All right. Um So let's begin. Um I'm a mother of three. I am the founder and CEO of Star Mars Tech and also the founder and CEO of Meridian outsourcing and outsourcing company that builds provides opportunities for women and Children in the Philippines.Let's talk about the power of women. There are three distinct characteristics that women possess innately. Um That's intuition, empathy and charisma. Um intuition is very important when you're building relationships because it gives you kind of like a purview of what the other person is like.

Um It gives you kind of like a peak or a sense of, you know, how are you supposed to approach a person, especially in business dealings and, and how to messaging? It's very important to understand um where the other person is, which is why empathy is also very important. Um in intuition, empathy and charisma are all innate um characteristics that women possess. And I think that if we just learn to hone them um that they can be very, very powerful. Um Charisma is also a favorite of mine because charisma is that um what they call it, that star quality of, you know, I think women are born with, um, natural charisma and it doesn't mean that it's, you know, it's about having a pretty face or looking presentable. Um, it actually means that you have, um, a, a magnetic personality, um, that you have a way of invoking emotion from people. Um, and, and that's actually very, very powerful, uh when you're thinking about, um, having a business dealing, having a, maintaining a business relationship and engaging with, with people now that I've talked about what your tools are or what your superpowers are as women.

Um Let's move on to what are the bigger uh problems or the blockers that women encounter as women in tech um in these types of situations. Um Number one is ourselves, um women have been um there, there are so many social pressures that we have to deal with. I'll give you an example as a mother working in tech and as a leader as well too. When I go and travel the world and I go on these conferences, you know, the biggest question that I'm always asked is who's taking care of the kids? And um you rarely hear anybody talk about that. Um when they, they're faced with, you know, a male counterpart, um that's in the same situation as me. So, you know, these are the type of social norms or expectations that are placed upon us that um make it very difficult for us to navigate through business relationships or women in tech in general, right? Like, you know, the labels roles, those are all in the same kind of putting you in that box of like, because you're a woman, these are what you're defined to or expected to be a, a definition of. Um, and we're trying to break away from that. Um, the haters that's very easy people that, um, are very judgmental of you people that are not supportive and have opinions of you.

Um You know, it's very easy, I always say drown them out with the noise um of the music of you because, you know, if you focus on the good qualities and these power superpowers that I was talking about, it's very easy to kind of drown out all of um the negative feedback that you're getting, um learn to hone them and uh turn it around uh to give you more motivation to do better and keep pushing.

Um And then lastly, it's, you know, the need to compete. I think women in tech because there's such, um there's about 26% women in tech right now. Um If you can see that's, that's a very, very poor number. And um I always say this is the reason why I participate and I'm a huge advocate for women. Um not just in tech but in business in general because I think we need to stick together. I need to, we learn to uplift each other. There's this personality or this common notion that if you know, one person or one other woman is doing better than you, that it, it somehow limits the opportunities that you have. Um which is completely untrue. I think the more that we stick together, the more that we up uplift each other, the more um we become very, very powerful. So um think about that for one second. Um And so knowing what the mind, knowing that you have these powers that you can hone and use and leverage um to help you propel your, your career, your business relationships um in tech, let's, let's think about how to have the proper mindset, right? Um What is the proper mindset and putting yourself, you know, or setting your mind? That's basically what it is setting your mind to think and help you get ahead and closer to your goals.

So the first thing I always tell women is, you know, um we should always use these superpowers that I just mentioned to you um as a means to shine, right? Like be proud of who you are, be true to yourself. Um Embrace the unique brand of you, which when I say the unique brand of you, every individual, every woman is unique. You, you find your strength and your weaknesses and you learn to play up your strengths and, and learn from your weaknesses, right? Um There's so many ways that you can maneuver um business dealings and business relationships with the right type of character and personality. Um And this goes back to, you know, having empathy and being intuitive about what other people's expectations are, right? Um And then another thing that's also very important and this is something that I, I take really seriously is never stop learning. Um I'm constantly, always talking, having conversations with people because I, I'm genuinely interested in who they are, what they do and how I can learn from them. right? So the next step to that is, you know, take a mentor. Um If there's somebody that you admire that you think um would help either help you improve on a weakness that you have or help, you know, um share knowledge on something that, you know, you're not as experienced in um or just generally somebody that you really, really admire and you think you can learn a lot from mentors are exceptional.

Um In this case, for me, my mentors, you know, are assam and, and David, they're kind enough to write a little note because I, you know, sent them a shout out on linkedin this morning and I said, hey, I'm getting in front of women in tech. What are some words of encouragement and words of wisdom that you would like me to share with all the women that would be on my session. And so David co uh CEO and founder of Drift, um He's also a serial entrepreneur like myself. Um has these nice words uh very inspiring, assume positive intent, be so good. They can't ignore you. Obey the golden rule A K A, how you act will come back to you don't be democratic with your attention or with whom you take advice from model yourself. Only after people who have achieved what you want. Ideally multiple times over a long horizon. That's, that's very profound. Thank you so much David. Um And then Assam who I've met um he is the founder and CEO of IDA Investment Company in Saudi Arabia, really great mentor um in the finance sector and in Blockchain as well too. Um He just sent me a good luck, you know, uh greeting there, which is great. Um And, you know, kind of, he's a huge advocate also for women empowering women.

