Hello and welcome to another exciting month at Austin Women in Technology! Our Community Partnerships team has been busy connecting with organizations in Austin to cultivate relationships that not only strengthen our network but also advance our mission to empower women in tech. 

September is full of incredible community partner events! In addition to our Austin Women In Technology Mentoring Workshop on Thursday 09/14/23, our wonderful community partners have an array of events and initiatives that are going to make September a fulfilling month. From conferences to events on energy and quantum computing, and in person events to learning sessions, we're thrilled to be part of the vibrant ecosystem that is driving change in tech and breaking down barriers for women and underrepresented genders in the workplace. You can see all of the events listed below, and more, on our Austin Women In Technology Community Calendar. 

September Event Highlights:

• After Labor Day, dive into an event that will teach you about Quantum Computing: The Next Technological Evolution. ⚛️ Hosted by The Austin Forum on Technology and Society and technology innovator, William "Whurley" Hurley, this promises to shed light on the groundbreaking technology of quantum computing. Register HERE for this free event. 
• Attend a unique, curated event at Soho House called Fyli Founder Friday's on Friday, September 8, 2023. Hear from Natalie Poindexter, the founder of Authentic Inclusion, as she talks about Disrupting Funding Opportunities: Demystifying Access to Grand Funding. Space is limited - register HERE for this free event. 
• Celebrate female artists at a unique art exhibition, Exhibition Empower - Le Femme Art Party, on Saturday, September 16, 2023.  Hosted by local artist, Julie Ahmad, this event is sure to spark creative and powerful conversations. Register HERE. 

• Fyli is conducting a 5-week Personal Branding Intensive from September 11, 2023 to October 13, 2023. Learn from experts in the industry, including Jaclynn Brennan, and Paige Velasquez Budde.  Register HERE and use code FF50 for $50 off registration.
• Congratulations to Logictry for winning the Austin Chamber of Commerce's Austin Gives Awards - Charitable Champion Business! 

Applied Intelligence Live! Austin

Where smart tech meets human innovation, Applied Intelligence Live! Austin showcases the real-world application of AI, IoT and quantum computing in the workplace.

Engage with world-leading organizations, hear from the brightest minds, and get exclusive insights into pioneering AI, IoT and quantum computing projects from all corners of the industry. With a jam-packed headline stage featuring the likes of Shell, Apple, Tesla and Groq, and a curated collection of vertical and technology-specific stages, as well as the free-to-explore technology showcase, attendees will be able to access everything they need to thrive in an increasingly connected future. 

Austin Women in Technology's Emily Gupton will moderate the Women in Tech Headliner "Women Leaders in Tech: Shaping the Future of Enterprises and Society" on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 3:00 PM. In addition, the Austin Women in Technology Board will be hosting a panel on the importance of diversity in the workforce building advanced technologies on Thursday, September 21, 2023 at 2:30 PM on the Industries Stage. 

Learn more about the conference and get your tickets HERE. Use the code AWTEXPO to get a Expo for free! 

To sum it all up, September promises to be a jam-packed month. Our community partners provide meaningful opportunities that empower the Austin technology ecosystem, female founders, and women in technology. Let's make September a month to remember! 

About the Author: Emily Gupton serves on the Austin Women in Technology Board of Directors as Community Partnerships Director. In her day job, she is Chief Operations Officer of FOLIO, a technology company that serves national commercial real estate and adjacent service providers and their clients. Emily is passionate about equity, community building, and the mission of AWT and so many other community partner organizations. You can learn more about Emily on her website or by connecting with her on LinkedIn. Interested in learning more about AWT Community Partnerships or becoming a community partner yourself? Email Emily and the Community Partnerships Team at partnerships@awtaustin.org.  

Ever wonder what sets high achievers apart from the rest? The answer lies in a simple, yet profound concept: the growth mindset. Having a growth mindset may just be the “secret sauce” to your career success.

Let’s take a look at what a growth mindset is, why it’s important to your success, and practical steps to cultivate this empowering mindset.

What is a Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset is a belief system that talent and ability can be developed through continuous practice and learning. In contrast, a fixed mindset believes that skills and abilities are innate and unchangeable. Embracing a growth mindset means understanding that challenges are opportunities to learn and failures are necessary steps towards growth. 

Why is Having a Growth Mindset Important?

Having a growth mindset is important to your professional development because it fuels continuous learning, resilience, and the drive to overcome challenges. Some benefits of embracing this way of thinking include:

1.) increasing your happiness and success at work

2.) unlocking untapped potential

3.) reducing fear of failure

4.) sparking creativity and innovation

5.) building positive relationships

Developing a Growth Mindset

Developing a growth mindset requires intentional effort and a willingness to embrace change. Here are some practical ways to start cultivating a growth mindset today:

1. Invest in yourself. Expand your knowledge and broaden your skills by reading books, listening to podcasts, and/or completing online courses in subject matters that interest you. Take note of how you can implement your new learnings into your work, and then go do it.

2. Challenge yourself. Request to take on a stretch project outside of your primary responsibilities at work or find a volunteer project that pushes you beyond your comfort zone. Learn as you go, seek support from subject matter experts when needed, and appreciate the opportunity for growth

3. Ask for feedback. Ask your peers, supervisor, clients, and direct reports (if applicable) for constructive feedback. In what areas do you come across as confident? What skills do you need to develop? Listen to their feedback, make a game plan for how you’ll take action on their feedback, and check in with yourself periodically to measure your progress. 

