In this day and age, the word "feminism" had evolved to take on various forms and meanings. Still, author G.D. Anderson could not have said it better, "Feminism isn't about making women strong. Women are already strong. It's about changing the way the world perceives that strength."
To celebrate this year's Women's Entrepreneurship Day (WED), hundreds of women gathered in San Francisco on Nov. 18 to honor women entrepreneurs and leaders. Over 30 speakers, ranging from CEOs and founders to activists and authors, shared their views on different panels about women empowerment.
The event was founded by renowned businesswoman Wendy Diamond and was described by Fortune as a global movement to celebrate and support female founders. The inaugural event was held in New York City at the United Nations in 2014, and is now being observed in 144 countries worldwide.
Two of the speakers gave some insights on how women can lead and be successful in the cutthroat business world, as reported by Spectrum.
Be open to new ideas
"500 startups" venture partner Andrea Barrica had an undergraduate degree in linguistics as part of her credentials, and for some time, her path was geared towards "saving endangered languages from extinction." That changed when her old college roommate persuaded her to join a startup business.
"A woman thought bigger for me than I thought for myself," Barrica says. "That really changed the trajectory of my whole life."
Surround yourself with positive people
Asked for some advice she can impart to entrepreneurs who just started out, Barrica shares this piece of wisdom, "It's a marathon not a sprint. Surround yourself with people who can level you up and challenge you."
Use creativity to solve problems
In another panel, YouTube engineering director Sowmya Subramanian encouraged women who may have second thoughts in pursuing a career in technology. She says, "anyone can be in technology because technology is so [embedded] into everything we do."
What's truly important is the capacity to "understand user needs and creatively think about how to solve those problems and then come up with a plan of how to execute it." In a related article, Jobs N Hire gives details on how women can level up in the business world with capital and courage.
