According to a survey carried out by the accountancy firm PwC – who last week launched the Tech She Can Charter – just 24% of females would consider a job in technology compared to 62% of males.
Ahead of International Women’s Day this Thursday, Becky wants to show young women that with hard work, passion and drive, you can be a leader in the tech world - no matter your gender.
Becky's commented:
"Over the seven years, I have been running Reflect Digital I have seen more women entering the digital space, but there is definitely still a large dominance of men whenever I attend industry events.
I made a conscious decision when starting the agency to not let my age (not such a problem now 7 years on!!) or being female enter into my day-to-day thoughts, as the second you are concerned about something like that it will start to come across."
So how can women with the knowledge and ambition for digital succeed in such a competitive and male-dominated industry? Becky provides her top 5 tips:
1. Be confident
This will help you in every aspect of running your business, you need to be strong and confident in your own decisions as your confidence will help others believe in you and your decisions.
2. Be an expert
Don’t try and blag your way to the top, you need to know what you are talking about as this is what gains trust and respect from colleagues and clients. Spend time to understand your niche and know when to say something is not your expertise and hopefully, you can introduce someone in your team who is an expert!
3. Hone your skills
Now this is not just your digital skills, but your business skills - so many people are attracted to digital as it is a trendy industry to work in, but your key business skills will go a very long way to helping you to be successful.
4. Be resilient
You won’t be the best at everything and you won’t win every bit of business, so you need to learn to be strong and be able to keep on driving the business even when it’s really hard. This resilience needs to come from deep down and be a part of your overall work ethic, as you need to teach your team to have this as well.
5. Be part of a network
Although you are this really strong, powerful woman - you can’t do this all alone. So ensure you have a network of support, be this from co-directors, colleagues, friends, your husband or a network of like-minded business people - don’t be on your own. There is nothing better than meeting up with other business owners in the same industry and realising you are all battling the same challenges and you are not alone!
Becky's Influences & Motivations
Becky confirms she was inspired to become a leader in business from a young age:
"My personal influence was my dad, he is my work idol and from a very young age I wanted to be just like him. He worked in a different industry but he was an inspiration to become a business owner and leader. I worked my way through the ranks of the digital industry starting as a support person, working up to running large accounts until I felt I knew enough to do it on my own.
My drive is our clients and the awesome results my fantastic team are able to generate for them. I love seeing our campaigns deliver and I love to see our team progress in their skills and knowledge."
Challenges Along the Way
Of course, the path to success isn't always a smooth one and there have been many challenges along the way:
"I think my biggest learning curve was some the business skills I only acquired once being in charge of a business e.g. accounts, finance and most importantly cash flow. I think it was quite a shock to me how bad at paying so many businesses are and what an impact this has on a start-up and small businesses.
I love what I do though and that is the absolute key to it all - if you want to be a successful leader in any industry you are going to have to work very hard, therefore, you must absolutely love what you are doing to continue to push yourself."
We hope Becky's advice inspires other like-minded women on the path to leadership, especially in the digital industry. If you would like to hear more from Becky, you can follow her on Twitter @BeckyReflect.
