORD OR AN ESSENTIAL PART OF EVERY MODERN COMPANY? MUM OF 4 TURNED CRYPTO BROKER EXTRAORDINAIRE FAMILY AND CAREER — PRIORITIES THAT ARE NOT XOR (EXCLUSIVE OR) WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN YOU'RE NOT IN THE ROOM YOU BELONG IN TECH SHAPING A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE CULTURE AT CODEGRAM
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TRY TO BE A RAIN BOW IN SOME ONE ELSE'S CLOUD. MAYA ANGELOU
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APRIL 2020 THANK YOU TO OUR SPEAKERS
People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things Quote by Edmund Hillary
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INTERVIEW
CHRISTINE FLETCHER Vice President, Development Biostatistics at GSK
Christine, please share with us your career journey until today as the Vice President, Development Biostatistics at GSK. My career journey started as an Assistant Statistician at ICI Pharmaceuticals. I then became a Study and Project Statistician at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals. I further developed my role at Amgen to become a Biostatistics Therapeutic Area Head and Regional Head. Recently I joined GSK as the Vice President, Development Biostatistics. Share with us one story that explain your determination, your perseverance, your grit. When I was 15 my dad suddenly passed away unexpectedly. I was the last person to see him alive. This life changing event had a profound effect on me. I realised that life is short and no one has a crystal ball and knows the future. So I have a mantra to live every day to the full, to love every day, and to make the most of every day. I have great energy and passion to make a difference. because I want to enjoy my life to the full. Life is too short, make the most of it.
When I mentioned how it is to be a woman in a boardroom full of men, your replied: "You have to have Courage and Confidence to be a voice at the table" Unfortunately, women often are not confident or underestimate their skills and sabotage themselves. How did you work through your self-doubt? I told myself that I have great ideas and I can add value but only if I had a voice at the table. The more I spoke up, the more I realised my views were appreciated.
CHRISTINE FLETCHER When we discussed about the "new" work environment, you said that we should update our skills or can risk to be left behind and we agreed that the big challenge is that not only the workplace but life in general are changing fast and we must adapt faster. What would be your advise if your 20 year old younger was placed to live and work in 2020? Be clear on your strengths and keep building your skills in these areas. Understand the skills needed for future success in the sector you work in, and take control to upskill in areas key for differentiating yourself to others. Regularly challenge yourself and keep learning. Be familiar with the tools and technologies required. Remember communication skills are as important as technical knowledge. We talked about being a woman in STEM what was your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them? Balancing work commitments living in the UK with a young family and working in a company headquartered in California was challenging. It was made easier when my husband took a career break to look after the children, having flexible working arrangements which allowed me to work at home to participate in late afternoon / evening teleconferences, and having fantastic line managers who gave me great opportunities to advance my career. Another related challenge was keeping my skills up to date, especially during the years I had my children, so I could be considered fairly with other colleagues for promotion opportunities.
When I asked if you are a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty person your answer was "my glass is over flowing!". I have great energy and passion to make a difference. Being a mum (Christine has 3 children) how is juggling family, career and your own ambition? What would you be your best advise to keep the optimism and the balance between your career and personal life? I'm lucky to have had great support by friends and family to grow my career, be part of a wonderful and loving family and find time for myself to keep fit and healthy. Your children and family need different things from you at different times. My advice is to find a balance that works for you which may change over time. You may be building your career when your kids are young and then you have other caring responsibilities. It is important to balance work and family commitments with finding time for yourself. Exercise is a daily commitment to me as it helps me be prepared mentally and physically so I can be my best at work and at home.
LOVE LIFE, LIVE LIFE TO THE FULL. FAVORITE QUOTE CHRISTINE FLETCHER
HELEN DISNEY Serial Entrepreneur, Connector into Blockchain. Founder of Unblocked.
Tell us about you and your business/career. I am a serial entrepreneur and currently the CEO of Unblocked, a platform for blockchain events, information and research which I set up in 2016 to educate senior executives about the application of emerging technologies. I formerly worked in public policy think tanks and was a journalist at The Times newspaper in London. What links the different parts of my career is storytelling - being able to take complex ideas and humanise them for everyone. How your idea for the future in technology? All of us will be empowered to securely trade or share information, data and financial assets with any other person in the world at the touch of a button. We will own our own digital identities and will be able to self-organise ourselves into networks that support our business and economic, as well as social and humanitarian objectives.
Share with us one story that explain your determination, your perseverance, your grit. Or a personal story that explain your love for tech. I am currently working closely with a health tech start up I met through an innovation showcase at one of my Unblocked events. I love their story because their business came about through solving a personal need - the founder was a woman who wanted to help care for her mother remotely when she was in the UK and her family was in India. Now she is pivoting her business to also be able to provide support for the Covid-19 pandemic. The company is called Poonyah Care because Poonyah means 'good karma' in Hindi. I love innovation stories like this and working with companies that show how technology is a tool for human progress and increasing our happiness not just an end in itself.
HELEN DISNEY Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to persue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? I think I have been very lucky as I have always been encouraged to pursue my dreams by my family, my teachers, my mentors and my bosses. However, I have certainly had times where I felt like a failure - or actively failed and made mistakes. It's important to acknowledge when we fail and why so that we can pick ourselves up and move forward. Failing is a horrible feeling but it usually teaches us a lot about ourselves and helps us to grow as a person and as an entrepreneur. When these low moments happen, I usually allow myself a short time to wallow and acknowledge the difficulties and then try to look ahead and see what I can do to move forward in new ways. In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women succeed in the workplace/business? I don't think it's one obstacle (and it's different for all of us) but it's a combination of society needing to shift its approach to how we combine family and work and also women themselves not holding back from pursuing their full potential. The current situation where we are all working from home is positive in some senses in that it is helping break down traditional corporate structures and showing people how many women have had to juggle multiple priorities for years and manage children or caring tasks from home while still getting their work done efficiently.
About the tech world, what keeps you up at night? I worry about data privacy and about whether we are giving up too many powers by simply not understanding the terms and conditions of what we click on unthinkingly. What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before started your career/business? Get educated so you can feel confident andreally demonstrate your commitment to what you want to do, find your niche and stick to it so you are clearly identified with a topic or set of skills. See how you can turn your existing skills into a new area. When it came to me getting into blockchain, I initially thought it was not for me as I didn't have programming skills or a background in finance but it turned out my communications, research and events skills were greatly needed in the industry and I was able to develop that into my niche as an educator and bridge into the technology for other non-technical business people wanting to understand strategically how blockchain could apply to them. So, don't dismiss yourself and your experience without thinking laterally first. What did you learn from your biggest failure? Good people are everything - don't rush into hiring someone out of desperation to meet a deadline. Hire the right person who you get on with personally as well as having full faith in their professional abilities and don't ignore any initial niggling doubts you have about them as they will likely only magnify over time.
WORK HARD AND BE NICE TO PEOPLE.
FAVORITE QUOTE HELEN DISNEY
INDERJIT BIRAK Managing Security Consultant Fujitsu
Indi, please share with us your career journey until today as Managing Security Consultant. From a young age I wanted to be an optician, however, life does not always go the way you planned. I did not do as well as I had hoped in my first year modules in Science at A `level. Seeing the grades on a paper in front of me, I felt a variety of emotions, frustration that I had such bad results, despite my hard work, upset at the realisation that the career I had dreamed of pursing for so long was no longer a viable option and panic, what was I supposed to do next? Whilst feeling all of these emotions I was simultaneous trying to weigh up my options on the new career direction I needed to take and the practical side of me kicked in. I focused on what subject I had been good at, business studies. Then I considered what was happening in the world in terms of focus on careers. I was aware that IT and computing courses were popular, IT was being used more and more, so I decided to change my A `levels to IT; Accounting and continue with Business Studies. I felt these subjects would give me a board understanding and time to work out what I wanted to do moving forwards in my education and ultimately my career. I was predicted really good grades for my A `levels, but again, I didn't do as well as I had hoped, however, I did get enough UCAS points to get on to the degree I had chosen, a BSc Hons in Business Information Systems. I still was not sure what career I wanted to pursue specifically, but I felt this would give me an understanding of how IT is used in business. It was a growth area and I felt it would give me more career options, as I was still unsure exactly what I wanted do. It was during my placement year at university that I realised the career path I wanted to take. I got the opportunity to work as part of an information security team. Whilst it was an unfamiliar subject to me at the time; I really enjoyed learning about the importance and ways of protecting information, and complying with industry good practice. By the end of the year, I knew this was the area I wanted to pursue my career in, so after completing my degree I studied for a Masters in Security and Organisational Risk Management. I felt this put me in a strong position when applying for jobs, as I not only had a degree; I also had 14 months of experience. It all worked out and I got my first job as a security consultant, with a then small consultancy. I really enjoy working with clients to understand their information security needs and challenges, helping them to define and implement solutions that work for them. From the consultancy firm I joined Fujitsu Services Ltd, as security consultant, where I have been for the last, nearly 14 years. I have progressed over the years from security consultant to managing consultant. Taking on new, exciting and at times challenging assignments and roles. All of this has enabled me to learn, grow and progress to where I am today.
INDERJIT BIRAK As a child, you want to be an optician. Then, after not doing as well as you had hoped in your exams, you decided to study Business Information Systems. This is still a very male dominanted industry but you have never felt that "you did not fit as a woman". What gave you confidence to carry on? My parents always encouraged my sisters and I to pursue our career choices, saying we could be whatever we wanted to be, we just needed to work hard and take the opportunities that came our way. So my attitude has always been as long as I work hard and have that self belief, gender should not come into it, I’ve earned the right to be there. You said that talent is not based on gender (love it!) and that determination and hard work took you to where you are. What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish you knew before started your career? Believe in yourself. Acknowledge the skills and talent that you have and realise that you never stop learning. Don't be put off because you don't tick all of the boxes, focus on what you can do and consider how you will fill the gaps as you go. We are always learning and growing. What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry? Go for it. The more diverse and inclusive perspectives we have the better solutions we can create to protect organisations information and information systems. Information/Cyber security is a varied and broad industry and there are roles to suit everyone, from deeply technical to more business and people focused. There is a lot of variety so research your options to find out something that suits you.
We talked about mindset and how your family environment impacted on it. Your parents taught you that it is important to be independent as a woman and that if you are prepared to work hard, you will find great opportunities. Unfortunately, the majority of women are not confident enough or they underestimate their skills set - please share with us one story that explains your determination, your perseverance, your grit. My Dad has always said to me to believe in myself. It is not always easy to do this, but knowing I had the support from my parents to pursue my education and career, I wanted to show them and for myself what I could achieve. Now as a mother to two daughters, I am more determined than ever to show them that there are no limits to what you can achieve, but the limit you put on yourself. As a working mum (Indi has 2 daughters), What would be your advise for all mums that are trying to find the right balance? Acknowledging that it is a balancing act, and that sometimes the scale might tip one way more than the other, is important. But it should only be sometimes! If it is happening all the time, you need to stop and identify what is causing that to happen and then make changes. I try to set boundaries around work time and family time. I make sure I log off on time and take advantage of flexible working. I let managers and colleagues know that I need to do the school run, so to schedule meetings around those times. Equally if I have a work assignment that is going to involve working longer hours for a short time, then I make sure I let my children and husband know what I support I need from them during that time. Flexibility and communication are key to getting balance!
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, YOU CAN DO IT! FAVORITE QUOTE - HER DAD INDERJIT BIRAK
JANET SNEDDEN Founder Customer Kind
Janet, please share with us your career journey and the highlights of being in Analytics & Data. After graduating with a degree in Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research I joined Grand Metropolitan Plc on their graduate training programme in the Brewing Division. Yes, I started my career in beer! Whilst I had originally been taken on as a Commercial Analyst, changes in legislation at that time around loosening the tie between Brewers and Pub Retail meant that at the end of my induction period I was offered a different role in Sales. Not having much of a clue about what this really entailed, when I was offered a new car to do the job I immediately said yes! Yes – to a sales job – really, what was I thinking??!! What a learning curve, having to support and advise new pub tenants on how to grow their businesses, whilst I was a twenty something young woman who clearly had little experience in the industry (except, perhaps, from the other side of the bar in my student days!) . . . but in some ways this was my first experience of consultancy, too, where I quickly discovered that arguments based on insight and data intelligence give you a great advantage. Remarkably, I was the first women in the business to win Retail Sales Representative of the Year – a totally thrilling accolade that not only came with a big bonus but a presentation from the CEO and a holiday abroad to boot! This experience at the sharp end of the business stood me in good stead as I progressed into brands marketing at what is now GSK. The transition to soft drinks and iconic brands such as Lucozade and Ribena was a lot of fun! Being numerate, I naturally became responsible for the marketing budget and with endless rounds of budget trimming, I realise now that this is probably where my interest in marketing effectiveness began – there had to be a rationale for what got the chop and what remained in the plan. My passion for learning started here, realising that curiosity and the ability to ask the right questions, must go hand in hand with empiricism – if you are not looking at the right data then you are going to arrive at wrong conclusions. Having transferred to the agency-side relatively early in my career, I have thrived on problem solving using data and insight for my clients. I’ve worked for small specialist analytical agencies and big groups such as Wunderman and Havas, and am proud to have recently launched my own consultancy, CustomerKIND.
JANET SNEDDEN You left corporate and opened your own business 3 years ago. You mentioned it was a "Boy's Club" and that made you left - Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? Whilst many would say that I am an accomplished networker, upon reflection I am much better at this with women than men. I recognise that I have to get better at this. In hindsight, I should have put more thought into how to break into the Boys Club, and removed whatever chip on my shoulder I must have placed there! Is it just me, or are senior women more willing to meet and support as mentors than men, or is it just that more men haven’t been asked? Attitudes and behaviours have changed so much in the business world, so my advice to young women nowadays is to “just ask”. There have been times when a male boss has limited my exposure to more senior executives in the business – don’t allow this to happen if you want your true capabilities and potential to be seen by those that matter. Find a path around the problem, however creative that needs to be!
About the tech world, what keeps you up at night? I write this as the Covid-19 lockdown has been in place for a couple of weeks. Whilst I wholeheartedly believe that technology is a great gift to humanity, I am concerned that if the current commercial dynamics continue, our local communities may be catastrophically impacted. Small local businesses and regional newspapers in particularly will struggle to survive, a longer term trend that is exacerbated by the lockdown. With an aging population, thriving high streets and a connected community are essential ingredients for wellbeing, but are under severe threat. Local services are being starved of cash at a time when the tech giants are avoiding paying their fair share of tax. I can only hope that this prolonged period of being grounded at home and social distancing helps us to rethink our economic model and ensure that local services can meet the increasing needs of local people. I am proud to now be volunteering to help with initiatives in my community that support the vulnerable. I am thankful of the time to do this, despite the concern over the implications of Covid19 on my own business.
Biggest Challenge to be a woman in STEM? (Janet has a BSC Mathematics Statistics and Computer Science) The biggest challenge throughout my career has been to juggle my professional and home lives. Whilst I am extremely lucky that my husband has more than picked up his fair share of tasks at home, being ‘mentally available’ for my children throughout all their different stages has been hard. I have learned to lower expectations of myself and not sweat the small stuff.
