Last week I headed to The Festival of Female Entrepreneurs by Enterprise Nation. I was really unsure what to expect as women only events aren’t usually my thing but I had the best day and felt super lucky to be a part of such an awesome event sat alongside some brilliant ladies and hearing from some of the best entrepreneurs across a range of industries.Emma Jones, thank you for putting on this event, especially in Bristol it really showed what female empowerment is all about. <3We heard from Nisha Katona MBE – Founder of Mowgli street foods. After leaving a flourishing career as a barrister to spread the word about Bengali cuisine, Nisha has defied the naysayer by opening SEVEN Mowgli sites, with plans for more in the pipeline – one being Bristol and I’m so buzzing to try it!Jenny Tooth OBE – CEO, UK Angels Business Association & Della Hudson – Accountant and Business coach spoke about how every £1 of money venture capitalists invest in start-ups, only £0.10p goes to female founders. They spoke about how female founders can explore the best finance options and how to built confidence to take a leap into the next phase of business. Jenny also discussed the lack of angels in the South West and something she is working on improving! Ruby Lee, – Studio 77 Emma Alexander, – Mother Bran Martina McDonnell – Facebook and Rachel Wilkins  – Dell. They spoke about trends and opportunities for women working in digital with one stand out piece of advice ‘don’t be put off by the lack of female digital role models. Prove them wrong and just bloody do it’ #justbloodydoit get it trending ????  We also had talks from Nimisha Raja – Founder of Nim’s fruit snacksAnd Rebecca Linnell and Sarah Barrett – Make me famous: How Rebecca converted a farmhouse into one of the most in-demand dog hotels in the country.Everyone was amazing, and then Dame Stephanie (Steve) Shirley took to stage, we sold out her book ‘Let it go’ I cried, we clapped – a lot and clapped again from a lady with the most amazing story, energy, wit and intelligence. So yeah a lot of people asked if she could adopt us and we also asked what it is like having a dame title? – she said – ”it’s pretty good as you always get a table at a good restaurant.” 🙂 If you haven’t heard of Steve Shirley she is a workplace revolutionary and successful IT entrepreneur turned ardent philanthropist who exercises every day ????Her life story begins with her 1939 arrival in Britain as an unaccompanied Kindertransport refugee. In 1962, she started a software house, freelance programmers that pioneered new work practices and changed the position of professional women, especially in hi-tech. She went on to create a global business and a personal fortune which she shared with her colleagues; she made 70 of her staff millionaires at no cost to anyone but herself.Since retiring in 1993, her focus has been increasingly on philanthropy based on her strong belief in giving back to society. In the words of her friend Baroness Martha Lane Fox ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ and it’s a line she often deploy when talking to people about the complex issues of equality in the rapidly growing technology sector. How can girls chose careers in tech if they don’t see opportunities for them in companies, How can women apply for jobs in the sector, or start technology based businesses if the world looks so unlike them? Well if we looked in the right direction we would see Dame Stephanie Shirley, the woman we should all aspire to be. We seem to have gone backwards or at least sideways in using Steve’s creative ways to build successful, diverse companies. What Martha says I also completely agree with from hearing from her and also reading her book.It’s not just how to be a woman in a male-dominated industry but more importantly how to have a life that is meaningful for its entire length. Too often, especially in the culture of start-ups and technology we lionise founders who build huge monopiles or who achieve some massive company valuations. Steve did this but she did far more of more importance as well. I highly recommend this book and that you take inspiration as I do and I think everyone else in the room did from this brave and brilliant woman. “We can see what we should all be. Let’s just make sure we are all looking” – boom!Her advice –  “Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, have energy self-belief, determination and be the very best that you can in your own way.”And that my friends is why Women Rock will always be a platform to share the best stories from fascinating women who are bossing it and just lovely humans. I came away inspired and a brain buzzing of ideas of how to take all of this to the next level.Link to Dame Stephanie’s book (do something today and buy it) : hereInfo from Enterprise Nation: hereThank you again, I’ll be back next year#womenrock #wereallyrockAn interview by Alicia Teaglea voice of diversity in tech.I: @womenrockbristolT: @womenrockbrstl

We’re not a women’s only club here but I am buzzing to have so many amazing females here at SR2, even more so that recruitment is such a male dominated industry. Everyone is different and brings all different personalities, skills and experience to the table but one thing we all have in common here is our passion for diversity and inclusion and doing good!I am excited to welcome Sophie as a brand ambassador to Women Rock who is heading up our contract desk and going to be helping us spread the Women Rock story and mission and interviewing brilliant folks for the blog from the world of testing. Welcome to the maddess Soph, don’t forget your socks!WHY DID YOU JOIN SR2?I have a lot of friends that work in recruitment and have heard about their challenges and experiences. This helped me to really nail down what I was looking for in a career: autonomy, responsibility, fun and dogs. I never expected to find a company that could offer all these things, but SR2 do! I work alongside not only incredible recruiters, but also incredible people who care about their community and their company. Who knew that a workplace could be so positive on a Monday morning?WHAT DOES YOUR DAY TO DAY LOOK LIKE?My day starts with checking the job boards for any new candidates and finding out what they’re looking for. This way, I can either match them with a live role or I can go and find them one! The rest of my day consists of finding managers who are open to conversations about good candidates that I’m working with, drinking lots of coffee, organising the South West Test meetup, organising interviews, helping and advising with CV adjustments, reaching out to inactive candidates (with perfect jobs for them) and drinking even more coffee. People say recruitment is like a rollercoaster and this is something that I learnt extremely quickly. Your day can change in a matter of minutes, something that I love as it keeps it exciting!WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL?Since forever, my main role model has always been JK Rowling. She not only pushed through some horrible times and changed her life by writing THE best books