Women’s History Month gave us a moment to stop and celebrate the incredible women in our orbit — leaders at tech companies, PSG team members supporting their growth, and young women exploring what the software field might look like for them. The women we had the honor of highlighting this March all had wise words of advice for those navigating their career journeys, so we thought the best way to close the month was to collect that guidance here.
Thank you to all the women who are leading the charge at PSG, our portfolio companies, and throughout the industry, and know that we plan to admire your accomplishments all year long.
Elsa Béchour, Chief People & Culture Officer, Zenchef
“The advice I would have given my younger self — and really anyone and everyone joining the software industry — is to go out in the field and understand what people are doing because you will gain so much knowledge. If you are working at a software company and don’t fully understand what the product is doing, you can go out and see what the tech team is doing and have the basic understanding of their language. If you are really passionate about tech, which is true in my case, I would even advocate to go ahead and start diving into a bit of code yourself. It’s probable it will fail massively, but at least you are understanding a little bit of how it works. I think it’s so powerful to have the possibility to really understand what is really going on in the field, even when you are in other type of function not directly related to tech.”
Lauren Costella, Chief Customer Officer, Dental Intelligence
“Balancing work and a personal life, especially in a demanding industry like software, comes down to determining really what you want in life and then making choices that support those goals. I call it relentless prioritization. I've found that I can really focus on two things outside of my family, and at different times in my life, those categories may change. When I was growing up, family was always a priority, and the three categories that I had to choose between were school, my social life, and swimming. When pursuing swimming. I had to choose between social life and school. and I ended up choosing school. It didn't mean that I didn't have a social life, but it did mean my social life wasn't as robust as what others were choosing. And I find that this relentless prioritization has parallels in my professional life. I think about what is most important to me, what brings me joy and happiness, and I make time for those things. Everything else is icing on the cake. Today, I choose my health and family and work. Those things bring me a lot of joy.”
Meredith Keller, Senior Vice President, PSG
“Mentorship is essential to advancing women in any industry. We all had to start somewhere, and the people we choose as mentors have an enormous impact on our development — any successful CEO will tell you they have had amazing mentors along their career journey. Mentors can provide valuable support, encouragement and confidence around career roles, and a lot of the time they recognize your potential and drive you toward opportunities and personal growth that you otherwise wouldn’t have strived for. So, I’d encourage anyone who wants to develop and grow to have a mentor.”
Christina Kosmowski, CEO, LogicMonitor
“Be agile and open-minded. I often talk about the ability to say yes. I had no idea what exactly I wanted to be when I grew up, and certainly SaaS was not a thing when I graduated college in 1998. Software was old and stodgy, and I just never expected to get in that space. But so much has changed. The internet was coming up right as I was graduating school, the.com era, and so I said yes to a lot of exciting opportunities and I didn't know where they would take me. But I just constantly stayed open to new ideas and practiced agility, and I’ve seen how the world's continuing to evolve at an even more rapid pace. The iPhone wasn't here when my kids were born. Now, AI is changing the world and we can't even predict what's going to be next. So we always have to have a learning mentality. I think if you keep doing that, you're going to be able to achieve things that you didn't even know were possible.”
Lisa Lee, Managing Director, Investor Relations, PSG
“Trust yourself and take risks. When someone offers you an opportunity, take it. Or, at least truly consider it before turning it down rather than second-guessing yourself and saying no right away. Someone once asked me, ‘How many decisions or actions have you taken where you were thoughtful that you truly regretted? One out of 100? Five out of 1,000? It’s probably a very small number and you likely learned something valuable anyway.’ This really resonated with me. Over time, I have learned to trust my instincts, believe in my track record and realize that with teamwork, focus and dedication that I can make an impact.”
Bethany Little, CEO, PatientNow
“My advice to women looking to pursue a career in tech is to listen, be proactive and execute. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone to build a relationship. Imposter's syndrome is what you make it — it's in your head. You can do hard things and you have to get out of your comfort zone to grow. Have more confidence to advocate for yourself at an earlier age. Know your worth.”