If you met young girls, ladies, boys, whatever, what would be
your advice for them in the future, taking into consideration everything we
tackle: the technology, moving fastly forward?
I would say the one thing that people need to do,
as far as young people getting into any industry, is to be
very adaptable to change.
So often we get stuck with this blueprint of how we see
our lives and the next 40 years.
“I’m going to marry at 25, have kids at 30, do this at 35” – throw that out the window.
I mean, we live in exciting times and I think there’s so much potential to do whatever you want.
And so I would say don’t get too stuck and comfortable in the way that
you’re doing things.
There’s a real beauty to discomfort and I think if you
can embrace that you can succeed as a leader in these new times.
When I became aware that I’m becoming a mom of triplets, everybody was asking: “How will you do it?”
It was the first time in my life,
I was already a manager leading a lot of people, and then I was faced with the first time in my life to say:
“I don’t have any clue how I will manage this.”
What I’ve learned is exactly what you were just mentioning.
You have to take the situation how it is.
You have to find a solution within the situation and then you move forward.
So there’s no manual that you get. I think that’s one of the beautiful things
and I know we’re sometimes afraid to talk about motherhood in the context of
business but I think one of the beautiful things about mothers is that
we do figure out how to do it all and most moms I know are incredibly busy and
successful and they’re wonderful leaders in their homes and in the office.
And I think that’s something we should all celebrate.
So my husband took a bit of a step back in his career early on and let me
go out and do my thing and I think also that partnership is incredibly valuable.
So working as a team?
Absolutely and having someone to support you.
So it’s not just about I am able to do all these different things but the truth is
I have a little team at home who supports me and who accepts that I’m travelling a lot
but knows when I need to be there, I’m there.
And I think that little unit, I protect it like something sacred and I love it.
So were you feeling that there was the expectation of people around you –
that they expected more from you?
I really did! I found that if I had
one mistake or I tripped or made one little error, that I would be judged more
intensely maybe than some of my peers.
So what I did is I overcompensated. In my 20s I worked harder than anyone else,
I stayed up researching my notes, I made sure that I knew what I was talking about,
I tried never to make mistakes.
I’ve eased a bit up over the years
but I think that early on there was that pressure to just exceed everyone’s expectations.
I would never share that I felt tested.
What I see in many conversations with younger people – whether it is is men or women, it’s the same thing –
I always try to encourage them to say
you have to believe in yourself and you have to get focused on what is
important for you, on what you believe.
So I think that’s at least for me the key takeaway if I look back into my past.
As long as I stayed focused and I said: “I truly believe in what I am doing,
I cannot concentrate too much on other things”,
then I was successful.
If somebody said no, yes okay, never take a no for a no.
Just try it again and rethink whether you did everything in order to move it forward
so that’s my key learning and this is what
I try to say to the people: “There is no white knight coming to help you –
in the night or in the morning.”
So I truly believe in your inner force,
I truly believe in your inner strength, and as long as you stay
focused on yourself and, although you can become frustrated because
this was a no, you stand up again and you say I fight for this.
The best hing that has ever happened to me is that his grade three teacher told me recently
what they had at career day, talking about what they wanted to do, and he said:
“I want to be a tech entrepreneur like my mom.”
That’s the biggest compliment, right?
It is the biggest compliment for a woman in technology!
I’ve been in this industry for almost 20 years just to think that
I have a little boy who in his family looks to me as I want to
be a tech entrepreneur just like my mom.
It’s just a very, incredibly proud moment for me.