Tell us a bit about yourself! How did you get started with your current career path?
Someone gifted me the book, Invisible Women, which talks about the importance of disaggregating data by gender when it comes to design. It was fascinating and as an engineer, I was devastated to know that car design was so dangerous for women because male crash test dummies that are used for safety testing, do not replicate women’s bodies at all. Because of this women are 75% more likely to be injured in a car accident!!
How do you define success?
Success is learning something new; success is having something else to try; success is having a positive impact on someone. Success is making enough money to be self-sustaining. Ultimately success for Untangle Money is closing the gender wealth gap. If we can simply shift every woman into harder working financial portfolios (which at Untangle Money we call financial bouquets); then we can substantially change women’s futures. And this what we do and why we do it.
What's something you would tell your younger self when it comes to your career now knowing what you know today?
If I could go back in time and take to my younger self, I would say that quitting isn't a sign of failure. That I didn't need to spend years of my life completing something simply because I started it. Also, I would tell myself that feeling like a misfit in a corporate environment is ok. That it takes a lot of energy to laugh along at the sexist jokes. That contorting myself to be the model employee will tire me out. That the glass ceiling is still very very real. That corporations still promote few women to the higher levels of the organization. That what I thought was success back then (making it up the corporate ladder), wouldn't be how I defined success when I got older. And also, that I could make more money as a successful entrepreneur, and it would be okay to start on that path sooner.
How do you invite others to come sit at your table?
I invite others to come sit with me while being curious, interested, empathetic, and nonjudgmental. It helps me that I've taken a different path in life, and I understand the value that different experiences can have on the individual. That different cultures and countries come up with different solutions to the same problem, and the flexibility of thought that comes with learning something in one setting and applying it in another. I also want to make sure that the people I invite to sit at my table don't all think the same way as me, or as each other. I want to make sure that we stay curious and keep learning from one another. And that we continue to incorporate our learnings into how and what we design and how we act while designing it.
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