Each Wednesday we interview women in our community about innovation and what drives them to make a difference in their industries everyday!
What are you working on?
We’re the inventors of two ingenious children’s products that will soon be entering the market. One will allow children to sit more comfortably at the dinner table and the other will let them see in the dark. You can read all about them on our website.
Why is innovation important to you?
Innovative perspectives and ideas can solve problems where traditional ones have failed.
What drives you to make a difference?
Two things:
1. I and my sister have dwarfism and know what it’s like to live in a world designed for bigger people. It’s annoying, uncomfortable and unnecessary.
We have lots of ideas to make it less so.
2. We are both very interested in the world and how it works. Learning how to turn an idea into a marketable product seems like something that would be cool to know how to do.
Do you have any advice for getting more women into the innovation ecosystem?
Get a decent business partner. Someone you’re not and never will be, interested in sleeping with.
Most guys in the startup business – and in every sitcom ever – have a wingman; someone to joke with, be accountable to, and someone to validate their existence when the world gets a little too overwhelming.
From my experience working with my sister, this wingman relationship is essential to maintaining a healthy dose of hubris essential to doing anything risky. When you’re freaking out about money, your wingman isn’t, infact she’s uncharacteristically confident about your inevitable financial success. When you’ve got work to do, your wingman is asking why you’re completing personality tests on facebook. Your wingman is your everything.