4. Network. Engage and learn from people in your industry by connecting with professionals at networking events (such as Austin Women in Technology), reaching out to 2nd- and 3rd-degree connections on LinkedIn for informational interviews, and/or setting up in-person/virtual coffee chats with colleagues at work. Get to know them, ask for their professional advice, take action, and keep in touch.

5. Work with a mentor or coach. Seek support and find a mentor or coach who will provide encouragement, guidance, and accountability on your growth journey. 

6. Embrace failure. View failure as a part of the growth process. When you fail, ask yourself: What did I learn? What would I do differently next time? Adjust your approach and then keep moving forward.

Summary

In a world that is constantly evolving and presenting new challenges, the ability to adapt and grow is crucial to your professional success. With a growth mindset, you have the power to create your future. Start developing your growth mindset today by investing in yourself, challenging yourself, asking for feedback, networking, working with a mentor or coach, and embracing failure.

About the Author: Rachael Leaf is a multi-passionate professional with expertise in business operations, account management, project management, and habit coaching. Rachael holds a BS in Marketing and Supply Chain Management from the University of Maryland. Connect with Rachael on LinkedIn and find more of her work on her website.

How to make friends and influence robots 

It’s been a hot AI summer. Where the buzzwords that would get you VC funding the past few years were “Web3” and “NFTs” now seemingly every company is announcing their AI integrations or the plans they have for them and every startup has AI in their name. 

We’ve all seen the waves of AI “art” rolling across our social media feeds alongside the news declaring that AI is coming for all of our jobs. So…is it? Better for Skynet to start spouting sonnets and relegate us to the boring stuff than to murder us, right? Or is this prediction going the way of the flying cars and hoverboards we were promised for the 21st century that so far have yet to materialize? 

As a fragile human writer, I’m very invested in the answers to these questions and I’ve done my best to sort the truths we know so far from the hype and doomsday predictions.

What do we even mean when we say “AI”

The larger understanding of what AI is usually boils down to knowing that it stands for "artificial intelligence" and has to do with really smart robots or computers. The movie versions, as previously mentioned, usually want to murder you. Not very promising. The news story versions are coming for your jobs, which also isn't promising. There are a ton of ethical grey areas around the way AI tools are currently being built and trained, which— you guessed it!— really is not promising. (More on that in a minute.) 

A lot of what gets missed in the general excitement (and for creators, sometimes panic) around the future of AI is how it's going to get there. "Artificial intelligence" isn't really intelligent on its own yet; it's machine learning trained on data sets that have been curated by plain old human beings and fed to the machines doing the learning.

"There is no AI system that understands, perceives, learns, pattern-matches or adapts on its own...Instead, it needs human-labeled and curated data as a starting point. For this reason, users and evaluators should apply more scrutiny to the training data used to teach AI systems...especially the data's origin, development and characteristics."

That's from a piece about AI's HR implications, but it goes deeper into what AI actually is and what it isn't, at least not yet. (Machine learning is a subset of AI but exactly where the boundary lies is another murky area.)

We don’t fully understand how the human brain works as we think and learn; how it decides on the strength of the connection between neurons. What we do know is that it’s very good at pattern recognition and so that’s how we’ve trained our generative AI: feed it enough information that it begins to pick out patterns, then make predictions about what should come next based on the patterns it recognizes. They’re essentially probability machines, trained on all the flawed communications humans have strewn across the Internet for the past few decades. 

Aside from the different biases inherit in human communication and the outright toxicity of some corners of the internet, more trouble comes from the fact that these clever little robots sometimes “hallucinate”– or simply make things up– to fill in the blanks. The bigger trouble is that they can do that much faster and at much greater scale than human beings can. 

The ethics of AI 

While I’m far from the first person to question the ethics of AI in art and writing, I am here to add my thoughts to the growing pile. 

A meme from Tumblr whose origins I, ironically, could not discern

Earlier this summer at a book club brunch the topic of ChatGPT came up and someone mentioned this interview excerpt with Erykah Badu about it. Badu's response to the words from the chat bot of the moment's description of her was "I feel like my ancestors wrote that."

But it wasn't the ancestors and it wasn't the chat bot either, not really; it just pulled together what it knew about her. And where did it pull that from?

"The model was trained using a massive dataset of text from the internet, totaling 570GB and 300 billion words. This included sources such as books, webtexts, Wikipedia, and articles."

—ChatGPT: How Much Data Is Used in the Training Process?

That means it pulled from a lot of profiles, articles, and interviews journalists and writers have crafted about Badu over the course of her career. People who spent hours of their lives researching, and considering, and writing, who don't get any credit for their work teaching a robot how to string human language together in a way that mimics original thought.

Because that's all it is: a reflection of all the things it has been fed, constantly rearranged.

There's a lot of ways that's great, even for writers, helping to jumpstart drafts and shorten workflows when the only constant in demands for work seems to be both "more" and "faster".

I'd just like to see the machines give a little credit back to their creators and inadvertent trainers, which means the humans creating it are the ones that have to teach it to do that– and some are already working on it. 