JANET SNEDDEN When I asked what keeps you motivated, you replied without hesitation: Being Positive and Driven! And that your partner is your rock because he supports your career and ambitious 100% (Janet has 3 children). Please share with us one story that explain your determination, your perseverance, your grit. One of the biggest challenges that I have faced in my career has been taking on the leadership of a team in what was billed to be a world-class organisation, but in truth was an ego-riddled, incompetent and dysfunctional set up. Legacy issues had left the board behaving most unprofessionally and a chief exec at the helm that had his hands tied by the group. Going into work most days felt like entering a war-zone, something I did not appreciate until I hired a former colleague who called this out within days of joining. Within this toxic environment, I had to quickly work out what I need to do to survive and turn around a highly demoralised and demotivated team. Ignoring sloppy practices by other departments, first I got to work on fixing issues in my own department to improve the quality of our output. Next was a focus on new business to secure new income streams and projects that the team could get excited about, helping to create a better future and forget the past. I am a firm believer in leading by example, and despite the craziness that went on around me, I worked collaboratively with the team to define our own strategy and a plan to flourish, whilst shielding them from potentially dispiriting diktats. It was difficult to balance honesty and personal integrity with director responsibilities, but heartening to see that everyone valued a positive approach in a bad situation. Working in such a highly stressful environment could have taken its toll at home, but I am fortunate that my husband is a true partner, and was able to listen to my daily dilemmas and provide an important perspective to help me through those tough times. Reflecting that the issues were with the situation and not me gave me the inner strength to battle on. With improved team performance came improved perception and admiration from the rest of the business. Being central to winning more business gave us greater influence in the organisation. The team more than doubled in size over my tenure, attracting some of the best talent in the industry. Sheer determination against the odds had paid off. Regularly working away from home in this instance made me appreciate my “personal board”, people that watch your back whilst you are leading the charge. In addition to a loving partner, I include in that friends who made sure that my social life thrived and close colleagues – confidantes, work soul mates and fellow insurgents – who also believed in better and could celebrate all the little wins along the way.
JANET SNEDDEN Since having your own business, you faced a "roller coaster" of feelings like isolation, self doubting, connecting with the right people, you said ";big highs and big lows". What advice would you give to a woman considering start their own business or what you wish to know before you started? To start your own business and be successful you must really know yourself and make sure that you have the measures in place to amplify your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses. From a practical point of view, great ideas can fail through a lack of understanding of the success factors to get your product or service to market and then thrive. My top tips for anyone setting up their own business are: 1) Know your customer. Who is your target market and what need/want will you satisfy? To quote Simon Sinek, it all starts with “they why”. 2) Have the discipline to write a business plan. It doesn’t have to be big and it doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does require you to write down some basic assumptions that you can revisit and adapt over time. Success doesn’t come from having all the answers at the outset, but being responsive enough to what you learn as you go along. 3) Get administrative support. Your time is a finite resource – find folk who can help you with administrative tasks to free you up to develop the business. This will pay back in spades and allow you to have a life :) 4) Identify the people in your network that energise you and keep in touch with them. Not only is this good for your confidence, but can provide a healthy market perspective, too. 5) Do more of what you love and less of what you don’t. Only consider setting up a business in a field that you love or that makes full use of the things you love doing. Easy to say and perhaps less easy to do, but very important for success and happiness. One thing that has made a huge difference to me – that I did not appreciate before I started – is that your working environment is critical to the way you feel about your business. After a bit of a domestic disaster, I had to completely refurbish my home study. This was a godsend despite the inconvenience at the time! It is now bright, well-equipped and designed perfectly for my needs. I had started out in a cluttered room, with an old, make-do desk and dull surroundings – whereas now I have a stunning map of the world on one wall, a full-width workbench along another and lots of space for pinning things that inspire me. Creating a motivating workspace is well worth the effort from day one.
YOU CAN’T CONTROL EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOU, BUT YOU CAN CONTROL THE WAY YOU RESPOND.
FAVORITE QUOTE JANET SNEDDEN
DR JANE THOMASON CEO - Author - Fintech, Blockchain - Digital Impact TOP Person Ambassador.
Tell us about you and your business/career. I have worked in leadership roles in international public health for years, and made the pivot to blockchain and digital in 2017 when I realised how transformational it could be. I now lead Fintech Worldwide, the world's leading global network for Fintech, Blockchain and Digital Impact. Home to London Fintech Week and Blockchain Week.
Share with us one story that explain your determination, your perseverance, your grit. Or a personal story that explain your love for tech. My inspiration for technology and blockchain came from eureka moment, when I was thinking about the Banda Aceh Boxing Day Tsunami. In the wake of the terrible tragedy, no one had identities, all bank records, land records, health records had been washed away. Donor funds were flowing in and no way to ensure they went to the right people. I suddenly realised that blockchain, and other technologies, harnessed well could really help in tackling humanitarian emergencies and other development challenges.
DR JANE THOMASON Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to persue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? No - I have always believed if you have confidence in yourself and persistance, you can do anything. In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women succeed in the workplace/business? Themselves. What did you learn from your biggest failure? Every failure is an opportunity to learn. So reflect, learn and get up and try again more intelligently! How your idea for the future in technology? We will shift to a human centred digital economy where: We will measure value based on people and the planet We will measure impact of key value e.g. impact organisations, impact investing e.g. ESG (Environment, Social and Governance). We will see a new data privacy model with increased individual control and ability to monetise We will eliminate social economic disparity
About the tech world, what keeps you up at night? Right now - how to deploy Tech to combat the Coronavirus! What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before started your career/business? Just do it - dont be afraid to fail. Tech companies and start-up are populated by young people – they know, understand and build the tech – and we don’t. The joy of the current era is that we have experience and knowledge of the world that young people don’t have and they understand the tech and where it is going - so we have something to offer each other. Talent matters no matter what the age. Technological change is occurring at an exponentially faster pace than ever before. In order to face the future boldly, we need to “Unlearn” many of the things we were taught growing up, set aside our preconceptions and embrace what is coming with both hands and enjoy the ride! What did you learn from your biggest failure? Every failure is an opportunity to learn. So reflect, learn and get up and try again more intelligently!
NEVER GIVE UP. FAVORITE QUOTE - WINSTON CHURCHILL DR JANE THOMASON
LAURA DEGIOVANNI CEO & Founder at TiiQu
Tell us about you and your business/career.
How your idea for the future in technology?
Firstly, a young entrepreneur in the fashion sector, then a manager in a multinational company, consultant in the international development area and now I am the founder of start-up adopting emerging technologies to tackle the problem of trust and remove guesswork and assumptions from individuals' professional background. The only constant for me has always been continuous search for ways to change things for the better, my strong belief is that transparency facilitates trust and fairness, cultivates accountability, and instigate inclusiveness.
At the condition that humanity will come to collaborate in making it so. The first enemy of human beings is not technology but humans who design it. I don't know if we will be able to reverse course but I believe that if we want to do a service to future generations, we should put technology at the service of nature by giving back to the earth what we have taken away.
About the tech world, what keeps you up at night?
I was the younger of three children and the only girl. Since I was a child I learned that to be listened, you need to talk the language the others are ready to understand, it's not about giving up the dream, is about reaching the objective adapting tactics, which is something I am still trying to improve.
Designing in a fair way balancing needs and rights of every stakeholder and install a culture of meaningfulness in business
Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it?
LAURA DEGIOVANNI Share with us one story that explain your determination, your perseverance, your grit. "Building a start-up is not a matter of superior intelligence nor is it a matter of superior competence, it is a matter of anger, determination and vision" Who says this is Laura Degiovanni, a founder who in the last three years changed nation, moved from a 25 years career at international level in the retail industry to emerging technology and from the comfort of a well-paid position to the no-salary-until-revenues position of start-up founder. Steve Jobs' famous recommendation to the commencement speech at Stanford University back in 2005 "stay hungry stay foolish" needed according to Laura - the addition of the "anger" element to be perfect. Anger at which Laura refers, arises from seeing one's own values crushed and from wanting to fight the impotence that derives from it, invert the status quo, and leave the world better than what has been found. Now it is important to say that Laura had breathed entrepreneurship since when she was a child, she deeply knew how important it was to instil trust, autonomy, dialectics and inventiveness in teams across a company, She progressively grew a powerless anger towards unfair and non-efficient hierarchical systems that flatten excellences. In 2015 she left with the desire in mind to facilitate the merging of independent and fixed workforces in a liquid empowered workforce that could continue to grow its own value while contributing to the success of the company they were working for. A year later, she landed in England after a long trip to Asia with an idea that seemed to her perfect to make every worker an entrepreneur: an Airbnb for consultancy. Unfortunately, the idea was not good at all, in fact it did not solve the problem of mistrust that afflicts every 1st-gen platform.
Between that first half -failure and today there is a 3 years journey that took Laura to up-skill herself choose blockchain as the underlying technology for her project, build and re-build her team, decide not to launch the initially forecasted ICO choosing bootstrapping instead, lose part of the initial team along the way and finally release the first and then the second of TiiQu’s technologies. “That’s just the beginning of the journey” - Laura says, "from outside start-ups looks like exciting ventures, they are - however I would say founders are like sculptors: their plus is that they see the work of art that is contained in the boulder they are carving, while others just see the boulder, their hardest task is to remove the superfluous and make the truth evident to others. What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before started your career/business? Adopt a culture of never-stop learning, there is nothing you can't do, but very probably you will do it differently from males and you will need to explain it, let them digest it and follow you. So, communication and psychology are key. In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women succeed in the workplace/business? For some strange reason, women are firstly their gender and then they are human beings. Bare this in mind when you talk and act in a corporate environment. Establish your "brand" made of abilities. What did you learn from your biggest failure? Be humble.
BE STRONG BE COURAGEUS
FAVOURITE QUOTE LAURA DEGIOVANNI
MAAYAN GORDON Tiktok and LinkedIn Coach Copywriter - Speaker Influencer - Live Streamer
Tell us about you and your business/career. I've been creating and growing my own businesses for the past 9 years. From copywriting to sales marketing and web design to social media marketing I've done it all. I also work as an influencer with TikTok following of 1.7 million and quickly growing following on LinkedIn. I just started up my consultation business and am helping other businesses and brands create better digital marketing strategies. How your idea for the future in technology? I envision a future where technology helps all of us to succeed. It helps us be more efficient with our time, helps us understand and analyze our own behaviors and even helps us with our emotional conflicts. I see a world where technology integrates into every part of our lives in a POSITIVE way!
Share with us one story that explain your determination, your perseverance, your grit. When I first started out in business I was really poor. I only had $50 to my name and spent every penny on creating my new product "Diffuser Beads". The $50 was enough to make 36 jars. I then walked mile after mile to every smoke shop in our area and the 4th or 5th one bought ALL the jars! It was our first sale and still one of the best I'll ever enjoy.
MAAYAN GORDON Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to persue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? Yes, when i was starting out as a glassblower there were a lot of older male artists who would discourage me and try to get me to quit, but I tried to think about it from their perspective and saw they were just trying to protect their businesses from competition and were very averse to changes happening in the industry. Basically i realized it had nothing to do with me so i learned to block it out and ignore it. In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women succeed in the workplace/business? Their own self doubt! Women can be more critical in their own heads than anyone will be in real life. Crush that voice of self doubt and start fostering and feeding that voice of self love and confidence. What did you learn from your biggest failure? Every failure is an opportunity to learn. So reflect, learn and get up and try again more intelligently!
About the tech world, what keeps you up at night? I don't focus on the negatives enough for anything to keep me up at night. The opportunities far outweigh the risks in my opinion. What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before started your career/business? You have to be thick skinned and focus on YOUR goals! Don't let other people distract you and believe in your vision. It might take some mistakes and learning along the way but that's COMPLETELY NORMAL! No one gets to the top without mistakes. What did you learn from your biggest failure? To think further ahead into the future, look at the bigger picture, and keep learning and experimenting even when things are going well. Don't rest on your laurels.
DON'T REST ON YOUR LAURELS. LESSON LEARNED AFTER A FAILURE MAAYAN GORDON
MONICA NGUYEN Broker at AIMS OTC
Tell us about you and your business/career. I grew up as the eldest of 6 in an immigrant family with a resilient hardworking ethic instilled in me from a very young age so you could say I am a natural leader and always gravitated towards management roles in my professional life. Looking back on my career, I have always worked my way up from an entry-level role to management positions with determined drive, persuasiveness and tunnel vision focus. One to never shy away from a challenge, I build good relationships with strong teams and tackle challenges with the same gusto and resilience to completion. I currently support the trading desk at AIMS OTC as a digital asset broker, where we provide deep liquidity digital currency trading solutions for institutions, high net worth individuals and trading professionals worldwide.
What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career/business? Keep an open mind, apply for roles even if you don’t qualify everything on the job description as you can always learn on the job later, be prepared to learn as much as you can about the industry through the online courses, books, podcasts and getting connected to people in the community by attending meet-ups and conferences. Get a mentor and be committed to your development, it will increase your confidence tenfold.
MONICA NGUYEN How or what is your idea for the future in technology?
About the tech world, what keeps you up at night?
Blockchain has really moved beyond cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, and its application is now being considered for all parts of the financial system. Capital raising, trading, clearing and settlement, global payments, deposits and lending, property and casualty claims processing (InsurTech), digital identity management and authentication, and RegTech solutions (such as automated compliance, administration and risk management, and anti-money laundering and client suitability checks) have all been identified as significant potential Distributed Ledger Technology use cases, and as areas that will benefit from the advantages Distributed Ledger Technology offers. As high street banks are digitising and disappearing from public view, they face competition in new challenger banks who will continue to fill the demand gap faster and more efficiently at a lower cost. Central banks will move financial systems onto Distributed Ledger Technology further cutting costs, reducing banking fees and improving transfer times to the end customer. New emerging technologies within payments services will reach the 1.7 billion unbanked population through a mobile phone connection, changing lives for the many and make for a fairer and more inclusive society.
I am constantly meeting and speaking to people in fintech and interested in how emerging technology like blockchain and cryptocurrencies can be applied to existing payments services to distribute wealth around the world in a decentralised, opensourced and immutable way. If this emerging tech can reach people in countries crippled with high inflation or to the unbanked in the poorest countries so they can also benefit from a highly liquid currency in addition to their national currency to purchase supplies or use as a store of value to give them more financial freedom. In recent times due to the covid-19 pandemic where people are losing jobs and companies are going out of business, I am up thinking of how businesses can undergo digital transformation and the operations required to make that happen.
What did you learn from your biggest failure? No major ones spring to mind but many small failures do! For example, to stop being a doormat, to put myself first instead of what is right for the business and try to speak out more to be more vocal of my opinions and views, asking more questions no matter how silly, standing by my decisions and to be a better communicator.
Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? My parents are of a generation where a woman’s role is household centric, ultimately supporting the needs of her husband first. Supportive of working mums as they may be, I often wonder whether their direct restrictive views on ambitious women have played any part in my subconscious mind. Meanwhile, at work, I am learning to be brave and put myself forward for roles, should I get turned down, I deal with it by continuing to persevere and prepare myself anyway, learning as much as I can about payments, fintech and the trading business to keep myself open for windows of opportunities and be ready to take on those new roles with confidence.
