You are currently viewing Girls Technology Leader Techgirlz Founder Tracey Welson Rossman Listenup Show 038 Startup Entrepreneur Podcast

Girls Technology Leader Techgirlz Founder Tracey Welson Rossman Listenup Show 038 Startup Entrepreneur Podcast

The post Girls Technology Leader Techgirlz Founder Tracey Welson Rossman Listenup Show 038 Startup Entrepreneur Podcast first appeared on mitchellchadrow.com

Techgirlz
Philly Startup Leaders
Chariot Solutions
Women in Tech Summit

0:00so your connector your relationship
0:03builder you put people in contact with
0:05one another that what you would say that
0:07that describes you at
0:08yeah and I guess in oldworld terms i
0:12might be called a yes or matchmaker
0:14oh yes i dunno Yenta I know those great
0:17dish words that’s terrific you’re
0:19listening to the listen up show start-up
0:21entrepreneur podcast on Mitchell shadow
0:23your host today on show 038 friend your
0:30business it’s your family if you’re like

0:32let’s get started what is Tracy going to
0:35talk about tech girls chariot solutions
0:38women in tech summit Philadelphia
0:41startup leaders I’m ready to listen up
0:43so let’s do that
0:44tracy wilson rossman teeth bazemore and
0:47bazemore dot-com he wrote an awesome
0:49article titled the power of sharing your
0:52story so when people ask you
0:54so what do you do what do you tell them
0:57oh that’s funny because my husband will
1:00always say I if i’m going to meetings
1:03like witch hat you have on today who are
1:05you representing uh so I guess you know
1:08my story is that I’ve had a lot of
1:13different interests throughout my career
1:16that have led me down different paths
1:20that have gotten me to where I am today
1:22and each of those experiences have made
1:26me I think a better leader and manager I
1:31and I also think just more creative and
1:34innovative you know my story is really
1:39about allowing people to connect I for
1:45their you know to help dance what their
1:49interests are and I you know I like to
1:53be able to connect people and also
1:57connect ideas to form better solutions
2:01we sign up to my email list for the
2:04latest special offers exclusive for our
2:07listen up show start-up entrepreneur
2:10podcast audience at Mitchell Chad
2:12row.com
2:13/ sign up i have been providing business
2:17advice resources and help to
2:18entrepreneurs for over 20 years and i’m
2:21looking forward to helping all of you
2:23sign up for my email list again at
2:26Mitchell Chad row.com / sign up i will
2:31provide you with full transcripts for
2:33each interview my ebook 30 tools to
2:36start up the startup checklist and many
2:40other education and training materials
2:43all back at neutral Chad row.com / sign
2:48up now when you you know hostgator
2:50actually sponsors our startup around
2:53what has been the best business advice
2:56that you’ve ever received
2:59hey I’m i think personally you know for
3:04myself I and you discussed the other day
3:09to talk one of the best things
3:12someone told me is it your emotion out
3:17of your decisions on sometimes we allow
3:21our emotions to cloud the way that we’re
3:24thinking I and you know sometimes you
3:28really have to think about what is best
3:31I without you know having any well it is
3:38having given the game but just taking a
3:40you know your biases your emotions out
3:43of the decision and that’s really hard
3:46to do and if you’re making decision that
3:49way to at least acknowledge that there’s
3:51some emotion in there which is driving
3:53even the reaction so so it in terms of
3:57Bob you know thinking with your head as
4:00opposed to your heart is that with with
4:02that be a fair way of summing that up
4:05that’s part of it but also emotion can
4:08be on whether you’re angry at about
4:12something or you know you have an
4:18emotional attachment you may be a
4:20partner
4:22I you know friends with that person
4:26I’m you know sometimes it is just about
4:29business
4:30I so you know understanding your
4:33motivations for your decision-making i
4:35think is really important one of the
4:37reasons why I wanted a happy one is
4:39because of your involvement with text
4:41girls you know I have two young
4:42daughters myself who are entrepreneurs
4:45in their own right and I was really
4:47excited when I saw what your mission was
4:51all about
4:52so maybe you could tell everybody you
4:54know how you started tech girl ‘he’s and
4:57you know where you’re at today with the
4:59organization and some of your goals that
5:02you have in mind going forward and yeah
5:06thank you so much for allowing me to
5:08speak about that i’m in technical came
5:12out of you mind being in the industry
5:15the tech industry for i guess about six
5:21or seven years before that you know I
5:25was in industry that were you know
5:29leaning towards having more women versus
5:32men or were mixed and then you you come
5:35into this industry and it is very
5:38starkly different i’m leaning towards
5:41men and there’s there’s nothing wrong
5:45with that per se
5:46except for the fact that i believe that
5:48women are missing out on a tremendous
5:52opportunities and part of that I believe
5:56is based on not understanding the
5:59opportunities that are in front of you
6:01prob cause of the way that technology
6:05has been sold by the media the idea of
6:11you know girls not being seen as smart
6:14and that value for for you know if they
6:18have donations towards math and science
6:21I you know what’s happening within our
6:23school system there’s so many different
6:25optical better that are in the way of
6:30girls feeling like they belong in the
6:34industry and technology is so broad now
6:38I
6:39it was just seven years ago but
6:42certainly broader than I it was at that
6:46point I so that’s that that’s the
