Project WoAH (Women of AngelHack). It’s a movement. One led by the amazing Women of AngelHack, who have stories to share. And share we will! Check out the intro below, and tune in LIVE on December 17th (5pm PST) to check out and ask questions during our WoAH Livestream.
Name: Nausheen Ali
Role: VP of Marketing
Been With AngelHack: since 2013
Works Out Of: When I’m not traversing the globe I work from my home, so I can be a full time Mom!
What do you do at AngelHack?
Simply put, I market hackathons, but on a deeper level I help our clients tell their technology story to a diverse audience of tech lovers and that is really fun!
Can you tell us about your toughest day on the job?
My toughest days are usually those where I feel like I haven’t achieved my benchmarks, but to be honest the people that excel in a startup culture are the ones that are really comfortable with failure, and they use it as an opportunity to reiterate – that kind of thinking eventually leads to success.
AngelHack is a global company, requiring frequent travel. You must have had some memorable experiences. Give us one!
I am definitely the person in the company that is most likely to miss their train, plane or automobile and through the years I’ve learned to accept that as my quirk and now I just role with it!
Has there ever been a time you felt discriminated against as a woman? Explain.
Yes, I once had to bring in a male colleague into one of my international projects because it was clear that the men I was working with just couldn’t accept a woman in a leadership role – too bad for them.
What challenges have you faced because of being a female at a hackathon or in business?
As a woman in the tech industry you do have to continuously prove yourself and your expertise. If I happen to be standing next to a male colleague people will often defer all important conversations to him; but I have also seen a shift occur over the last few years and I’m hopeful for the future of Women in Technology.
What about the startup culture do you like?
I really like helping our clients plan something they’ve never done before – it’s exciting to be first on the scene. Also, our company is nimble enough, so that if something is not working we have the ability to fail fast, move forward and pivot with our response – you can really only do that in a startup culture.
What about the startup culture do you dislike?
Perhaps because we have so many women in leadership positions in our organizations I feel that we are always having to prove ourselves, but on the plus side it keeps us from resting on our laurels, which is a good thing!
How does it feel that 80% of your community is male based?
I love it! Because our company is comprised of so many women – we are able to learn about and therefore communicate with our largely male audience in a very effective way and I think that has been one of the key elements to AngelHack’s success.
Personal Life:
My background is in psychology and education, and I’m attracted to environments where there is a great deal of growth and learning: I’ve worked with cancer patients at Stanford, at NASA I worked with G.I.’s as they learned how to control their autonomic bodily responses, I’ve taught severely disabled children how to read and I’ve homeschooled on a ranch, so I love exploring new and innovative ways to get ideas through to a diverse group of people.
What do you love about working for AngelHack?
I love working with my sister, who happens to be the CEO of AngelHack, but to be honest our culture as an organization is one where everyone feels like family; we all work very intensely, we travel together and are often jet-lagged together, but we make it work and you can only do that if you are surrounded with exemplary people, that is what I love about working at AngelHack.
What’s your spirit animal?
My spirit animal is an Elephant, they are gentle creatures that are strong and fiercely loyal, but they have the ability to be deadly opponents when the need arises…I relate 🙂
What’s one word you would use to describe yourself?
Seeker.
What’s your favorite thing in the world?
Books, my most favorite “thing” in the world would definitely be books!
Biggest fear?
Fear of failure.
What’s your definition of success?
My definition of success is loving your job, being financially comfortable, having ample time to spend time with those closest to you and bringing people up as you make your way up the ladder-of-life.
The stage is set, December 17th at 5PM PST. Submit your questions ahead of time using #ProjectWoAH or through the YouTube LIVE chat on December 17th. Mark your calendars, and make sure you tune into the livestream!
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