ever, but she has also never been afraid to speak her mind. As an example, she stood up for her friend, Serena Williams, when people over the internet body shamed her. It shows that even though she probably will have lost fans, her values are what’s most important to her – something I really look up to.WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AND AMBITIONS FOR WOMEN ROCK?I would love for Women Rock to become nationally recognised and be read by thousands of people. Diversity and Inclusion is super important and is something that I’m proud to support through Women Rock. By having a platform where diversity can be talked about openly, I hope we can make a difference to those that feel excluded from the tech community and show that it doesn’t matter who you are, your skills and personality are the most important thing!WHAT DO YOU LOVE TO EAT AND DRINK?To be honest I eat anything and everything, but have a soft spot for Italian food as carbs are life. I really enjoy going to new, quirky restaurants in Bristol and trying things that I’ve never tried before! I’m also really into Gin at the moment (like the rest of the world) and like trying different flavours whenever I can.WHERE IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE IN THE WORLD?Apart from my bed, my favourite place has to be Ibiza. It really sparked my passion for DJing in my first year of university, as I saw some incredible artists there when I went on holiday. I love that it’s acceptable to wear glitter all day and be covered in paint all night too… *cough* holiday incentive? *cough*WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING OUTSIDE OF WORK?I’m really into the Drum and Bass scene in Bristol, especially the smaller festivals/gigs, as I used to do quite a lot of DJing when I was at University. My days at weekends usually consist of exploring Bristol’s green spaces trying to find cool adventures in preparation for when I have a puppy (watch this space for the cutest puppy ever) and gaming because I’m a secret nerd. I also enjoy any activity that involves the water, so tend to go either swimming or surfing if I can get home to Newquay.IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT THE TECH INDUSTRY WHAT WOULD THAT BE?We all know that the tech industry is very male dominated and this is something that I’d really like to change. When I was at school deciding what courses to take, a career in tech never crossed my mind yet I have male friends that were encouraged into IT by teaching staff and are now quite high up in their careers. I genuinely believe that if more schools encouraged young women to take tech courses, diversity would naturally increase.WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE?‘One can never have enough socks’ – Albus DumbledoreIF YOU WERE ROCKETED UP TO MARS, WHAT WOULD BE THE 3 THINGS YOU WOULD TAKE WITH YOU?I’d have to take a kettle, as I can’t function without at least 13 cups of coffee a day… Although that means my other 2 choices have to be a mug and some coffee! Welcome to the family Soph – it’s so good to have you with us on this journey!#womenrocka voice of diversity in tech.@womenrockbristol

Our lovely friends at Mayden Academy have recently announced their Diversitech fund and we want to shout this from the rooftops! This new funding scheme has been designed to encourage more people from underrepresented groups to embark on careers in coding and increase diversity in the UK technology industry.The aim of this fund is to increase diversity in the tech industry. We believe the best teams are made up of diverse individuals with different experiences and backgrounds. This fund will open up software development as a career choice to underrepresented groups from the industry to help improve diversity and ultimately help build the best teams possible.The fund will offer a discount on course fees for Mayden Academy’s Full Stack Track course to individuals from groups which are underrepresented in the tech industry. These groups include, but are not limited to: women, black, Asian and minority ethnic individuals, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.The fund is awarded on a discretionary basis, and may cover anything from several hundred pounds to the full cost of the course. It is awarded based on a combination of factors including underrepresentation, financial need, and other adversity.This fund comes in addition to our existing deferred tuition offered via EdAid, which gives all UK and EU students the chance to delay paying the course fee until they have graduated and have their first coding role. A combination of Diversitech Funding and EdAid deferred payment can be applied.The fund has been made possible through the generous contributions of our hiring partners, a group of forward-thinking tech companies based in the South West. Contributing hiring partners include Redington, Play Sports Network, LoveHoney, blubolt, Seccl, RIVIAM, Maydenand Altran.Diversitech Funding can be applied for following acceptance onto the Full Stack Track course.Mike Oram, director of the Academy said: “We’re hugely grateful to our hiring partners for making the Diversitech Fund possible and for taking such an active role in making the tech industry more inclusive. Programming offers so many opportunities to develop and grow in your career, and we believe those opportunities should be open to everyone.”Adam Jones, CTO of Redington said: “As a tech business, we know that diverse teams make better products and deliver better services. Supporting initiatives like the Diversitech fund allows us to drive positive change in our industry.”WHY OFFER A DIVERSITECH FUND?The lack of diversity in the tech industry, coupled with a shortage of new talent and rapid growth, has been widely researched and reported.Tech Republic believe there is a potential $400 billion additional revenue in the US alone if they solve the diversity problem. Tech Talent Charter say “Just 17% of Tech/ICT workers in the UK are female, only one in ten females are currently taking A-Level computer studies, and yet there is a looming digital skills gap where the UK needs one million more tech workers by 2020.”According to a study done by Fortune, black professionals hold only 5% of the jobs at large tech companies and Latinx professionals hold about 7% of the jobs. The Tech Nation 2018 report found that “48% of people felt that gender diversity in their local tech ecosystem was low, 40% felt that ethnic diversity was low and 33% perceived a lack of age diversity”, while their 2018 report on diversity and inclusion in UK techfound that the proportion of women represented on tech company boards has remained stagnant over the past 20 years.ONS Labour Force Survey says “Whilst employment in IT professional occupations has consistently grown in the last decade and is forecast to grow by 1.42% over the next decade, the representation of females within IT and Telecoms occupations has steadily declined.” A 2018 report by the Edge Foundation estimated that skills shortages in technology are costing the UK £63 billion a year.INTERESTED?If