6:49challenge for tech girls so how have you
6:52been able to sort of a break-in at an
6:55earlier stage whether it be in middle
6:57school or high school before the girls
6:59actually get to college how have you
7:02been able to sort of make a difference
7:05earlier on and empower them from before
7:09reaching you know the college-age work
7:13well I mean we believe that there’s
7:15three different audiences so one of the
7:18things that i like to say that we run
7:19our non-profit like a business and
7:23understanding of who our clients are who
7:27was selling to what their motivations
7:29are I think it’s really important I so
7:33first you know you need the product out
7:36and if one of your in client doesn’t
7:38like it gets but they’re not gonna buy
7:40it
7:41so the first client of course is our
7:44girls and we focus on middle school and
7:47there’s a reason for that
7:49studies have shown that at ninth grade
7:52about my grade girls are self-selecting
7:54out of technology so understanding the
7:58reasons which i gave a little bit before
8:00and you know creating a program that
8:04sort of answer some of those needs
8:07the other thing was also taking a look
8:09within the ecosystem to see what was
8:11missing you know even after we’ve been
8:13in business for six years at this point
8:16we’re still not seeing and we would
8:20welcome to see more competition or
8:23friendly competition to what we have so
8:27you know we’re still creating a product
8:29that is needed and that product we
8:31decided I was the short interactive
8:35workshops that showed all many many
8:39different forms of technology so i like
8:42to call the smaller sport of technology
8:45choices you know technology is not just
8:47about software development there’s
8:50hardware there’s
8:52design there’s no technology as it
8:55relates to different industry so you
8:57know we’re trying to do lots of
9:00different choices
9:02the girl can explore hostgator will
9:05sponsor our startup round i use
9:07hostgator to host all of my websites so
9:09check out the special offer exclusive to
9:12my podcast audience and get twenty-five
9:14percent off your web hosting package
9:16today at Mitchell Chad row.com /
9:19hostgator audible an amazon company
9:21sponsors are fastpitch my book club
9:25recommendations that get Mitchell Chad
9:27row.com / audible snap sponsors are wrap
9:31up around for all my graphic design need
9:33i was so impressed with this company
9:35that I actually interviewed the founder
9:37Christopher gamer on our show 28 packet
9:40Mitchell Chad row.com /o 028 but to
9:44start your snappa designgraphic today
9:46go on over to Mitchell chatter dot-com /
9:50snap yeah you know our you how are you
9:53how many different schools are you in
9:55right now how many people how many girls
9:58are coming into the program at the
10:00middle school level and then how many
10:04are continuing on into the high school
10:06stage
10:08oh we don’t typically work with any
10:11school in fact schools have have sort of
10:14been the hardest you know you think that
10:16that’s where you should be selling to
10:18so to speak but I’m schools have their
10:21own challenges they don’t have time
10:22during the day of school can’t do a
10:26separate program just for girls so and
10:30the other piece of this is at school the
10:33teachers don’t have the skill sets to
10:35teach the type of technology that we’re
10:37putting out there so the other group
10:40that were marketing to our our volunteer
10:43instructors so we’ve been working
10:46outside of school though you know we we
10:49are figuring out ways of working with
10:51them as we’ve been figuring out some of
10:53their issues over the left several years
10:56but we’re actually putting out our
10:59materials so that anybody can use them
11:01and we’re encouraging our volunteer and
11:05stuff
11:05there’s who were those that are in the
11:07ID field and now we’re also seeing high
11:11school and college students use our
11:13material to go back and teach middle
11:15school girls so what are some of the
11:17biggest ways for you to to get your
11:20materials out there you mentioned the IT
11:22professionals but specifically you know
11:25what are your distribution channels how
11:27are you getting the word out how are you
11:30actually disseminating the materials
11:33that you’ve actually created what I’m so
11:36we’re basing this on how open source has
11:40really open source software has have
11:43gotten out into the world so we’re
11:47giving away our materials for free
11:51I anybody can use them you have a little
11:54chat row with with two daughters one in
11:57high school and one in middle school
11:59how do i find out more about not only
12:02the materials but actually how to get
12:04them and then as far as instructors are
12:06volunteers that you’re working with
12:08where we’re in the community that i’m
12:11actually at right now how do i how do I
12:13reach out and get involved with them for
12:17tech girls so I’m you know they are our
12:23biggest strength is in the Philadelphia
12:25region but we are national because
12:28anybody can use the materials so the
12:30first thing you would do is go to girls
12:32with a Z dot or and then you would look
12:36under run your own texture and then you
12:42would just do a short sign in form and
12:44then you would have access to all of our
12:4640 workshop that we called tech shops we
12:51also give you a playbook which let you
12:56know how you can operate one so you may
12:59not have the skill set to teach a class
13:01but you have skill sets to organize the
13:04class I’m you may have access you know
13:08your your daughter so you have access to
13:12find girls who might be interested
13:15I we can offer from a technical
13:18standpoint if
