Monthly Archives: August 2012
On being a mum and a Tech career woman
Witten By Barbara Birungi
When I left university my priorities where different from what they are today, I was ready to find a great job, go for my masters and attain a phd , climb career ladders and be in a top position at the company , and in between fixed a husband and family. I got the job that I am passionate about ( which I think is key for success at being a career woman, wife and mother), My priorities changed when I met my husband and had a baby! Now my career is still priority but my life does not depend on it. My family comes first, then my Job.
How do we it? Its not simple being a mom, wife and a career woman, balancing these two aspects that are both important and require an enormous amount of time is not easy BUT its doable!
With a few men willing to help around the house apart from provide financially you sometimes find yourself overwhelmed. I have struggled many times when I find myself getting home, giving my baby (1.6 yrs. old) a few minutes and then I remember there is something on my to do list I did not complete at work that needs immediate attention, I put her down and head for my computer. Then I feel guilty! Many of us can relate,
Here are a few tips that have helped me try to balance
Don’t do it alone seek help, delegate, when at work I do not have to do all the work that I know a colleague can do as well as I would or sometimes even better! In Africa its common to have in laws and relatives visit without invitation(not mine though) take advantage of them, do not refuse help when they offer it, I would rather a relative take care of my child than a stranger, not with the child sacrifice stories going around in Uganda, so each time a sister in law offers to come spend some time home with my girl, I am happy to even pick her up from her home! Keep good relationships with people in your life, you just never know when you will need them. Some times I travel and have to leave my baby behind, without my In-Laws I am not sure I would have the courage to leave her behind but because I have built good relationships with them, I trust that my baby is safe and will be treated like I would. If a husband offers to help (which is rare for some african men) take them up on their offer, sometimes I have networking events that require me to stay out late, if there is no one to be with the baby, my husband offers to baby sit, which is great! I take all the help I can get from people I trust in my Life.
Priority: when I am at work I focus on my work and call home just to make sure they are okay, and once I am told she is fine, everything is okay , I continue with my work and focus entirely on that, as a rule, when I get home, its family time, I do not get online anymore unless I have something urgent that I need responded to or because of time differences with people I work with I will work, if there is nothing, I will not get online to just check my mail or my facebook groups or twitter! I will have me time once a week and nothing will change that, its time to be away from work, and family, even if its two hours, they are my hours, I will be alone or with friends.
Be kind to your body, be kind to your self: we all have different limits, sometimes I am so busy at work I find myself passing through the lunch hour busy typing away on my computer and running from meetings to meetings that it clocks 5pm and I realize I only had breakfast, get home and take a cup of tea with a snack, by the time dinner is served at 8pm I am not hungry so I go to bed, I did that for a while till I realized I was doing an injustice to myself, when I fall sick I will not be able to do these things that keep me busy, so I take time off to have a decent meal every day, care for my hair and body, eat the right meals, balanced diet and also keep in shape, now gym is not a favorite of mine, so I exercise at home, I take walks three times a week and some aerobics and dance with my daughter, it’s a fun way to relax and bond with her. Enjoy both your work and your family, give time to both, do not let one suffer and where you need to prioritize in case you cannot do both, FAMILY should be first!
Find the right Job, if you are true to yourself you will understand that some companies, jobs are not right for you if you are to achieve a balanced life, so as a wife and mother, find a job that will allow you to be flexible in regards to balancing the two. Its not just about the money the job will give you, so before I became a mother, I was looking for an organization that would employ me with a with an attractive salary, benefits and did not mind so much travel, transfer or long hours. Today, I if I was to look for a job, I would consider where I would carry out the job, is it right for my family? Am I required to work on the weekend? Because my priorities have changed, I am not moved by just money being offered, everything has to be right! There are areas I can compromise on and areas that I cannot!
Those are some of the few tips, as a working mom what are some of the tips that help you keep a balance! Lets here it.