More concerning than attribution is the potential for these tools to create disinformation– and distribute it– at scale. While eventually we may have robots fighting robots on the disinformation front, current interventions in any toxicity that AI has picked up from its human creators has had to be combatted with human labor– exploited human labor.

There’s also the environmental impact to consider as these technologies grow and as we experience another literal hot girl summer. This technology is exciting, but it isn’t magic, and we have to acknowledge and address its flaws as we incorporate it into our lives. 

Final thoughts 

In the end, generative AI is just another tool we have in our toolbelts and how we collectively decide to use it will influence its final outcomes. 

But maybe tell your robot vacuum that you love it (and be ready to fact-check it if it starts updating you on the daily news), just in case.

Resources: 

• Instagram post 

• The Algorithm: AI-generated art raises tricky questions about ethics, copyright, and security 

• Not All AI Is Really AI: What You Need to Know

• Tweet

• ChatGPT: How Much Data Is Used in the Training Process? 

• The Godfather of AI has some regrets 

• ChatGPT fails: 13 common errors and mistakes you need to know 

• The carbon impact of artificial intelligence

• Exclusive: OpenAI Used Kenyan Workers on Less Than $2 Per Hour to Make ChatGPT Less Toxic

• Summer 2023

• AI21 Labs intros an AI writing assistant that cites its sources

AI has picked up from its human creators has had to be combatted with human labor– exploited human labor.

There’s also the environmental impact to consider as these technologies grow and as we experience another literal hot girl summer. This technology is exciting, but it isn’t magic, and we have to acknowledge and address its flaws as we incorporate it into our lives. 

Final thoughts 

In the end, generative AI is just another tool we have in our toolbelts and how we collectively decide to use it will influence its final outcomes. 

But maybe tell your robot vacuum that you love it (and be ready to fact-check it if it starts updating you on the daily news), just in case. 

About the Author: Sarah A. Parker is a freelance writer and the founder/owner of Sparker Works LLC. She brings 14 years of experience in the tech industry at B2B SaaS companies (including Bazaarvoice, Union Metrics, TrendKite, Cision, MURAL, Productboard, and more) to her clients and to this blog. She holds a BS and an MA in Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and has guest lectured classes at UT and Texas State University in addition to speaking at Social Media Week Austin and at the Ragan Social Media conference. She's an enthusiast of book clubs, trail running, large dogs, and trivia nights. You can find her work and more on her website.

In a world full of increasingly reactionary politics to the mere existence of people that don’t neatly fit outdated stereotypes of How To Be In This World, it feels like a very good time to explore how women in tech can be better allies to other gender identities around us. 

If you were ever the weird kid in school, you’ve got a tiny idea about what it’s like when the world treats you like an outsider. And if you weren’t, you saw how the weird kids got treated. 

Let’s channel that empathy into better allyship.

Listen 

The best thing an ally can do is listen to the people they want to support, learning from their lived experiences. No group of people is a monolith and individual preferences and comfort levels should always be considered. 

If you’re not sure where to start, this episode of the Work Appropriate podcast with Morgan Givens on gender identity at work is a great place. (There’s a list of more orgs and their resources to check out at the end of this post.) 

Actually be inclusive, not performative  

This is not high school and we are not Mean Girls. Everyone can sit with us! 

Just saying “everyone is welcome!” isn’t enough. If you’re not sure if someone wants to be included in a women in tech type of event, err on the side of issuing an invitation and let them make that decision themselves. You might need to invite them several times before they feel comfortable being included in the group, or they might make it clear at the beginning they are not interested. 

It might all be very awkward and that is okay! 

Extend an open invitation without any pressure and let them know they won’t be on their own if they decide to attend – they already know you and you can introduce them around, or they can bring someone else with them if that will make them more comfortable. 

Don’t make it weird 

If you mess up someone’s pronouns, for example, don’t profusely apologize. Say you’re sorry briefly and work hard to get it right in the future. Practice on your own if you have to!

The point is to not put the burden on the other person to make you feel better about your slip-up. If it’s someone you’ve known a long time a certain way, it can be hard to shift your perspective and they know that. Give yourself grace. 

If someone does get mad at you for messing up when you’re truly trying your best, understand that everyone has bad days and gets snappy. Grant them grace and always operate from the perspective that it’s not about you. 

Speak up when you can 

This is a hard thing and it’s not for everyone in every situation – if you ever see an opportunity to speak up but think doing so would escalate the situation and/or make you feel unsafe, you have to carefully weigh that decision. It’s one that only you can make for yourself and will depend a lot on the work environment you’re operating in. 

A very open, accepting office environment will make it easier to speak up while one that is hostile – full of “edgy jokes” at the watercooler, for example – will obviously not. Speaking up will also depend on your relationships with your colleagues, especially if someone is senior to you. If you are a senior colleague in a situation, this is a great time to use your position for good. If you’re not sure how, start with this post from Out in Tech on Intl. Pronouns Day: Five Ways to Establish A Safe and Respectful Space for All Employees. 

In a lot of situations, you can simply speak up on behalf of someone who is not present, or who is but does not feel comfortable correcting a co-worker who’s intentionally misgendering them again, for example. It doesn’t have to be complicated or involved; simply correct the person and move on: “That’s not how they prefer to be addressed. Now X, didn’t you have something you wanted to show me?” and get out of the situation.  