MONICA NGUYEN Share with us one story that explain your determination, your perseverance, your grit. At age 37 with 4 kids, bored with my recruitment admin role, I was on the search for a flexible hour job that was close enough to the city for school runs. Acutely aware, this would greatly limit my options, I decided that after having accumulated nearly 10 years’ experience in the corporate business services world, I should play on my strengths and applied for the generic office manager role in corporate services. I turned up to my face to face interview in my best red dress, just to be told that the Part-time Office Manager role was taken. I hadn’t even digested the shock of the non-existent office manager role when the co-founder immediately pitched me a Cryptocurrency Broker role for a new start-up. My mind was already whizzing away from the surprise sales pitch to darker thoughts on whether this was a legitimate role or business. I was quickly brought back to the room by the job offer. ‘Do you want it?’ “No!” I replied, followed by the reasons below; 1. I did not know anything about Cryptocurrencies. 2. I did not trade. 3. I did not come from a financial background. With my CV waving in his hand, my arguments were quickly interjected with my previous experience in operations, sales, commercials running business centres and why these were transferable skills valuable in a start-up. Still not convinced, I agreed to do more research and to return for a second interview. Little did I know, how difficult the search would be, I didn’t know anyone in crypto and it quickly dawned on me how loud and noisy this industry actually was. Most of the online searches came up with get rich quick trading schemes while BBC documentaries were exerting caution and it didn’t help that I had no understanding of all the buzzwords like blockchain let alone what bitcoin really meant. Coincidentally, around the same time I was offered two other office manager roles with flexible hours and both with more money! After weighing the pros and cons, it was clear that I could always return to office management or recruitment and besides, this recent job search taught me it was a rarity for any employer to offer you a role without background knowledge and the willingness to train you from scratch. I did worry of the high risk tag associated with start-ups (because 90% fail) but ultimately concluding that even in the worst case I’d still be acquiring new skills, improving my knowledge in a nascent industry and diversifying my CV. I did not know whether this opportunity would ever come around again, I accepted the job! There I was, all by myself in a startup business on my own for almost one year! Being the only person in a quiet startup gave me the chance to catch up on my education, starting with listening to podcasts, reading and online courses. I got to see how a business was built from the ground up, all the way from creating the administrative processes to managing the crypto trading desk, over onboarding clients through the compliance process, up to networking and exhibiting. Basically, I was wearing many hats but deep down, I was still struggling terribly with confidence issues. Despite being fully immersed in the space, I was feeling overwhelmed because I still didn’t understand everything about trading, cryptocurrencies and blockchain. I was expected to take conference calls, to pitch the business, to networking, yet whenever I had to speak, I literally choked up and I struggled to articulate everything that I had been learning.
MONICA NGUYEN networking and exhibiting. Basically, I was wearing many hats but deep down, I was still struggling terribly with confidence issues. Despite being fully immersed in the space, I was feeling overwhelmed because I still didn’t understand everything about trading, cryptocurrencies and blockchain. I was expected to take conference calls, to pitch the business, to networking, yet whenever I had to speak, I literally choked up and I struggled to articulate everything that I had been learning. On one particular evening at a ‘Women in Tech Revolution’ event, I opened up to co-founder Natalie Furness. She suggested I apply for the free 12 week mentorship program and I immediately signed up and was paired with my first mentor Jess Houlgrave, a blockchain entrepreneur. It felt really good to have someone to talk to, who was able to offer support and structured development advice. She helped me overcome my fear of conference calls and speaking to strangers at events. I met my second mentor Veronica Mihai Das co-founder of a hedge fund, speaking at a ‘Women in Blockchain Talks’ event. I was so impressed by the way she was able to easily articulate Ethereum in a simple way that I had no choice but to persuade her to become my mentor and to learn from her communication skills. She really has gone out of her way to help me with setting homework and guiding me through the gaps in my learning, which has tremendously helped me increase my confidence. To this day, I still struggle with asking my boss questions, because I am afraid of appearing stupid or of annoying them. This is a challenge I am learning to overcome. The same struggle has also led me to looking into other channels for answers from being committed to finishing my online courses to networking and mentorships. Looking back at myself 18 months ago, standing in the corner of a crowded conference centre struggling to find my voice, only then I realise how far I have come, how much I have grown and how much more I have yet to achieve. I am sharing my journey of how a mum of 4 took a risk, went on to learn and challenge herself to become an experienced crypto broker and smashing stereotypes along the way with the hope it will inspire those who are also considering a career change, to encourage you to push yourself out of your comfort zone and to reinvent yourself just as I did into the 21st century. In your opinion, what workplace/business?
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From my personal experience, I suffered from confidence issues and that would hinder my sales performance or give me anxiety so I could always do with more moral support and guidance in those moments of darkness. I truly believe for more women to succeed, their partners need to be more supportive at home taking an equal share of housework and childcare, this would give women opportunities to grow and succeed in the business world resulting in more role models. Should women have as much visibility as our male counterparts on panels, board committees and management, I am confident the younger generation would aspire to apply for more senior roles in a diverse and inclusive environment. Women also need to take more risks, apply for roles that you only qualify 50% of the job description, you have to speak out about roles you desire and do not wait for jobs to fall into your lap, put yourself forward for more promotions and demand to be paid the same as the men with matching remunerations!
THE GREATEST GLORY IN LIVING LIES NOT IN NEVER FALLING, BUT IN RISING EVERY TIME WE FALL.
FAVOURITE QUOTE - NELSON MANDELA MONICA NGUYEN
TECHNOLOGY PLAYMAKER AWARDS Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020
Now in its third year, the Booking.com awards recognize and celebrate women who are transforming businesses, industries, inspiring
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With over 850 global nominations, winners were selected from among 45 finalists which spanned 20 countries
LEANNE ROBERS She Loves Tech Co-Founder and Co-CEO
Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020 and Champion of Change winner Tell us about you and your business. I want to live in a future where amazing women leaders and visionaries are able to change the world. I am the co-founder of She Loves Tech, the world's largest startup competition and accelerator program for women and technology. I am also a lead mentor for the Singapore Tourism Board Tech Accelerator. Since 2015, my team has helped scale more than 2,000 start-ups through She Loves Tech. I also deliver talks and workshops to help women in tech become confident leaders and was selected in 2019 as an Obama Leader (Asia Pacific). Most recently, I won the Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020 and Champion of Change award from Booking.com.
How did you decide to go into your industry and did you always know that was what you wanted to do? Nope! And it’s a big reason I’m able to do what I do now. I worked in business development, then I was a consultant, and then I started three very different businesses: a tech platform to match artists with buyers, a fintech company, and a hospitality business. Each experience taught me a ton, and they were the right things for me at that time. And the totality of those experiences brought me to She Loves Tech – I couldn’t do what I do now without the perspective and skills I picked up on the way.
LEANNE ROBERS Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? When I was working at Siemens UK, I was promoted to a managerial position at an early age of 25. I was young, female and Asian and was managing project teams comprising of white, male engineers 10 - 20 years my senior. These teams did not want to be led by a young woman. I was told to wear glasses and a wedding ring just to look older and to learn how to play golf. Luckily, I had a fantastic manager. He reminded me that these teams needed me because I brought fresh perspectives, and I gradually learned to leverage my unique strengths and qualities to succeed as a woman in a male-dominated industry. What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career & business? Careers are often not linear, and that’s okay. Most people don’t have “one true calling,” and that’s okay. A company can’t survive without evolving, and it’s true in our careers. We change and grow, and so does the world around us. So I advise people to constantly re-evaluate their careers and seek out new challenges to learn and develop. A lot of the best opportunities are ones you can’t plan for, but it’s important to be open to receiving those opportunities when they appear.
In your opinion, how could the workplace/business environment do to be more inclusive for women? We need more women role models across the workplace, especially in senior positions. It signals that this is a place that women can succeed. It’s about the power of possibility. When we see women leaders who look like us and that we can relate to, we can imagine ourselves in that position too. Another thing that businesses can do is help women build strong mentorship relationships. It’s so important to have someone who is invested in your career growth to guide you. For mentees, my advice is to create a win-win relationship between you and your mentor. Have a unique point of view that you bring to the table. In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women to succeed in the workplace/business? I don’t believe it’s any one thing. Internally, women still constantly feel like they don’t deserve new opportunities, pay raises or promotions. This is compounded by the fact that, despite significant progress made in recent years, many obstacles remain to reinforce those self-limiting beliefs, like access to leadership and promotion opportunities and pervasive gender stereotypes. While the workplace has improved, women still need to be especially savvy, active advocates for themselves and for other women.
LEANNE ROBERS What did you learn from your biggest failure? It’s not the end of the world. The sun will come up the next day. You will be okay. My biggest regrets aren’t actually the failures themselves, but the moments when I was ashamed of failure and bottled it up without reflecting and learning. Those were missed opportunities. Nobody wants to fail, but it turns out it’s a lot less scary if you can confront failure and appreciate those moments for the learning opportunities they are.
To what do you attribute your success? Self-love and self-acceptance are so important to have any kind of success. We sometimes need to get out of our own way and eliminate self-doubt that paralyzes us instead of allowing us to grow. That said, I can’t do it alone. It’s been essential to have a strong support system – to be surrounded by people who challenge me and force me to be better, who are excited for my future, and who love and respect me even when things are hard and I question myself.
How do you find inspiration in your life?
What's your favourite quote?
I’m surrounded by inspiring people who support, teach and challenge me! I love to hear about what my brilliant and talented friends are working on, and I’m constantly amazed when I get to see the world and opportunities through their eyes.
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
It’s also never been easier for a curious person to find inspiration. I access many of my role models through podcasts, videos, and online courses. Many of us are at home because of COVID-19, and it’s a great time to slow down and learn.
― Adam Grant
IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. THE SUN WILL COME UP THE NEXT DAY. LESSON LEARN FROM MISTAKES LEANNE ROBERS
TANIA BOLER Elvie CEO and Co-Founder
Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020 Business Leader Winner Tell us about you and your business & career. Before Elvie, I lobbied governments to improve policy in sexual health, HIV and abortion in some of the poorest countries of the world. Later, I became global director of research and innovation at Marie Stopes, overseeing large scale research in maternal and reproductive health. During this time, I worked with the UN to launch the first-ever curriculum on Sexuality Education. Then I became a mum and was shocked to discover that one in three women experience pelvic floor problems after giving birth, including bladder weakness and prolapse. Inspired to empower women and transform female healthcare, I decided to launch Elvie. Elvie is now a market leader with two game-changing female products, designed for women. The world’s smallest and smartest Kegel trainer, Elvie Trainer and the world’s first silent wireless breast pump, Elvie Pump. Elvie has driven monumental change within the femtech industry, and is one of the very few female founded tech start-ups to raise Series B funding, achieving the largest ever femtech investment round globally. But my proudest accomplishments so far aren’t just the phenomenal commercial success of Elvie. I am determined to continue challenging decades old stigma surrounding women’s health by sparking national conversation on the life-changing issues women experience, from menstrual cycles to the menopause and childbirth. As a team we have made Elvie more than a technology business, it is a women’s empowerment movement that gets people communicating openly about women’s health issues in a way they never have before. More recently, I won the Business Leader category at the Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020 awards.
TANIA BOLER How did you decide to go into in this industry? Coming from a women’s sexual health background, I thought I knew everything there was to know about the process of childbirth. When I became a mother and discovered just how much goes unmentioned, my preconceived notion totally changed. The pelvic floor, a vital group of muscles underneath the pelvis, undergoes a huge amount of strain throughout pregnancy and childbirth. The first time I had learned about my pelvic floor was in a pilates class when the instructor - a woman - informed us that it was the most important group of muscles to activate and train. This sparked the idea for Elvie Trainer, which is now available on the NHS and recommended by over 1,000 health practitioners. Did you always know that HealthTech was what you wanted to do? I’ve dedicated my career to helping support other women, but I didn’t always know it would be through technology. Having studied Experimental Psychology and International Education Policy at Oxford and Stanford Universities, my initial introduction to women’s health was through policy creation and research. After discovering a clear need to support women with their pelvic floor health, as there was for Elvie Trainer, it became clear that technology was the tool with which we could make women’s lives easier. The rest just fell into place from there!
Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? The tech sector is very male-dominated, so companies in the past had rarely focused on women’s health and femtech barely existed. We had to contend with investor and retailer meetings where even the simple matter of using the word vagina would raise eyebrows. As well as that, many people strongly advised against going into retail, but despite all the loud noise around you, it is so important to trust yourself and go against the grain when you believe in something. We knew that women loved our products, even if they were too embarrassed to talk about it at the time. Our mission gave us the strength and focus we needed to ignore all the negativity.
What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career/business? First of all, absolutely do it! I strongly believe there has never been a better time to be a woman in tech. There is greater recognition of the importance of getting more women in STEM, and we can see this being introduced to girls at a young age. Secondly, it is never too late to change direction. Lots of women, myself included, excelled in science at school but then didn’t continue with the subjects at university level. I am living proof that it is never too late to throw yourself into STEM and embrace the unknown. It just takes a lot of courage and a bit of a ‘fake it until you make it’ approach!
TANIA BOLER What did you learn from your biggest failure? There was definitely a time where I was overstretching myself; trying to be the perfect entrepreneur, the best parent to my children, a good friend and supportive partner, and feeling like I was failing at all of it. Recently I’ve learned that to fully commit to each role, I need to be mindful in everything I do. Having children has been the biggest life lesson for me. They are constantly reminding me of what is important and what isn’t. In your opinion, how could the workplace/business environment do to be more inclusive for women? Women’s health is largely ignored in the workplace, due to the majority of office spaces being designed around the needs of men. There are two key areas that I think would help create a more inclusive environment: The first is more support for mothers returning to work by providing a safe and comfortable environment for them to express milk while at work and increasing support with child care. The second is to develop policies to help women going through the menopause. This is a time that is deeply challenging for many women but is unfortunately shrouded in taboo, much less considered in the workplace.
In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women to succeed in the workplace/business? Becoming a parent is the biggest obstacle, in my opinion. Juggling an ambitious career and being an attentive mother is tough at the best of times, but women in most countries are set up for failure with high childcare costs and uneven burden of parental responsibility. It puts many women in a position where they have to choose between having the career they deserve or being the parent they want to be. Women shouldn’t have to be forced to make this choice. How do you find inspiration in your life? For me inspiration comes in moments of mental clarity. Living in London means life is fast-paced and switching off can be difficult. I don’t often get to see much nature when I am in the city, so when I get a chance, I love to go on a long hike in a remote area or go on a road trip with my family. There is something about being alone in the big expanse of nature that brings about a sense of calm that helps ideas and inspiration to cultivate. To what do you attribute your success? My father. He was always pushing me to do more and go beyond my comfort zone. He taught me how to be curious and seek out my own opportunities. He always led by example and instilled a strong work ethic in me from a young age. I know there were many more places he would like to have travelled or opportunities he would have liked to have had - it makes me so grateful to be in the position I am in, having seen so much of the world and making an impact in the lives of thousands of women. Success is very subjective, but to me it has always come as a result of helping people. My goal is to continue positively touching as many people’s lives as possible through my work, and busting decades old taboos in the process.
YOU MAY ENCOUNTER MANY DEFEATS, BUT YOU MUST NOT BE DEFEATED. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOUR DIFFICULTIES DO NOT DEFINE YOU. THEY SIMPLY STRENGTHEN YOUR ABILITY TO OVERCOME.
FAVORITE QUOTE - MAYA ANGELOU TANIA BOLER
SEEMA KHINDA JOHNSON Co-founder and COO Nuggets
Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020 Entrepreneur Winner Tell us about you and your business/career. I’ve built my strategic experience with several companies, including Skype and Microsoft. I’ve led teams and delivered commercialization of products and services on a large scale. These went on to be hugely successful across regions and cultures, achieving major user engagement and acquisition. That was the perfect grounding for cofounding Nuggets, which I did in 2016. I’m now the COO. Nuggets is a payments and digital ID platform that’s redefining online privacy and security. You can pay, log in or verify your identity without having to share your data with anyone – including Nuggets itself. I am delighted to see my hard work for Nuggets be rewarded after winning the Entrepreneur category at the Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020 awards.
How did you decide to go into Tech & Security? My career’s grown fairly organically. I began as a production coordinator at an agency, managing technical and creative teams, and progressed into leading and managing delivery and operations. After that, I found myself building larger teams, and leading product and go-tomarket for global businesses and start-ups. What did you learn from your biggest failure? There’s always a lesson and a reason why. You can’t see it at the time but it becomes crystal clear as you move forward. I’ve learnt to roll with the punches.
