Joanna Rees has been a trailblazer in the male-dominated venture capital and digital marketing industries, despite the many challenges she faced along the way. Through her unwavering determination and commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive team that champions underrepresented individuals, she has become an inspiration to many aspiring entrepreneurs. But what is Joanna's secret to success?

Joanna Rees, an investor, entrepreneur, advisor, educator, mentor, and currently the Managing Partner at West, joined the 1,000 Stories podcast to share the importance of embracing diversity and inclusivity for driving innovation in the workplace, defeating biases and imposter syndrome by welcoming unique viewpoints, integrating charitable endeavors with profit-oriented ventures for collective societal benefits, and more.

Key Points 

1. It's so important to get not just one woman into a room, but three or four because it really enables a change of the dynamic and the unconscious power structure when it's a male dominated room.

2. We feel imposter syndrome when we're putting the other person on a pedestal rather than just embracing ourselves. You have a voice, it's your perspective, it's your expertise. It’s not a comparison game!

3. You can graduate with A’s and B’s from college, but if you don’t look deeper into yourself and show what makes you unique and different, it’s going to be hard to get a job. People look for texture in a person. Yes, good grades are great, but are those candidates going to add dimension in the workplace?

Resources

Connect with Joanna on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannarees/

Check out Joanna’s website: http://joannarees.org/

Learn more about West here: https://west.ventures/?click=1