If you do this and the person you’ve spoken up for asks you not to do so again in the future, respect that request. Do not make it about you trying to do a good thing; they may have reasons for asking you to stop that they are not comfortable sharing with you and they do not owe you an explanation. 

And know when to keep quiet   

Related to the last point, if someone has felt comfortable enough with you as a colleague and friend to come out to you but they are not yet out to the rest of the office, do not share that information with anyone else. 

Choosing when – or even if – to come out at work is a personal decision and it can be a difficult one. Out in Tech has a fantastic blog post about the considerations people should take before coming out at the office and it offers some great perspective if you’re not someone who has ever had to think about not being able to be your whole self at work. 

Keep listening and learning 

Want more resources? 

Look for organizations that support LGBTQ+ tech workers and check out their websites, blogs and social media to see how you can best support them. Orgs like Out in Tech, Lesbians Who Tech & Allies, LGBT Tech, Pride in STEM, Queer Design Club, Queer Tech Club, Trans*H4ck and TransTech Social Enterprises are all great places to start.

Note: 

The author is a cis woman writing for other cis women who want to be better allies. If we've missed something, we'd love to hear about it! Send your comments, questions, and feedback to seo@awtaustin.org

Resources: 

• Your Identity Is Not A Problem with Morgan Givens, Work Appropriate podcast 

• Lesbians Who Tech & Allies

• Out in Tech

• • Intl. Pronouns Day: Five Ways to Establish A Safe and Respectful Space for All Employees 

  • Coming Out As LGBTQ+ at Work: 5 Steps to Help You Decide 

• 14 organizations that support LGBTQ+ tech workers

About the Author: Sarah A. Parker is a freelance writer and the founder/owner of Sparker Works LLC. She brings 14 years of experience in the tech industry at B2B SaaS companies (including Bazaarvoice, Union Metrics, TrendKite, Cision, MURAL, Productboard, and more) to her clients and to this blog. She holds a BS and an MA in Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and has guest lectured classes at UT and Texas State University in addition to speaking at Social Media Week Austin and at the Ragan Social Media conference. She's an enthusiast of book clubs, trail running, large dogs, and trivia nights. You can find her work and more on her website. 

Searching Google for “greatest historical leaders” or “most influential leaders” will garner a variety of lists outlined by different individuals.  Many of these lists are similar in who they give recognition to including everyone from Gandhi to Hitler. 

While the leaders on the list may vary in what one may consider ethical, there’s one thing that they all have in common and that is the fact that they are all men. Lists that contain female leaders require further scrolling or the use of the word “women’ or “female” in the initial search. 

It’s important to reflect on this as it highlights a common theme in many societies and that is the inequality of women.  While the Google search results reflect a lack of equality in the recognition of women in leadership positions, it is also reflective of the lack of opportunities women have been given throughout history to hold positions of power. In many instances women have been forbidden from obtaining an education or were brought up with the belief that an education or employment wasn’t important for women.  Fortunately, there has been no shortage of women leaders in history who have fought to gain equality for women everywhere.  

Millicent Garrett Fawcett 

Millicent Garrett Fawcett was born in 1847 in the county of Suffolk, England. Her father was not only a wealthy grain and coal merchant but was also a very liberal man who expected his children, including his daughters, to remain knowledgeable of and be capable of discussing current politics, both domestic and international.

In addition to raising the children, Millicent’s mother also helped run the family business, setting an example of a woman’s role outside of the home and encouraging an environment of independence. Millicent wasn’t the only female in the family to push the boundaries of societal norms; her sister was the first woman in Britain to train as a doctor. With her family background, it’s easy to see how she gained the confidence necessary to become the woman and leader that she was. 

In 1867 Millicent married Henry Fawcett, who was a professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge. Having come from a similar background as Millicent, his political leanings were liberal, and he remained active in politics. 

Henry lost his eyesight in a shooting accident, and Millicent supported his writing projects and his work as a radical, independent-minded Member of Parliament. In time, Millicent went on to write an economics textbook called “Political Economy for Beginners” intended to simplify economics to be better understood by elementary aged children. She enjoyed great success in this niche market with the support of her husband and his connections. 

At twenty-two years old, Millicent began her political career in London at the first women’s suffrage meeting. She did not believe that women’s emancipation was something that could happen with dramatic change in law but was something that would happen over time.

As a result, she sought out little wins in hopes that one small change after another would lead to the final goal.  She also didn’t believe in ruffling feathers to sway opinion to her cause; instead she presented her arguments to appeal to the general public and, more specifically, men, as they were the ones that would be voting. 

In her time, Millicent worked for women’s emancipation in many areas but most passionately in women’s right to vote, equal opportunities for education and employment, and protection against sexual exploitation. As the leading member of the National Vigilance Association, she worked as president of its Preventive Sub-committee at attempting to reduce the incidence of prostitution. While serving with the National Vigilance Association, she also helped to improve the lives of child actors on the London stage and get a law passed to raise the age of consent for marriage to 12 for Indian girls. 

