The founder of Scroll Media, Jane Ormsby, has kindly shared with B&T a lovely letter dedicated to the women she’s learnt from:
I was recently asked to be a Judge for the B&T Women in Media Awards, which was an absolute privilege.
As a female founder of Scroll Media, I was given the Entrepreneurs Category to judge and as I was reading all the incredible entries from amazing women, it really dawned on me, how far we have come as a society.
To some extent, my grandmother and my mother simply did not have the opportunities that we have today to make choices to live more fulfilling lives.
Traditionally women were not encouraged to have a good education or careers, as that was left to the blokes.
It must have felt incredibly restrictive to women, and some women would have been left feeling powerless. It’s not something we should ever take for granted. Nowadays, we have so many choices and opportunities, that we can pretty much do anything we want to do with a bit of grit, determination and smudge-proof mascara.
Over the years, I have had many female (and male) role models that inspired me. I always remember our boarding school headmistress in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, Barbara Herbert saying, “now girls, work hard. You are going to have secretaries, not be secretaries.”
My friends giggle about this now, but that mindset opened us up to look at career opportunities beyond the traditional ‘woman’ roles. Back then, we didn’t know we would need programmatic data capability or contextual algorithm skills, but it taught us to be curious and learn.
In my first job out of university I was inspired by my boss Teresa Baldock who juggled small children with leading a sales team and dealing with management who were mostly all men. I don’t know how she did it, but I learnt from her, that you can combine a career with motherhood if you are smart about it.
One special woman who stands out for me as a female role model is Catherine Saunders, who practically invented the bigger block of cheese at the NZ Dairy Board in the 60s, and was a regular TV presenter on shows like Beauty and the Beast and Town and Around.
At a time when women were not really involved in business or media, Catherine proved graciously that women have a vital role to play in the commercial media landscape.
Once I got my teeth into digital media advertising in London at 247 Real Media in 2001, my boss at the time, Shirlene Chandrapal, demonstrated the art of business snazziness and professionalism in kitten heels.
Shirlene and I are still friends today after twenty years, and I often heed her advice as we tackle media agency briefs and manage publisher revenue expectations.
I am super lucky to work in an industry that I am passionate about today as we grow Scroll Media as a publisher-commercialisation adtech business globally and into the future. I am surrounded by industry women who are smart, helpful, super friendly and give each other a leg-up.
Supporting other women in business is hugely important. Big thanks must go to, Natalia Taylor at Point Media, Claire Chisholm from Are Media and Jodi Fraser at Dentsu.
One of our biggest publisher partners is Healthline Media which has a 65 per cent female audience, so together, we really understand women. I want to thank Penny Scott at Healthline.com for giving us the chance in the early days.
Running a business with a growing family can be super niggly at times, so having friends, nannies and colleagues that get it, to bounce things off, makes it easier and more enjoyable. Special thanks to Estelle Carmichael NZTE, Greta Kenyon at Together Journal, Rebecca Perkasky at Better Packaging and all my friends and family who have helped. And of course, full credit to Uber Eats for making me look domesticated.
At Scroll Media, we employ just as many women as men, and we allow all our staff to have work/life balance so they can feel more centred and valued at work.
Big thanks to the women I work with now, especially the super talented Mari Holliday and Lauren Buckeridge.
Start-ups are often viewed as a male-oriented ecosystem, but thankfully this is changing. More growth capital is becoming available for female founders because research has shown female lead businesses perform better in the long run and add clarity and insight. Women-backed start-ups have more help now, thanks to organisations like SHEO.
The Women in Media Awards will be a real celebration of how far we have come since our grandmother’s days, and possibly a glimpse into the future of what women in business can do next.