SEEMA KHINDA JOHNSON Did you always know that Tech was what you wanted to do? I’ve been delivering tech products and GTM strategies globally for the last twenty years now. I felt it was time to deliver something I truly believed would be a change for the better. In 2015, my husband’s credit card and data was used fraudulently, which kicked off a hugely frustrating process. We decided this was the challenge we’d been searching for. We’d found a problem – and we set out to solve it. Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? It’s no secret that running a business is tough, and the tech world is very maledominated. And that extends to which businesses are funded. Despite efforts to level the playing field for female entrepreneurs, female-founded startups in the US have raised just 2.2 percent of venture capital. There’s definite momentum, but it’s going to be a while before there’s a more level playing field in tech. Given the immense role of tech in the digital age, we must get past this gender bias. As a blockchain proponent, I really believe the technology can be used for greater inclusion around the world. For my own part, I’ve handled this by making myself visible. By speaking, networking and finding a brilliantly supportive and inspiring network. I’m determined to help others the way I’ve been helped, and lend the same support to other female entrepreneurs at different stages of their journeys.
What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career/business? Interact with as many people in the industry as possible. These relationships will be essential in building a successful, scalable business. You need to be open to use all your skills. I’ve had to draw on a wide range of skills on my entrepreneurial journey – from multi-tasking, leadership, and quick, accurate decision-making to methodical patience and the ability to pivot. Especially in tech, where seconds can be a lifetime. You need a bit of risk-taking coupled with the ability to aggressively try things within your business and make changes on the fly. Oh, and a lot of optimism! In your opinion, how could the workplace/business environment be more inclusive for women? I’d love to see more VC money made accessible to women leading great projects, so more female-driven startups can succeed. We need more female leaders and role models – not only in blockchain, but also in the wider tech industry. We need to raise their profiles, to inspire girls and young women to pursue STEM subjects as a springboard into these industries. Also, underrepresentation isn’t just a problem at executive level. It begins lower down the corporate ladder. We need to work towards greater equality at every level. It’s not just about more female executives, it’s about more female managers. That’s essential for expanding the available pool of women at each authority level.
SEEMA KHINDA JOHNSON In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women to succeed in the workplace/business? Overcoming the ‘broken-rung effect’. There’s a disproportionately low number of women in managerial roles, which means there are simply fewer women to promote into executive roles.. When we have more women at managerial levels, that will inevitably lead to more women in the Csuite – across every sector. How do you find inspiration in your life? As I mentioned, one of my goals is to make my mark on the world and introduce something of value. Nuggets is that something. It gives me my inspiration and motivation. I’m wholly focussed on delivering our vision to redefine online privacy. We’re giving people control over their personal data, so they don’t have to share it with third parties who are all too often targeted by malicious actors. You should own and control your personal information. Nuggets is leading the charge for everyone to take back control of their data.
To what do you attribute your success? Always listen, never assume Follow your instincts Be obsessed with the problem, not your product What's your favourite quote? These change for me all the time. They’re not always direct quotes, but phrases I remember to keep myself focused. Right now, these are the ones top of my mind: 1. The universe has your back 2. One from my husband, from the film Finding Nemo: ‘Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.’
JUST KEEP SWIMMING, JUST KEEP SWIMMING. FAVORITE QUOTE - FROM FINDING NEMO SEEMA KHINDA JOHNSON
ELSAMARIE D'SILVA
Red Dot Foundation (Safecity) Founder & CEO
Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020 Social Impact Co-Winner Tell us about you and your business/career. I am the Founder & CEO of Red Dot Foundation (India) and President of Red Dot Foundation Global (USA). Our platform Safecity, crowdsources personal experiences of sexual violence and abuse in public spaces. Since Safecity started in December 2012, it has become the largest crowd map on the issue in India and abroad. I am a 2020 IWF Fellow and a Gratitude Network Fellow, 2019 Reagan Fascell Fellow, a 2018 Yale World Fellow and an alumni of the Stanford Draper Hills Summer School, the US State Department’s Fortune Mentoring Program, Oxford Chevening Gurukul and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Leadership Program. I am also a fellow with Rotary Peace, Aspen New Voices, Vital Voices and a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader. I have been listed as one of BBC Hindi’s 100 Women and have won several awards including Government of India Niti Aayog’s #WomenTransformingIndia award and in 2017, I was awarded the Global Leadership Award by Vital Voices in the presence of Secretary Hillary Clinton. My work has been recognised by the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations through the Intercultural Innovation Award, SDG Action Festival and the UN Foundation at the Solutions Summit 2016. More recently, I was announced as a winner in the Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020 awards, as a co-winner of the Social Impact category.
ELSAMARIE DSILVA How did you decide to go into (your industry)?
Did you always know that Technology was what you wanted to do?
Prior to forming Safecity, I was an aviation professional with 20 years of experience between Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines. My last portfolio was Vice President Network Planning & Charters where I oversaw the planning and implementation of over 500 daily flights.
My entire career of over 26 years has been amazing but it has not been a linear path, instead it pivots every 5-7 years. I started off as a flight attendant and then was head hunted for several positions - a safety instructor to teach emergency procedures to pilots and cabin crew, revenue management and network planning, which were all highly strategic and central to the airline's operations and profitability, revenue management and network planning which were highly strategic and central to the airline’s operations and profitability.
The year 2012 was a turning point for me the airline I was working with underwent a financial downturn and eventually shut. I was at a point where I was reflecting on what I wanted to do for the next 20 years of my career and wanted to give back to women’s rights. In December 2012, Jyoti Singh was gang raped on a bus in Delhi and that was the impetus for me to co-found Safecity with my friends. The incident was brutal and shocking and it brought out in the public the issue of sexual violence, which was a daily reality for many women. Unfortunately not many speak up due to socio-cultural factors that make it a taboo. Therefore there exists a silence around the issue and lack of relevant data. During the incident with Jyoti Singh, I was triggered to remember my own experiences and heard many similar stories around me which had never been discussed before. The idea to document these stories was to make the issue more visible and understand localised patterns and trends of what makes certain locations “comfort zones” of the perpetrator.
Now my work with Safecity combines all my skills I picked up in corporate communication skills, empathy, high quality of training standards, efficiency in operations, data driven decision making and situational awareness for safety. At every point in my career I have enjoyed my work and have challenged myself to push boundaries and break ceilings (shackles). Right now with Safecity, I believe I am on a spiritual journey where my head, heart and gut are in sync. Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt discouraged to pursue your dreams as a woman? How did you handle it? I have always been very focused on my personal and professional goals and they have been in alignment with my values. Therefore irrespective of the barriers faced, I found a way to achieve them. I always take stock of what is in my control and what is not and try my best to achieve what is within my control. For the rest, I do my best and then bide my time for the right moment. As for being discouraged, I try to stay positive and focused on the mission. Finding mentors and coaches to brainstorm ideas helps.
ELSAMARIE DSILVA What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in your industry or what you wish to know before starting your career/business? I would suggest you try out many different things before you can be certain of what you want to dedicate your life to. I believe the world is constantly changing around you, at a pace which is so fast that it is beyond comprehension. So you should be agile and flexible, be able to adapt to circumstances. You may have an idea what you want to do, but life could hand you different options. Be open minded, take risks and always be guided by your value system. At the end of the day, you should be the best judge of what makes you happy and brings you fulfilment. If you can pursue work which has purpose, it will be immensely satisfying. What did you learn from your biggest failure? I treat failures as stepping stones to success. If something has not worked out, I try to understand why it did not work out and if it was within my control. If it was, I can correct and improve whatever it was that went wrong. But if it was not in my control, I have learned to accept, forgive and be kind to myself. At the end of the day, you win some and you lose some. To stay positive I have to practice mindfulness and gratitude for all the blessings in my life rather than what I lost out on.
In your opinion, how could the workplace/business environment do to be more inclusive for women? Businesses and workplaces can be conscious of their policies and culture. First of all, check the number of women at all levels - from the entry level positions to the Board - are they equal? If not, why? Then go about fixing it. If they treat everyone equally in the true sense, there would be harmony, safety, inclusion, diversity, prosperity and happiness. Who would not want to work in a place like that? And who would want to leave a workplace like that? So really it boils down to your culture and policies that foster equality and equity. In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle to women to succeed in the workplace/business? Some people are protective of their turf, they don’t want to give up power, don’t want to change and make space for others. The time has come to reinvent yourself because soon your own employees are going to demand the change. How do you find inspiration in your life? From the little things that people do to the amazing opportunities that come my way. I am a curious person and a lifelong learner. I value people and their experiences and find their journeys fascinating. To what do you attribute your success? My parents especially my mother and her sense of perseverance and resilience.
BE THE CHANGE THAT YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.
FAVOURITE QUOTE - MAHATMA GANDHI ELSAMARIE D'SILVA
ARTICLES
Laurie Wang
TECHNOLOGY AND DATA ARE THE NEW WEAPONS IN THE WAR ON COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS) BY JANE THOMASON AND NISA AMOILS The pandemic is the first real test of futuristic and disruptive technologies that have been in development for decades. This has mostly been seen in China, but is quickly spreading to the rest of the world, as humans look for weapons to fight the virus. First is the accuracy of information and making sure we can trust our sources. Artificial Intelligence is helping to identify coronavirus symptoms, find new treatments, and track the spread of the disease. Blockchain is securing medical records and tracking test kits, as well as tracking the spread. Robots and drones are making interactions with and treatment of sick patients easier. Surveillance tech — including facial recognition-enabled cameras and drones — is also helping find people who might be sick or who aren’t wearing masks. Robotics and drones are picking up for humans with dangerous tasks.
Crisis of Trust and Media One thing that we have learned is that our first “social media pandemic” is very disconcerting. Knowing what is going on and who to trust are serious issues, as we are bombarded with messages on every conceivable channel. During a pandemic, maintaining the public’s confidence in government is essential. Harnessed correctly, technology could go a long way toward fixing this challenge. Perhaps unsurprisingly, with the recent outbreak came a wave of false theories on social media aiming to mislead and deceive people. In the UK, the NHS is working with tech giants including Google, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook on an effort to deploy accurate information on social media. Hive, a group of “crypto-minded researchers, engineers, designers” and fans of the space that scores and ranks trustworthy social accounts has developed another algorithm to map the actual epidemiologists to follow on Twitter. Blockchain It becomes increasingly important to be able to identify and track at-risk people and people with immunity. Blockchain will enable accurate databases of local populations with identity, population level vaccine, history of disease, and medical intervention studies without any potential breach of privacy and improved health outcomes through better data exchange. For instance, Atlanta-based software company Acoer has crafted a dashboard that tracks infections, deaths and recoveries occurring across the world in real time, based on Blockchain, which prevents information from being manipulated outside of the public eye. Acoer provides health care and life sciences institutes, and now countries and the general public, with blockchain solutions to easily track the virus and visualize how it is spreading around the world using an app called HashLog, powered by Hedera Hashgraph. The HashLog dashboard allows researchers, scientists and journalists to easily understand and follow the spread of the virus, as well as its trends over time from a wide set of public data including data from the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, Clinical Trial Data and Twitter. Another use of Blockchain involves insurance claims. An insurance provider in China used a blockchain-based settlement system to offer quick, one-time payments to victims of the coronavirus. Ant Financial has been able to process claims and make payouts to participants quicker, due to the decentralised, trust-free nature of blockchain technology,” an Ant Financial spokesman told the South China Morning Post.
Artificial Intelligence AI is being used to study the outbreak’s spread and is powering the search for treatments. Public health data surveillance companies Metabiota and BlueDot were both used to track the initial outbreak of the coronavirus. BlueDot actually notified its clients of the coronavirus threat several days before both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued their public warnings. Cloudmedx takes it a step further by providing crowdsourced patient diagnoses to nearby hospitals so they can prepare.
The ability to be diagnosed online underscores the rise in telehealth. “The potential for COVID-19 to encourage deployment of digital transformation is considerable,” says Dr Charles Alessi, chief clinical officer of HIMSS, owner of MobiHealthNews. “In the UK, we are still at 1% in terms of using ‘digital first’ - consultations in primary care. This may well prove to be the event that transforms that.” In contrast, China first reorganised its medical response to the outbreak by moving half of all medical care online. The epidemic has also inspired several drug companies to use AI-powered drug discovery platforms to search for possible treatments. That process can involve using AI to find entirely new molecules that might be capable of treating the pneumonia-like illness, or mining through databases of already-approved drugs (for other illnesses) that might also work against Covid-19. On average, a patient with COVID-19 has more than 2,000 CT images during the entire hospitalization process. Manually reading and comparing image data from every patient requires great effort. AI technology can assist realizing quantitative analysis, speeding up CT image analytics, avoiding errors caused by fatigue, and adjusting treatment plans in time. Big Data and Surveillance The Washington Post reported that the government is in talks with the tech industry about getting access to aggregated and anonymous mobile phone data. Israel is in the early stages of a plan to use individual phone-tracking to warn users away from engaging with those affected with COVID-19. This raises the question of privacy and living in a surveillance state. In addition, advanced facial recognition tech already exists. Panasonic, which is also selling its facial recognition system FacePro in the US, suggests that its systems can identify people wearing masks. Facial recognition companies can also integrate their tech with thermal imaging. This type of scanning is being used to sense whether people might have elevated temperatures, which might indicate whether they’ve been infected with the coronavirus and help verify their identity. Robotics and Drones Since the risk of human contact leads to spreading the virus, robots are being used to disinfect rooms, communicate with isolated people, take vital information, and deliver medications. Chinese hospitals are now shipping in robots from the Danish company UVD Robots that can disinfect patient rooms, according to a statement. UVD Robots says that its roving robotic pods work by emitting ultraviolet light throughout an area, killing viruses and bacteria, including the coronavirus. (The robots are remotely controlled by a device operated by a health worker.) Chinese officials have been deploying drones to patrol public places, spray disinfectant, conduct thermal imaging, track whether people are traveling outside without wearing face masks or violating other quarantine rules.
3D Printing Italian additive manufacturing start-up Isinnova has reverse engineered and 3D printed a crucial valve for an overrun hospital in Chiari, a small town in Lombardy which is among the areas worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The valve is a key component of Venturi oxygen masks, which are connected to ventilators and used to help patients with respiratory diseases like coronavirus Covid-19 breathe. Of the almost 3,000 people that have died of the coronavirus in Italy, at least 1,420 were in Lombardy, and hospitals in the area have shortages of beds and medical equipment. The supplier of the Chiari hospital was unable to provide the crucial valve due to the unprecedented demand, leading a local journalist to reach out to the community of 3D printing companies in the area. German carmaker Volkswagen said it was joining other manufacturers around the world to explore using 3D printing to make hospital ventilators to combat the coronavirus. Governments are enlisting automakers including Ford, General Motors, Ferrari and Nissan to ramp up production of ventilators and other equipment to treat the fast-spreading disease. Volkswagen said it had assembled a task force, was testing materials and checking supply chains to see how it can use 3D printing to help manufacture hospital ventilators and other life-saving equipment.
Remote Care Poonyah Care comprises a Poonyah is AI with a wearable and an app and is already working with St George’s University of London to develop clinical trials into the use of its device for remote monitoring of the novel coronavirus in cases of self-isolating patients. The hope is that we can rapidly begin deployment of our product to help prevent the further spread of the disease in the UK. Business and Academic Institutions Chipping in A number of organisations, including Johns Hopkins and the World Economic Forum have used data and analytics to create real time monitoring of the Pandemic. The Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation jointly established the Global MediXchange to help combat the global outbreak of the coronavirus . This facilitates online communication and collaboration across borders, as well as providing frontline medical teams around the world with secure communication channels to share practical experience. This center offers overseas Chinese citizens affected by the virus, and supports medical scientific research institutions with AI, big data, and cloud computing capabilities. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development is highlighting companies who are taking extra-ordinary business actions in relation to COVID-19. They highlight examples of enterprises putting aside the usual rules of business in these exceptional circumstances and instead taking exceptional steps to address the impact from the coronavirus. These and many many efforts underway around the globe are showing how adversity spurs innovation, and that technology is a vital adjunct to both winning the Covid Battle as well as helping us cope with life at home. We applaud the many individuals and companies who are taking actions both locally and globally to help overcome this pandemic.