The Importance of Female Entrepreneurship
Fiona Gilligan
Blog from Startup Fest
So who’s Fiona Gilligan and why should you care about reading this? Well, to put it simply: she’s phenomenal. 18 years ago, after life threw her a couple curve-balls, Fiona took her passion for helping people and created (from nothing!) what would become the #1 company in Canada for her industry. Using a simple nuts and bolts business strategy to compensate for her absence of a business background, Fiona not only became a successful entrepreneur but was able to maintain her company at the top for years before selling it. And that was that: she was hooked. After selling her company in 2007, Fiona went on to become a serial entrepreneur and Angel, dedicated not only to helping people while staying profitable, but also to inspiring entrepreneurship in women. Read the following interview to see what Fiona has to say about her success story and the importance of female entrepreneurship!
Be sure to catch Fiona at the Women in Tech and Office Hours tents at the Startup Festival.
Why don’t you start by telling us a bit about yourself?
I am a serial entrepreneur, investor, avid outdoors enthusiast and single Mummy of two great girls.
18 years ago you started what would become the #1 trauma company in Canada and today you remain a successful entrepreneur and investor, what has this journey been like for you?
Building a company as a young female entrepreneur was tough; I was building a private sector health company in a government town so you can imagine some of the challenges I faced. There was no ecosystem for me to turn to for financing or mentoring, but these challenges made me more determined to succeed as I bootstrapped and followed my instinct! As Entrepreneurs, we are the architects of our own life…and this is what I have appreciated the most.
What has your experience as a woman entrepreneur been like? Do you feel women entrepreneurs are at an advantage or disadvantage?
I have always felt a bit rogue, almost like I have been cutting a path as a female entrepreneur (and now angel) and this has been a very powerful experience. Women can sometimes be more risk-adverse and this serves as an advantage/ disadvantage. To me, it is this very quality that can make a woman an incredible entrepreneur especially in scalability: Women tend to scale with metric decisiveness versus going the next step just because it is time, ego or whatever. We don’t need a parachute but we have our eyes wide open on all aspects of what it takes to build something into number 1.
What do you think are some factors keeping women from taking the “entrepreneurial leap” and what do you think can be done to reduce these factors and encourage women to do so?
Many young women don’t consider entrepreneurship as a viable career choice. Just like 50years ago, many women didn’t think that they could become doctors. We need to educate young women by giving them female entrepreneur role models that they can relate to and be inspired by. Innovation has no gender line, yet women entrepreneurs often have to work harder and smarter to be recognized in an arena that is still mostly male. If a woman has the personality, drive and street smarts, she can become as successful as her male counterparts. Being female is not a reason to avoid becoming an entrepreneur. Like anything if you want it badly enough, you will figure out how to make it happen.
What would you say was the biggest challenge during your entrepreneurial journey?
I would have to say balancing single parenting with being an entrepreneur – investor. I am constantly trying to find balance and it is tough. I often feel like I am being pulled in different directions but I am a master of scheduling, multitasking and recharging in my down time. I also have an incredible team of people around me that make my life manageable. And my kids are great in that I have raised them to be independent and to realize that what I do is really fun and rewarding for all of us.
Once you sold www.trauma.ca, why did you go on to become a serial entrepreneur?
I love business and innovation. It is in my DNA, in my blood…I love the acquisition and then mentoring/coaching entrepreneurs on how to build a successful company. I love the due diligence, kicking the bumper, doing the math, the risk for reward proposition that lies ahead. I just love the deal making. It is a powerful emotional state to be in because risk is the ugly twin of reward. But it feels great to turn over a business and have a good exit. And I like philanthropy – being a serial entrepreneur gives me more opportunity to give back.
Why are you such an advocate for start-ups, especially those driven by women?
Innovation is at the base of a strong economy and I also know that if we harness the intelligence that exists within the entrepreneur community, we can resolve many of the challenges that face humanity and the planet. Women are 50% of the population and it just makes smart business sense to include us in all aspect of innovation. I won’t invest or align with a start-up that does not have at least 1 founding female member or 20% of its senior leaders or board of director’s women. And this is not tokenism…there are many incredible women out there ready to become entrepreneurs but they need to have more doors opened to them. Few things make me happier than when start-ups, especially women, come up to me and tell me that I am their inspiration.