you have never tried coding before and aren’t sure if it is the career for you, come along to one of our free taster sessions. In 2 hours you’ll have the chance to use some CSS, HTML and Javascript to build a simple computer game. It can be that quick to pick up these skills!COME TO A CODING TASTER SESSION If you think that coding could be a career you’d love, take a look at our course, the Full Stack Track. We’ve designed it to cover everything you need to get your first role as a junior developer, and work with employers to ensure it covers everything that is most needed. You’ll also have a trainer who is with you the whole way through, supporting your learning every step of the way as well as connecting you with tech employers for your new career.FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE FULL STACK TRACK If you’re sure that this is something you want to do, apply for the course. We’ll invite you to our next assessment day, these are usually held every few months. At the assessment day you’ll have a chat with the trainers and do a problem solving test. If accepted onto the course, you can then request to apply for Diversitech Funding.YOU CAN APPLY TO STUDY WITH MAYDEN HERE We are really looking forward to supporting this and seeing the new careers of the students <3#womenrocka voice of diversity in tech.@womenrockbristol

Last week we were invited over to Olio’s ‘making shit better’ pop-up tech event about people/companies/projects that are making the world better in any way possible. Making shit better was about anything from solving environmental problems, improving education, or making writing software better for developers.A few of us are Olio members and even with that it was still unbelievable to hear about how much food goes to waste and the impact it has having. Highly recommend downloading the app if you haven’t already, it’s really easy to use and sharing’s caring!Over 1/3 of all food produced globally goes to waste.The annual value of food wasted globally is $1 trillion, and it weighs 1.3 billion tonnes.All the world’s nearly one billion hungry people could be fed on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the US, UK and Europe.An area larger than China is used to grow food that is never eaten.25% of the world’s fresh water supply is used to grow food that is never eaten.If food waste were a country it would be the 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases (after China & the USA).In most developed countries, over half of all food waste takes place in the home.Meanwhile, food waste at the retail store level is less than 2% of total food waste (though supermarket practices are directly responsible for much food waste elsewhere in the supply chain.)In the home food waste is worth £800 per year to the average UK family ($2,275 in the USA), which collectively adds up to £15 billion per year.2.3 billion people are joining the planet by 2050 – this will require a 60-70% increase in global food production. Or we can just stop throwing away our food!We heard from:TANIA PAPAZAFEIROPOULOU – HOW WE’RE USING REACT NATIVE TO HELP SAVE THE WORLD!Food waste is one of the biggest environmental and social challenges facing the planet. OLIO helps people connect and share surplus food. And it’s built in React Native! Tania spoke about everything React Native and how much she loves working remotely. She answered a lot of questions around the technology Olio are using to build and scale as they reach now a lot of different countries. Both Tania and Lloyd also spoke about how they translated the languages of the app to fit their growing audience and members across the globe!TOM MAKIN – ADVICEAID : HELPING TO PREVENT HOMELESSNESS – ONE COMMIT AT A TIMEAdviceAid is a web based service which makes it easy and affordable for councils to give the right advice to people who are in the s**t and are at risk of becoming homeless. This talk aims to give an intro to the AdviceAid project and share some of the insights learned along the way. Tom is working on this with his business partner, as a side project and is currently working with 8 different councils to help prevent homelessness across the UK.AndBRUCE HUGHES – BIG WORLD, SMALL COMPANY: A GUIDE FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN TECH STARTUPSBruce is a QA at Fresh8 Gaming and an active member of the testing and LGBT+ communities in Bristol. Their job is testing products, but what he actually does is test people. She is never (read: constantly) afraid to talk about problems at all levels of the business, and has used this superpower to help Fresh8 make their work environment more inclusive.Then us:We spoke about how we are working on promoting diversity and inclusion within technology in the South West and our mission to make Bristol the most diverse city in tech in the UK by 2025.In short it was a night to bring people together to discuss what we could all do to Make Shit Better!a voice of diversity in tech.@womenrockbristol

I’m super excited to be sharing a pretty awesome person with you all. I met Bruce a few months back after she did a talk for SW Test which was pretty epic and I knew I needed to meet her! So we met for coffee and spoke about all the great things Bruce has been doing inside and outside of work. Not only is she just a legend but she has a genuine interest and care in diversity and inclusion (naturally, we had a lot to speak about!). I love how honest and real this interview is – it’s a must read for any company who are struggling or have challenges around these types of issues.SO BRUCE, HOW DID YOU GET INTO A CAREER IN TESTING AND QA?I kind of fell into it, like a lot of people do. I’d moved to Bristol a couple of years earlier, and had been working multiple part time jobs just to scrape by paying rent and bills, then for six months I had a full time job as an operations manager for a fun science workshop company. I began working 6/7 days a week running the office while also presenting to 3-4 school assemblies, 5 after-school clubs and up to 3 birthday parties every week. I was working myself into the ground for 16k a year, and thought nothing of it until my friends said I should leave and find something better. Not that I had options. I’d always worked either in cafes or in education settings that needed no teacher training, and couldn’t afford to stop even for a week to take a course. It had been so long since I got my degree in earth sciences that it might as well not exist. Where exactly was I going to get a better job than the one I had?In the end, it was the typical tech story of getting a job through a friend, though he had to really pressure me into it because I thought it to be way too good for me. I am so grateful to the company that took me in, and to the testing community as well, because I couldn’t have carried on the way I had before. Not just the workload, or living from paycheck to paycheck, but the feeling that I wasn’t worth any more than that. I now know how much I am worth, and I will fight and fight and fight to show others who I am. I will give my entire heart to being a