Women are vital to any industry, especially this one. And B&T doesn’t think it’s right that some of these women aren’t recognised for their inspiring efforts every day. So come one, come all, because we’ve got some killer women to showcase!
To celebrate the launch of our annual Women in Media Awards, we’ve grabbed a few industry power women and prodded them with questions about who they find inspiring, their best advice and why women are vital to their industry.
B&T is also taking steps in addressing gender disparity in the workplace with our upcoming event Changing The Ratio. Buy some last minute tickets here to be part of the movement.
Our last Women in Media Profile victim was Carmela Soares from Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, who said women should be re-writing the rules. And now it’s Taryn Williams’ turn! Taryn is the founder and CEO of The Right Fit, and somehow lived without a mobile for a year an a half. Now that’s a lady we can look up to.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week.
What’s the most exciting thing about women working in senior leadership roles?
It gives younger women figureheads to admire and the opportunity for these leaders to impact real change in their organisation. I firmly believe that ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’.
What’s the hardest lesson you’ve learnt in or out of the workforce?
That entrepreneurship can be incredibly isolating and comes in with an inherent sacrifice. Definitely the toughest lesson I’ve had to learn.
Quirkiest attribute?
I don’t own a TV. And I went 18 months without owning a mobile phone three years ago.
What women do you find inspiring?
Senior VP of retail strategy at Apple, Angela Ahrendts. Founder of Bumble Whitney Wolfe Herd. German Chancellor Angela Merkel… gosh the list goes on! There’s so many.
What annoys you about the industry?
That there is a pipeline problem in technology that we are not doing enough to fix. We need a much greater focus on encouraging girls to study STEM subjects and celebrating the successes of women in technology to make it a viable career choice for girls to pursue.
What advice would you give to young aspiring women?
Don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice. I think women can be fearful of being perceived as ‘not good enough’ if they put their hand up and ask for advice, but the smartest thing you can do is acknowledge what you dont know, and actively seek out people who can solve that with you.
It also means theyre vested in the outcome and I like to believe that, at the heart of it, people are overwhelmingly kind/good and want to see others succeed.
Why are women vital to your industry?
Diversity makes better products. If we dont represent in our team the diversity that is reflected in our customer base, we cant build a product that truly solves their needs.
Especially in my industry where the majority of our users are female, we need them represented in our product, engineering, leadership and marketing teams.