What projects are you working on today?
I am currently working on a trauma app mobile with a tech team and I am in due diligence with a few tech start-ups out of Ottawa/Montreal. I also love buying real estate. My criteria for projects is that I have to fully believe in the team, the project must be fun and meaningful (social entrepreneurship is really my thing) and it must be profitable. When I have those 3 things in place, then I invest.
What advice do you have for female entrepreneurs (or women who may be in the same position that you were in 18 years ago) who want to start a business?
Just do it. And hold off on babies until your start-up is well established. If you let being a girl become an obstacle, then you won’t be successful as an entrepreneur. The key trait of an entrepreneur (male or female) is creatively overcoming challenges and knowing that failure is never an option. The key is how hard are you going to work, how adaptive is your business model and do you really want it bad enough. If you do, you will make it happen even if you crash and burn a startup (or two) until you hit the right trajectory for a winner!
A different approach to getting young girls interested In ICT in Uganda (this is just my view)
First of all great work to the people that came up with the curriculum for ICT in primary and secondary schools in Uganda, so we have computers in most our schools and we endeavor to teach the whole curriculum with in the term, when students sit exams they excel, but when it comes to every day practice they are terrible and don’t seem to know what they are doing. Most of these children do not have computers at home, so what they learn from class during class time is all they ever get to learn. Go cram for tests and exams and pass! Teachers concentrate on getting that knowledge (curriculum) into these little heads and care less about sparking a passion in these girls, to enjoy the class, develop a love for computing and then excel at it!
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A geekgirl, how I got interested in Tech
A geekgirl, how I got interested in Tech
written by Barbara Birungi
I started my primary school way back in 1992 and by then computers in Uganda was a luxury for the extremely rich, we never had a computer home as mine is a humble background. I first saw a computer in 1996 when our school opened up a computer lab, I used this lab once in my life, during this lesson the teacher moved with those that were catching on fast, never mind the ratio of computers to students was 1: 6. I did not get a chance to touch it as every one was eager to use the “new” computers, so with all my excitement and not touching the computer, I lost the enthusiasm and I do not remember why no one bothered to make sure we attended that class but I never went back and no one followed up to know why we missed, mind you I was not the only one, by third term, the class must have had 10 students out of 80 children. There was this lack of importance attached to it as it was not examinable at UNEB level and I guess that is why most of us saw that time as free period!
WITU TRAINING
For Women in Technology Uganda The month of August started in High gear and took a leap forward in its mission as it started its training program for marginalized girls that have dropped out of school due to lack of school fees but still had an interest in school. The first class to be trained saw more than 30 applications and 7 of these have been chosen from one community to take the program which will be running for a period of 1 year, and it entails teaching these girls starting with basic computer skills, simple programming and entrepreneurial skills to help them after the course to either find a job or create their own business. The selection was done according to need shown by these girls during the interviews, verification from their Local authorities in the communities they come from and eagerness to learn shown. As women in technology we want to make an impact and change local communities in Uganda by giving these girls a skill that can help them earn a living and not consider themselves any less than those who have had an opportunity to go through the education system to University, contribute to their communities and be respected members in their communities. This will lift their esteem and give them confidence when looking for jobs. We have classes in two locations, at the Hive Colab and in the community it self with one person volunteering to have the lesson at their home and in future we hope to create partnerships with local community schools to offer their computer labs when not in use for us to carry out our lessons.
During the lessons we give both theoretic and practical skill. The girls are eager to learn and that is priceless, it’s the spirit and willingness that we look for in our trainees.
After the one-year session the girls will graduate according to performance and we will help them find jobs or create jobs and we hope that some of them will become trainers of others in the years to come.
To all our trainees this year, we wish you all the best as you join the wonderful world of Tech and women in Technology!