The women’s suffrage movement faced many trials over the years, including division from within due to varying opinions, but in 1899 the suffragists had to pause their efforts when the war began in South Africa.  After the war, efforts were renewed and while they may not have had a great impact on women’s rights during their time, they helped to pave the way for future generations.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born in 1933 in the state of New York 13 years after the 19^th amendment to the United States constitution was passed granting equal rights to American women. Ruth’s mother, having marched in women’s suffrage parades at the age of 15 and 16 herself, was a huge influence on Ruth.  While the passing of the 19^th amendment was the first step of many to help bring equality to women in the U.S., more work is continuously needed to reach that goal. 

In 1956 Ruth was one of 500 students to begin classes at Harvard Law School. While the school had opened its doors to women in 1950, at the time Ruth began school she was still 1 of only 9 other women to begin classes that year.  Even with the admittance of women, the school was still predominantly male. 

After graduation, gaining employment did not come easy to Ruth as many firms were still not hiring female lawyers.  Ruth was fortunate that Gerry Gunther, a teacher from Columbia, recognized her potential and placed several calls to judges he had existing connections with.  One judge, initially reluctant because Ruth had a 4-year-old daughter, finally decided to give her a chance.

Ruth was fortunate to be married to a man, a lawyer himself, who recognized her potential and what she was fighting for.  As a result, in the late 1960s, when Ruth co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project, her husband stepped back from his own career to take over the responsibilities at home so that she could remain focused on her endeavors. Ruth was known to say that the most important career choice she made was in choosing the right partner, and her husband has said that his most important career choice was supporting her. 

As Ruth had to overcome the obstacles of being a woman in a role typically help by men, she did so while battling cancer on four different occasions which she did with grace and dignity.  Knowing that she could not step away from her position, she continued to work through her treatments.  

Ruth is now remembered as the “Notorious RBG” thanks to a book written by a law school graduate and journalist which included the summary of Ruth’s dissenting opinion on the Supreme Court’s decision of Shelby County v. Holder. Ruth was known for her dissenting opinions and her signature dissent collar is easily recognized by most people today. 

While Ruth admitted to being a feminist, she did not believe laws should enforce women’s rights, but gender-neutral rights.  She recognized that the equality in our society wasn’t just the belief that a woman’s place is in the home but also in the fact that a man’s place was not in the home. In an interview she provided multiple examples of cases where men had to fight for equal rights as a parent due to social security and other programs being designed to help women, but not men in the same position. 

Malala Yousafzai

Malala was born in Pakistan in 1997 and became an activist for girls and women’s rights at the age of 11 when she began writing a blog for the BBC.  The blog was originally anonymous and detailed the real-life fears and struggles of a young girl living under Taliban rule. By the time she was 15 she’d gained much recognition and was seen as a threat to the Taliban who attempted to assassinate her. Fortunately, she survived. 

The most influential force in Malala’s life was her father; an outspoken activist for children’s right to an education himself, he continually supported Malala in her efforts. The assassination attempt did not deter her from her mission; instead, she continued to speak out using her newfound fame as a platform for her agenda. She has used her story to bring awareness to the rights of young girls throughout the world to obtain an education speaking in media interviews and in front of global leaders. In addition to many other awards, Malala is the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace prize. 

Having now graduated from Oxford University, Malala continues to use storytelling to influence the world and fight for equality, specifically when it comes to education for girls.    

In researching these women, as well as many other women leaders, a common theme becomes obvious; change cannot come from one big act but is the accumulation of small acts that influence a continued growth in people and in cultures.  While all three of these women are from different cultures, and different generations, each one was fighting to continue the improvement of women in their societies and were able to do so thanks to the support of their families. 

It is also clear that each one recognized the importance of providing women with equal opportunities for education to truly better society.  Most importantly, they all saw that equality for women would have a greater impact on our world and making the world a better place for everyone is the real goal for each of them.

About the Author: Michelle R Schoenebeck, MBA is the Marketing Director at Austin Women in Technology and is an accomplished product management leader with multifaceted skills including 15+ years in product management with 13 years in enterprise SAAs. She holds a bachelor's degree from Texas State University and an MBA from Fitchburg State University with a dual concentration in management and marketing. Michelle is a Tournament Director and Division 4 Commissioner with the Austin Coed Soccer Association and is currently fostering a rambunctious Boxer puppy. Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn. 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States if you, ironically, were not aware. For the most part we are supposed to pretend our feelings don't exist inside of work hours here (the exception might be if you're a therapist) and corporate support of mental health is pretty close to this comic that floats around on social media this time of year. 

A big piece of mental health is being given the space and the grace to process things like our feelings— including grief. And we are notably, as a society, pretty terrible at grief. We shove it down, we soldier on. We try our best to ignore it or stand by awkwardly when someone in our orbit is going through it. 

"I am here for you!" we say, because what else do you say? We are given so few tools for this. 

It's even hard to allow the label of grief for kinds of loss that don't revolve around the classics of grandmothers and maybe dogs. Anne Helen Petersen talked about it in her recent piece This Is Not Just A Post About Dog Grief: 

"It’s not normal, or ironic, or even slightly funny that we’re this bad at making space to process loss and suffering...We have so little language to describe the onset of grief in our lives, and so little expectation of accommodation for it. We don’t know how to be still in our sadness. And if you won’t allow yourself that grace, it’s so difficult to authentically extend it to others." 

