Women are gradually moving towards workforce involvement equality. Meanwhile, there are still some roadblocks when they pave a path towards tech industries. For instance, according to Entelo, women involved in the tech sector at the entry-level are 19%. A much lower percentage of female representatives holding executive posts (10%).
On the other hand, the number of women-led startups is on the rise. Crunchbase reports that the number of startups with female founders reached 20% in 2019 (10% growth since 2009). If we consider the existing companies co-founded by women, the tendency is even rosier: within the recent 10 years the number of startups with at least one female founder skyrocketed by 18%.
The progress in the women-in-tech problem is obvious, even though some challenges are still to overcome. While talking about life priorities, the choices of men and women are frequently different.
Eventually, women need to find a personal life balance to achieve success in diverse destinations.
This time around, we’ve reached out to Victoria Kuleshova, a CEO and a Founding Partner at Adimen. Due to her immense efforts, Victoria succeeded in turning her most ambitious business ideas into reality. She jumpstarted a promising IT company that soon has become one of the leading software development service providers in the region. Today, Adimen has extensive expertise in the areas of DevOps, DataOps, and Data Science while offering its custom-tailored software solutions across countries and industry verticals.
With such remarkable progress made in the IT business, however, Victoria managed to establish robust work-life boundaries that help her enjoy life to the fullest. Let’s get some invaluable insights Victoria is likely to share with us today.
How did you become an entrepreneur? Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I think my story is pretty much the same as lots of other women from all around the globe have. When I decided to start my own business in the IT industry, it was definitely not about money. It was (and still is) totally about self-fulfillment as a woman in leadership. This is why I was striving to harness my entrepreneurial potential to its fullest. After all, I truly enjoy running an emerging company that helps businesses across the world with efficient yet reliable tech innovations.
How does it feel like to start up a woman-led business in the men’s world?
First off, I was having a pretty hard time starting up here in Ukraine. Some people around me just didn’t believe much in what I was going to do in the IT industry. But everything became way clearer when I figured out what type of tech services the global market lacked at that moment. It helped me find my business niche while helping companies out with custom-built solutions based on DataOps, GitOps, and Data Science.
What would you rank as the most important elements of running a successful business?
Personally, I think there are several key ingredients of any businesswoman’s secret success formula. These are energy to create something unique no one has done before, knowledge and experience to succeed in what you’re going to do, and the support of your loved ones to feel the things you do are really worth doing.
What is it that motivates and inspires you in your everyday life?
Sure thing, I have personal hobbies that help me relax my mind and body. I adore gaining invaluable insights while reading my favorite books and blogs of outstanding people in business. They are opinion leaders who have already revolutionized the traditional mindset in their industry verticals. Also, I fall into sports and a healthy lifestyle. Keeping myself fit is a great way to stay strong and positive-thinking, no matter what challenges you might face.
How does your family fit into your business development strategies?
I’ve proved myself already that helping companies with tech-enabled innovations is in my wheelhouse. However, I always keep in mind that my family is what I genuinely need to be capable of helping other people out. Striving to spend more time with my loved ones, I learned how to efficiently delegate multiple tasks to my team. At the end of the day, my work-life balance has brought perfect results to me and my business. Now, I pride myself on running a team of true professionals who I can totally rely on. On top of this, my family and I can always make time for each other.
What advice would you give to women who are striving to improve their work-life balance?
On the heels of what I’ve just said about energy, expertise, and family support, I’d like to add some extra things I’m sure to be quite essential. I think there are several factors considered as the most important ones for female leaders today. Based on what’s revealed by some recent surveys on the topic, I would pay much attention to the improvement of the following factors.
More vacation time
Vacation time is a perfect moment for reloading life energy. While spending time with a family, women get a powerful source of inspiration. The more vacation time female representatives have the more efficient they are at their careers. It sounds like a paradox, but it does work.
Ability to work remotely
A woman can easily be the implementation of Julius Caesar, doing several tasks simultaneously. When they control the time and situation, females turn out to be more productive and efficient. Such a demand is correlated with some creative aspects.
More flexible work hours
This need is the basis in balancing between work and home. Life is unexpected and force-majors may always happen. Eventually, the ability to adjust the working schedule to urgent tasks and unexpected situations empowers a woman with more freedom and inspires her towards new achievements.
More help at home
The up-to-date society undergoes some serious changes. Family success is the responsibility of both partners, and the border between male and female duties becomes a blinder. Women need to get help and support at home to achieve success on different paths.
In addition to these factors, women need some kind of motivation to jump to the next level. That is challenging and some psychological threats always appear in that way.
About our expert
Victoria Kuleshova, Adimen CEO and founding partner. Victoria has broad experience in the sector of software development and innovative solutions acquisition. As a holder of two MA degrees (Information Technology and Business Management), she is convinced that businesses always have new horizons to conquer. A mother-of-three understands how important balancing between family and career is.
Life motto: “Borders and hurdles are largely originated inside our minds. Change your mind, and obstacles disappear!”
About Company
The current-day world empowers women with a set of exciting opportunities, and Adimen as a woman-led DevOps and DataOps services company is ready to help businesses jump on a new level. Either you have a brand new startup idea or have already conquered the tech sector, we have innovative and efficient solutions to benefit your business-specific needs.
If you feel ready to achieve our work-life balance with pitch-perfect software solutions, Adimen is glad to help you out with your projects. Contact us to get more details.