HOW SMALL BUSINESSES CAN BOOST SALES With over 30 million small businesses in the U.S. and 5.82 million small businesses in the UK, it's tough to stand out from the crowd. Successful small businesses turn first-time customers into repeat business, building momentum and growing sales. How can you achieve this? Marketing. Finding effective, easy-to-execute marketing strategies can boost your business by helping you engage your customers while attracting new ones. Here are some proven ideas to help your business thrive: Engage first-time customers: Show new shoppers that they matter. Send welcome emails and recommend products to complement what they bought. Offer special deals to keep them coming back. Utilize positive customer reviews: Did you know over 60% of consumers read reviews before buying? Reviews can include ratings, testimonials, photos, videos and more. Treat reviews as marketing gold, sharing them with customers and prospects to build trust and increase sales. You can generate and integrate them into your website, on social media and other marketing efforts.
Turn shopping carts into opportunities: Let's face it, plenty of potential customers add items to their online shopping carts and never check out. While these "abandoned carts" seem challenging, they're an opportunity. An effective way to convert abandoned carts into sales is by drawing on the power of customer reviews. Adii Pienaar, vice president of commerce product strategy for the email marketing platform CM Commerce, says small businesses can change their fortunes with this approach. "Our most successful small business customers don't just send a reminder email to shoppers about items left in their carts," said Paula. "They take it a step further and include positive reviews and ratings about that product with the follow-up, knowing how much importance buyers place on others' experiences. By featuring personalized product reviews for abandoned cart items, there can be a recovery rate of 5-10%. Spark interest with special offers: Entice new and returning business by offering discounts, encouraging shoppers to give your business a try. Also, if you don't have one already, create a loyalty program for frequent shoppers, or a referral special for those inviting friends to your website or social media. Personalization matters: Shoppers don't want mass emails treating them like just another number. Small businesses that tailor emails based on each customer's shopping experiences and interests are far more successful in driving sales. Creating customized content may sound complex, but it all comes down to how you organize your customer list. For example, segment your customers by which products they've purchased, then use this information to inform them how to best use their products or remind them when it's time to re-order. Personalization really pays off when you incorporate dynamic content - information that changes based on a person's interests - in promotional emails. Use a customer's previous purchases and shopping interests to generate ideas on products to complement items they already bought. For example, recommend a similar flavor of cupcakes to ones they ordered before. Get started These proven marketing approaches can springboard your business to success. But, how do you get started? Marketing has greatly evolved, with many new, easy-to-use tools. You don't need to be a marketing expert, technical whiz or creative designer to use them. You can also Automate your marketing with digital tools that will work in your favour. If you do not have time to learn and manage your marketing, outsource! Contact Candyce for more info and quotations.
ADDRESSING RACIAL AND ECONOMIC INEQUITY: A PERSONAL CONNECTION TO A POWERFUL FILM
A powerful new film opened recently. "Just Mercy" tells the story of Walter McMillian who was convicted and sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. The film is based on a memoir written by the man who represented Mr. McMillian - the renowned public interest attorney and social justice advocate Bryan Stevenson. In reading the book and now watching the film, I was taken back to my experience as a legal intern representing death row inmates in the deep South. At the time, I was a law student and had taken an internship with a public interest law firm called Southern Prisoners Defense Committee. Bryan Stevenson was my supervisor. During my three years of interning with the committee, I made many trips to the federal prison in Talladega, Alabama. There I sat across from our clients, the men on death row. Each one told story after story tracking a similar pattern that led to being wrongfully convicted or denied a fair trial. Most of the men I met were African American, the result of a criminal justice system built on a legacy of racial injustice. Their searing stories made a lasting impact on me. They influenced my career and how I try to live my life. The experience also built on lessons my father taught me, like about how too many people are being sidelined by a system intended to hold them back.
My father, Nallapu Reddy, grew up in extreme poverty in rural India. From that humble beginning, he would distinguish himself, becoming a professor of economics and chairing the Economics Department at the University of Michigan-Flint. It was there he spent his career educating first-generation college-goers like himself. Growing up as he did, in a society where being poor meant being marginalized, my father could easily have gone down a different path. He credited many people who extended help at critical moments with enabling him to pursue his dream of an education which he knew would open doors of opportunity. There was the family friend who helped my father transition from his village school, which stopped at fourth grade, to the school in the next town over; the big city university official who agreed to provide him with room and board in exchange for tutoring services for his children, allowing him to further continue his studies. There was the friend of an acquaintance who drove my father to work every day when he didn't have the means for his own transportation. My father taught me what it's like to face systemic barriers and what it takes to overcome them. It takes hard work, sure, but it also requires people who believe in you and recognize your humanity. My father was fortunate. People like Walter McMillian and the men I met on death row were not so lucky. They were caught in a web of racial bias and discrimination against the poor with devastating outcomes. My experience at the Southern Prisoners Defense Committee reinforced this lesson and gave me a sense of purpose - to eliminate systemic barriers and help level the playing field. This is what eventually drew me to Prudential, a company that was founded on the principle of equity. More than 140 years ago, we were the first U.S. company to make life insurance affordable to working-class families. We have strived since then to live our values. We affirmatively chose to stay in our hometown and headquarters city of Newark, New Jersey, following the civil unrest of 1967 and have been committed to revitalizing this great city. More than 10 years ago, we were an early adopter of a "ban the box" policy, removing the checkbox that asks applicants if they have a criminal record. And more recently, we committed $180 million to help young people around the globe secure quality jobs. These are just some examples of how we are building equity into our business practices. As a legacy company, we have seen firsthand how America's complicated history plays out. There were times when we lost our way, caught up in prevailing views of the moment. But we acknowledge it and most importantly we changed. I am proud that today we recognize the importance of confronting injustice in all its forms. "Just Mercy" is a call to action to each of us to address racial and economic inequity. It's a call to action that I learned from my father's stories and one that is reinforced every day whether it's in conversations I have with Newark residents or with young people in the favelas of Brazil. There is endless potential that resides in all of us - sometimes it just needs someone to open the door of opportunity.
Lata Reddy is senior vice president, Diversity, Inclusion & Impact, at Prudential.
A LEADER’S GUIDE TO SUPPORTING BOTH INTROVERTS AND EXTROVERTS THROUGH THE HIDDEN DANGERS OF SELF ISOLATION AND SOCIAL DISTANCING Over the course of the past week I have had some interesting conversations with both introverts and extroverts about their experience of working in isolation during the lockdown that’s arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people who’ve previously not been able to work from home and had longed to be able to do it, are finding that it’s not all cracked up to be what they thought it would be. For both introverts and extroverts working in isolation there are issues that can arise which you may not even have thought of. These can creep up unexpectedly on them, affecting their emotional resilience. In this article I highlight some of these issues and offer some suggestions on how to support your teams through them.
It’s not good for even introverts to spend too much time alone Social distancing and having alone time may seem like paradise for some introverts. After all, we are known for being energised by having time alone and going inwards. But there can be too much of a good thing. And whilst being alone and being lonely are too separate things, spending too much time on your own isn’t always a good thing, even for an introvert. Particularly if they live on their own.
If they find interacting, engaging and making small talk with others draining, by spending too long on their own they could get stuck in a comfort zone and become withdrawn. This will then make it harder to interact and engage with others when things return to normal. Spending too long in their own head can become depressive for some people. Excessively ruminating over negative thoughts can magnify them in their mind. If they lack self-awareness, they may not realise that this is going on and it might start to affect their motivation. Being introverted myself, when I first started my coaching business, I relished being able to work from home on my own. Over time I recognised that I was spending too much time in isolation and that I needed to increase the amount of social interaction I had during the course of my working week. Whilst introverts may find too much social interaction draining, they still need human interaction for their health and wellbeing. Your introverted team members may not want to contribute to the constant banter going on in team WhatsApp groups, but as their leader, stay connected with them and make sure they’re not becoming too isolated to the extent that they’re becoming withdrawn. In video conference meetings make sure that the whole team has an opportunity to contribute and that the introverted voices aren’t going unheard. Whilst social distancing and the lockdown may have been embraced by your introverted team members, make sure that they are not distancing themselves too far emotionally as well.
The effects of prolonged social distancing on extroverts Whilst not all extroverts are loud and gregarious, they are energised from being around other people. As one such extroverted friend put it, it’s not that she’s loud, it’s that she cares about other people and enjoys being in their company. The current situation is unprecedented and for many extroverts they may never have spent such a prolonged period not being around other people, particularly if they live alone. Some of my extroverted friends have found this challenging and other people have told me of their concerns for their extroverted friends who are also struggling. If they live alone, your extroverted team members may be finding that solitude is sucking the energy out of them and they could be finding it hard to cope. If not addressed, this could negatively impact their emotional wellbeing. Encourage them to stay connected and to put in place routine and structure that enables them to have frequent interaction with groups of people. They can make the most of the time they go out to exercise or shop for essentials, whilst still maintaining social distancing. Although they won’t be able to get up close and personal with other people, at least they’ll be around other people albeit from a distance. If there isn’t one already, set up a WhatsApp group so they can communicate with their colleagues on a regular basis. Let them be the ones to organise virtual team games and events. If they want to talk a lot on video conference calls, be mindful that they need this interaction. Give them the space to talk as far as is reasonably practical.
Be mindful of the impact to you as well As an introverted leader, be mindful of the impact that social distancing, the lockdown and team dynamics during the lockdown has on you as well. Because they’ve got more time on their hands, family and friends may want to interact with you more frequently which you may find draining. Self-awareness is important so you can manage your own wellbeing and put in place appropriate boundaries and measures to protect your energy as well. Likewise, it is important to have an awareness and understanding of how your team are coping. Be concerned for their emotional wellbeing by making sure you’re doing all that’s expected of you to support them emotionally through these unprecedented times. Based on what energises them and what drains them, what measures are you putting in place to support both your introverted and extroverted team members to help them manage their emotional wellbeing? If you are looking for practical solutions to provide support to your teams during these times, I have a range of workshops that are delivered virtually and provide a real time approach to supporting them with their personal, career and leadership development. These include managing stress, staying motivated, developing emotional resilience and coping with change. Email carol@aboundingsolutions.com for further details and to arrange a chat. About Carol! Carol Steward is the Coach for High Achieving Introverted Women, an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach. She helps quiet women to thrive as leaders. She also helps organisations to get more women and BAMEs into senior leadership roles and provide workshops, training and talks on personal development, career development and leadership development. If you are a high achieving introverted woman in a senior leadership role, join her group of high achieving introverted senior women here. All other introverted women who are leaders or aspiring leaders can join my group for high achieving introverted women here.
THE GIG ECONOMY IS ON THE RISE IS IT FOR YOU? Freelancer, passion projects, side hustles are all synonymous with the gig economy - which has grown substantially over the past decade. The economic downturn of 2008 led many employers to recruit gig/temporary workers to control costs. The explosion of rideshare services and other contract employment has increased the awareness of gig as a steady work stream. According to MetLife's 17th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study, almost 30 million Americans receive primary income from gig or part-time work - nearly one-fifth of the total workforce. An additional 15 million supplement "traditional" full-time work with gig work. The study found that 85% of gig workers were interested in continuing their contract work over the next five years, instead of seeking a traditional work role. What does it mean to go 'gig'? The gig economy is defined as work based on a fixed-term contract, or that's paid per project by a company, third party or via an online marketplace. Those who use gig work to earn extra money part-time include full-time employees looking to boost their income, students, people who want to pursue a passion project, stay-at-home parents, job seekers and retirees. Others consider gig work as their full-time employment.
It may be surprising to learn gig workers are well distributed across all demographics in today's workforce, according to the study: 21% Gen Z (ages 21-22) 34% Gen Y (ages 23-36) 21% Gen X (ages 37-52) 25% Boomers (ages 53 and up) What makes gig work so attractive? Gig work is appealing for many reasons, to many people. According to the MetLife study, 67% of full-time employees reported interest in gig work as opposed to their current jobs, and 49% of employees expressed the intent to leave their current employer for contract or freelance work in the next five years. * Pursuit of the ultimate work/life blend Flexibility over one's time is probably the top attraction of gigging. In the study, nearly half the respondents (49%) said that not being able to work remotely was the reason they left full-time work. Flexible schedules offer workers a compelling work/life blend of their choosing. Due to the flexibility and ease of communication provided by technology today, more jobs are becoming open to remote work and adaptable schedules - across many sectors - which may help companies retain full-time employees tempted by the gig lifestyle. * Autonomy, fulfillment and a sense of purpose Gigging allows workers more choice in the work they do, and freedom to pursue a variety of projects. They can choose where they work and who they work for. Gig workers tend to see work as more than just earning a paycheck. The study found nearly half of gig workers (48%) said they work to gain a sense of fulfillment, and 47% said that a significant influence in working was to feel a sense of self-worth.
The challenges gig workers faceWhile there are many appealing aspects of gigging, it also presents unique challenges.
* Financial stressors The main stressor for all employees - gig or traditional - is finances. Gig workers may experience more financial stress than traditional full-time workers, however, since their work may be less steady than a traditional position. Gig workers need to constantly keep up with obtaining and maintaining clients, ensuring their next project (and paycheck) is lined up. They also need to pay their own self-employment taxes and Social Security, among other expenses.
* Employer benefits Gig workers are usually responsible for obtaining medical insurance and other benefits normally provided by employers. In fact, only 4% of gig workers reported that employers offered insurance, and only 5% said they were offered a retirement plan. People who choose to "be their own boss" must also procure their own benefits beyond health care, such as short- or long-term disability, accident insurance and more. Gig workers who want or need benefits may have to pay the full cost of coverage themselves. In the survey, 65% of gig workers said that they would be interested in a wider array of non-medical benefits that they could pay for on their own. * Co-workers and career development Unlike traditional employees with daily access to networking with colleagues and continuing education through their employers, gig workers wanting to develop their careers must find and pursue those opportunities on their own. Interested in gigging? Read "The Gig Economy: Opportunities, Challenges, and Employer Strategies" report to learn more about MetLife's insights into the evolving gig economy. https://www.metlife.com/employee-benefit-trends/ebts-gig-economy-2019/
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REMOTE WORKING SPECIAL EDITION
10 TOP TIPS FOR WORKING REMOTELY 1 Set up a designated workspace. Separate space for yourself to work in, somewhere you can focus on tasks without being distracted and set up with everything you need for a normal working day – computer, phone, stationery, papers…etc. 2 Make sure you have all the tech you need. This includes a reliable and secure internet connection, any necessary files, hardware and software, remote access to your company network and, importantly, knowledge of how to get IT support. 3 Get dressed. Changing into working clothes will help you mentally switch to productive work mode. It will also help you distinguish between ‘homeworking’ and ‘home life’. 4 Write a daily to-do list. Set out a list of realistic, achievable tasks to keep you focused. 5 Know when to step away from your desk. Be clear about when your working day begins and ends and take breaks to refresh. It’s easy to let yourself be ‘always on’ when your home and office are the same place. When work is over, be sure you switch off to avoid burnout. Think about having ‘core hours ’ which people you work with are around for. 6 Stay in conversation. Contribute regularly to team chats/group emails so you don't drop off the radar. Ask about what people are working on and share what’s on your plate. Being physically separated means you miss the ‘water-cooler moments’ so this is a means to keep informed. 7 Foster relationships. Make time for non-work chats as you would in the workplace and use video calling to maintain face-to-face contact. 8 Be clear in your communication. Speaking in person gives you visual and audio cues that help you communicate. Conversing remotely removes a lot of that extra information so make your communications extra clear and concise. 9 Ask for support when needed. Speak out when you need assistance, further training or support. Your manager, colleagues and you are part of a team and should be supporting each other, especially remotely. 10 Make remote working work for you. Change where you sit, put on music, whatever helps you work. And enjoy the perks – no commute or uncomfortable shoes, and all your home comforts! Reproduced with the permission of the CIPD, experts on the world of work and the professional body for HR and people development.
