Given half of us are women it is astonishing how underrepresented we are in the tech. No matter what the service or product a company is in the business of providing in most cases the end user of that product will be a woman. How it then that is there are so few women at the top or heading up businesses that center around technology. In my business, I feel like as a woman selling to predominantly female customers it would be crazy if my job was held by someone else. Women bring a point of view necessary to deliver products successfully to other women. For example, with The Daily Edited ease of use on a mobile, amazing packaging and our tailored product range appeals to women, I’m a woman selling to other women. We haven’t been lucky to have an all-female web development team and we’ve got some lovely guys in the mix, the issue is though getting them up to speed with what women want when shopping or even getting them to understand our product. I look forward to having more females in my team who understand the designs of our products and why we sell certain items (yes, a cosmetic case is essential)
In operating my business I am definitely compassionate and understanding of issues that women may face, whether that be maternity leave, flexible working arrangements while working with children, the need to bring your children to work on days where it all goes wrong or the need to have a day off because it’s that time of the month! This all leads to a more harmonious community based feeling at work where every team member is valued and their needs are met. I have a very low attrition rate at TDE as a result.
The interesting thing I have found with female founders is that there is a meeting of creativity and commerce in women that is somewhat unique. Where women can run businesses and also be the creative force behind them those two factors combined are a recipe for success as they are able to create products or services that are commercial and can, therefore, resonate in their markets. I feel I am in a much stronger position to create products that women want that make sense to our bottom line and that generate sales that continue to grow the TDE brand and business. The fact that I can road test our products myself, make changes and improvements I think has been pivotal to the success of the business.
I haven’t always been in e-commerce, I actually started my career out as a lawyer and did not have a background in tech nor did I excel at STEM subjects, I have learnt my skills on the job and hope that ordinary women like myself hopefully demonstrate to other women that anyone can have a career in tech and provide the next generation with confidence to excel and contribute to the field.
About Author:
Alyce Tran, from Adelaide, said the inspiration behind co-founding her brand The Daily Edited stemmed from a gift she received from her uncle at the age of 16. Working in the corporate world, Ms Tran began juggling her job – as well as running her brand via social media on the side with her fellow lawyer Tania Liu. The business partners initially started off with a clothing line in 2011 – but after the business failed, they looked into blogging. The Daily Edited boasts eight stores around the world, concessions in countless department stores and a website.
