“Empowered Women Empower Women”
By: Gemma Exelby
Tags: Tech, Business, Women, Edtech, Startup

It’s surprisingly rare to find a start-up entirely founded by women — especially in the edtech sector. And yet, despite working in a male-dominated industry, neither of us have found ourselves held back by our gender. In fact, quite the opposite — we’ve both thrived.

We both understand what it feels like to stand out from the crowd. In fact, it’s something we’ve always embraced wholeheartedly. Owning our differences, and being comfortable in our own skin rather than trying to conform to expectations, has led us to more success than we ever dreamed possible.

Manjit is used to being a minority in boardrooms both as a woman and a person of Indian heritage, but has never allowed it to diminish her drive. Caroline has always looked to the horizon, seeking new ways of thinking and even travelling halfway around the world for career opportunities.

But in many ways, it wasn’t until we found each other that we realised our full potential. When Caroline first told Manjit about her idea for a safe, online platform to teach social media in schools, Manjit knew she had to be a part of it. Caroline’s passion for pedagogy meant she knew exactly what pupils needed in order to thrive online, and Manjit’s keen business sense made her the perfect person to make it a reality.

We’re both mothers to young children, and that maternal instinct for empathy and nurturing has informed every part of our business from its conception. It also gives us an edge when it comes to the reality of running a start-up, where priorities have to constantly be juggled and shifted.

For any young women out there who are thinking about founding their own start-up, in any sector, we have one piece of advice: don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. There’s no such thing as the right time to start, no guarantee that you will always be able to find balance. Life will inevitably throw you a curveball.

If you have an idea, then start bringing it to life: the most important thing is finding someone to work with who shares your vision and who’ll be your biggest supporter, as we support each other every day.

We’re also very fortunate to both have amazing partners who support us completely as we go on this journey together. We both grew up in families with a very ‘traditional’ split in gender roles — fathers who went out to work, mothers who stayed home to care for children — but our partners have always been in our corner to help us juggle the demands of work and family.

Being on the cutting edge means we’ve been charting our own course in unknown waters, so we’ve made it our mission to support each other and our team and cheer each other on. With that in mind, we also wanted to celebrate the amazing women we’ve been lucky enough to have in our team.

Gemma Exelby — our Marketing Manager — has multi-tasking skills that are second to none, and expertly juggles myriad responsibilities while raising a one-year-old toddler. Our Teacher Support Advisor, Kitty, works diligently as the first point of contact for our customers, and by listening attentively to their feedback she provides us with crucial information on how we can evolve to best serve their needs. Ruby, our Business Development Consultant, is an incredibly ambitious and determined young woman who is constantly seeking career development opportunities to bring new skills and ideas to the table.

Empowered women, empower women. International Women’s Day is about celebrating all women, and what we can do when we work together. We can be a force for change, and we can be fierce too.