AMY LYNCH
How you structure your day working from home? I work for myself and I structure my days to manage my own expectations, using time blocking and saving a lot of my time intensive creative writing for the weekends, batching things as best as I can. I look after two kids under the age of four, so the majority of my time is spent with them between the hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday. When they’re with me, I try to complete tasks which take under 15 minutes and can be done from my phone in the morning hours, usually limiting it to under three things. I save the 'deep work' for naptime in the afternoon. But lately, my oldest has dropped his nap and it can be unpredictable, so if there is no quiet solo afternoon window of time for me to use, I write out plans, ideas and focus on handwritten tasks while he is awake beside me and I set him up with ‘quiet time’ activity. I find children are less interested in what you’re up to when there’s no laptop involved! I may also log on in the early morning or evenings, if time permits but I largely try to keep the weekday tasks to ‘quick wins’ which can be done in 15-30 minute chunks.
How do you kids/laundry/cooking/etc workload?
manage and your
I answered some of that already but the batching applies to house things as well. Grocery shops are planned in advance and done in the evening when one of us is doing bedtime. The meals for lunch and dinner are written out for two weeks to avoid waste and conserve decision making power. Laundry goes on first thing in the morning and often doesn’t get touched until nap time or bedtime, when it is added into baskets and not sorted until there are at least three to four of them ready to be folded and put away. Kitchen cleaning gets done while prepping meals and oftentimes the crockery piles up every few days and is washed in batches too, with the dishwasher unloaded and reloaded at the same time. Cleaning happens in stages and general tidying up is done at the end of the day as I believe there’s no point in putting the toys away constantly, they only get dumped out straight again. I lower my expectations, keep things simple and ignore the piles of things until they’re ready to be tackled. No guilt here and the kids never notice when their laundry is ready or how it is taken care of.
AMY LYNCH REMOTE WORKING
What about online distractions such as Facebook/Online chats with family/kids?
What would be your best three advice to engage with your team and manage?
I don’t have social media apps on my phone so I don’t receive notifications or requests to chat. I actually need to be logged onto my laptop or desktop computer to FaceTime as I don’t have an iPhone, so again family and friends need to organize a chat in advance. I sometimes put my phone on airplane mode during my work tasks but find leaving it on silent in another room works well for me too. I also have been known to not answer calls during certain times until people get the hint that just because I’m ‘working from home’ and on a ‘flexible schedule’, doesn’t mean my workday is open to interruptions when it suits other people’s schedules. I have worked remotely and on contracts while living overseas for the better part of the past decade, so I’ve been without regular contact with loved ones due to time zone differences and the fact we have an international family. I think our family, friends and network are used to emailing or messaging us now to keep in touch and planning video chats in advance.
Tips for managers to engage with their team: - manage expectations and clearly articulate them alongside goals and timelines - keep communication channels open, whether it’s using a messaging app, project management software, regular video meetings, the medium doesn’t matter but the consistency and frequency is what builds trust and relationships over time - think of ways to make them feel engaged and included, just because they’re working remotely doesn’t mean you can’t work on your company culture and team building activities.
What is your best three suggestions to self care while working remotely? Parent yourself: - Get dressed in the morning, even if you’re not going on video calls or planning to see anyone - Prepare and eat nourishing meals, drink plenty of fluids and take your vitamins - Get outside for fresh air and sunshine if you can, nature is a great way to reset
What are the five best tools that help you to keep your productivity? - Evernote for keeping track of ideas, notes, drafts, work in progress - Dropbox for file management - G-Suite/Google’s from email to Drive, Photos, Sheets, Docs…and my first blog was started using Blogger - My phone for taking photos, drafting content, calls, blogging on the go - Canva for my graphic design, I used to use Adobe Creative Cloud but I’ve kept it simpler lately and lower cost
CHRISTINA MANN REMOTE WORKING What is your advise to manage the team morale? Lead with an example, show respect for their time and work, give credit every single time possible, recognize their hard work, show that you care, provide them with the support they need, adjust your leadership style from directing to delegating, to coaching and to supporting based on the circumstances. What would be the three best tips to clarify productivity expectations to your team? How do you manage team communication among your teamworkers? Communication can be time-consuming, but it’s a crucial part of managing teams, especially remotely. In our team, we meet regularly: strategy meetings, meetings where we discuss tactical items, and ad-hoc quick syncs: both in a group and 1:1 setup. In order to maintain an open communication environment within the team, it’s absolutely critical to be transparent and to deliver a clear message consistently, it is also essential to know how to listen carefully and show respect for opinions. You have to be inclusive making sure everyone feels safe and comfortable to express themselves freely, taking into account team members’ personality differences, some members are not very comfortable to express themselves in group setup, for example, so you have to be careful to leave anyone behind when discussing important issues. What would be the three best tips to resolve team issues? Acknowledge the issues. Talk about them openly. Resolve with fairness: avoid destructive behaviour and defensive attitudes, no pointing fingers, instead discuss rationally and settle the concerns.
Firstly, having clear objectives and measurable goals helps to bring structure to the day to day work and also gives a clear understanding of what’s expected from them. And lastly, it helps to have a clear idea of what kind of output they should produce and what is considered a success for them in the short and long term. Break down the big projects into smaller easier achievable targets and navigate them through the entire process with patience and assurance. What are the five best tools that help you to keep your productivity? Our everyday go-to tools are: Monday.com, Socialbakers.com, G-suite, Slack and Zoom. What are your best three suggestions to self-care while working remotely? Routine, especially if remote work is new to you. Self-discipline and giving a structure to your day improves time management, helps you stay focused on one thing at a time, and eliminates distractions.Make sure to take breaks: I have dogs, so the walk helps me a lot, I also talk to my family more these days, try to entertain my nieces while their parents work Don’t give up on hobbies, makes them part of your daily routine
SYLVIA CARDIM DE MELO REMOTE WORKING
What would be the three best tips to clarify productivity expectations to your team? 1. Remind the team that although we’re not physically working from the same physical space, it’s business as usual. Nothing about it has changed - not our expectations, not the quality of the work, not the hours behind it. 2. We hold our Monday morning meetings like any other week where we lay out the tasks for the week. There are tasks for every day and each team member needs to check the box so we can all see the tasks completed 3. Although WhatsApp is a great tool to keep the team under “one roof”, I’m a big believer that phone calls are the preferred method of communication when there are doubts or need to discuss any ideas / strategies. What are the five best tools that help you to keep your productivity? 1. Whatsapp 2. Asana 3. Dropbox 4. Later.com (to manage social media for our clients) 5. Skype Video or Zoom Video for presentation with our clients.
How do you manage team communication among your teamworkers? Whatsapp is our primary form of communication - we also use Asana to track the progress of the tasks. What is your advise to manage the team morale? My goal is to be a Swan in these situations sail smoothly for the sake of my team, but paddle my ass off getting new business so that I don’t need to let go of anyone. What would be the three best tips to resolve team issues? Fortunately our team gets along really well, especially with each other. But one of the things I do if I feel there could be a potential issue is to pick up the phone and talk to them about it. What are your best three suggestions to self care while working remotely? 1. Take the weekends off from any client work - having a break is very important 2. Exercise 30 min in the morning 3. Limit the intake of gluten not to feel lethargic during the day
Three Ways AI and Smart Tech Can Help Us Work More Efficiently at Home. Common Dilemmas of Working from Home and How AI Can Help! As more people work from home in lieu of commuting to crowded corporate offices, people are in their homes in greater numbers than ever before balancing both job-related tasks and home responsibilities. From sticking to a set work schedule to allocating a certain area of the house as a home office, people are thinking of interesting and useful ways to better their experience when working from home. Thankfully, the tech industry's leading players have been hard at work finding new and inventive ways to make home life more convenient. Laptops and webcams aren't the only devices you need; from voice-control to personalized performance, the latest AI tech and smart solutions are making it possible to get more accomplished with a lot less effort, and without ever setting foot outside the front door. Here are a few solutions that may help us be more effective when home also happens to be our office:
Finding it hard to focus at home? Use AI speakers as your personal assistant! Shifting from a bustling office to the peace and quiet of your own home (when the kids aren't around) can be a relaxing and refreshing change, but it can also make it difficult to stay focused. Research shows that changing out of pajamas and into smart-casual clothing and setting up a dedicated, well-lit workstation can help keep you on-task and productive. One of the most effective solutions is to allocate a certain area of the house as your home office - and it doesn't have to be simply isolating yourself in a room for less distractions. Get creative and change the atmosphere around you using today's tech to the fullest. If you find yourself struggling, why not ask your AI speaker - like the LG XBOOM AIThinQ - to play some white noise, cafĂŠ sounds, or whatever type of music helps you to concentrate. Take advantage of services like Spotify to set up playlists and stations that create the right soundtrack for your working day, and for when you're off the clock. Noise-cancelling headphones can also prove to be useful for those who prefer to work in silence, while smart lighting systems can help maintain a sense of work-life balance by switching to bright during office hours, and to dim for the all-important coffee break and after-work movie. Voice-controllable AI speakers like the LG XBOOM AIThinQ especially come in handy when you have your hands full - both figuratively and literally. When you're busy grabbing a snack or writing up a report, just ask your AI speaker: "Can you turn on the air conditioner for me?" or "How long do I have until the conference call?" Even without being asked, your AI speaker can remind you of important deadlines or meetings to keep you on top of everything even from home.
What about the kids? Keep them busy with AI-recommended programs and features! Working at home with children can be difficult. Focusing on a pressing report can be a struggle while trying to attend to your children, not to mention the laundry, dishes and dust all vying for your urgent attention. Before the stress becomes too much, consider this more peaceful scenario: You're making great progress on your work as your smart appliances deal with the dishes, laundry and dusty floors. You take a quick peek in the living room and there are the kids, sitting quietly in front of the TV, enjoying fun, age-appropriate entertainment that you didn't even have to search for. AI-infused TVs like the LG OLED ThinQ AI TV can deliver tailored recommendations based on viewers' age and their previous viewing choices. What's more, you won't even have to worry about the remote getting lost or broken, since voice control and LG's platform-wide search function make finding great content easy for everyone. Your children may have responsibilities of their own, which can be difficult for them to do when there's a TV in the room. Helping your kids focus on homework or reading, the latest smart TVs can transform into a virtual gallery displaying a restful landscape, beautiful artwork or roaring fireplace, which adds a new dimension to your living room and elevates the ambience to help you and your children be more productive.
Scrambling to keep tidy and get your work done? Connect your AI-powered appliances for ultimate smart control! Working at the office isn't easy with project deadlines, client meetings and constant phone calls. But working at home isn't all fun and games either, dealing with all this and household chores that keep piling on. It's easy to feel like you have to be a multitasking machine to stay on top of everything, but when you can control your appliances with the single click of a button or a simple voice command, multitasking really isn't all that hard. Today's smart technology can connect everything in the home, from your lights and TVs to the thermostat and robot vacuum. Virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant let you control them all with just your voice, as do convenient smartphone apps. For instance, with the LG ThinQ app, you can remotely control, schedule and monitor a whole range of LG appliances - such as the washer, dryer, robotic vacuum and air conditioner - with a touch of a finger or simple voice command. Simply check how long is left on your wash cycle with your phone and receive alerts when the cycle is complete. The LG ThinQ app even informs you when it's time to empty your robot vacuum and lets you set its daily cleaning schedule, and lets you adjust and monitor the temperature of every room with your LG smart air conditioner. This level of control enables you to quickly take care of several chores on your to-do list and still have time to spare before that conference call begins. And for added peace of mind, LG smart appliances can also tell you when it's time to clean filters, order more detergent and even if you left your refrigerator door open.
Keep calm and stay smart! Working from home can be difficult to manage, but with tech companies introducing a range of innovative solutions to make life indoors more efficient, there's plenty of room in the home for both productivity and relaxation. With the latest smart home technologies at your disposal, that report is as good as done. Please follow the government directions to stay at home and practice smart social distancing.
10 TOP TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE ONLINE MEETINGS Embrace video calling. Being present and seeing each other is an important part of keeping connected. Don’t hide away or do other work during the meeting. Use headsets or earphones. This will give better sound quality. Speak directly into the mic and remember to mute it when not speaking to limit background noise. Speak clearly and steadily. This will help ensure everyone can understand you. And try to modulate your voice, to keep people interested and engaged. Establish etiquette guidelines. Agree a system to give everyone a voice. Arrange ‘hands up’ signals to agree who speaks next and use chat functions to allow everyone to contribute.
Repeat the question. The chair or presenter should repeat questions they ask or before answering them, to ensure all participants are aware of the original question. Repeating the question in writing within a chat box could provide additional clarity. Use names and give context. When responding to chat comments, repeat the relevant remarks and make clear who you’re responding to. Don’t just say ‘yes, Jane that’s right’ because others may not have seen Jane’s comment and it won’t make sense to them. Keep slides simple. Keep to a single thought per slide to help participants understand and focus on what’s being discussed. It’s better to have more slides with fewer things on them. Keep slides visual. Your participants may be joining from a mobile device and wordy slides will be tough to read. Anchor your presentation on relevant, image-based slides. Engage participants regularly. It’s hard to simply listen online for a long time. Invite participants to give comments or ask questions, and use tools like chat or polls. Be explicit about actions and summarise. Spell out clearly any actions that need to be taken and by whom. Summarise meeting takeaways and circulate notes promptly.
Reproduced with the permission of the CIPD, experts on the world of work and the professional body for HR and people development.
10 TOP TIPS FOR MANAGING REMOTE TEAMS Agree ways of working. Make sure every team member is clear about how you will work together remotely, how you keep each other updated, and how frequently. Show the big picture but prepare to flex. Remind your team about the big picture and how their work fits into it. Review short-term goals regularly and adjust as needed. If some members can’t carry out all their usual work, consider other skills they can lend to others to meet team goals. Set expectations and trust your team. Be clear about mutual expectations and trust your team to get on without micromanaging. Focus on results rather than activity. Make sure team members have the support and equipment they need. This includes any coaching they might need to use online systems or work remotely. Keep your calendar visible and maintain a virtual open door. Have a daily virtual huddle. This is essential for keeping connected as a team, to check in on each other’s well-being and keep workflow on track. It needn’t be long, but regularity is key.
Keep the rhythm of regular one-to-ones and team meetings. This maintains a sense of structure and continuity for all. Share information and encourage your team to do the same. Without physical ‘water-cooler conversations’, opportunities to pick up information in passing are more limited. Share appropriate updates or learnings from other meetings and projects and invite your team to do the same. Tailor your feedback and communications. People can be more sensitive if they’re feeling isolated or anxious, so take this into account when talking or writing. Communicate regularly, not just when things go wrong, whether it is information, praise or criticism. Listen closely and read between the lines. Not being in the same room means you don't have extra information from body language or tone to get the sense of what people are thinking or feeling, particularly in more difficult conversations. Home in on what’s not being said and ask questions to clarify your interpretation. Help foster relationships and well-being. Make time for social conversations. This increases rapport and eases communication between people who may not meet often. It also reduces feelings of isolation.
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Reproduced with the permission of the CIPD, experts on the world of work and the professional body for HR and people development.