So I'd like for this post to be that— an authentic extension of space to grieve, should you need it. The tech industry has been rife with loss recently and a loss of a job or an opportunity is still a loss. The grief surrounding it can be big or small, but either one deserves its space to be felt. 

So grieve your layoff. 

Grieve your second layoff. 

Grieve your rejection email. 

Grieve that missed or canceled opportunity. 

Grieve your ghosting by that company or recruiter. 

Grieve that lost client. 

This is grief, too. 

Everything does not happen for a reason. I am not here for you, because I am not here to fix you. Feelings are not something to be fixed. I am here with you, for all that I am a somewhat faceless entity behind a blog. 

"Some things in life cannot be fixed. They can only be carried." 

The good news is, you don't have to carry it alone. Take a little time for the journey and lay the foundation for your grief, so you can move on. 

And if you need more support than the space a blog post can provide,

start here

About the Author: Sarah A. Parker is a freelance writer and the founder/owner of Sparker Works LLC. She brings 14 years of experience in the tech industry at B2B SaaS companies (including Bazaarvoice, Union Metrics, TrendKite, Cision, MURAL, Productboard, and more) to her clients and to this blog. She holds a BS and an MA in Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and has guest lectured classes at UT and Texas State University in addition to speaking at Social Media Week Austin and at the Ragan Social Media conference. She's an enthusiast of book clubs, trail running, large dogs, and trivia nights. You can find her work and more on her website. 

Brand positioning, along with segmentation and targeting, is crucial to successfully marketing a product or service. Three organizations performing this activity in their respective marketplaces include Sling TV, an American streaming service, Sephora, a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products, and Spiralyze, a conversion rate optimization marketing agency based in Atlanta, Georgia. 

This article analyzes the brand positioning via advertisements currently in market for each business and assesses whether their products or services are properly positioned. Results indicate that each organization’s advertising supports its brand positioning by integrating similar language, values, and concepts into text, images, and video. Target market segmentation types and sizes, hybrid positioning, and positioning caveats are also explored.

Brand positioning is a challenging but critical aspect of marketing any business. To be successful, every organization must:

• understand that customers are different because they have different needs

• be able to define their unique value proposition (USP)

• direct advertising messages about their USP to targeted audiences interested in their products or services

Each of the three businesses analyzed has developed positioning that creates a perception of difference in the minds of their audiences. 

Brand Positioning: Choice and Control

In 2018, Sling TV launched campaigns positioning them as a flexible live streaming service providing more choice and control. One commercial on other streaming services such as Peacock (NBC) features Doris Burke, an American sports analyst, announcing that she watches sports on Sling TV “because they’ve got every [playoff] game…for the best price.”

This ad speaks to a segment of people who like watching basketball games on streaming services and are especially interested in the playoffs. This segment is likely to recognize Doris Burke and be comfortable with the ad’s format of a sports announcer with a microphone speaking directly into the camera. A booming male narration emphasizes “every game” and “best price,” accompanied by those words in all capital letters on a lightboard, another common experience for the sports enthusiast, and one that generates excitement for upcoming games.

This advertisement positions the brand well as it fits into the characterization of Sling TV as providing “choice and control;” customers can watch what they want, from the comfort of their homes, while spending the lowest amount of money possible. 

Two types of segmentation support this brand’s positioning. The first is psychographic, referring to user lifestyle including interests and activities – using streaming services and watching sports. The second is behavioral, which is the best basis for explaining customer behavior in the marketplace and really gets to the “why” behind customer behavior.” The ad reaches a streaming audience since it is placed on another streaming service, and the sports analyst, announcer, and lightboard further narrow the target to people who enjoy watching playoff basketball games and might be interested in paying another streaming service for access. 

Brand Positioning: Inclusive Prestige

Sephora’s mission is to “create a welcoming beauty shopping experience for all” while being “a leader in prestige omni-retail,” an interesting dovetail of aspiring to a high status without being exclusionary. The cover photo on Sephora’s Facebook page, which boasts 19.7 million followers, illustrates the mission by “championing all beauty” and proclaiming that “you are included.” The brand’s Facebook posts are also aligned with this positioning, using the second person “you” often and avoiding categorization of its products for any particular gender.

Sephora’s inclusionary advertising not only aligns with its positioning but strategically expands its demographic from the traditional one for cosmetics, cisgender women, to people of all genders, avoiding what is called the demographic trap of segmentation that is a risk when organizations combine too many variables and are unable to properly target segments. This is an invaluable opportunity in the red ocean of the beauty industry, which is crowded with categories, brands, and promotions at all pricing points; it fulfills a positioning caveat that positioning must set off the product/brand from the competitors since many beauty brands continue to feature only cisgender women in advertising. 

Brand Positioning: A/B Testing with a Price Guarantee

Spiralyze is a full-service advertising agency that specializes in A/B testing for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies. The value proposition on the home page of their website is simply stated as “30% more conversions.”  It is critical to link the benefits sought by the target market to the positioning strategy. Throughout its website and social media advertising, Spiralyze avoids the jargon often used in business-to-business (B2B) marketing by saying, for example, that the agency “gets visitors on your site to convert.” By focusing on one aspect of online advertising for a single industry, Spiralyze ensures that it is not trying to be all things to all people and creates just-right content aimed at a narrow target constituency.

