Women to watch: be mentored from afar by these inspiring female leaders
Tuesday, 05 March 2019
Thanks to Twitter, blogging and TED talks, your female mentors can live on different continents and need never cross your path. Add to your portfolio of role models by connecting with these four women, whose revolutionary ideas may inspire you to unleash your own unique thinking on the world.
SUSAN CAIN, CHIEF REVOLUTIONARY OF THE QUIET REVOLUTION
Susan Cain first came to the world’s attention – ever so quietly – with the publication of her global bestseller Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Her follow up TED Talk became one of the most watched of all time and Cain’s message – that the world needs to better accommodate its introvert population (comprising a third of all workplaces) – was discussed everywhere from the office water cooler to the pages of the New York Times. But Cain’s work was not yet done. In June 2015 she launched - with the sort of zero fanfare you might expect of the world’s poster girl for introversion - The Quiet Revolution, an online companion to the consultancy she founded to aid corporations in creating introvert-friendly workspaces. Covering work, life and family, the website shares the stories of introverts around the world as they navigate everything from networking and friendship groups to managing introverts and making small talk (one of an introvert’s most dreaded activities).
“THERE'S ZERO CORRELATION BETWEEN BEING THE BEST TALKER AND HAVING THE BEST IDEAS.”
When moving to a new city: “Don’t look for friends; look for passions. Sign up for activities you enjoy: hiking, volunteering at an animal shelter, playing tennis - whatever suits you best. You’ll meet like-minded people with similar interests, and that’s all you need to start a friendship!”
On how to become more confident with sharing your private ideas: “I would recommend that you always keep a journal in which you write down everything that’s for your eyes only. Decide which ideas you do want to share with the world. And, as with any fear, approach this one in small, manageable steps. Experiment with sharing your ideas little by little and seeing how you feel. You’ll probably find that you enjoy it more than you think!”
MARIA CLAUDIA LACOUTURE, PRESIDENT OF PROCOLOMBIA
Four years into her tenure at the head of the government agency tasked with promoting Colombia’s trade, investment, tourism and brand, Lacouture’s strategy for transforming the country’s image from one riddled with drug and gang violence, to a popular travel destination, has seen international tourism increase by 56% (7,000 boutique hotel rooms opened across the country in 2014 alone).
She’s also working to put Colombia on the world’s tech map, launching the Bring IT On campaign to encourage young Colombians to pursue careers in the tech field. Already the third largest IT sector in Latin America, it’s expected to double over the next three years.
In a country whose female representation in the workforce lags 22% behind men’s at just 53%, she is also a role model for women rising to the top (she joined the agency of which she is now President as an intern and subsequently worked her way through numerous roles).
On women in business: “All women have the ability to be successful in business. Insist, persist and never give up.”
“INSPIRATION COMES FROM ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, WHICH IS WHY WE SHOULD ALWAYS BE OBSERVANT.”
On tuning into inspiration: “Inspiration arises in the battlefield, from a situation needing an option, an issue needing a solution, an instruction demanding a response, or a necessity looking for new options. Sometimes stress also comes loaded with inspiration.”
DR SANGEETA BHATIA, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER
Entrepreneur magazine named her one of the women to watch in 2015, and with a roster of ground-breaking scientific breakthroughs under her belt, it’s not difficult to see why. The biomedical engineer’s most lauded invention includes a tiny human liver created with a 3D printer - a prototype, she hopes, for an engineered replica of the human organ that will one day eliminate the need for liver transplants.
Her team’s discovery of a paper urine test able to detect cancer, was, she says, the result of a “laboratory accident”; Bhatia allows her diverse team of scientists to work on their own projects for 20% of their time, and it was this approach to invention which led to the discovery of the paper test as a by-product of another project.
On the importance of honesty and transparency in role models: “One thing I struggled with a lot when I was coming up through the pipeline was looking forward to see if there were women who had the life I thought I wanted. It didn’t seem like there were a lot of great examples of that. I try to be really transparent about the way I’m living my life. I think that’s part of paying it forward and keeping the door open for women behind you.”
“YOU HAVE TO EXPLORE AND PLAY AND TINKER, AND SEE WHAT THINGS MERGE AND COALESCE.”
On her next mission: “What I’m interested in lately is why women don’t start companies. I’ve been studying women in science for a long time and yet didn’t realise that only 3% of tech start-ups are started by women. Seeing single digits in 2014 is shocking. So that’s where my policy work is going now. That, and recruiting my daughter’s friends to take robotics class so that she’ll want to take it as well.”
Connect with Dr Sangeeta Bhatia on Twitter or via the news and publications areas of her personal website.
KATRINA MARKOFF, FOUNDER OF VOSGES HAUT-CHOCOLAT
With innovative flavours like ginger, absinthe, yellow curry, wasabi, bacon and olives, her chocolates spawned a generation of copycat chocolatiers. But while Markoff’s first love will always be in creating new chocolate flavours in her kitchen, she’s currently busying herself with achieving her dream of becoming a real life Willy Wonka, pouring $13.5 million into transforming her Chicago production unit into a giant chocolate factory, where the mass public will make their own truffles, take part in “chocolate meditations” and generally stuff themselves full of cacao.
Vosges’ brand identity is a master class in authenticity – many of its most successful flavour combinations were inspired by the former chemist and Cordon Bleu-trained chef’s personal experiences: a visit to Hungary inspired a paprika flavoured truffle named ‘Budapest’; jasmine tea, lemon grass, fresh coconut and organic marigold were combined with cacao following a tea break at a Bangkok spa; her best-selling bacon bar was born of her childhood love of her mother’s bacon and maple pancakes dipped in melted chocolate; the very first chocolate she created was inspired by the necklace she was wearing as she set about experimenting in her kitchen.
On getting past “stuck” thinking: “Best thing is to do something new every moment. If normally I drink a matcha for breakfast after I wake up, then i'll get up run up and down the stairs and then drink it, but made in a blender instead of with a whisk. If normally I open doors with my right hand, then i'll use my left instead. It makes a dramatic difference in unlocking new patterns and ways of thinking.”
“MY FIRST STEP, AND THE ORIGIN OF EVERYTHING THEREAFTER, IS THE ACT OF FALLING IN LOVE WITH EITHER BEAUTY, CURIOSITY OR CAUSE.”
On finding your passion: “I was trying to figure out what I would do with this chemistry degree. I was a little bit lost, and I just couldn’t really relate to it anymore. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Well, this woman gave me a book called Where The Heart Leads You Success Will Follow. One of the exercises in the book is to go into a beautiful park or a natural environment with pen and paper and write down the things you really love to do. And I just wrote down cooking and horseback riding. So I started cooking and then off it went. I always knew that chemistry helped along the way. With recipe development you may want to add a particular ingredient in different quantities and do multiple versions. That’s similar to the way we would do lab time in chemistry.”
Get to know Katrina Markoff through her Twitter account, or follow her blog on the latest inspiration behind her cacao inventions.
* Quote sources in order of appearance in text. Susan Cain: Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In a World That Can’t Stop Talking (Penguin: 2012); quietrev.com; Ibid; ted.com. Maria Claudia Lacouture: Fast Company; Colombia Reports; Fast Company. Sangeeta Bhatia: Fast Company; Economist; entrepreneur.com; Ibid. Katrina Markoff: fuelyourprocess.com; Fast Company; Ibid.
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