Scilence 51 FinTech & OWNING IT

My guest this week left engineering, partially because there were no women in her team.  She went off to study for an MBA and ended up in FinTech. 

Throughout her career she always wanted to maintain her femininity and was loud and proud about that.  She didn’t want to engage in 'man-talk' during her breaks and so confidently didn't. You can be yourself around men, you just have to own it.

My guest believes that you have to respect yourself first in order to receive respect from others.  Women can be vulnerable around men and Women can get triggered by working with other women.  Working in industry allows us to to grow a thicker skin.  

In her experience, men and women communicate differently and women should stop constantly saying sorry.   Women can listen, men want to provide solutions.  But women in engineering (such as my guest and I) have a very rational demeanour - the fact that we are in female bodies, makes us unique.  

My guest is very positive about being in a minority.  She has learned how men think, and its a great plus for her.   Compared to 15-20 years ago, gender issues are actually easier today.  For that reason, rolemodels don’t need to be female, but women do need to stick together. 

We discuss all this and more, including the transformation of motherhood.  My guest has some very interesting suggestions for mothers returning to work - but first, they need to be heard.