Um And as you know, because in the Middle East, this is, you know, not the usual way of, of life like um now they are moving towards, you know, being more progressive and encouraging a lot more rights for what? And so, you know, assam is a huge advocate of that. Uh which is why I'm a huge uh follower of his. So that's an example of how you take up um a mentor that can help propel your career and, and help you create relationships, those mentors will, you know, sometimes um you know, be the bridge to the next business connection that you need. Um Another thing that's important is, you know, when you have your superpowers and you have your mentors and you have all the information you know that you can get to help you propel your career in in tech. You know, my advice is always to pay forward. So you know, be a source of inspiration uh paid forward because the world is round, meaning you know, be your karma, be your own karma. The love that you spread out, I mean spread and give out comes back to you tenfold. Um And you know, generosity is key. Always be generous. One of my secret ingredients when doing business dealings is I always initiate providing value and being generous towards. It's my business partners or my uh dealings because and without expectation, um it has to be genuine you, right?

You, you have to genuinely love just, just helping other people and seeing them succeed and knowing that you became part of that, right? Um Be patient because you know, learn from the concept of planting seeds. Um when you reach out to people and you do good deeds and you, you you share kindness with them. You know, it's like planting those seeds. You, you may not see the um instant impact of that, but really it it helps keep, it helps them keep you in mind. And so keep, you know, remember that when you are coming across people and I always say never discredit or discount people based off of what they they can bring to the table at that moment, right? Like, treat everybody as fairly. I would treat the CEO the same way I would treat somebody that's, you know, doing filing for instance, right? Um And then build momentum and respect it. Uh What does that mean? Slow, steady growth? Um You know, the, the story of the tortoise and the a slow steady growth towards your goals is the surest and best way to go about things and, and just respect the process and embrace it, be patient.

Um And that's where persistent persistence comes when uh you're dealing with people just be as kind, be consistent. Um And then at the same time, when you practice all these things, um the reward of that is that you um have an opportunity to find a purpose and, and that's as a woman in tech and a leader and someone who's um gone through so many different, you know, peaks and valleys in my career.

I always say, you know, the best, most rewarding part of that journey is finding my purpose. Um And you'll, you'll come to find that as you take on this mindset of just giving back and providing value first without any expectation. Um You learn that you'll get to navigate your way through business a lot easier than a lot of people. Um People always ask me, you know, what, what is your um what is your key? Why do you know everybody? Why are you so well connected and I always say, you know, it, it comes from within, you know, if you have a good heart with good intentions, be genuine in your approach when you're talking to people, um, don't be afraid of social media, don't be afraid to reach out to people because, um, and, and be peristent and sometimes people are just busy, they don't get back to you right away or, um, you know, you haven't given them a sense of who you are and social media is a great way to do that where people can follow you and not necessarily directly have, you know, a conversation.

Um But then they get to see kind of like your digital footprint of what type of person you are. What do you bring to the table and, and how valuable you are to, to their um to having a relationship, a business relationship with them. So, um as a woman in business, um it is very difficult. We have to work 10 times harder. Um We have to be as persistent, we have to be um as valuable. Um And all I can say is I think it's a lot easier when you have, you know, another woman who's made it, who's gone through the journey that shares their journey and lends a hand to the next woman next to her and say, hey, let, let me help you out. And so, you know, one of the things I always say, the key to having stronger business relationships is always be willing to help another woman out. Um may be an introduction, passing on a resume or um you know, um giving them some feedback or, you know, showing them the ropes of how a specific industry works. Um There's so many ways that you can be such um uh of help a source of help and advocate for, you know, the next woman next to you.

Um That could be so inspiring, you know, I, I have Children and it's very important uh that we pass this along to generations after generations because as it is, we have a lot um of struggle and a huge fight ahead of us. Um And also as you know, a woman of minority that becomes three times harder um especially with what's going on right now with COVID and uh with Black Lives Matter um empathy intuition and having the charisma, the right heart and the right intentions to inspire people to do good every day, to help other people out.

Um And, and to lead with only the purest and best intentions is, is key. Um And people will see it, we will, you know, that heart will radiate through and, and people will know who you are. Um I, I remember one of the executives from uh one of the top corporations that I always, one of my mentors as well, too, always used to tell me I've been following you for a very long time and although we haven't had like an actual interaction, you know, I see your heart through your dealings on social media or through the emails.

Um You know, that I've been sent of what you do, what your business is like. Um And that's what finally got me to engage and, and to send an email and say, hey, I think this is something that could be of value to you. So you will be surprised how just being persistent and being kind um and helpful and generous in, in your dealings in business um helps a lot. And so I hope you guys learned um a little bit of something um for myself again, my name is Marian be Landra. Um I'm based in San Francisco in the Bay Area and I would love to get to know every woman out there. Uh Please connect with me on linkedin um under Marian be Landra or follow star Mars Tech or Meridian outsourcing. Um And, and I hope to be able to have this conversation with you one day face to face because, you know, a personal connection is always key to stronger business relationships, especially for women in tech because like I said, we have so many waters we have to navigate through and it's very important and key to stay and support each other.

So, good luck to all the women out there, enjoy the rest of the sessions and um hope to meet um as much as I could if you, I I can't see on the screen here, how many women are on this? But um definitely a delight. Thank you so much.