13:19you don’t have somebody who can teach
13:21you know we can help find a volunteer
13:24I’m we do have launcher database it
13:27doesn’t cover for every part of the
13:28country button fell off your region we
13:32do have a good amount of people who want
13:36to help your daughter in the
13:37Philadelphia area because that that’s
13:39where that’s where it just so happens
13:41that i’m located in the tri-state area
13:43and how many volunteers do you actually
13:46have in the in the database and and how
13:48many at any given time how many middle
13:50school or high school children how do
13:53you keep track of that since they’re
13:55coming to the website how do you keep
13:57track of the number of students whose
14:01whose teaching the class how many
14:02students to a class how are you how are
14:05you keeping track of all those numbers
14:07so you know me are keeping track the
14:13best that we can part of our challenges
14:15is that sometimes people run classes and
14:18they don’t report back to us so you know
14:21working through these are these are
14:23business challenges so we know that
14:26we’re not capturing all of our data I we
14:29are working towards a better system to
14:32do that we also don’t named of an
14:39inflammation of children who are under
14:42the age of 13 because of laws we do keep
14:46the information about the parents so the
14:51parents are actually signing up and
14:53that’s the third that’s the third part
14:54of Honor the people that were selling to
14:57because in the end it’s the parents who
15:01are the ones that help make the
15:02decisions about are they going to be
15:05able to get the girls to an event I you
15:08know they’re the ones that we’re keeping
15:10in touch with I so you know we’ve worked
15:14with over the last six years
15:17we’re getting up to probably about 7,500
15:21girls I which is pretty amazing you know
15:24that is and it is that regionally is
15:27that mostly here in the Philadelphia
15:29tri-state area
15:30or is that you know throughout the u.s.
15:34it’s not the US but I I would you know
15:39if I had to guesstimate right now we
15:41would say probably about seventy percent
15:42earning area but as we’re going out more
15:46more you know that that’s going to
15:48dissipate I but we you know we do a lot
15:53of our experimentation to speak within
15:56our region
15:57I you know in terms of volunteers
16:01I you know we we’ve been getting so many
16:05volunteers to come in
16:07it’s pretty amazing I and we’re really
16:10really fortunate and it just shows that
16:12the developer and IT community is really
16:17committed to getting diversity into the
16:21system and reaching out at a lower level
16:24so you know that’s one of the other
16:27pieces of why were able to do our work
16:29because we have such a committed
16:32community I and there’s also this
16:35understanding that you know they need to
16:37get back so that it’s really really
16:40lovely thing but we also have to make
16:44sure that we’re creating an atmosphere
16:46and creating materials that make it easy
16:50for our volunteers to engage I so that’s
16:54something else that we’ve that I think
16:56we’ve put a lot of time and effort into
16:58thinking about is you know how do we
17:01work with these people who are giving
17:03their time and effort I so we’re
17:06constantly refining our program from
17:08that standpoint
17:09ya know i’m actually on your site right
17:12now and you have a nice little button
17:14there you know for for donations so you
17:17know given the fact that that and also
17:18you have your your 2016 annual report
17:21which I’m kind of going through right
17:24now as I’m speaking with you and I i
17:26like the logo and I like the way it’s
17:28kind of laid out on your site so what
17:30kind of donations are you getting and
17:32how are you you know obviously you
17:34indicated you know that you’re running
17:36this like a business so tell us a little
17:38bit about whether it be revenues that
17:41are coming in
17:42whether you know donations that are
17:44coming through and how you’re sort of
17:47sustaining things going forward
17:49especially with 7500 you know enrollees
17:54and and how the program works i mean is
17:57this 1a an annual basis is this a
17:59rolling basis where you have students
18:01coming in middle school and then they
18:03continued on through high school
18:05how does how does that work so you were
18:09ok I think like any good business
18:12there’s a focus and we are focused on
18:14our mission is to help middle school
18:16girl I it takes a lot of time effort to
18:21work on this specific area of course
18:25every year you’ve got new girls who are
18:27becoming you know eleven-year-old girl
18:30through our are aging outside speak so
18:35you know we’ve grappled with what do we
18:37do with the 15-year old and above and
18:40honestly what we’re seeing is they’re
18:42coming back and they want to impeach and
18:44they want to get back mom which is
18:46pretty polishes one way for us to keep
18:48in touch and also for them to to
18:50practice in terms of raising money which
18:54is I’m always not fun if that about your
19:00if that’s not your thing and so who is
19:02the team behind you because you know you
19:04you can’t you can’t be all things to all
19:07people and so you know you you have your
19:09own strengths and and sort of you rely
19:11on when other people within the
19:13organization to help you you know with
19:16with other you know with other aspects
19:18of the business so how are you how are
19:21you maintaining doing all of this
19:23what so you know we have pasted that I
19:27you know this is this is a you know a
19:30passion project for me so I you know I i
19:34do this side I along with my regular job
19:38but I’m so 14-7 amazing team I we have a
