This International Women’s Day, we celebrate all the brilliant women at Albion.

This International Women’s Day, 8 March 2022, we celebrate all the brilliant women at Albion (there are many of us now!).

We’ve asked a few volunteers to share insights about their careers, role models, lessons learnt, lack of funding to female founders and more. 

All unedited answers below in alphabetical order.  

Agnese Palermo, Marketing Associate 

Describe your ultimate superpower as a woman and how it has helped you in your personal and/or professional life?

My ultimate superpower is a mix perseverance and determination that I call ‘my own light’. It has always helped me pursuing my dreams both on a personal and professional level. Determination is key when you set yourself goals that you want to achieve, and it pushes you to go through all the challenges you may find. Perseverance is another quality that boosts your energies and your willing to succeed in what you do. You can certainly find these powers in yourself!

Which female leader inspires you and why?

I can list a thousand women that are my source of inspiration, but I will name just 3, they are true symbols of bravery:

The first is my mother, Andrea, she left Argentina in 1987 at the age of 21 and moved to Europe to find better opportunities. She was very young and scared but she was ready to start a new life with her significant other and a very special person, my dad.

The second is Hedy Lamarr, known for being a popular actress, but she was more than that. She was credited for helping to co-invent a radio signaling device, a.k.a a “Secret Communications System.” The system changed radio frequencies to confuse and hinder enemies during World War II, and it's a crucial part of how we communicate wirelessly today.

The third is Amelia Hart, 1920s, the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. She was also the 16th woman to be issued a pilot's license.

What advice would you like to share with other women who are just starting out in their careers?

From a woman to another one, you have a brilliant future in front of you: you will find and make yourself many opportunities, you will meet many people that will teach you and you will teach them. Stay true to yourself and find inspiration in yourself and in those people that believe in your potential. Follow your instincts, and even if the situation might seem extremely challenging, never give up.

Starting a career is never easy, but stay focused on what your skills are, seek for knowledge and don’t be afraid to learn from others. Build yourself a network of people that can contribute to your development. Get clear on your values, set yourself solid ambitions and realistic expectations.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

It is a good reminder for everyone that women are amazing in every way, humankind should celebrate them every day but, in this day, women should feel even more inspired to live their lives at their best.

 

Cat McDonald, Investor 

What, if any, barriers have you faced in your career and how did you overcome them?

I was once told I was too smiley when working in investment banking and it would be misconstrued as flirting.

What advice would you like to share with other women who are just starting out in their careers?

If you’re smiley, smile. If you’re soft spoken, speak softly. If you’re bold, be bold. Don’t try and retrofit yourself to the masculine mould just because your workplace is dominated by men. Be true to yourself and who you are. If you are not, you won’t enjoy your job and you probably won’t be very good at it!

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

When do you feel most powerful as a woman? When doing ‘extreme’ sports. I find it scary getting started, but once I have the courage to start, the confidence follows. Too few women do paragliding, rock climbing, ultra-marathons etc…I really wish more of us gave it a go!

 

Gita Kler, Analyst 

What advice would you like to share with other women who are just starting out in their careers?

Be bold! If you want to work with someone then put yourself out there, reach out to them directly, and ask for a collaboration. At worst they might say 'no'.

When have you, if ever, been in a situation that made you think that ‘women’ and ’career’ are two incompatible concepts? And why did you feel that way?

Hearing the story of a female entrepreneur whose commitment to her venture was questioned during fundraising because she was heavily pregnant stood out to me. It is crucial that we work to create supportive environments that eliminate the perception that 'women', 'motherhood' and 'career' are incompatible.

What 3 qualities would you like your children to inherit and why?

Compassion, empathy, and idealism, because these are timeless qualities that will always serve them well in an ever-changing world. Kindness never goes out of fashion, neither does being hopeful visionaries!

 

Jane Reddin, Talent Director 

Describe your ultimate superpower as a woman and how it has helped you in your personal and/or professional life?

For me, it’s my sheer grit, determination and drive. To me, good luck looks a lot like hard work.   

Which female leader inspires you and why?

Oprah Winfrey.  Michelle Obama. Brene Brown.  My daughter; part of the next generation of female leaders; she sings from her heart and inspires me every day with her EQ, open minded non-judgement and positive determination.

Looking back, what advice would you give to your younger self?

Don’t sweat the small stuff.  

Swim your own lane.  Work out your own why; don’t do it for anyone else's.  Chasing the need to please everyone 100% of the time is like being on an eternal hamster wheel. 

This is not a dress rehearsal.  Oh, and gravity is real.

What 3 qualities would you like your children to inherit and why?

Can I have 4?

