International Women’s Day

By Emily Landis Walker April 19, 2020

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Emily gave a key note on “It is possible to create success” hosted by Florian Krueger at Craft Coin Company sponsored by Dr Jane Thomason of Fintech Worldwide at Elephant & Castle Mercato in London.

Some key take-aways from my 35 years professional career largely in financial services– most of it as a single mom with 2 daughters moving between Washington, DC, London and NY multiple times – are the following:

  • Find opportunities in unexpected places – be creative in your approach
  • Look for a good boss who supports and trusts you whom you respect and from whom you can learn. Hope they can become a mentor.
  • Don’t wear your challenges on your shoulder – get on with the task at hand and do whatever it takes to get the job done with respect.
  • Be culturally sensitive but not offended
  • Succeeding is never easy, challenges occur but don’t let them derail you
  • Work-life balance doesn’t exist in a high-powered career, but in spite of the balance problem, you can make it work for your family.
  • Walk the talk for your children to set the example; make them a part of your journey. Allow them to see they are privileged to have the experiences you provided them and trust they will carry on using those privileges to do something great in their lives whatever that may be I do believe we need more women in tech and other difficult fields, more women on boards, more women in senior positions, and more women entrepreneurs. But we have to get there ourselves. We have to be bold and take the challenge. We won’t follow the traditional male path, but must be creative, say ‘yes and how’, not “it’s not possible”. We must encourage and help each other. It’s not easy, particularly with a family. BUT IT CAN BE DONE. In the blockchain/crypto space there are plenty of women. And hopefully there will be more. It’s no more difficult than any other topic and since this space is a new “tech”, we don’t face a longstanding male dominated sector. Hopefully that will spur new entrants and help solidify the role of women in this space.