19:44four-and-a-half four-and-a-half
19:47employees at this point and wherever you
19:49go you’re muddy out
19:52I you know that takes dollars as well
19:55so I’m we are working with Grant I’m and
20:00sponsorships and donations and a little
20:03bit of fundraising as well as we one of
20:07women in tech summit I which is a whole
20:10separate operation yet i was i was
20:13definitely gonna ask you about that i’m
20:15just curious though from that from a
20:17tech girl’s perspective who helps you
20:19actually write the grant is that one of
20:22the employees one of the four-and-a-half
20:23employees that you actually have here
20:25because thatthat’s a that that’s a
20:28specialized area into itself that is the
20:31best side area were lucky not to have a
20:33consultant who are we you know we work
20:37with on that she’s been able to help us
20:40a lot
20:41now I know you left hip with some
20:45advisers you have to get started with
20:46some as well as we now have somebody who
20:49is working with us on a permanent basis
20:52no that’s great now you mentioned are
20:55you know this is your your passion on
20:57the side as a non-profit so you know why
21:00I mentioned you know chariot solutions
21:02earlier on as I was introducing you
21:05and that’s obviously what you’re doing
21:08you know for your own your own work to
21:13pay the bill so to speak
21:15can you can you tell us a little bit
21:16about about that in your role with that
21:19organization so i am chief marketing
21:23officer handle marketing and sales team
21:27I and you know we do carry is a software
21:34development firm I we have approximately
21:3950 full-time a high level engineers on
21:43staff we’ve been in business for we’re
21:45going on our 15th year were known for
21:49you know bringing the best suffer
21:54development expertise within a java open
21:58source tools and technologies were
22:02developing mobile applications we’ve
22:04been working in the
22:05in this thing faced him but connecting
22:09hardware and software together I but we
22:13really have our group of highly talented
22:16individuals who are not just
22:19implementers their leaders within
22:23companies and really what we do at the
22:25end of the day is we’re helping
22:27businesses take their ideas and you know
22:32make them into a reality you know
22:35earlier a few weeks back we had on a
22:39fell out of who actually lives in Hong
22:42Kong and does a lot of work in China
22:44with the Internet of Things day
22:46mclaughlin and he had said look you know
22:49if you’re not actually out here home in
22:52Asia you know you’re you’re really
22:54you’re really leaving quite a bit on the
22:57table so with the Internet of Things and
23:00the hardware and the engineers that you
23:02work with are you strictly working here
23:05in the tri-state area or how are you
23:08working across the US are you working
23:10outside the US in that regard
23:13I’m we were helping companies within
23:16this region and often nationally uh you
23:20know work are you able to talk about
23:22some of the some of the companies that
23:24you did able to help on you know we’ve
23:28been here working with a large provider
23:33of cable services and about the region
23:35we also work with a large company at in
23:41the Philadelphia region that there’s a
23:43lot of 401 K work so we work in the
23:46enterprise space a lot but we also work
23:48with startups fact one that this new
23:53company uh they have a product which is
23:57an electronic bumper sticker
23:59I so you are using a the hardware that
24:04goes on the back of your car
24:06I you can go on a website which was
24:10developed by a partner of ours so that
24:13you can pick that the stickers that you
24:16want to see on your on the bumper
24:19sticker
24:19and we created the connection between
24:22the hardware and the mobile app and also
24:25back to the website
24:27yeah no no very very cool indeed so let
24:31me ask you know it sounds as if you know
24:33between tech girls and and chariot
24:36solutions you you’ve had some success is
24:40obviously and there’s been some
24:41challenges what what have been some of
24:44your challenges in in both and both
24:47organizations to date any you know that
24:51isn’t I in between a girl and cherry is
24:56really the need for a educated
25:01technology workforce so one of the
25:03challenges that we’re facing and have
25:05safe for a while a chariot is finding
25:09though the right resources and you know
25:13part of temporal is the idea that one of
25:18course we want more you know diversity
25:20within the technology field but the
25:23second part of this is that there’s a
25:24severe shortage it’s happening in the
25:27tech industry and we need to have I need
25:32a diverse workforce nice for the social
25:34good act but for the economic aspect so
25:39you know those two things get to marry a
25:41bit i and and that’s you know how it’s
25:46been in i can add cherry has allowed me
25:52to spend the time I away from you know
25:56my regular work to work on girls because
25:59you know it is it along the long-term
26:02solution to our short-term needs at the
26:05moment but there’s an understanding that
26:07you know this is important for us to be
26:10working on and talking about but but
26:13having a challenge of yours also been
26:16getting into these middle schools I mean
26:18I’m just thinking of the middle school
26:21that my youngest goes to
26:22and i know that you know she needed to
26:25pick some electives that that she was
26:27going to obviously do and i understand
26:29that you know you had mentioned that
26:31there is a challenge of getting into the
26:33schools you know so maybe talk to us a
26:36little bit there because that’s another
26:38distribution channel that could help you
