SaaSy Women is a community of women in the tech and business sectors and the brainchild of MoEngage’s marketing dynamos, Shalini Devji-Jethwa and Arbie Rodriguez.  It seeks to inspire, support and empower women to thrive and achieve their full potential within their professional and personal lives.  Its events celebrate women working in tech across various industries, backgrounds and at all career levels, fostering a sense of confidence, security and validation to help them thrive.

One Day or Day One?  You decide

Sophie Miller, Founder of Pretty Little Marketer, who while rather modestly describes herself as an ‘accidental’ businesswoman now runs a successful 600,000-strong marketing community.  She opened the session, talking about her own experience of launching her business straight out of university.  

While working in a call centre to pay the bills, she talked about the moment she found her ‘Day One’, the first day she took control of her career path and owned her own destiny.  This was prompted by a female mentor who encouraged her to empower herself, awakening Sophie’s inner-consciousness and ambition.  From that moment, she didn’t look back.  Shaking off any doubts, she quickly got to work setting up Pretty Little Marketer, which is now the home of simple marketing strategy and a supportive, fast-growth community that helps marketers unlock their full potential. 

From grandmothers to mentors, the leading ladies inspiring women in tech

Sophie invited the attendees to go round the table and talk about a woman that was a source of inspiration, which prompted a vast range of responses, from strong family role  models – including mothers, grandmothers and daughters – to female mentors, colleagues and allies, all the way through to sporting stars and celebs who are spearheading performance while flying the flag for greater gender equality.   

While there were common themes, each response was uniquely significant to the experiences of the attendees, which as Pretty Little Marketer’s Sophie suggested showed that “there is someone out there for each of us, and it shows that there will always be someone who sees us as ourselves.”  

The range of responses also highlighted that women supporting women didn’t always have to be grand gestures or sweeping statements.  Rather, it demonstrated that when empowered women empower other women, even the smallest of actions can be the most profound or have the greatest impact.  

Find your voice – but know when to use it

Sophie led the group on to discuss strategies for women to effectively find their voice within working environments, reflecting on her own initial nervousness of speaking up in big rooms or male-dominated situations. 

One attendee, former Ecommerce Director of Champion, Geeta Randev, suggested that women needed to stop using the word ‘just’ in their communications, which automatically sounds apologetic and undermines their authority.  As she put it, “this word is an enemy to speaking with conviction.”  Other key strategies included understanding the power that comes from women channelling their own professional experience, as well as considering that in some scenarios it can be equally as powerful to say nothing, rather than try to drown-out voices that may be over-talking.

Many of the attendees commented on the need to rationalise why it is that sometimes women fear speaking up – is it because they are operating in an intimidating or male-dominated environment or a daunting meeting, or are those nerves simply because they care and are emotionally-engaged with wanting a positive outcome from the business situation?

Imposter syndrome – but make it positive

According to Executive Development Network (EDN)’s latest study, half of all UK adults have experienced imposter syndrome.  However, it found women (54%) were more likely to have experienced this form of professional self-doubt compared to men (38%), and those working in marketing, advertising and PR professions were even more prone to imposter syndrome, rising to 72%.

Sophie asked the group to consider their own experiences of imposter syndrome, whether they had ever experienced it and how they managed it or turned it into a positive learning experience.  With imposter syndrome being interpreted uniquely and manifesting itself in many ways, this prompted a mixed debate, with some of the room saying they had never experienced it or others passing it off as self-doubt, rather than a full-blown imposter syndrome episode.   

Key takeaways from those who had experienced it were to understand, reflect and rationalise why these feelings were presenting themselves.  Another strategy was to positively reinforce key skills, strengths and achievements to validate self-worth at work – whether that’s through internal reflection or through a support network of peers and allies.  While disarmament can be difficult, by casting aside doubt, taking control of what can be controlled and learning where best energies can be focused to create the greatest impact, are some tactics that can help remove feelings of imposter syndrome when it starts to take hold. 

To find out more about the SaaSy Women by MoEngage community and for news about its next event series, email: shalini@moengage.com