Learn to learn.  I want you to show up.  It doesn’t matter what it is, or what you actually achieve at it.  If you’ve genuinely applied themselves with everything you’ve got inside of you, then your best is good enough.

Be brave.  Start - step forward - before you are ready.  You’ll never be ready.  And you will fall along the way; but the learning from trying is richer and more satisfying than the regret of not ‘juicing’ your one life.

Be curious.  It keeps you humble.

Continuously work on communication.  It’s so powerful; being a skilled communicator will help you for your whole life.

If you were not at Albion, and money & time were not a constraint, what would you like to be doing and why? 

I’d run a yoga centre.  Somewhere warm and close to a beautiful sandy beach.  A space where people feel better when they leave than when they arrive.  Each studio would be called blank space-asana.  So, kick-asana.  What a great-asana.  The last studio, for relaxation, would be called “can’t be-asana”.

 

Katya Pogudina, Head of Marketing

Which female leader inspires you and why?

Serena Williams for her ongoing pursuit of excellence, grit, being the best tennis athlete of all time, and making time to have a family & support underrepresented founders. Lady Gaga for her incredible talent, ability to reinvent herself, be very human and open about her demons. Christine Lagarde, for being a standout European leader in the world of global economics and policy. Anna Wintour, for her impeccable style, presence and ability to lead Vogue for over 30 years. My daughter’s teacher for her incurable patience and kindness.

What advice would you like to share with other women who are just starting out in their careers?

Be brave. There are always a million reasons not to do something, but the best moves are the ones that scare us. Plus nothing is so bad that you can’t recover from, even if it seems so in the moment.

When do you feel most powerful as a woman?

Monday morning as I walk my two young daughters to school and they tell me about the week ahead I feel blessed to be surrounded by such kind, brave and inquisitive young women. At the same time I can’t wait to get into the office to start a new week with my team here at Albion. It is a real privilege to have both of these worlds, both are very demanding (in very different ways) but incredibly empowering.  

 

Lauren Apostolidis, Platform Director

According to Atomico’s State of European Tech report, female founders secured just 1.1% of all VC investment in Europe. What do you think needs to change in the venture ecosystem to radically shift this disbalance?

There needs to be a focus on diversity at the cap table at a much earlier stage. Brilliant initiatives like Future VC are making an impact at the fund level, and are tackling statistics like just 13% of senior decision makers in VC are women, however, it’s vital that there is more access and education about investing at an earlier stage as an individual. Community-based initiatives like Alma Angels - who have built a community dedicated to investing in and supporting female led start ups - and courses such as Angel Investing School, are both playing a brilliant and important role in the ecosystem. If there are more widely available resources about investing in start ups as an angel, as well as access to those investment opportunities, you create more diverse opinions, experiences and individuals who are deploying capital from the very start – which will have a huge impact on which founders and ideas are getting funded.

Le Van Ta, Marketing Manager 

Which female leader inspires you and why?

I have much admiration for and take inspiration from JK Rowling despite having never read any of the Harry Potter books (scandalous I know!). Her life story makes for a great lesson about true resilience, compassion, giving back and a strong sense of self.

What advice would you like to share with other women who are just starting out in their careers?

My key advice is to be unafraid of being vocal, be that about new ideas or your negotiating your career path. I have found that men are much better at this whereas women tend to be more reserved and humble, but what you don’t say people won’t know.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

This is an important day because it forces me to pause and acknowledge the role that women play in society. And to remind myself to appreciate the fact that the freedom we enjoy today, to vote, to work, to wear what we want, was not always status quo.

 

Leigh Brody, Investor UCL Technology Fund 

What’s the best thing about working in the technology and investment space?

There are too many to name just one! It’s a thrilling, fast-paced and incredibly meaningful role which gives you the ability to learn about a breadth of exciting technologies and potentially play a role in supporting them in transforming the world.  

Recent research has shown that only 2.3% of VC-funding went to women-led startups in 2020, how can we change this?

First step is being aware of these kinds of metrics and looking at the investment process to see if there are any conscious or unconscious biases. I think it’s important to reflect on the journey – company formation, raising funds, forming the Board or operational execution – and observe if there is a lack of diversity at any step and whether that may introduce a biases in the process of funding women-led startups.

How can we continue to encourage women to become entrepreneurs and investors?

Much like a startup CEO never stops recruiting, a female investor should never stop promoting other women to enter the space. Continue to encourage other women through events, mentoring, or general networking. It’s an incredibly exciting and rewarding role which needs the best and the brightest to develop the technologies of tomorrow. 

 

Molly Gilmartin, Investor 

Describe your ultimate superpower as a woman and how it has helped you in your personal and/or professional life?