26:42get the word out
26:44well you know I think that will have
26:46their own issues one uh they have the
26:49only have a certain amount of hours per
26:51day I that a very big issue right you
26:55you already have to teach math and
26:57science and foreign languages in history
27:00I and figure out how you’re going to get
27:02all of that in I along with you know the
27:07testing that needs to get done
27:08I you so and the other pieces and we
27:13have to be very up front about this is
27:16the fact that it especially if you’re
27:17dealing in a public school I it’s hard
27:20to have a separate class for just girls
27:23that was then meet me after school class
27:26and there is a reason right now where we
27:29believe that girl’s do need to learn
27:30separately from boys with this
27:33particular subject
27:34we’ve seen that you know girls just need
27:37a separate space for for the flooring I
27:40and you know that’s why I think that
27:43we’ve been successful with our program
27:45we see girls come you know come back
27:48again and again to programs that are
27:52available
27:53you know we’re beginning to understand
27:56how we can work with some after-school
27:58programs i but again some of the
28:01challenges are you don’t have trained
28:03staff these help it it’s not like you
28:07can just pick up some of our materials
28:09without having technology background and
28:11just be able to teach it
28:13it’s not know what yet so you know
28:15justjust in talking about some of the
28:18challenges you know what what comes to
28:20my mind is what has actually contributed
28:23most to your personal success we can
28:26certainly talk about the organization’s
28:28but again you’re you’re the you’re the
28:31passion your the driving force behind
28:32tech girls
28:34and of course as the marketing officer
28:36for chariot solution so what-what to
28:39date has contributed would you say most
28:41to your success
28:43yes yes
28:48you know I think I’m and we talked a lot
28:50about this through about chariot as well
28:52i think that there’s an authenticity
28:55I and no all I you don’t believe that
29:01that actually committed to this work i’m
29:08not really committed to being a builder
29:11and that this is important aspect for me
29:15and that also that I’ve been fought fall
29:17in terms of how we’re going about this I
29:20i think that that’s been important
29:24factor and they feel they can trust me I
29:26mean something again that we talked
29:28about a chariot uh with with our CEO
29:31that you know how he comes across on I
29:35think success starts at the top
29:39ah in terms of the type of organization
29:42that you want to weed I that
29:45organization follows through with your
29:49example the fastpitch where we’ll be
29:51sponsored by audible and we learn more
29:54about our guests favourite books and my
29:56favorite back at my book club go over to
29:58Mitchell chatroulette.com / audible in
30:02the fastpitch round I cover many fun
30:04questions to help us learn more about
30:06our guests their favorite book their
30:08quote heroes their favorite act the
30:10resources that they recommend for under
30:13a hundred dollars what contributes most
30:15to their success and some bad advice
30:17that’s actually being given to
30:19entrepreneurs the reason why i chose all
30:22the ball to sponsor my fastpitch around
30:24that’s easy i love books and audible is
30:26owned by a powerful company
30:28amazon that stands behind all their
30:30product audible was willing to offer an
30:32exclusive free 30-day trial of my
30:35podcast listeners with one free
30:37audiobook download any listener doesn’t
30:40like they’re both audible exchange it
30:42for you and you can cancel at anytime
30:44audible allows you to keep
30:46free download and you can choose from
30:48over a hundred and eighty thousand
30:50bestsellers new releases classics and
30:52more i recommend the last lecture by
30:54randy posh so dream big
30:56get inspired and listen up going over to
30:59Mitchell chatroulette.com / all these
31:01are quick questions with quick answers
31:04and it lets our audience know a little
31:06bit more about you personally your
31:08favorite book because I love to read
31:10I’m what I really don’t have you heard
31:13me back my favorite book is gone with
31:14the wind
31:15okay terrific have a favorite quote I
31:21don’t have anything that i can think of
31:23at the moment you have your own personal
31:25mantra that you use something that you
31:27would kind of put right up there on a
31:29billboard
31:30I mean you know again you know being
31:32involved with middle school girls in the
31:34tech space you know something that
31:37motivates them something that inspires
31:39them something that lets them know that
31:42you and I mean I’m i guess you know
31:47something that I think about a lot is
31:49I’m not letting fear be the guide of
31:54your life and have an app that that
31:58really has impacted you the most
32:00whether it be in business family or life
32:02I’m big fan
32:06Evernote yeah okay how about an item
32:09under a hundred dollars that’s been the
32:12most impactful for you
32:14well under a hundred class uh-huh yeah
32:20i’ll tell you why because you know what
32:22you had mentioned about resources before
32:24and with a lot of our startups we want
32:27them to appreciate the fact that
32:28sometimes especially in the startup
32:30stage that they don’t need to spend a
32:32lot in order to get a lot and and you
32:35know there are those that are obviously
32:36bootstrapping and trying to be
32:39resourceful and thought fall you know as
32:42their as they’re sort of you know
32:44scaling up and taking their company to
32:46the next level but they don’t wanna they
32:49don’t want to be but become bankrupt