The challenge is to ensure that enough of the total addressable market of SaaS businesses with a need for conversion rate optimization (CRO) find the agency’s services compelling, become customers, and drive agency revenue. CRO is not required to create or maintain a marketing program, and could be managed in-house, so Spiralyze’s service may be considered a luxury, not a necessity, by some prospects. 

On their website and in LinkedIn posts, Spiralyze supports their effective targeting and brand positioning with client testimonials. One LinkedIn post features a quote that “they have doubled my revenue”  from the CEO of another advertising agency; another, from a software company vice president, says they have “not only increased the conversion volume but the conversion quality” suggesting a value-added benefit and encouraging diffusion throughout the target market.  Also, Spiralyze’s pay-for-performance pricing model, in which customers “don’t pay a dime until after you see results” supports their positioning with a guarantee, a tactic that enables low perceived risk. 

All three of these companies support brand positioning by understanding the voice of the customer and using hybrid positioning: Selection and price for Sling TV, prestige and inclusion for Sephora, and performance and price for Spiralyze. This presents more challenges to competitors who want to enter the space and enables each business to evolve positioning as required by changes in their respective competitive markets. 

About the author: Rachaelle Lynn is the SEO Chair of Austin Women in Technology and has over 20 years' experience in digital marketing, with the last seven years in B2B tech. She currently manages SEO at SailPoint and holds certifications in Google Analytics and Conductor (SEO platform). Rachaelle frequently volunteers at AWT events and has presented at events like Apps We Love. Her special interests include cybersecurity and privacy in Artificial Intelligence. Rachaelle holds a bachelor's degree in Communications and is pursuing an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. Her hobbies include talking to her two cats, visiting quirky museums, and listening to live music. Connect with Rachaelle via LinkedIn.   

Social media has changed how business is done and how consumers shop for and buy products and services. Social media is an important marketing tool even for – or perhaps especially for – entrepreneurs who are more familiar with, and comfortable with, traditional marketing techniques, and it cannot be ignored; influencers have a high level of influence in targeting consumer groups and their purchase behavior.

 Social media micro-influencers, defined as 100K-1 million followers, and nano-influencers, identified as less than 5K followers, are a critical aspect of reaching target markets via personas that members of these target markets like and follow, lending credibility to the enterprises that those influencers support. This article further defines micro-influencers and nano-influencers and what target markets they have typically been used to reach and explains how they can be used by small businesses to market products and services. Additionally, strategies and guidelines on connecting with the right influencers are provided.  

Social Media Influencers: Definition, Strategy, and Guidelines

A social media influencer is an independent third-party endorser who shapes audience attitudes through blogs, tweets, and the use of other social media. A micro-influencer is a deep dive into the data associated with an influencer, in that they offer specific content, authenticity, secret sharing, and the meaning of the influencer. 

With a micro-influencer, there may be more associated credibility than with a simple influencer, if a solid match between the brand and the influencer is achieved. A mismatch may result in lost credibility and authority for both the brand and the influencer. 

Nano-influencers also have credibility associated with their brand, but the brand is more nebulous since they are not considered professional influencers – even though they are making money via the brand. Interestingly, nano-influencers form the first step in the development of influencers that have the highest engagement rates among all the categories of influencers and are more open to unpaid partnerships to build their profile, and they often reach out to their own brands to foster partnerships which may make them more attractive to small businesses. 

As with a micro-influencer, association with a brand that does not support the nano-influencer’s image can result in difficulties, but a positive relationship can create a symbiotic interaction. Brand evangelism with both micro-influencers and nano-influencers is a tremendous benefit, as this deep passion and emotion can influence not only purchases, but brand loyalty. 

Target Markets for Micro-Influencers and Nano-Influencers

Target markets for micro-influencers are many and varied, as would be expected from influencers expected to focus on smaller, niche audiences. Four key characteristics of micro-influencers include authenticity, the meaning of the influencer, specific content, and secret sharing (personal stories). 

Social media influencers have a significant relationship with brand attitude when they can provide trust, expertise, and attractiveness in giving brand influence positively over the products they endorse.

Strategies and Guidelines on Connecting with Influencers

A top priority when connecting with influencers is defining and understanding the target audience. This requires a brand to be viewed as offering a strong, positive, unique, and relevant product or service to users, and to understand that most brands are operating in a crowded market with many conflicting messages. Strategies to support connecting with influencers include the following. 

• Understand how to appeal to the target market, using a permission-based approach so prospects expect and appreciate communications.

• Find influencers who truly represent the target market and are willing to create posts to attract them. Focus on influencers who generate specific content that corresponds to their interests since their followers are most likely to feel that this content is relevant to them. 

• Seek opportunities for detailed reviews and capitalize on them: A high word count makes readers feel that the review is more useful. 

• Encourage influencer brand engagement and brand love rather than a simple one-off post or mention. Brand love not only positively affects purchase behavior but helps prospects and customers to be more resistant to negative comments.

• Offer a purchase option, as liking posts can translate to sales. Although the interaction between the brand and users is brief, it can be effective in generating sales conversions. 