BASICS MY TOP ADVICE TO HELP PEOPLE GROW It’s the age old challenge of personal development - we want to change but where to start, and now more than ever in these times where the world seems to have a mind of its own the prospect of starting the process seems overwhelming. In these times, when the world seems to be having a mind of its own more than ever the thought of working on self improvement can seem overwhelming. Paradoxically, when everything seems out of control working on personal development by focusing on things WE can control is even more effective. Doing so we can remind ourselves that no matter how tough the circumstances we are in control of our own destiny. How you ask? Well, just take it back to BASICS.
BASICS The BASICS wheel is my go to tool for working with I&I clients. With it we can split our personal and professional development journeys into distinct sections which together make up our overall well being.
Body This is best summarized in the ancient Roman proverb: “Mens sana in corpore sano”, or, loosely, translated “a healthy mind in a healthy body”. Our physical state has a large influence on everything else we feel and are able to do. There are a variety of factors here ranging from diet, over exercise, and to sleep. It sounds deceptively simple and common sense. However, just ask my husband how many times he’s been sitting in front of a computer screen for hours tired and hungry and depriving his body of what is is craving and how much progress he made and how happy he was then compared to resuming after I, often kicking and screaming, dragged him for a 20 minute walk if you need any more convincing. It is for this reason that starting here is an easy and sensible approach. This example leads me to the next factor : Autopilot This is all about internalising a way of operating to be happier and more efficient. This boils down to three phases. First, identifying the long term objective so that we know what motivates us. Then, secondly, we outline how to achieve it and lastly derive daily actions from it that can be executed easily and stress-free enough to make them into habits through repetition. Taking the above example, if you make it routine to work in focused sprints and taking regular exercise breaks between sessions you can reduce the risk of mental fatigue all together. This is merely one example, and we want to help you become more efficient and better organised in all areas of your life. Security Borrowing from Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs - basic security is a fundamental aspect of overall well being and in our quest towards self-actualisation. Feeling secure, both emotionally and financially, relieves stress and frees up head-space and brain cycles to focus on your goals. For instance, if you worry about not being able to make more money, initiate and exercise to work out roughly how much your dreams would cost. In doing so, you take uncertainty and doubts out of the picture and gain insight and certainty about what you need to do and by when instead. Then, you can put the brain power previously dedicated to worrying towards working out a plan to make your dream a reality. Important People It has many times been proven that humans are social creatures and peer pressure and herd mentality are a force to be reckoned with. It logically follows then that in order to achieve our goals it will help to adopt the mentality of herds which are in the process of or have already succeeded at achieving what we aspire to. Platforms such as meetup and LinkedIn make it easier than ever to find and connect with these groups and people and even in times of self-isolation there are virtual get-to-gethers which lower the barrier to entry even further. Always wanted to learn how to code? Join a virtual development meetup today.
As surrounding ourselves with like minded people the opposite effect exists too though. Having toxic people and messaging in our news feeds and scroll-streams. Unfriending or unfollowing carries a stigma, but if you pollute your mind with fake-news and negativity first thing in the morning when you open your news feeds this can set a negative tone for the day. A simple thing to do is to unfollow whenever you come across content that you recognise as not being valuable to you. Consciousness The just mentioned unfollowing or unsubscribing from content is an example of this. Being aware of your feelings moods and reactions to events and stimuli helps. Looking after your mental health and finding time to focus on you should always be a priority, no matter how busy you are. If you start feeling overwhelmed note down your thoughts, make space for more. Which brings me to the final aspect your Surroundings Just as your mind doesn’t operate at maximum capacity when it is cluttered the same can be said about your physical surroundings. Seeing and perceiving mess upsets our brain, often subconscious if you don’t have OCD, So. this is all about creating space an environment that empowers you to do your best. You can even combine this with the initial example and find some exercise in throwing out old and unnecessary things and carrying them to the next recycling point. Taking Action Doing or thinking about improving all six of these is daunting and overwhelming, and the approach that works with clients without fail is to just pick one aspect and identify one concrete action that you can take here and now. Above I provided some inspiration and a lot of the work I do with clients centers around helping them find out which aspect and which element therein will benefit most from working on. I always recommend starting with something easy so you can celebrate results quicker and feel more motivated.
Read More Aga Gajownik is a very dynamic social entrepreneur, startup strategist, and educator, passionate about helping ambitious people to make things happen. She specialises in creating development frameworks for digital leadership and entrepreneurship education using the latest technologies. Long-term track record of working with entrepreneurs, higher education institutions, social impact organisations, and young people. Creator of SEE - SCRUM Educational Experience, I&I Formula and BASIC Model supporting social entrepreneurs in starting and running sustainable companies without burning out too soon (think work-life balance). Promoting entrepreneurship and supporting start-up ecosystems internationally, she can’t bear people's potential being unnoticed. In her spare time, you’ll find Aga volunteer teaching crochet or dancing Forró.
MARTECH – A BUZZ WORD OR AN ESSENTIAL PART OF EVERY MODERN COMPANY? We live in a world that is constantly evolving and changing rapidly. Technology is also changing daily with the speed of light and we can’t help but notice that it affects business processes in every single company. Technology helps us stay connected, automate processes, speed up tasks that we never thought would be possible in the past, and it also helps companies to leverage their resources much smarter than before. As businesses evolve, new processes arise and old ones die, it’s inevitable that technology has become an important part of the everyday life and work globally. In today’s world, you can’t imagine the marketing activities to be executed without any help from technology. Therefore, the field Martech incorporates the marketing processes and the use of technology in the business processes. When it first appeared, Martech used to be comprised of simple marketing software such as social media management and monitoring tools, SEO analysis tools, website analysis tools, and marketing automation platforms. As this field developed, some of the tools used by marketers started to overlap with tools which are used for other purposes in the organizations, such as sales, management and even customer support. Salesforce can be considered as the leader that introduced Martech in its early beginnings. By introducing their SaaS CRM system in 1999, they disrupted the market and provided small companies with the opportunity to be able to use CRM tools without having to pay a huge amount of money.
One of the most significant examples of how martech evolved is the one of Hubspot. When Hubspot first appeared on the market, it was a regular marketing tool. As they evolved, they expanded into content management. Then, they continued with introducing their CRM and sales tools, of course, with making sure that the focus will be on marketing. Further down the road, they continued with conversational marketing and chatbots and they even added customer support as part of their offering. It’s essential for Martech to be a part of each stage of the marketing funnel. It should address all activities in the attraction, engagement, conversion and retention of customers. Nowadays, most of the small companies use only the essentials, while medium and big companies can have very complex Martech tools and solutions. A set of tools is called a Martech Stack. When it comes to tools, there are a few important categories that you should have in mind: 1. DAM – Digital Asset Management DAM is referred to as the core of the Martech Stack. These tools help you store and manage your content from one place. Having a centralized place where you keep all the important content is one of the driving forces of your company’s marketing efforts. Some examples of DAM tools include: Brandfolder, Bynder, Adobe Experience Manager, and WebDAM. 2. Lead Management These tools help marketers to get leads, engage them, nurture them in each stage of the funnel and determine which of them are good quality leads that might become customers. A part of Lead Management tools are the so-called Lead Magnets that are used to attract potential clients. Examples of tools include: Sumo, Optimonk, OptinMonster and Bloom. 3. Data and analytics tools and platforms There is no marketing today without data. You simply can’t analyse any digital marketing effort if you don’t measure the data of the activities you have executed. Data Management Platforms (DMPs), Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), Web Analytics tools, Predictive Analytics tools and Tag Management tools are all a part of managed data platforms that bring immense value to business owners and marketers. Some of these tools are: Kissmetrics, Google Tag Manager, Listrak and Google Analytics. 4. Marketing Automation Marketing automation is essential for big companies, mostly integrated with CRM and email marketing efforts, push-notifications and display ads. The automation tools are a must have in each Martech Stack, especially if you want to make sure that your company will have a streamlined process of lead nurturing and client retention. Examples of marketing automation tools include: Hubspot, ConvertKit, Autopilot, Synerise and ActiveCampaign.
5. Social media management These tools are probably the most commonly used tools in the Martech Stack, especially by small and medium sized companies. They simplify the process of creating and managing social media content and make sure that you have the message delivered across all social media channels. These tools help companies to schedule posts, monitor their performance, analyse their audiences and make decisions based on data. Examples of social media management tools include: SproutSocial, Buffer, Hootsuite and AgoraPulse. 6. CRM – Customer Relationship Management All your marketing efforts would be in vain if you don’t have a CRM. These tools help you keep track of your leads, and customers and make decisions based on the information that you will gather for them. The CRM tools provide a centralized system for your customer base and are often the crucial part of the sales and customer relationships that you will build in your company. Most of the times, the CRM tool would be connected to an e-mail marketing platform, a push-notification platform or any similar tool used to communicate with your clients. Examples of CRM tools include: HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho and Salesforce. The main benefit of Martech is time saving via process automation. This helps companies and marketers to manage multiple marketing channels and activities without loosing time on repetitive tasks and manual analysis. Companies that implement Martech in a structured and strategic manner can create an automated system that will function like a well-oiled machine.
It’s very important that you choose a Martech Stack that will fit your company, your business goals and your organizational structure. If you choose a stack that is difficult to implement or is not aligned with your business processes it might be just a waste of time and money. Thanks to Martech, companies and marketers nowadays have much more data available for their clients and are able to make data based decisions which in return increase the company’s value towards the customers, and helps in the overall growth of the company. These data and insights are often displayed in real time so companies can make fast adjustments to their processes and make sure their businesses are on track with the latest requirements from their clients. It’s inevitable that Martech is not just a buzzword, but rather a very important part of every modern business. Modern marketing simply can’t exist without a Martech Stack. The set of tools and platforms that incorporate a Martech Stack is an essential part of the engagement with the modern consumer and it will continue to dive deeper as organizations and companies evolve.
About Teodora Teodora Nikolovska is the founder and CEO of Vrootok, a digital marketing and consulting agency working with global clients. Her experience includes working with e-commerce and SaaS companies from multiple industries, across multiple countries, mainly by developing successful digital marketing strategies and in-house trainings. She is also a speaker on topics related to digital marketing, entrepreneurship and business development.
MUM OF 4 TURNED CRYPTO BROKER EXTRAORDINAIRE By Monica Nguyen Digital Asset Broker at AIMS OTC
This is the story of a mum of 4, with no financial, trading or blockchain background, who quit her recruitment administrator job to become a Crypto Broker. It is also the story of her journey to self-discovery that will surprise you as much as it surprised herself. At age 37 with 4 kids, bored with my recruitment admin role, I was on the search for a flexible hour job that was close enough to the city for school runs. Acutely aware, this would greatly limit my options, I decided that after having accumulated nearly 10 years’ experience in the corporate business services world, I should play on my strengths and applied for the generic office manager role in corporate services.I turned up to my face to face interview in my best red dress, just to be told that the Part-time Office Manager role was taken. I hadn’t even digested the shock of the non-existent office manager role when the co-founder immediately pitched me a Cryptocurrency Broker role for a new start-up. My mind was already whizzing away from the surprise sales pitch to darker thoughts on whether this was a legitimate role or business. I was quickly brought back to the room by the job offer. ‘Do you want it? ’“No!” I replied, followed by the reasons below; I did not know anything about Cryptocurrencies. I did not trade. I did not come from a financial background. ith my CV waving in his hand, my arguments were quickly interjected with my previous experience in operations, sales, commercials running business centers and why these were transferable skills valuable in a start-up. Still not convinced, I agreed to do more research and to return for a second interview. Little did I know, how difficult the search would be, I didn’t know anyone in crypto and it quickly dawned on me how loud and confusing this industry actually was. Most of the online searches came up with get rich quick trading schemes while BBC documentaries were exerting caution and it didn’t help that I had no understanding of all the buzzwords like blockchain let alone what bitcoin really meant.
Coincidentally, around the same time I was offered two other office manager roles with flexible hours and both with more money! After weighing the pros and cons, it was clear that I could always return to office management or recruitment and besides, this recent job search taught me it was a rarity for any employer to offer you a role without background knowledge and the willingness to train you from scratch. I was intimidated by the high risk tag associated with start-ups (because of the 90% fail rate) but ultimately concluding that even in the worst case I’d still be acquiring new skills, improving my knowledge in a nascent industry and further diversifying my CV. I did not know whether this opportunity would ever come around again, I accepted the job! There I was, all by myself in a start-up business on my own for almost one year! Being the only person in a quiet start-up gave me the chance to catch up on my education, starting with listening to podcasts, reading and online courses. I was involved in building the business from the ground up, all the way from creating the administrative processes to managing the crypto trading desk, over onboarding clients through the compliance process, up to networking and exhibiting. Basically, I was wearing many hats but deep down, I was still struggling terribly with confidence issues. Despite being fully immersed in the space, I was feeling overwhelmed because I still didn’t understand everything about trading, cryptocurrencies and blockchain. I was expected to take conference calls, to pitch the business, to networking, yet whenever I had to speak, I literally choked up and I struggled to articulate everything that I had been learning. On one particular evening at a ‘Women in Tech Revolution’ event, I opened up to co-founder Natalie Furness. She suggested I apply for the free 12 week mentorship program and I immediately signed up and was paired with my first mentor Jess Houlgrave, a blockchain entrepreneur. It felt really good to have someone to talk to, who was able to offer support and structured development advice. She helped me overcome my fear of conference calls and speaking to strangers at events. I met my second mentor Veronica Mihai Das co-founder of a hedge fund, speaking at a ‘Women in Blockchain Talks’ event. I was so impressed by the way she was able to easily articulate Ethereum in a simple way that I had no choice but to persuade her to become my mentor and to learn from her communication skills. She really has gone out of her way to help me with setting homework and guiding me through the gaps in my learning, which has tremendously helped me increase my confidence. To this day, I still struggle with asking my boss questions, because I am afraid of appearing stupid or of annoying them. This is a challenge I am learning to overcome. The same struggle has also led me to looking into other channels for answers from being committed to finishing my online courses to networking and mentorships. Looking back at myself 18 months ago, standing in the corner of a crowded conference center struggling to find my voice, only then I realised how far I have come, how much I have grown and how much more I have yet to achieve. I am sharing my journey of how a mum of 4 with no formal higher education took a risk, went on to learn and challenge herself to become an experienced crypto broker and smashing stereotypes along the way with the hope it will inspire those who are also considering a career change, to encourage you to push yourself out of your comfort zone and to reinvent yourself just as I did into the 21st century.
FAMILY AND CAREER — PRIORITIES THAT ARE NOT XOR (EXCLUSIVE OR) By Mónica Valverde My life is currently upside down as I’m going through a separation. Having to take care of myself and co-parent my 3-year-old, I find myself, more than ever, paying attention to my financial stability. Growing up in a multicultural background with some traditional gender ideas in the mix, I’m familiar with the expectations of women depending on men financially. When I was young, I’ve heard stories about women losing their husbands and having a hard time sustaining themselves and their young children. Or women getting pregnant by some men who abandoned her Or women not being able to leave their abusive husbands because they didn’t have financial freedom. Nowadays things are better, but similar stories still happen. It’s not that it’s wrong to become a stay-at-home wife or mother. Feminism means women being free to choose what they want. However, there is a dangerous idea that still exists: that we’d have to choose between family and career. We often hear how “money is not all”, or “family is what matters”. As if both are mutually exclusive options, and that by prioritizing one we can’t have the other. As if we can’t have it all. This idea is not only limiting but also dangerously wrong.