32:51before their idea takes takes hold
32:53so this would be yeah okay I’m so I
32:57think that
32:58you know any workflow tool I or tool
33:05that connects your company so you know
33:08pretty much a pickle is is virtual we
33:13get we are able to get together one day
33:14a week thanks to face the chariot but
33:17for the most part where I we don’t see
33:21each other so I you know we’re big fans
33:24of Google Drive I ok
33:27fuck no no need to know when I turn it
33:31to push that we also are big fans of
33:35fauna from the work plus standpoint sure
33:40about how about as far as you know we
33:43talked about good advice out there but
33:45there’s a lot of bad advice that’s being
33:47given what is some bad advice you’ve
33:50heard that you know you just want to
33:52point out because you don’t want people
33:54to kind of fall prey to it you know if I
33:56don’t think there’s one particular piece
33:58of advice that I think is bad i think
34:01that you know you start up or anyone in
34:04the business you get a lot of advice so
34:07you have to be able to understand what
34:10works for you and what doesn’t work for
34:12you because what may be bad for me is
34:16actually good for somebody out
34:18I so I think you had it you had a
34:21business right before going into chariot
34:23solutions that you sold you kind of had
34:25that success or to the business you sold
34:27it
34:28you know while you were going through
34:29your own one of the reasons why people
34:32listen to what listen up to what you
34:34have to say is that bad advice maybe
34:37from your own perspective it now again
34:39of course everybody’s going to be able
34:41to go down their own path but this would
34:43be certain advice that you’ve heard out
34:45there that really didn’t resonate with
34:48you if the first I want to clarify that
34:50when my husband and I purchased our
34:52business for which got us into aspen
34:54orgasm or being entrepreneurs that was
34:57not totally successful so I and that’s
35:00because I didn’t have anyone who is
35:02giving me advice I so I
35:05that’s that’s a whole other story so uh
35:08quite frankly that was that was going to
35:11be something that I was gonna raise
35:13later in our interview in terms of my
35:15mentioning to you some of the challenges
35:17that you’ve had that certainly probably
35:20would have been some of the challenges
35:21that you face because as we talked to
35:24the startup community out there they’re
35:26going through their own challenges and
35:28they’re learning looking for their own
35:29resources so by talking to us a little
35:32bit about what you went through
35:35that’s certainly going to help them can
35:38you can you tell us a little bit about
35:39that well I mean just literally on
35:44friday i just gave a talk
35:47that’s called creating success from
35:49failure we don’t talk a lot about
35:53failures i mean you call a mistake a
35:56failure if it’s just really about the
35:59size of the failure and you know now
36:04we’re in a culture because of a start-up
36:09and other methodologies we’re failing
36:13fast is acceptable which is great
36:17because i think that you have to it
36:20there’s always something that you’re
36:21going to fail at right but it’s also
36:23totally understanding how to mitigate
36:26that fail and also making sure that you
36:29understand why there was a failure I and
36:34you know really just you know keeping it
36:37as small as you can I so you know I
36:41think that being able to do small
36:44testing on ideas so that you’re not
36:48committing tons of resources especially
36:51when your startup one of the things that
36:53we that I think we see a lot of is
36:56companies that are a they don’t have a
37:00focus so they’re all over the place they
37:04may be trying to please everybody you
37:07know somebody says they want to buy
37:08something but you have to make all these
37:10customizations doesn’t really fit within
37:13you know what you’re trying to do
37:16how many resources
37:18baking I you know it’s hard to say no
37:22when somebody’s offering money and you
37:24need that money I’m gonna be happy for
37:27you
37:28so what type of business was this
37:30because you know in in looking at some
37:32of my notes
37:33youyou obviously sold the company
37:35eventually and and 44 several millions
37:38of dollars according to what I what I
37:40read and so some people would say gee
37:44that was pretty successful now it might
37:47not have happened overnight but you know
37:50the third clearly did not sell it for
37:53several million dollars we were making I
37:56mean we got to a point where we were
37:58generating revenue I about
38:01two-and-a-half million dollars which at
38:02that point was you know pretty decent
38:05but we did not follow it for several
38:08million dollars i wish i got you so that
38:12was that was actually the revenue so
38:14when you when you when you turned around
38:16and fold it you you did sell it for a
38:18profit though however correct not you
38:21did not getting yes
38:23so trust me it was a learning experience
38:26and you know we were able to mitigate
38:31our losses but not everything is success
38:34I so you know and here’s another
38:38discussion to be had which is the
38:40difference between revenue and profit
38:43more you know we allow things we focus
38:48especially when you take a look at some
38:50of these awards that are giving out
38:52there giving out on you know revenue and
38:56not always looking at what profit that
38:59you’re generating so I think important
39:02distinction to take so so some advice
39:07that’s maybe being given is you know do
39:09these people that are always constantly
39:11asking you about so what are your
39:13revenue numbers but the real question is
39:15what are your profits were at the end of
