Learn to use your voice: how women can succeed in IT

According to the SA initiative, Women in Tech, only 23% of tech jobs in the country are held by women. The World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2022 says women hold less than a quarter of global tech leadership positions. 

Louise Krog, executive head of sales and marketing at Everlytic, says the statistics reflect not only what's happening in the IT industry, but in many other industries.

“While women still have to break barriers, there are signs that things are improving,” says Krog. She says there are many strong female leaders emerging in the gaming and broader tech space.

As a strong female leader herself, Krog is a focused on creating safe and supportive spaces to empower women in the SA tech industry. 

She says exposing young people to the world of tech, enabling innovation, and having critical thinking skills is key. While only 16% of computer graduates in the UK are female, Krog says this figure is higher in countries such as India, Malaysia and Nigeria .

“Experienced female leaders in the tech space need to open themselves to coaching, mentoring and enabling younger women. They need to embrace opportunities to show other women that success is possible and tell them what it takes to do it.”

Krog says as a woman leader, using your voice is the only way to create your own platform, to make progress and take your team to the next level.

“I am scared at times, but I go there. I push myself into the uncomfortable spaces, which is what you need to grow,” she says. 

Her leadership position at Everlytic is the result of more than 20 years of challenging work, a strong aptitude for sales and ability to speak out.

Often thrown in the deep end during her career, with the added pressure of proving herself in a traditionally male-dominated industry, Krog says she was always determined to demonstrate her capability and embrace every challenge that came her way.

“You often have to work harder, do that extra follow-up and make that extra phone call to make sure your dedication is noticed,” says Krog.

“Doing this makes people look at you differently and they are able to identify you as the person who could succeed in the next role, project or leadership opportunity.”

Initially, a career in tech was never on Krog's radar — her desire to use her voice led to her studying political science after school. But after a brief stint in recruitment, her path led to her first experience in IT when she started at TransUnion in 2001. She says the sales role in IT, software and data was the perfect fit. 

“I’m goal-orientated, so in everything I do, I deliver a quality result. At the end of each day, I want to know I delivered excellent work.” 

She says what she brings to the Everlytic team changes as the needs and requirements of the business change, but reading the room and having robust conversations in a graceful manner is key.

“You can have difficult conversations and face challenging objectives, but you can still do it with grace.” She says this leadership style results in better buy-in and a quicker response from people who feel respected in the process.

Her advice to all young women with a desire to succeed is to not stand back when it’s scary and reach out to other women for mentorship.

“Your career is not a McDonald's drive-through where your burger just lands on your lap. There is a process behind it — the agriculture, production, packaging and all other elements needed before it is ready to be consumed. A career takes hard work and dedication, putting in the long hours, getting out of your comfort zone and using your voice,” she says.

Remaining tactical and operationally focused has led to the success and growth of Everlytic in the bulk communication and automation space. Krog says that email has stood the test of time and is the centre point of how we manage our lives and work.

The latest Everlytic Email Marketing Benchmark Report confirms that future trends, approaches and opportunities in the email space are shifting in response to changing consumer habits and expectations. “We are at the cusp of behavioural analytics and artificial intelligence making email more targeted and sophisticated. I couldn’t be more excited about what’s to come”.

This article was sponsored by Everlytic.