• Review influencer details for a clear picture of what will be provided, since new ventures typically have small budgets with little room for error. Knowing how the investment will be spent, and the expected results, is a top priority for any entrepreneur. 

• Provide thorough reporting and analytics, as entrepreneurs are challenged to connect the cost of social network promotions to sales they generate. Clarity regarding the return on investment will support either the continuation of working with these influencers or a pivot to those that will better serve the target market.

Social media influencers, particularly micro-influencers and nano-influencers, are becoming increasingly critical for small businesses looking to reach their target markets. These influencers offer authenticity, specific content, and secret sharing that resonates with their followers, and they have the potential to create a symbiotic interaction that can positively impact purchases and brand loyalty. 

When connecting with influencers, it is crucial to focus on defining and understanding the target audience, finding influencers that truly represent that market, and encouraging brand engagement and love. By implementing these strategies and guidelines, small businesses can leverage the power of social media influencers to grow their brand and generate sales.

About the author: Rachaelle Lynn is the SEO Chair of Austin Women in Technology and has over 20 years' experience in digital marketing, with the last seven years in B2B tech. She currently manages SEO at SailPoint and holds certifications in Google Analytics and Conductor (SEO platform). Rachaelle frequently volunteers at AWT events and has presented at events like Apps We Love. Her special interests include cybersecurity and privacy in Artificial Intelligence. Rachaelle holds a bachelor's degree in Communications and is pursuing an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. Her hobbies include talking to her two cats, visiting quirky museums, and listening to live music. Connect with Rachaelle via LinkedIn.  

Brief Overview

The Power of TED is a fictionalized explanation of real-world self-improvement concepts and techniques. The fictional aspect is a first-person account of how the author was introduced to The Empowerment Dynamic; The Empowerment Dynamic itself is a set of possible responses to being caught in The Karpman Drama Triangle. The Karpman Drama Triangle, reframed as The Dreaded Drama Triangle in this text, revolves around the three intertwined roles of Victim, Persecutor, and Rescuer.

The main character, David, realizing the problems created by falling into these roles in response to life crises, is guided to a better understanding of his behavior and three new roles, Creator, Challenger, and Coach that he can consciously adopt to generate more positive outcomes for himself and others. The two guides, Ted and Sophia, gently remind David (and the reader) of instances when one might easily slip into a role that hurts them and others. This includes the Rescuer, which has a more positive connotation but describes a person who unintentionally reinforces and enables the Victim.

The antithesis of the Victim is the Creator, who sees everyone else as a Creator as well, and operates with the intention of encouraging and enhancing all Creators, including themselves. The Challenger replaces the Persecutor; “they coax, cajole, and entice you to move in the direction of your heart’s desires”. And the Coach supports others not by validating Victims as the Rescuer does, but by reinforcing the Creator’s power and agency.

Critique

The description of the Dreaded Drama Triangle and the roles that can be adopted in response is truly meaningful. The Triangle is pervasive in our culture, and it’s incredibly difficult for people to realize their unconscious participation unless it’s pointed out to them, and they are ready to accept it. Also, realization that one is stuck in the Triangle often comes during a time of great emotional challenges, as it did for David, when the person is seeking a better way to live but is at a loss as to how to find it.

Another helpful aspect of the book is that it does not try to present the transitions to Creator -Challenger-Coach roles as easy, and it explicitly states that taking on these new roles does not mean that the person will be free of struggles or negative influences for the rest of their life. For example, Deconstructive Challengers “may be unwelcome people, conditions, or circumstances”. They may be in the Creator’s life to teach them what they don’t want, and it is up to the Creator to understand that without internalizing it and slipping into the Victim orientation.

One criticism of the book is that in its simplicity, it is a bit heavy-handed. The messages are easy to understand, though not to implement, so the story is repetitive. One solution might be to integrate relevant “Questions for the Journey” from the end of the book into each chapter and encourage the reader to journal throughout, so they can identify action items for implementing The Empowerment Dynamic into their lives as they process the concepts. An accompanying workbook might also be helpful.

Recommendation

This book is highly recommended, with a score of 9 out of 10. The missing digit is due to the lack of action items or journaling prompts that would slow the reader down and help them integrate the material into their daily lives. It is a great text for organizational leaders, who may unconsciously cast themselves in the roles of Victim-Persecutor-Rescuer as they navigate stressful situations. It’s also a great read for anyone who realizes they self-sabotage, not just in relationships but with addictions, and needs clarity on ways to change their thinking and behavior.

Reference

Emerald, D. (2016). The power of ted: the empowerment dynamic. (10^th Ed.). Polaris Publishing.

About the Author: Rachaelle Lynn is the SEO Chair of Austin Women in Technology and has over 20 years' experience in digital marketing, with the last seven years in B2B tech. She currently manages SEO at SailPoint and holds certifications in Google Analytics and Conductor (SEO platform). Rachaelle frequently volunteers at AWT events and has presented at events like Apps We Love. Her special interests include cybersecurity and privacy in Artificial Intelligence. Rachaelle holds a bachelor's degree in Communications and is pursuing an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. Her hobbies include talking to her two cats, visiting quirky museums, and listening to live music. Connect with Rachaelle via LinkedIn.