Lift up one other woman every. single. day.

“If I could build anything, what would I actually build?”

This is a question Kelley Steven-Waiss asked herself as the CHRO of Here Technologies when she couldn’t find a tool that helped properly manage talent at her organization.

So instead of settling for a tool that wasn’t quite right, she built her own software solution in-house.

Her homegrown solution was so impactful that she ended up spinning out of Here Technologies and launching her own company, Hitch Works, where she commercialized the software to help talent leaders everywhere better manage their talent.

Hitch later got acquired by ServiceNow, where Kelley works today as Chief Transformation Officer.

Kelley’s founding story is inspiring: She experienced a problem, created a solution and then scaled the business because there was a serious gap in the market that she helped close.

In this episode, Kelley shares how her intrapreneurship to entrepreneurship journey inspired her to write her book: Valley Girls: Lessons from Female Founders in Silicon Valley and Beyond .

Here are three motivating quotes from the episode:

?? "[I was told], ‘It is not a time to go and do something disruptive, not only professionally, but to your family because you're taking a lot of risk.’ But for me, it was no question…this is going to make a huge difference in the world.”

?? “Lift up one other woman every single day…any advice, anything that you could do to lift up another woman. If all of us just help one woman every single day, that would make a huge difference.”

?? “I want to encourage women thinking they cannot do [something], that actually isn’t true. So if you're sitting on a great idea, the world needs your great idea. Go for it, find your channels of people to help you get it off the ground or encourage you.”

Want to hear how motherhood played a role in Kelley’s career decisions? ??? Listen to the interview!

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Connect with us → Host: Allison Whalen | Producer: Jenna Vassallo