Friday 8th March is International Women’s Day and how better to acknowledge it than celebrating all the amazing women (and men) that we are lucky to have working at The Local Data Company. As of today, 56% of LDC staff are female and are working in roles across sales and marketing, technology and operations; from entry-level right up to director. Happily, this increases to 60% when focusing only on the senior leadership team, which is a stat that we are incredibly proud to share.
I asked some of our amazing women (and men) a few questions to get to know them a bit better, here’s what they had to say:
"Who inspires you?"
"Female magazine editors such as Tina Brown (formerly Vanity Fair/New Yorker), Lorraine Candy (Sunday Times Style) and Alexandra Shulman (formerly UK Vogue). Being tough in a man’s world, but still managing to be feminine and truthful to themselves." - Katie S, Operations Manager
"My sister-in-law. She is the mother of two, is a social worker and has a dream of travelling to every country in the world on her own. She's an active member of her community through volunteering. She also just got her second master’s degree in creative writing and is working on her first novel. I guess what inspires me about her is that she has tackled the age-old question every woman encounters - How do you juggle work and family and how do you keep or retain your identity when you become a mother? I always feared that that would take over my identity one day but she has made it only an aspect of her whole world (albeit an important one!) and I hope to be like that one day." - Katie F, Research Executive
"It’s probably going to be the most predictable answer but is 100% honest. She is an example of happiness, honesty, respect, love, independence… and she is my mum. I could talk about her non stop, but as I have work to get on with, here is what I most admire about my mum: her honesty and integrity, she has no sense of inferiority, she possesses an extraordinary strength and determination and works to improve herself and help others on a daily basis." - Annalisa, Research Executive
"I am inspired by anyone courageous who takes on overwhelming odds and through vast reserves of resilience and through faith and perseverance they triumph – be it sporting challenges at an Olympic or amateur level (rowing the Atlantic being one I keep thinking about), building businesses or the everyday (often) brutality of dealing with long term illnesses. Close to home, I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by some inspirational women – both in my generation and my parents’ generation. People who have faced phenomenal challenges and setbacks and have had the strength to fight through – people I have the utmost respect for.
I am also truly inspired by the people I work with – how talented they are and the potential of how far we could go together and what we could achieve on our collective mission. They inspire me every day. They are the reason I bounce into work each morning. I’ve never been more inspired to grow our business than I am at this moment in time." - Barnaby, Managing Director
"What makes a great leader?"
"A great leader is capable of creating meaningful connections with his or her team and each individual. They bring a higher energy level to people and create a purposeful and inspirational environment." - Ivana, Technology Director
"Loving mankind and loving people around you, especially in your team and in your company. Supporting them and helping them to grow. Not being afraid of helping people to develop and wishing for them to become more competent than yourself." - Vero, People and Operations Director
"Having the ability to motivate and articulate direction for people to follow. Understand your strengths and weakness and build a strong, all-rounded team. Be a good listener, take good counsel and do not dodge decisions. Celebrate successes and learn from failure." - Mel, Finance Director
"A good leader is someone that coaches and develops you rather than demands things from you, it is someone that lets you grow and run with your own ideas but also backs you up and pushes you forward." - Clara, Account Manager
"What do you think the future looks like for women in the workplace?"
"Most men and women have differences in what they want in different stages of their life. The future is looking bright for women, in that we are seeing more and more opportunities to tailor our personal and business life to our needs and wants. LDC is a great example! We are miles off from where the opportunities were 50 years ago." - Ivana, Technology Director
"Businesses understand more and more that diversity and flexibility are key to success. Women are leading the way but should be followed by men. Why would a man not take a career break to pursue his dreams? Why would a man not leave the office to pick up a child when the school just called? It is by working together (men and women) that everyone will find the ideal work life balance. Women are showing the way, are taking more and more leadership roles, are more courageous and better organised and slowly will change the approach we all have of professional and personal life." - Vero, People and Operations Director
"Whilst I believe that things will improve in the workplace for women, I still think women need to understand that working hard is what gets you to where you want to be rather than a ‘right’. Being treated as an equal should be exactly that and not preferential treatment." - Jane, Business Development Executive
"It constantly surprises (and depresses) me that there is still such a lack of equality in the workplace. Many of the stories I have been told by some of my female colleagues about how they have been treated at various points in their career astonish me. Whilst some organisations and sectors have made inroads towards greater parity in the workplace there’s still so much further to go. We need more leaders to advocate strongly for absolute equality and as leaders we need to ensure women are empowered to put their hand up and take every opportunity that arises. That is certainly the attitude we seek to embody and practice here at LDC.
I’m also a fan of the word meritocracy and I’m optimistic that in time (and hopefully soon) we will have more and more workplaces where gender (along with race, ethnicity and sexuality) is irrelevant to success and where success is based purely on merit. Until that time, I am under no illusions that we need to keep pushing for equality and respect every single day." - Barnes, Managing Director
Want to be a part of The Local Data Company? We are currently recruiting for several roles across technology, sales and account management. For more information visit our careers page.