I’ll release the 20th episode of the Women Disrupting Tech Podcast this Friday. Thanks to the incredible women who are disrupting the technology sector with their knowledge and inspiration, it has been an exciting journey. So, I thought it would be an excellent moment to look at what I’ve learned so far.
Before I start, I want to thank the 23 women that I interviewed so far for their help, network, and wisdom. Also, a shout-out to all the other people who helped me connect with guests. I learned that just mentioning the podcast has opened so many doors, that as I write this post, I already have a list of possible guests that help me get to around 75 episodes. Which brings me to the first lesson I learned from the podcast.
When I started, my biggest fear was not having enough guests to interview because they would consider it a ‘female fight’. During the interviews, I learned that women appreciated the help of male allies. In fact, all of them somehow mentioned that promoting diversity in the technology sector is something we should all do together. So my podcast is a small step towards having more diversity and inclusion in the world of tech.
Another thing I learned is that every initiative has a business case, and so has diversity and inclusion. Research shows that having women on the team more than doubles profits increases the quality of products and services, and leads to more productivity. Therefore, I don’t think it is justified to approach it as a social responsibility issue. Instead, to quote Claire Tange, you’re missing out if you’re not looking at female-led companies.
The third and final thing I learned is a career tip that applies regardless of your position and regardless of the organization that you’re in. It’s that you need to tell the people around you about your ambitions and achievements. And yes, especially for women, this is sort of ‘not done’. But all the women I spoke to mentioned that being vocal about what you have done and still want to do is crucial to their success. If you listen to my interviews with Marie Weijler and Hendrika Willemse, you’ll get plenty of tips on how to do this.
What I have not learned yet is if I can keep my promise to Jacqueline van den Ende to make the podcast irrelevant 10 years from now. What I did learn is that there are plenty of ideas and that the timeline is very ambitious. But, in the spirit of the lessons I learned, there are plenty of reasons to continue, and I hope you’ll join me on that journey.
Women Disrupting Tech | The Podcast 