39:17the day what are what are you taking
39:18home and and i think you know what
39:21you’re saying is that that maybe is is
39:23is a better focal point than just mere
39:26revenue number
39:27correct well I think there’s something
39:28that is taking a look at as well as your
39:32cash / I mean not understanding
39:34I you know your cash flow as well as how
39:37much cash you’re burning i say when your
39:40startup is really really important you
39:42know to other organizations that you’ve
39:44been involved with I definitely want to
39:46get in here and that is women in tech
39:49summit and the philly startup leaders if
39:51you could just tell us a little bit
39:53about the mission there how you got
39:55involved in and and what you’re what
39:58you’re currently doing with those groups
40:00look silly certain leaders I’m you know
40:03I go to events now but I’ve been some
40:06ended a while ago but by original role
40:08i’m a founding board member so I uh I
40:11like to remind people I was not the
40:14founders but there were there were four
40:16founders and they were amazing
40:18I’m to really have the foresight say you
40:21know there was placed in the market that
40:23wasn’t being held for entrepreneurs in
40:26Philadelphia and you know this is 78
40:30years ago at this point I’m you know a
40:33lot of people don’t understand that the
40:35silly text scene was not what it was i
40:39mean and i’m i’m proud to say that I you
40:42know silly startup leaders is really I i
40:45believe the galvanizing force on in
40:47terms of bringing startups the other uh
40:51bringing education to the start up in
40:55Philadelphia I and I guess you know I
40:59forget I think it’s been like three
41:01years since I’ve been to do who would be
41:04the the for the four founders that you
41:06mentioned that that had actually started
41:08the strands will nod like you know I
41:14chrisarah Brandenburg and air mclean and
41:18dad bellandur so actually five so i
41:20can’t count five of them
41:23ok and as far as women women in tech
41:26summit the women text on it which is now
41:28as I said earlier of a fundraiser for i
41:33like to call her black-tie event without
41:35getting dressed up i protect ya start
41:40it’s just separate um your chariot we
41:43created a very technical then called the
41:46emerging technologies for the enterprise
41:48conference which is in here I I wasn’t
41:52seeing an event personal we don’t we’re
41:55seeing more women i think this year
41:57maybe the most that we’ve seen I attend
42:01but I you know five years ago when her
42:04fifth your food
42:05the women in tech summit i’m worth
42:07seeing a lot of women at ten and I
42:10really felt that there needed to be a
42:12space for women who you know wanted to
42:17learn together and it wasn’t just about
42:19software developers it’s also about
42:21women who like myself who work for
42:24technical companies who are marketing
42:27and sales during HR and bringing that
42:30women in tech community together to talk
42:35to learn from each other but also to
42:38learn about the trends that were
42:40happening in the industry to do hands-on
42:43workshop I and you some career
42:46development but not and then in the
42:50usual way that we were seeing at some of
42:51the other events i like to push the
42:54envelope a little bit in terms of
42:56learning
42:56I because we know that you know women
42:59are hungry for this information so we
43:03started like I said were it’ll be our
43:06fifth year in this year in Philadelphia
43:09I and last year we wanted to take our
43:14show literally on the road and we went
43:17to Washington DC and raleigh north
43:20carolina on this year we’re going to be
43:23a five-city so DC which will be at the
43:27end of March philly which is in the
43:30middle of april actually later April uh
43:32Boston which will be July I denver which
43:39will be in october and raleigh in
43:41November so what kind of numbers are we
43:43talking about i mean in terms of
43:46you know the the people that you’re
43:49getting to the meetings I mean has it
43:51obviously increased over these these
43:53last years as there has been has the
43:56interest kind of state flat
43:58I mean how are you how are you
44:00generating all of this interest what he
44:04says is there because you know more and
44:08more women want to you know keep up with
44:10their skills and also what’s going on in
44:12the industry in Philadelphia we’re
44:15actually increasing to a day-and-a-half
44:16the sheer I traditionally we’ve had a
44:20weightless
44:22so we’re you know we’re looking at about
44:24300 women pc and Raleigh were I over 200
44:32sometimes just based on the space that
44:34you know we’re able to secure so you
44:38know each city’s running about you know
44:41200 anything that’s great for you know
44:44new cities that were opening and are you
44:47primarily the one that helped putting on
44:50these particular events I mean obviously
44:51you know you’re you’re working with with
44:53people that you know that are obviously
44:55you know putting on the different events
44:57in the different cities as you continue
44:59to expand
45:00well actually one thing that I think
45:03you’ll find out about me if I like to
45:04run a lean mean up operation so my
45:08co-founder Lori Bell is now the
45:11operations director we have a an intern
45:15on staff and then we also in each city
45:19we work with a committee I that helped
45:25us some speakers are made from space and
45:28helps connect to the community but
45:30pretty much were running it on our own
45:32until that was one of the other
45:35questions that i was going to have in
45:36terms of speakers in terms of finding
45:38the talent to come and speak to the
45:40event you work with a committee in each
