International Women’s Day 2022: Talkdesk women breaking the bias

Run like a boy! Boys don’t cry! Here’s a doll for you to play with, let your brother have the rocketship!

These are only a few expressions that I, a mother of two girls and a boy, try very hard to not let into my children’s ears, but it’s a constant fight. My extended family joyfully welcomed four boys before my oldest daughter joined the bunch. Being the first granddaughter on one side and the first girl on the other everyone was yearning for that picture-perfect princess. If I look closely, I’m pretty sure that I will still find glitter in my living room from her first birthday party ten years ago!

My daughter never gave much use to the Barbie dolls and makeup kits. Instead, she wore out the toolbox by spending hours making imaginary holes on the walls to put up artwork and screwing plastic bolts on real bookshelves. To this day, she’s still very much into building things and has learned to ignore comments, such as girls don’t climb trees or girls don’t chase squirrels.

Breaking the bias.

I’m surrounded by strong women in my personal life, but Talkdesk women belong to a completely different league. In addition to being skilled professionals, they care about and lift up their peers in the technology field. Women in Technology, an employee resource group that promotes a  culture of inclusiveness, support, and encouragement for women to advance in technology roles. Many of them shared inspiring stories about breaking the bias and paving the way for other women. Here’s their thoughts on breaking the bias:

“I was the first Female VP, Sales for a previous technology company and I paved the way for other women leaders.”

Amanda Traynor, director of sales.

“I broke a bias by continuing to grow my family and still being able to make President’s Club. It takes a little extra focus to have babies and still achieve your career goals but can easily be done”

Hayley Thompson, strategic account executive.

“I was the only one in the Mechatronics Engineering room and practically the first woman in Brazil to have a postgraduate degree in an institute that, before 2012, only accepted men.”

Mónica Venâncio, CaaS sales specialist.

“After I decided to be an amateur cyclist, I broke a bias every day by gearing up and going on the road. I try to show that on the road we are just as capable as men.”

Tayana Souza, product designer.

Fostering women’s equality.

Gender equality is a fundamental human right. Harvard Business School reports that:

• Women make up more than half of the labor force in the United States and earn almost 60% of advanced degrees, yet they bring home less pay and fill fewer seats in the C-suite than men, particularly in male-dominated professions like finance and technology.
• Women represent only 26% of US workers employed in computer and math jobs.

We still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to break the gender gap. Gender stereotypes still hold us back and undermine our self-confidence. At Talkdesk, we have great women role models that act as mentors to other women in tackling issues, such as making our voices heard to break the instilled culture of the weak gender.

“While men and women are different, that doesn’t mean each of us is not capable of doing whatever we set our minds to. Empowering other women helps them break into the areas that are typically reserved for men and makes us all better!”

Shannon Wallace, principal consultant.

“Any achievement of any kind should be based on whether that achievement was earned, not based on gender, color, race, sex or any other “qualifier” we choose to put on each other.”

Wendy Christman, proposal manager.

“Women’s equality and feminism is not an anti-men movement. Just as Black Lives Matter is not an anti-white movement. Just as Pride is not an anti-straight movement. I try to foster women’s equality because why is ending inequality (in all forms) even a debate?”

 Allison Duby, enterprise customer success manager.

“We are all different—something to recognize and accept as positive, and is valid for gender, race, culture, social stratum. Each one of us brings our perspective and contribution to the whole.”

Marcia Morgado, engineering manager, AXP cluster.

Giving advice to your younger self.

We’ve come a long way from the 1909 women’s march, but more than 100 years later, there’s still so much to be done towards achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. Here’s some advice from Talkdeskers to their younger selves that can help to accomplish this.

“Get a public speaking coach or sign up for a public speaking workshop in your 20’s. How you present your message is critical to your professional success and the success of your mission.”

Thene Sheehy, director, engineering – CCaaS agile operations.

“Consistency is the key. No matter what your goal is, whether it’s athletic or professional, you need to keep pushing to get there. No shortcuts. Just hard work and laser focus.”

Alexis Fabbri, director, internal & executive communications.

“I would tell my younger self is to proudly own and embrace the comments my peers from school would try to use to bring me down. I had my eyes set on being the first woman in my family to graduate from high school and go to college. I’m glad I persisted. I ended up graduating with honors from an Ivy League University.”

Genesis Longo, manager, industry marketing: retail, e-commerce, CPG.

“Your value is not in hours worked, invest in yourself first, then give that investment to others.”

Linda Amatucci, sr. manager field marketing.

“Just because someone voices their opinions loudly, doesn’t mean that they are right or know what they are talking about. So, don’t be afraid to disagree.”

Jennifer Ortiz, senior revenue enablement specialist.

International Women’s day is crucial to driving attention to women’s rights as it celebrates the achievements, challenges, and struggles of women around the world. We need to empower all women to support each other and raise their voices. One of my main purposes in life is to educate my daughters and son to treat everyone fairly, with respect, and without any kind of discrimination, gender included.