software tester, because that’s what the testing community has given me.WE LOVE HOW INVOLVED YOU GET IN INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY WITHIN THE WORKPLACE – WHAT WOULD YOU SAY SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES ARE?Humm, I think about this a lot – being a tester is about finding the problems, right? I’m always finding problems. I’d say the first big challenge is getting the issue taken seriously enough. Diversity and inclusivity are really important, and people generally recognise that… but then they don’t do anything about it. There’s this tendency to think that if you do nothing about a problem but you’re generally a nice person then you’re not part of that problem. No one likes to think that they might be biased, but the truth is we all are. We have unconscious biases that take conscious effort to challenge. A lot of people aren’t willing to recognise the work they need to put in, so you have to convince them of that without making them feel rubbish. You need everyone on board, feeling totally unthreatened by the change.After you get moving, you need two things: time and knowledge. Unfortunately, those can be really difficult to come by. Startups like the one I work for don’t have the resources for HR or a hiring specialist who could implement or change policies and processes as part of their day-to-day role, so it comes down to the developers and the client team, designers and management. These are people who already have their hands full doing their own jobs, who don’t know what needs to be put in place to make things better. They first have to spend time researching what to do, and then somehow find more time to actually do it, inevitably make mistakes, talk about it, improve again… That’s a lot of time and mental energy you’re asking for, and the ultimate challenge for willing startups trying to do D&I in my opinion.WHAT’S YOUR ONE BIT OF ADVICE FOR A COMPANY OR TEAM WHO WANT TO START THEIR OWN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAMME OR ROADMAP?Accountability: you need it. Someone or something has to be accountable for the goals, and there needs to be a clear and transparent plan for reaching them. What I did to kickstart the process was to hold a workshop with everyone in the company (fewer than 30 employees). We came up with some definitions for diversity and inclusion, made sure that everyone was onboard with the reasons it’s important and understood that D&I benefits everyone, and then we built the roadmap together. You can see a few more details about it in a company blog post I wrote here or spread out across lots of posts in my personal blog. We decided as a group on which actions were important, and then broke them down into the quarters of the year. By writing the actions down on a board, we made ourselves accountable for completing them. We made a solid commitment to get things done. This was important because if you don’t agree to a plan or write anything down, then the promises you make will disappear as soon as the next big project comes along. This isn’t something you can do overnight – it takes commitment and effort over a long period of time, so you should be prepared.Might be cheating, but I have a second important piece of advice. I wrote about it recently, but I’ll say it again: celebrate your successes. When you get something done, make sure people know about it. Tell your colleagues that you finally managed to get a document together about cv redacting, that you found a new online resource, that you got things done. No matter how small the win, celebrate. Good job you! You did the thing! WOOO!!!WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO PUSH FOR CHANGE AT FRESH8?I wouldn’t say that there was a single moment that drove me to it, just the uncomfortable feeling of not fitting in and finding it really hard to make friends. Everyone was lovely, but I didn’t feel comfortable going out and socialising at a pub with a big group of men I didn’t know well. It seemed like the wall I had to climb over just to feel part of the team was so much higher than if I’d been a man. I also had no idea if I could come out to anyone, because in my experience you never know which lovely and kind people might turn out to hold transphobic or acephobic views. I was pretty terrified when I started talking about that stuff, to be honest. I suppose a turning point would be when I saw a talk by Mereen Mohammad at the South West Test meetup about her experiences being from a minority group in the industry, and of seeing some really badly implemented D&I. It got me thinking about where I worked – I started asking awkward questions, for which it quickly became apparent there were no answers, and no plan for coming up with answers either. I’m not really the type of person who can let go of perceived injustices to others, so I just kept talking about it and then eventually got fed up and sat down a manager I trusted and the CTO and told them what was going to happen next… It was a list of demands, basically. And when I’d finished talking, heart pounding in my ears, they both agreed that it sounded fantastic. I definitely recognise how lucky I am to have those two, because as much heart/research/planning as I took into that video call, it would have been very easy for them to turn around and say “well yes we obviously care about this, but we have other priorities for the quarter…”WHAT’S THE BEST THING THAT’S HAPPENED TO YOU THIS YEAR CAREER WISE?I don’t really know what my career is doing right now, as I’m at a crossroads between different paths through the misty QA mountains. The one thing I can be totally certain was amazing for my development as a tester was going to TestBash Brighton in April through the Ministry of Testing Scholarship programme (thanks, MoT!). I’d go so far as to say that I likely would have quit the role if not for the things I learned and the people I met at TestBash. It can be super frustrating being in a small company, because the available resources for training and progression are limited, and that conference armed me with the knowledge and community I needed to move forwards. Plus it was super fun. I did a 99 second talk in front of 300 people, from which I’m still not sure I’ve recovered… FAVOURITE SUPERHERO OR PERSON YOU LIVE UP TO?Everyone and their uncles know that I’ve been slogging my way through the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I don’t want to include any spoilers, but Egwene al’Vere is a big inspiration to me right now. She’s just some country bumpkin like me who never thought she’d go off into the world and learn magic – but in the later books, she goes through so much and carries it with such dignity that people can’t help but follow her. I would really love to be like her in the future. This dignified, powerful and kind person who knows when to use each of those traits, if I could have a tenth of her composure and ability to unify people then I would be very happy indeed.HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED?This is very difficult, because I am by nature both self-loathing and egotistical. I happen to know that I am simultaneously the best and most amazing, empathetic, beautiful, intelligent and driven person ever to grace the surface of the Earth, and also a steaming stinking pile of rubbish someone put out on the curb a day late, which has been attacked by gulls and cats until it’s in bits spread all over the road and everyone’s front gardens. I would very much like to be remembered as the first of those two options, please.QUOTE OR WORDS THAT YOU LIVE BY?