Department for Culture, Media and Sport
One of the things I love the most about International Women’s Day is the stories that surface of everyday inspirational heroes. A lot of them have carved out a career for themselves and turned bumps along the way into trampolines into the next exciting adventure.
My journey has been equally “squiggly” and I am grateful for every turn as it has made me stronger and more sure of who I am. I studied Economics at UCL and didn’t know what job I wanted to do but I knew that I didn’t want to work in an environment where I couldn’t be my authentic self. That ruled out investment banking and consulting straight away because I knew I wouldn’t survive the gruelling hours I had heard stories about.
Staying Authentic
My first job was at Thomson Reuters where I stayed for 4 years before moving into Venture Debt at Silicon Valley Bank. I developed a love for tech and startups and during my second maternity leave I decided I wanted to try and build an app. After a series of challenging discussions with developers, I decided I needed to get a better understanding of the process of going from an idea to an app. I decided to try to learn to code. After a few sessions on codecademy, I realised a classroom environment would suit me better but none of the traditional coding schools were baby friendly, affordable or in the hours that I needed as a parent of two children under 2. That’s when I had the idea to set up Mums in Tech, an 8-week pop-up coding school for mums that ran in partnership with tech companies including Marks and Spencer, Thoughtworks and Ministry of Justice. We converted meeting rooms into a classroom and a creche with on-site nannies to look after babies. During that time the mums would learn about product, MVPs, UX, agile, HTML, CSS and JavaScript and be able to build a website by the end of the course. The company ran for 3 years, introducing over 250 women to the world of tech and giving them access to mentors and a community of lifelong learners.
Tech for good
At the end of 2018, I was pregnant with my third child and reached another chapter in my life where I needed more balance and a new direction was calling me. I realised that I had been very lucky to develop a strong network of entrepreneurs, a lot of them female founders and also had experience of trying to raise investment for my social enterprise. I realised venture capital could be an industry where I could hopefully make a difference and balance my love for tech and startups and my desire to make the world a better place. It’s probably one of the most exciting jobs I’ve ever had. No two days are the same. I love learning about new technologies and how founders want to make their mark in the world.
One of the more rewarding elements is being of service to them, whether it be making an introduction to a potential investor, their next hire or just reading their deck to help prepare them for the next round of funding, it is a joy.
What really does give me joy is being able to do what I love alongside raising my 3 kids. I work flexibly, 3 days a week and feel that has made it possible to also explore my other interests such as acting and modelling.
I’m definitely not your average VC, and if I could share one thing, it would be to find a way to carve a career you love that works for you. When you are happy and being the best version of yourself, everyone benefits.
Follow June on Twitter @JuneAngelides