Empathy – Wonder Woman’s superpower! I always seek to understand why people are approaching a problem or challenge from a certain perspective and understand their point of view. I think empathy enables active listening to different viewpoints which really drives better answers, solutions and teamwork – in a hospital as a doctor understanding a patient’s perspective, to VC where we seek to support founders in their missions. Of course men can also be empathetic but in general, the women I have worked with during my career tend to be better at being truly curiously empathetic rather than sympathetic and so this is a superpower I am always trying to develop and improve on to be a better friend, colleague and person!

According to Atomico’s State of European Tech report, female founders secured just 1.1% of all VC investment in Europe. What do you think needs to change in the venture ecosystem to radically shift this disbalance?

When thinking about the challenges facing female founders, I think the challenge probably starts far earlier than the first fundraising stage… it is about having people to look up to and inspire you to take on that next challenge and ultimately believing in yourself you can do it to even start the company in the first place.  

I spent some time at NHS Improvement a few years ago, interviewing inspirational female leaders across the NHS to write a piece for the BMJ Leader on the importance of gender diversity in leadership within the NHS and how it improves outcomes from all angles. One of the key insights I found from that was this idea of ‘being tapped on the shoulder’ and the impact that moment of belief, trust and can have on women taking on leadership opportunities, founding companies and driving impact in healthcare. I guess that is where I hope as an investor to support female founders by seeking them out and ‘tapping them on the shoulder’ to take their ideas to the next stage and to feel supported on that journey.

What advice would you like to share with other women who are just starting out in their careers?

I think I have two main pieces of advice. The first one, no pun intended, is to ask for advice, mentorship and coaching! I discovered pretty early on in my career when taking a year out from clinical practice as a newly qualified doctor to join a health tech startup that people love giving advice and enjoy coaching people, particularly those early in their career. Everyone’s career journey has learnings and I sent people, some super senior ones!, a message asking for a coffee/call to ask for their advice and I learnt so much from this process and made some great connections. When you have the meeting listen well and carefully and you will pick up so many life lessons that can inform your choices.

The second is that there is no ‘set path’ in any career. You don’t have to have done the same thing as the person before you and being enthusiastic, energised and curious to learn will always count for so much. At many points in my career, I have had an ‘untraditional CV for the role’ and this has often given me an edge. It is ok to have an employment history that isn’t ‘standard’ as long as you can describe with clarity your choices along the way and what drives you! A mentor I had during medical school, Dr Lois Brand, always said to me that we all need to remember our career choices are ‘active choices’. It is easy to feel stuck in jobs but every day you get up and go to work you are choosing to do so, you must find something that makes you sparkle!
 

Nadine Torbey, Investor 

Looking back, what advice would you give to your younger self? 

Stay curious everything in the world keeps changing

Double down on your superpowers, the rest only needs to be good enough 

Build relationships, they will make you happy and successful 

Follow your passions not what people expect you to

There is no mould, each person has a unique leadership potential and has to create their own unique path to get there 

Stay resilient and take it one step at a time 

Don’t take it all too seriously everything passes in the end

Don’t be too specific about the future … you don’t have all the information
 

Pauline Stasiak, Investor UCL Technology Fund 

What advice would you like to share with other women who are just starting out in their careers?

Network- talk to people about what they are doing in their careers, how they got there and why they made the choices they did along their career path. Keep in touch with people who have been there at the beginning of your career. Pass on knowledge to the next generations and be ready to learn from younger generations who have different perspectives and ideas.

What 3 qualities would you like your children to inherit and why?

Resilience, emotional intelligence and kindness. Resilience because life and work can be really tough at times and it makes sense to have the tools to be able to handle those challenges while staying true to your values; Emotional intelligence because it is incredibly helpful to listen and understand how other people’s minds work, to understand their drivers and in reaching common ground where viewpoints differ; Kindness because it is such a good foundation for building relationships in both business and life.

According to Atomico’s State of European Tech report, female founders secured just 1.1% of all VC investment in Europe. What do you think needs to change in the venture ecosystem to radically shift this disbalance? 

Having more women in investment teams who may see different aspects of an investment proposition as they pertain to women or how it can impact their lived experience. We should harness and capitalise on our different perspectives. Mentoring and training more women to be in investment teams through e.g. internships and out-reach programmes to schools and universities. 

 

Vicki Caplan, Finance Manager 

Describe your ultimate superpower as a woman and how it has helped you in your personal and/or professional life?

Organisational skills are my superpower.  Using my calendar to help me remember events (for both me and my family) and helping me to prioritise my work is a must. 

Looking back, what advice would you give to your younger self? 

To be confident in everything you do.

If you were not at Albion, and money & time were not a constraint, what would you like to be doing and why?

I would definitely volunteer in some capacity – it would be nice to know that you’re helping others and making a positive impact