“All she could do for all of them was be herself, here and now, as hard as she could.”That’s from Terry Pratchett’s Lords and Ladies. I just love Granny Weatherwax a lot, even though she’s this traditional old woman who could probably never abide by someone like me. She was totally, unrelentingly and unapologetically herself every moment of every day. Could not have thought for a moment to be anyone else. I mean, she got bitten by vampires and instead of her getting turned, they got Weatherwax’d. The strength of her will and surety in who she is, no matter what, is awesome. If there is one idea that I live by, it is that I am totally and authentically me. So very, very me. Amazing, thank you so much Bruce for sharing your incredible story and thoughts.If you’re interested in finding out more about how you’d like to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace then feel free to give us a call! We’d love to hear from you.Interview by Charlotte Bakera voice of diversity in tech.@womenrockbristol

Everyone meet Jana Dowling who is the CEO of Arkeo. In the UK 16 million people suffer with a mental illness and Arkeo is all about understanding and exercising your mental fitness and now with the App you can do exactly that. Jana is not only extremely inspiring, but she is to the point with no BS. An active LinkedIn member; Jana is constantly positing honest content and shows that it’s ok to be honest about not being ok, but it’s not ok to be ok – if we’re not ok we need to take action to change it.5% of subscription fees are directed to Arkeo’s social enterprise, Arkeo Empowerment, (also known as The 888 Collective). Arkeo Empowerment delivers free personal development and mental fitness management courses to people who find themselves out of work due to low mental fitness.With Arkeo version 1 being released in September, big things are on the horizon so keep your eyes peeled!JANA, TELL ME ABOUT ARKEO?Arkeo empowers individuals and organisations to take control of their mental fitness. We’ve developed an app that charts and tracks mental fitness and highlights patterns and trends so you can keep yourself mentally fit. With organisations we licence our app and feedback aggregated and anonymous data so for the first time they’ll see exactly what employees are managing on a day to day basis. We then bring in training to help support in highlighted areas flagged by the data. It’s a win-win for everyone. When organisations layer the data over work processes/flows they will see if it’s having an impact and can make appropriate changes. Anonymity is key to us and it’s impossible for employers to identify employees.WHAT DOES MENTAL FITNESS MEAN TO YOU?Mental fitness – is the same as physical fitness but it’s for your brain. We all have it, it goes up and down at different points in our life and it’s impacted by lifestyle, life experiences and world events.WHAT’S YOUR CAREER BACKGROUND?My very first job was washing vases in a flower shop. After quickly realising flower arranging wasn’t for me, I set about getting a job in television. It took me over 70 sent CVs to get an interview (I had no experience and I have no degree) but eventually I landed a production assistant job. I proceeded to work and progress in TV until I became a production manager, mainly working in live reality. I was fortunate enough to then be head hunted and offered a job setting up and producing London Fashion Week’s Daily Newspaper. Even though I had no experience in publishing, the editors who brought me on board took a real chance with me and I worked hard to prove I was worth it.Alongside TV and publishing, I’ve dabbled with presenting and stand up, and until last year I was back in TV.I’ve always been freelance, which is why I’ve taken the opportunities to traverse into different industries. Nothing is rocket science apart from rocket science and the theory behind producing is the same no matter what it is.THINK BACK TO YOUR STAND-UP TIMES. WHAT WAS YOUR GO-TO STORY?My go-to was always to take the mick out of myself. I built a 20 min set about all the mistakes I’ve made in my life and I’ve made quite a few (and continue to do so). I was 32 when I started Stand-Up so I’d lived just about enough to squeeze in a weird career path, a marriage, a divorce and coming out, so I was never in short supply of material. It’s where all the good stuff is, in the mistakes. Being able to laugh at yourself and taking full responsibility for the position you’re in is the key to life.YOUR STORY IS INSPIRING TO MANY PEOPLE AND THEY’LL BE READING THIS INTERVIEW THINKING ‘HOW DO I ACHIEVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS?’. WHAT IS ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD LIKE TO TELL THEM?I guess I’d say don’t make excuses to not do something. It’s easier said than done, I must stop myself from doing that every day. I’ll hear myself saying “oh, I just can’t do that” or “I’m just not that kind of person” and then I realise, I have a full functioning body and brain (all be it a strange one with my Bipolar) so I can do it. I am absolutely terrible at maths, but I know how to work my budgets and cash flow to get by and then I make sure I have the right support behind me to do the complicated things.Also ask for help and advice and be grateful for it. I’ve not done this alone, there are too many people to mention that have helped me, given me their time, advice, opinions. Mentors and advisors are vital and I’m very grateful for all of mine.And finally, take action. If you really know what you’re building is going to work, build it. I have this quote written on all my working documents so I’m looking at it all day.Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs. – Vaclav HavelWHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL STREAK COMES FROM?My parents. My father was an entrepreneur, he didn’t grow up with much, had no A-Levels or I think they were called O-Levels at that time or qualifications, but he didn’t let that stop him and he went on to build an accounts tracking system that turned into a company. My mother worked as a nurse in A&E, she left her hometown in Newcastle and started a new life in London with nothing set up in place. She worked incredibly hard and then became an occupational health nurse. They both gave me and my brothers and sisters a really privileged upbringing.They’ve encouraged me and supported me in being the best version of myself I can. That just happens to be an entrepreneur and it’s not unconnected that I’ve ended up building an app that’s tracking and in the health workspace, it’s literally both of their jobs combined.The best skill they taught me was to work hard and be grounded. Grafting always gets you somewhere whether it’s washing vases or selling tech, work hard at it and you’ll progress.IF YOU DIDN’T OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS, WHAT CAREER PATH DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE TAKEN?I have no idea, I most likely would have carried on and pursued a comedy career but I was a very mediocre stand up so that probably wouldn’t have lasted long. I would have just kept doing what I always do, grafting hard and following the next opportunity that presents itself.YOU HAVEN’T FACED MUCH NEGATIVITY FOR BEING A ‘WOMAN IN TECH’, HOWEVER SOME WOMEN FIND THIS A WORRY. IT MAY EVEN HOLD THEM BACK FROM CONSIDERING A ROLE IN TECH OR ANY OTHER MALE-DOMINATED INDUSTRY. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY TO THEM?Don’t identify as a “woman in tech” identify as a CEO/Founder of a tech start-up/your company. If you speak about gender it becomes present and part of your work. I ignore all ignorant and disrespectful comments, I’ve had some, but they are in a minority and so outrageous they’re funny, I will no doubt add them into my next stand up set. People who are disrespectful and rude for whatever reason are irrelevant to me. There’s a lot of people out there building incredible things, surround yourself with them, focus on your product, build it, the rest will follow.WHAT DOES DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE MEAN TO YOU?It means having a fair representation of the world as possible in your work force. Diversity is the key to success, at the end of the day in my opinion there is only one race – the human race and I want to build a product that works for everyone so I need people from different cultures & backgrounds and I’m not just talking about BAME I’m also including LGBTQIA, people with physical disabilities and a fair neuro-diversity representation to build it. We all need to make sure we keep our unconscious bias in check.LET’S GO A BIT ROGUE OR SHOULD I SAY VOUGE HERE:FAVOURITE WAY TO CHILL THE F OUT?I love to watch series and films. It switches my brain off so I can relax, boring but true.WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW?I just finished “Rebecca” by Daphne Du Maurier – it was amazing.BIGGEST PET PEEVE?When I hear myself say “I want to be a gym person”. Just get up off your ass and go to the gym then, I’m lazy about it. So, I guess when I’m being lazy.When I get annoyed at other people it’s just my ego or my problem being projected onto them. I used to say people walking slowly in the tube, but the truth is, I can simply walk past them. I realised that irritated feeling I get is because I get anxious in crowds and want to get out of there. Really, I don’t care how slow other people walk, everyone can walk at whatever speed they want.BEST THING ABOUT BEING YOUR OWN BOSS?Learning, I get to learn about every aspect of building and running a company, I have zero tech experience and I’ve never raised seed until now. I’ve learnt about Octalysis gaming theory, how to develop an app, how to raise seed investment, what SEIS and EIS are, how to build T&C’s and make sure data is kept safe, how to pitch, so many things already and I have so much more to learn.WHERE & WHEN WILL WE SEE YOU NEXT?We’re launching around September/October, so you’ll see me speaking about Arkeo in the press then. If you want to see me before pop onto LinkedIn, I usually post a video or two a week based on things I’ve learnt or I’m trying to figure out.HIT ME WITH YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE:The one above is my favourite, but I also like “Rule your mind, or it will rule you” – Horace Thanks Jana – SO excited to see what you have in store next! Keep doing you!Interview by Darcie Cornisha voice of diversity in tech.@womenrockbristol

STATISTICSSome 39 per cent of women business leaders reported growth for their enterprises in the past 12 months – more than anywhere else in the UK – according to the report by Yorkshire Bank’s holding company CYBG.Bristol was followed closely by Sheffield, which reported growth of 38 per cent in the last year, and Manchester at 35 per cent.Female entrepreneurs in Bristol are also optimistic about the future, with 35 per cent planning to grow their companies in the next year.However, business women in Leeds are the most optimistic of all, with 43 per cent expecting growth in 2019.In Bristol, 70 per cent of entrepreneurs also said they would recommend the city to other business owners.Recommendations were based on factors including the overall sense of business community, availability of partners and suppliers, and the talent pool.Overall, however, female entrepreneurs are still more cautious about growth predictions than their male counterparts.Nationally, some 34 per cent of women said their businesses would grow compared to 42 per cent of men.RESEARCHThe research hints that one of the reasons for the growth gap could be unequal access to funding. Only 24 per cent of women report they find it easy to access finance, compared to 32 per cent of men.Samantha Bedford, head of new ways of working at CYBG plc, said: “The business community is incredibly strong and supportive [but] there are still disparities between male and female entrepreneurs on a national level.“Our research has shown that a larger proportion of females are finding it difficult to receive the funding they need and that’s an area we can work on, to try and close the growth gap and support the wider ambitions they have for their businesses.”There were two cities that bucked this trend, however. In Birmingham, 28 per cent of women were optimistic about growth levels compared to 25 per cent of men, while in Leeds it was 43 per cent versus 42 per cent.BEST UK CITIES FOR FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS1. Bristol2. Sheffield3. Manchester4. = Edinburgh4. = Glasgow5. = Liverpool5. = Birmingham

I caught up with Lloyd Watkin, the Principal Engineer at OLIO – ‘The Food Sharing Revolution app’. Lloyd has been with OLIO for almost 4 years’ and is not only passionate about the tech but also the mission behind it. OLIO are doing incredible work in order to prevent food waste around the UK by connecting neighbours and local businesses to share food – and not just throw it away!We have been working with Lloyd recently to help diversify their tech team and SR2 will also be supporting and sponsoring OLIO’s event ‘Making S*** Happen’ on August 21st in Bath. This is going to be a really insightful and interesting evening filled with speakers from all walks of life talking about things they’re doing to make the world a better place. If you want to be a part of it then just sign up on the link here https://www.eventbrite.com/e/making-shit-better-tickets-66166831775!SO LLOYD, YOU WORK FOR OLIO – THE FOOD REVOLUTION APP. TELL ME MORE ABOUT WHAT THEY DO?Food waste is a massive environmental, economic, and social issue all around the world; in the UK, for example, the average household throws away £700 of food each year, and