Video Interview: Kathryn Rooney – The Devil Wears Technology Blog – 5th Edition Part 2

If you could give one piece of advice to your young self, what would that be?

The biggest thing that I think, at least for me and my younger self, and a lot of women, I think this is a common thing and a common occurrence, is: DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE FUTURE. Whatever you are concerned about or you are anxious about today, more likely than not, it’s not going to happen in reality, so don’t fear about the future, live in the present, maximize every opportunity, make your own luck, luck does not happen, you make it, you drive your future, take hold of it, and don’t fear about the future. Enjoy and maximize the present!

Are women getting the support they need from their employers to be ambitious?

It’s so key because you hear a lot of talk about this, you hear a lot of talk from the big banks. I think we are moving into the right direction. There is a self-selection process, so a lot of women have children and they think: ”I want to devote my time to my children” and that is a very fair response. We’ve been there and we all understand it.The way employers can help women stay in the workforce is by offering what they need: flexible work hours, this is a digital world now. Women are hard workers; of course, it’s hard to generalize but we tend to be very good at multi-tasking, very productive, and we can be equally, if not more, productive in a remote office or by phone rather than the old model which is in the office, 12 till 14 hours a day. That is the way to keep women involved; offer flexible work hours, offer maternity leave policy that is fair and just, and have confidence and trust in your female workforce.