It became crystal clear to me, especially during this difficult phase of life. Having to provide for myself and my child, I’m grateful for my financial stability and freedom. This freedom allowed me to choose my own path in life and take care of us without worrying about having enough. My career as a developer, and recently as a technical manager, requires constant learning and dedication. However, it never forced me to prioritize it over my family. Quite the contrary, it actually contributed to my ability to prioritize my family. It allowed not only financial freedom but also work flexibility and conditions. When I was pregnant, I used to go to an online community for Portuguese mothers. There I’ve read stories about women who were discriminated against at work for being pregnant or having young children, or being stuck in some situations for not having financial means to be independent. The difference between us is our career leverage. Of course, this is not ok, and this is why equality matters so women can have equal opportunities and freedom.But because those women had less choice and freedom, they went through more hardships and limitations. As a mother, I can only imagine how desperate it can be, to worry about having enough for our children. Besides equality, we need to realize that family and career are not mutually exclusive priorities. Rather, they are mutually important parts of our lives that can benefit from each other. As role models for our children, dedicating to our passions and having financial independence are strengths we can show them, and demonstrate that it’s possible to have it all.
About Mónica Valverde Monica is a mum, a programmer, a technical manager and a digital doodler who develops web applications and chatbots. If you find this story interesting you can check out my featured story here.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN YOU'RE NOT IN THEBYROOM SUSANNE BIRGERSDOTTER
A vital aspect of a businessperson’s longevity in business is his or her personal branding. Entrepreneurs shouldn’t just focus on building great products that customers will like and buy. The secret to business success is great personal branding. This is what carries an entrepreneur from one company to another, one industry to the next. This is how you build a business empire. Successful businesses are anchored on good branding. Product branding is focused on one particular product and how it is presented to the customers. Corporate branding is the building a public image for the entire company. This includes its products, its values, its services and commitment to the community, its leaders and its people. Personal branding, on the other hand, is focused on one person, usually the leaders and founders of the business. Personal branding is shaping your public image. How creating a persona that you want other people to see you. It is an amalgamation of your personality, your work, your values, of how you dress, your expertise, your products, and your work ethics. It is what sets you apart from the others, what makes you easily recognizable, and what others think about you. Jeff Bezos of Amazon describes personal branding as “…what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Personal branding is the foundation of a political career and the fuel to a celebrity’s stardom. For a businessperson, a great personal branding translates to customers’ loyalty, creditors’ trust, investors’ confidence, and employees’ pride. It is also a great marketing tool that will sustain an ever-growing business. Customers are more likely to buy a new product if they know who the maker or seller is. It is not new for businesses to use the good image of a leader in many marketing campaigns and promotions. As a businesswoman who traipses over several industries, businesses, and careers, personal branding is very important to me. It is instrumental in how I was able to easily move from one industry to another, from one business to the next. Every time I enter a new industry and start a
new endeavor, I’m a newbie. I have to learn everything and build everything from scratch. But, I also have my name, my brand. People will know me from my past work and reputation as a person and as a businesswoman. My clients, my creditors, and my investors follow me or provide the recommendations that will open new doors for me.
Consistency is key – People can easily spot a fake. Act in public like how you do online. If your fun and jolly on your social media accounts, be fun and jolly in person. If you advocate against animal cruelty, do not be caught wearing a fur coat. Everything about you – your tone of voice, your personality, and the way you dress should align with the brand you’re building.
Building a strong and positive personal branding takes years of consistency. One cannot create a strong image with erratic behavior. Here are the steps and some great tips to help you start building your personal branding;
Don’t try to please everyone – Trying to please everyone is a hopeless endeavor. No matter what you do, there will always be some people who will go against you. This is the time to let your personal beliefs and values take precedence. My advocacy in helping other women entrepreneurs in forwarding their careers and businesses has earned me some flak from some gentlemen in business. I will try to understand their point, but I will not change my advocacy.
Define your public persona – How do you want people to see you? How much of your true personality are you willing to share with the public? Although showing your true self is best, it is not uncommon for people to tweak their public personality. Many celebrities we know look vivacious and fun, when in reality, they are the quiet type introverts. A corporate leader might want to tame his or her public image, to conform to what is expected of him/her. Your public persona must be consistent with your position, your personality, and the goals that you want to achieve. Introduce yourself – Once you’ve defined your public persona, it is time to tell the world about him/her. Let people know who you are by your actions, weave it into your speeches, create a slogan, and participate in events that will highlight your public image. If you want to be known as a staunch environment supporter, create or go to events that will promote this advocacy. If you want to be known as the down-to-earth, oneof-the-guys boss, be more relatable to your employees.
Stamp your branding everywhere – This is the marketing aspect of your brand. People will remember you easily if you keep on reminding them of who you are. Create a personal slogan and a logo. Include them everywhere – your email signature, in your blog, in your social media accounts, in your business card, and in your business letterhead. Leverage from other reputable brands – Associating yourself with strong and influential brands will help boost your brand. Working or collaborating with other brands will rub off their branding to you. So, be careful with who you associate with. Working with people or companies with disreputable names might taint your brand while collaborating with good and strong ones will help boost yours.
About Susanne Birgersdotter Susanne is a Swedish self made entrepreneur and investor, has gone from designing her first app from her kitchen table to becoming one of the most influential entrepreneurs and brand builder within 7 years. Susanne’s strong instincts and intuition has helped her grow her companies including designing a #1 ranked app and founding IGOTCHA, SthlmAppLab, SBDM & Birgersdotter Innovate. Susannes biggest passion in life when she's not building business is Female Entrepreneurship, Health, Fashion - Tech and food.
YOU BELONG IN TECH SHAPING A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE CULTURE AT CODEGRAM Tackling diversity & inclusion While the diversity and inclusion movement has made some gains in the last few years, the technology industry still needs improvement. For quite some time, our situation at Codegram wasn't that different to the standard of the industry, and honestly, it was quite embarrassing, one year ago just 2 out of the 11 people at Codegram were women, and, in general, our backgrounds were quite similar. It wasn't something you could call a diverse team. We realised this needed to change, and with each opportunity to hire we tried different approaches to make our job offers more appealing and to actively reach to diverse communities. How to do it? The first thing to do is probably to do some research, read and learn about the topic. Don't sit back or wait until other people educate you, be active about it, there's so much content to read about! Just to kick-start it, here's some of the things we've done that worked well for us: Contact specific user groups for the technologies you're looking for and send them your job offers. Write job offers with inclusive wording, don't include every single technology you use in you company (they can be learned too!), also, include the salary. Consider if college degrees are really necessary (hint, they aren't).
Offer the best working conditions that you can afford: Flexible hours. Budget for a home office and a coworking space. Working 35 hours per week instead of 40. 5 hours dedicated to learning time. No, coffee at the office, snacks, beers, ping-pong or foosball don't count as perks. Actively reach out to possible candidates that match your needs by looking at LinkedIn or similar platforms. Don't use third-parties to recruit unless you know their processes in a lot of detail. It's very difficult to find a recruiting company that shares your values and has best practices regarding diversity and inclusion. Sponsor or participate in organizations or events like: Women Who Code, Women Techmakers, Clojure Bridge, Rust Bridge, Rails Girls, Django Girls or PyLadies. It might seem difficult initially, but one important thing to keep in mind is that diversity brings more diversity, so keep working on it! Our role models Diversity is not just a stat at Codegram, it's one of our core values. That's why we wanted to highlight some great women in tech who have inspired all of us during our career. Núria There are a lot of women in tech I admire, but if I have to choose the one that has had the biggest impact on my career it wouldn't be a woman, but a group of women. AdaJS is a local meetup organized by women that bring the most interesting female and non-binary speakers. I've known them since I started programming, and every talk and workshop has inspired me and helped me become a better developer. But most importantly, they have helped me to create ties with a great community and I can't imagine where I'd be without them Anna I have been fortunate enough in my career in tech to have worked with some really great women and have felt such support and encouragement from them. The one that stands out most for me is during my first job as a junior programmer where I was performing menial tasks and not given much chance to learn or show what I was capable of. A senior developer from another team noticed this and took me under her wing and fought to give me the opportunity to work on a project where I could learn and grow. She was supportive and trusted in me to make decisions where before I hadn’t been given the chance or responsibility to do so. She really helped my confidence a lot at the start of my career and I still look up to her.
Elisa One of the people who most has inspired me have been Marie Curie, she was the first person who won a Nobel Prize twice -Physics and Chemistry-, and the only one to win it in two different scientific fields. Born in 1867, she began to study clandestinely and today she is recognised in all over the world for her radioactivity investigations, she discovered polonium and radium. A look at her life reminds me that, when you have a clear objective, it’s possible to achieve it, despite the difficulties. Anagha Growing up, I have always admired Sudha Murthy. Coming from a similar community as mine and growing up in a time where gender discrimination was everywhere she broke the barriers to become the first female engineer hired in India’s largest auto manufacturer company. She also initiated computer labs and classes and also taught computer science to many Govt. run schools in my city. She later went on to help her husband start 'Infosys' which is now a huge Multinational Corporation. She portrays strength and determination. I have always been in awe of her passion and boldness. She makes me want to be better everyday :) Txus During my career I've met and worked with many amazing women, but one of the most inspiring has to be Blithe Rocher. When we met she was working at Fastly —coming from a scientific background she switched her career into tech and was speaking at a conference in San Francisco. Her story was already very inspiring, but there's something I still remember to this day. At the time she was a Hillary supporter and wanted to have a bigger impact on her campaign. At that conference, she met with some of Hillary's tech staff and offered her help, and so it began. I was extremely impressed with how not only she decided to apply her skills to a higher purpose, but rather than daydreaming like perhaps I would, just went on and started doing it. Elena I was trying to come up with a well-known role model, when I realised that my female role model in tech was a colleague of mine, from many years ago. It was my first job as a developer and we were in a huge team, mainly men. I was the only girl in that section of the team and was a junior back then also. Every time I had an issue, a question, something I was blocked with, whomever I would ask in the team, they would always tell me to go ask her. And every time I would get one or many possible solutions and real support afterwards. She was so knowledgeable, nice and always with a smile for everyone. And I remember thinking "One day, I want to be like her". Lidia was her name. Not sure if it's because she was a woman in a tech world, or just because she was so good at what she did, but she is the only person I ever wanted to be like, job-wise.
Leo According to several studies, Wikipedia is the most popular source of knowledge on the internet. Thus, it has a great impact on our vision of reality. On the other hand, being written and updated by thousands of editors, who are mostly men, it reinforces biases and prejudices that are already present in the society. That is why I have a deep respect for the work of Patricia Horrillo who fronts the Wikiesfera users group. They dedicate their efforts to educate new women editors and organize "Editatonas" where they add and complete entries for outstanding women in a selected field, using a gender perspective to reduce the androcentric bias of the Wikipedia contents. I heard about Patricia during the time when the 15-M movement was on everyone's lips in Spain. She was helping to build a wiki to document all the experiences that were happening at that time. And, some years later, I've had the good fortune of working with her on a small non profit project, where I witnessed her integrity, determination and commitment. David I always have been fascinated with videogames, in fact, I started studying computer engineering because I wanted to make games at some point. One of my favorite games is Portal and it was designed by an american video game designer called Kim Swift. She is such an inspiration for this tech industry where women had always difficult times being recognized. Here is a list of notable women in the video game industry.I am also a big board game fan and I also want to do a special mention to Elizabeth Hargrave, the designer of one of my favorite games: Wingspan. She also started this page to support diversity in board game design. Marc Riera Some years ago I started digging into languages and general linguistics. At some point, I met someone on Twitter (I think they'd rather remain anonymous, so I'll respect that) and gosh. They speak a lot of languages and can read a wide variety of writing systems (from the Latin alphabet to Chinese characters, including Egyptian hieroglyphs or Inuktikut syllabics), and they work on revitalizing the language spoken where they are from. I've learned a lot from them, and we've had some awesome discussions about languages, etymologies and cultures! !
ありがとうございます
Oriol After some time of programming with Ruby and other object-oriented languages I usually had the feeling that something was off: how should I split the behaviour and the state? Is this code ready to create a new abstraction? Why does this object have to know that bit of the other one? Should I just ditch OO and go for a functional approach? I had quite a mess in my head. All this changed after reading Sandi Metz's Practical Object-Oriented Design in Ruby. It changed the way I programmed and especially how to tackle new programs and code bases, it was probably one of the people that influenced me the most in how I work. Oh, and it was a super nice meeting her at Full Stack Fest!
Eva Solà Last year I wanted to become a better Manager and learn how to build thriving products. From the many offers that you can find in Barcelona to do these type of courses, I decided to do a course at allWomen in tech. Why? I was looking to share experiences, learn and get inspired by other women, and it was a great decision! I especially feel grateful for the support and coaching that Kax Uson, one of the teachers from allwomen, has given to me. Not only during the course but also thanks to the workshops of career hacking for women where she is one of the three founders. It's nice to have a community to learn and support each other! Also, there are some women in tech in Spain that I admire and follow to get some inspiration like Cristina Santamarina (she builds Chatbots from strategy, facilitation to implementation) or Raquel Lainde who helps companies to work on inclusion and diversity. Agustí My natural start with coding was to convert images (web mockups) in to HTML and CSS, as I came from graphic design background. So I appreciate very much Natalie Weizenbaum (nex3) that developed SassScript, a metalanguage that converts into CSS. I took Sass benefits to improve, speed up and optimize the style sheets I produce for web pages. As well as the possibility of reusing components between projects and keeping code more organized. Later Susy, a responsive layout toolkit for Sass, developed by Miriam Suzanne was released and I discovered the semantic CSS approach, helping me to decouple presentational information from the HTML, thus building more maintainable web projects. I would like to thank many more who shared their knowledge and their way of coding: Lea Verou, Sara Soueidan... Thanks Diversity brings many benefits: increase creativity (take a look at this post: Hiring people with the same ideas as you does not generate new ideas), a wider range of skills, reduced employee turnover, and also from the business side, it has a profitability impact. Fast forward to today and we are in a better (albeit not perfect) situation: the number of women has increased from 18% to 37% (from 2 to 10, 8 being developers), there's people from 11 different countries working from 6 different timezones. A new phase in our quest for diversity and inclusion!
About Eva Solà Lopez Innovation Manager | Product Manager
BOOK CLUB GOOD VIBES, GOOD LIFE HOW SELF-LOVE IS THE KEY TO UNLOCKING YOUR GREATNESS by Vex King
Be the best version of you that YOU can be. How can you learn to truly love yourself? How can you transform negative emotions into positive ones? Is it possible to find lasting happiness? In this book, Instagram guru Vex King answers all of these questions and more. Vex overcame adversity to become a source of hope for thousands of young people, and now draws from his personal experience and his intuitive wisdom to inspire you to: practise self-care, overcome toxic energy and prioritize your wellbeing - cultivate positive lifestyle habits, including mindfulness and meditation - change your beliefs to invite great opportunities into your life- manifest your goals using tried-andtested techniques- overcome fear and flow with the Universe- find your higher purpose and become a shining light for others In this book, Vex will show you that when you change the way you think, feel, speak and act, you begin to change the world.
HOW TO FAIL: EVERYTHING I’VE EVER LEARNED FROM THINGS GOING WRONG by Elizabeth Day
Inspired by her hugely popular podcast, How To Fail is Elizabeth Day’s brilliantly funny, painfully honest and insightful celebration of things going wrong. This is a book for anyone who has ever failed. Which means it’s a book for everyone. If I have learned one thing from this shockingly beautiful venture called life, it is this: failure has taught me lessons I would never otherwise have understood. I have evolved more as a result of things going wrong than when everything seemed to be going right. Out of crisis has come clarity, and sometimes even catharsis.Part memoir, part manifesto, and including chapters on dating, work, sport, babies, families, anger and friendship, it is based on the simple premise that understanding why we fail ultimately makes us stronger. It's a book about learning from our mistakes and about not being afraid. Uplifting, inspiring and rich in stories from Elizabeth’s own life, How to Fail reveals that failure is not what defines us; rather it is how we respond to it that shapes us as individuals. Because learning how to fail is actually learning how to succeed better. And everyone needs a bit of that.
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COLABORATIONS we are looking to collaborate with all digital and tech organizations focused in women, diversity and equality.