when compared to countries Food Waste generates more CO2 than every country on the planet except for China and the USA. We grow more than enough food on this planet to feed everyone yet two doors down from someone binning a pile of food they didn’t get around to eating could be a family in food poverty. Similarly there’s always something you just need a spoonful of for a recipe but have to buy a big jar and the rest ends up going to waste when a neighbour could equally make use of it. We also work with stores to help reduce their food waste and redistribute it to the local community using our massive (and amazing!) volunteer network (30k and counting!).Simply put we’re trying to help solve one of the greatest threats facing our planet and at a level where everyone is able to be involved.YOU’VE BEEN WITHIN A TECH CAREER FOR ABOUT 15 YEARS’ NOW – WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHANGES YOU’VE SEEN OVER THE YEARS?Over that time I’ve seen web-centric tech change a lot. Not just the technologies but the quality of engineering too. Long gone are all connecting to a shared file system and using the F5 testing technique (i.e. hitting refresh in the browser). These days its distributed version control and unit/automation tests which is a much happier (and safer) place to be. One of the more interesting differences for start-ups like us is that developers of my, erm generation or before, had to be involved at all steps of the stack and so naturally had server admin as well as development skills. Now thanks to amazing platforms this range of skills aren’t required so much (so we can concentrate on delivering more software more quickly), but sometimes you need these broader skills but with your lower head count.WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT WORKING AT OLIO?We’re all highly motivated by the company mission and therefore it makes working with the whole company a very positive experience. We also get contacted by users who have discovered OLIO and through the availability of food &/or through volunteering have managed to turn their life around for the better. We also get some very interesting things shared through the app and its always great to find out about them, one example is a gardener sharing their surplus of Tromboncino squash. Also working flexibly and remotely with a positive helpful team is great for productivity and mental health. WE’RE EXTREMELY EXCITED TO BE SUPPORTING YOUR POP-UP EVENT ON AUGUST 21ST – ‘MAKING S**T HAPPEN’ – TELL OUR READERS MORE ABOUT IT?On a quarterly basis I drag the tech team from our various corners of the world (yeah, we work remotely!) in order to have some co-working time and catch-up socially (team bonding is important). I like to try and do something interesting in the evenings; I thought this time it would be good to meet some other developers (some of us don’t get the chance to attend meetups due to location) and socialise outside of our developer group. Being a one-off event it needed to be about telling a story (to appeal broadly to the community) and I wanted it to be a place for a positive discussion (with a bit of rebellious edge… so swear words). Hence a pop-up meetup about making shit better in whatever way. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/making-shit-better-tickets-66166831775WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES COMPANIES FACE WITHIN DIVERSITY/INCLUSION?Speaking specifically from a start-up point of view (because huge companies with lots of applicants experience a different set of challenges) and given that I’ve just completed our latest round of recruiting (and found a great QA thanks to SR2) the major problem is that the sheer ratio of people like me (straight, white, male developers) to any other group is staggering and, sadly, not unexpected. Redressing these balances (because there are several) takes many years not only because we need to encourage non-people-like-me to head towards a career in tech but when they get there the working environment needs to be welcoming/inclusive/etc at the same time. With a small, but growing, team I’m trying to bake diversity and a welcoming environment from the early days so it’s part of the culture rather than something that has to be actively thought about as we scale.WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED FOR?This is getting deep! Realistically, whilst lying on my death bed, surrounded by family, soft jazz music playing, a random water cooler in the corner, and a parrot spouting death metal song lyrics, all I’d really like is to have as few regrets as possible and to be able to look my children in the eye and have them know that I did my very best.FAVOURITE QUOTE? WORDS YOU LIVE BY?Two things spring to mind…I often say to my step-son “always do the right thing, especially when it’s the hard thing to do” so I’m assuming at some level I apply this to myself. Unfortunately he hasn’t quite applied this principle when it comes to cleaning his bedroom.The other is a quote from Bertrand Russell “to conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” – to me this means that if something feels scary or difficult (i.e. you fear tackling it) then you are probably going to learn a lot in the process, so its best get on with it.3 PEOPLE YOU’D HAVE DINNER WITH:• Elon Musk, the guy delivers and is massively mission driven in the right way• Greta Thunberg, a bit cliché right now, but she’s a young lady wise beyond her years and also someone who takes action driven by a mission https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq4eCQCgQw8…. actually I can’t do more without opening the floodgates and spending four hours listing names. It would depend on my mood and what was on my mind at the time. Oh, and dinner with each separately, when I talk to each person I want to talk to them directly and not engage in a group conversation 🙂 Interview by Charlotte Bakera voice of diversity in tech.@womenrockbristol

Rida Zainab is a software engineer working within the space division at SCISYS in Bristol, her code is being sent to Mars to navigate the ExoMars Rover and her dream is to one day become an Astronaut. We met for a chat over a cup of tea and I instantly could feel her passion for what she does, it’s actually infectious – I left feeling more motivated than ever to work hard to achieve my goals, so thank you Rida. We talked about how she got started in her career, which started with moving from Pakistan to England, and becoming interested with STEM through her A-levels, Rida is now the first ever Pakistani woman within the space sector which she is massively proud of and aims to make her Mum even prouder – How amazing is that!!She is one of the most passionate people I have ever met, when I first started with SR2 and became an ambassador for Women Rock, if someone had asked me “how would you described what Women Rock stands for”, I would’ve said it’s gender equality, diversity, inclusion and encouraging people to reach for their goals and dreams – this interview with Rida pretty much sums up what we are all about. You are such an inspiration