45:42particular location correct correct but
45:45was also on because we’ve been around
45:46for the last several years we’ve been
45:50doing call for speakers I between that I
45:54this year we close our call for speakers
45:57the beginning of january we have
46:00had over 250 women apply across the five
46:03different cities
46:04plus people who have been recommended
46:06you I so you know it’s pretty incredible
46:09there’s a lot of demand for obviously
46:12wanting to come in and and sort of be
46:13apart and so now that you’re going to
46:15other cities continues to grow obviously
46:18really exciting one of my other sponsors
46:21is snapping I don’t know have you have
46:23you ever heard of the company snap well
46:25Christopher gamer is the founder of snap
46:28and so he he’s basically a graphic
46:30designer and so for a lot of the
46:32startups who don’t either have the
46:34resources to hire their own graphic
46:36designer or a plea wanna we learn how to
46:38do it on their own and they want to do
46:40it fast and they want to have nice
46:42graphic and when they’re posting for
46:44their blogs for their website the
46:45pre-made templates for you and so people
46:48that go over to snap can actually start
46:50their plan today but when they when they
46:52go to Mitchell Chad row.com / snappa
46:55actually interview that Christopher
46:57gamer he’s the founder of snap on my
47:00show 2802 a III really hit it off well
47:03with him and good at what he does you
47:05know i i’ve been using it ever since
47:06and a lot of the audience have had begun
47:08to start to use it as well this question
47:10actually goes to the three main
47:12takeaways that you can leave our
47:14audience Wow impressive until it’s not
47:17there
47:17I know you know what was going to ask
47:19you some hard questions that some of
47:21them were going to be easy but you know
47:22some of them are going to be hard waited
47:24I waited to I waited to the end the end
47:26where I’m brain dead
47:27ok exactly exactly yeah that was that
47:30was my that was my strategy
47:32ok I so we take away i won i think it’s
47:37important to not be afraid to go out
47:41there and try but if it’s how you are
47:45you putting yourself out there so
47:47creating a task understand when I say
47:50try let’s just put it in terms of the
47:52terms of a business I girls got started
47:57because i felt a need to you know try
48:01and see if there was a market for that i
48:05went in there with the willingness to
48:06say okay maybe no one’s going to be
48:08interested and that’s okay little bit
48:11different when I’m when you don’t have a
48:12lot of money
48:13you’ve got on the ground I with it i do
48:16so in other words be willing to put
48:18yourself out there willing to put that
48:20thank you for making that shorter yeah
48:22he will about yourself out how about
48:24number two day
48:26um i would say I knowing when to walk
48:30away
48:30ok know when to hold em and know when to
48:33fold them yeah
48:34and number three the last takeaway for
48:36the audience
48:37I’m don’t forget to have fun okay fine i
48:40like it so how can everyone stay in
48:42contact with you there’s so many
48:44different things that you’re involved
48:45with obviously a lot of interest in this
48:47particular space i was thoroughly
48:49excited to have you on how are we now
48:52going to continue to to keep in contact
48:54with you and find out how you’re doing
48:56in all these different endeavors that
48:58you’re involved with
48:59I’m well you know personally from the
49:01Twitter standpoint you can follow me at
49:04a weapon rahman but that is personal 1i
49:07carefully of cherry solutions were
49:10actually carried solution on Twitter as
49:13girls is tackled or on Twitter I out of
49:17facebook you can find someplace before a
49:20girl as well as Instagram are women in
49:24tech summit is that women in tech summit
49:27dotnet I for our website and you can
49:31find it as well for at women you know
49:35what I i can’t remember our Twitter him
49:37people know that they can always go back
49:38to Mitchell shadow complex show 038 the
49:42show no time as well as the full
49:44transcript for anybody who signs up
49:45traceywilson rossman this has been
49:49terrific i want to thank you so very
49:52much for everything for all that you’re
49:55doing for the girls out there the tech
49:58community and and the hard work of
50:00course that you’re that you’re doing
50:02back at the chariot solutions we want to
50:05thank you and we’re looking forward to
50:06hearing more as to what you’re doing as
50:11we keep in contact with you
50:13thanks again meet you hey take care now
50:16bye including let me ask for my
50:19listeners help first please subscribe to
50:21my email list at Mitchell Chad row.com /
50:24sign up you would
50:25all the full interview transcripts might
50:28be bought 30 tools to start off where I
50:30talk about these three resources and
50:33show 006 will get the startup checklist
50:35education and training materials and
50:38other resources just by signing up at
50:40Mitchell chatroulette.com / sign up
50:44[Music]
50:51bakit Mitchell chatter dot-com / signup
50:58help me boost the rankings of the listen
51:01up shell startup entrepreneur podcast by
51:03providing a well-written review on
51:06iTunes Mitchell Chad row.com / itunes it
51:09helps other people find the show if you
51:12actually need instructions on how to do
51:14this you can find that back at Mitchell
51:16chatroulette.com / sign up
51:18thank you so much for subscribing to my
51:20email list and providing a written
51:22review on iTunes until next time

The post Girls Technology Leader Techgirlz Founder Tracey Welson Rossman Listenup Show 038 Startup Entrepreneur Podcast first appeared on mitchellchadrow.com

Leave a Reply