to both me and I’m sure a lot of other young girls and boys who are aspiring to be a software engineer! When Rida isn’t sending her code to Mars or rocking out to ‘Super massive black hole’ by Muse (her favourite song), she attends and speaks at different STEM events, encouraging young people to choose a careers within STEM.I hope you enjoy this blog post with this incredible lady who is determined to achieve her dream, and just like within software development when she is trying to solve a problem and ‘find’ a way – I know she will find a way to become the Astronaut she has always wanted to be.YOU WORK IN THE SPACE DIVISION AT SCISYS, TELL US WHAT THAT’S LIKE DAY TO DAY?I have mainly been working on the data processing algorithms for the ExoMars rover at SCISYS. During a normal day, I could be working on anything from software design, implementation, testing, validation to just writing up some documents for the project. One of the main reasons I enjoy implementing algorithms is because I love maths and this way, I get to use all the complicated theories we learnt throughout university on real life projects and literally send it out of this world. There are days when nothing seems to go right but, on those days, I just take a deep breath and tell myself that my code is going to Mars so it’s all worth it in the end.DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU FIRST REALISED THAT YOU WANTED A CAREER WITHIN TECHNOLOGY?I have always wanted to be an astronaut since I was a child, but to me it looked more like an unachievable dream rather than something I could work towards due to limited career options in Pakistan and mild claustrophobia (so ironic). It was only when I came to the UK in 2012 that I decided to choose Computing as one of my A Levels just so I could try something new. The reason I chose to go for an engineering degree later on is due to a STEM talk I attended during my A levels where one of the presenters told her career’s story and said “There are a million ways you can try to achieve your dream, it’s almost never a straight line and you can change your career at any point you like if it doesn’t satisfy you.” That’s when I realised that a degree in engineering would open a whole world of opportunities for me in space sector which means even though I can’t go up in space myself, I can still send a part of me via all the satellites, rockets and rovers I’d be working on!IT’S SO AMAZING TO SEE THAT YOU’RE A STEM AMBASSADOR, WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND IT ALL AND HOW WOULD YOU SAY TAKING PART IN THAT HAS CHANGED YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON BEING A WOMAN IN THE TECH INDUSTRY?I first started off being a student ambassador at university because I was passionate about what I was learning and well like every broke student, I needed the money. After only the first event I realised that my words could make a real difference in someone’s life as a lot of younger students didn’t have a clue of what career they wanted to pursue in the future. I was in a similar situation around their age and it was the words of a STEM ambassador that made me choose a career in engineering, so I decided to continue being a STEM ambassador. Luckily, SCISYS supports STEM events as well which makes it easier to balance my work life alongside. It has certainly made me a proud woman to be part of such a growing industry especially when space industry is still largely male dominated. I hope to inspire the next generation of women to invest their time and skills in the tech industry and make a great career out of it.WHY DO YOU THINK THERE IS SUCH A SHORTAGE OF FEMALES WITHIN TECH ROLES AND WHAT DO YOU THINK WOMEN ROCK COULD DO TO HELP CHANGE THIS?I think gender stereotypes have a big role to play in that as a lot of women still think tech roles are just for men and vice versa. During my university degree I was one of the only 4 women in a batch of about 40 men which shows women aren’t confident enough to go for an engineering/tech degree. Also, the fact that tech industry is very competitive, and one must constantly stay up to date with the current and upcoming technologies scares off a lot of women as at some point they want to take a break and start a family. Unfortunately, most of the companies aren’t very supportive when it comes to that and women are made to choose either their career or personal life. Women Rock can provide more awareness regarding the roles in the tech industry and their perks to young school/college students or even adults looking for a career change. I believe having role models they can look up to would be a great positive impact as well.WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT?My favourite thing about software development is that I can be as creative as I like in solving the complex problems at hand. My main interests are in algorithm development related to data processing, spacecraft engineering and machine learning which needs “outside the box” thinking most of the times. The feeling when you finally write that one command to run the whole algorithm you have been working on for months and it runs without crashing is just out of this world.IF THERE IS ONE THING YOUR MOST PROUD OF, WHAT IS IT?The one thing I am most proud of is when I joined SCISYS, I was the only Pakistani woman in the space sector (still am). It just shows how far the companies have come to diversify their teams not just to fill in their diversity quota but based on the skills and talents of the candidate. Coming from a background where being a Pakistani national is frowned upon to working on one of the most exciting projects in the world is certainly a win for me.HOW DO YOU THINK COMPANIES CAN ATTRACT MORE WOMEN INTO THEIR TEAMS?I have been involved in similar discussions before and some of the things that come to mind are reasonable benefits such as maternity leave and flexible working. However, one of the main issues is that there just aren’t enough women studying the STEM courses so even if the companies are looking to fill in their gender gap, they find it difficult to do so. One of the possible solutions could be to provide training for women who have a different career background and are willing to learn and expand their skillset.IN 5 YEARS’ TIME, WHAT CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF DOING WITHIN THE TECH INDUSTRY?My plan is to start my master’s degree in Astronautical and Space Engineering at Cranfield University followed by a more specific job role in the space industry. I would like to work in mission control for exciting space projects in the next 5 years’ time with the hopes of starting my own rocket company at one point.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG OF ALL TIME?Supermassive Black Hole – MuseIF YOU COULD CHOOSE YOUR DREAM SQUAD, WHO WOULD BE IN IT?Elon Musk and Gwynne Shotwell!Thank you so much Rida, we couldn’t be more proud of this interview and we cannot wait to follow you in your career. You rock, like really rock! #womenrockInterview by: Steph Jackson a voice of diversity in tech.@womenrockbristol