Entrepreneur’s boss advice: Don’t settle
‘‘You can have it all. Why not? Women have the skills; we’re hard workers.’’ Marian Makkar
Be brave, take risks and don’t settle. That was the message Auckland entrepreneur and PhD candidate Marian Makkar gave at the inaugural GirlBoss conference.
Set up by three Auckland high school students, the conference featured several high-profile women, including science educator and nanotechnologist Michelle Dickinson, businesswoman Theresa Gattung and politician Jacinda Ardern.
Having grown up in the Middle East, Makkar knew a thing or two about not taking risks.
Makkar was born and raised in Kuwait, a wealthy Arab country, educated in international schools and went to university in Egypt, where her family is from.
She moved to New Zealand four years ago with her husband and two sons and is now researching and teaching at the Auckland University of Technology.
Makkar said she was always a high achiever but it wasn’t until she moved to New Zealand that she realised her potential.
‘‘In Egypt there’s a saying of ‘walk by the wall’. Keep your head down, do your thing, go home and that’s it,’’ she said.
‘‘There’s no space for growth, for trying things. I never dreamed, if I was in Egypt, to have a PhD, to have a business, to work in a university and have kids.’’
When she came to New Zealand, Makkar founded MyTribeX, a customer intelligence software that helps companies engage with customers, gain insights on what they want and build communities around them.
It related to her PhD, which looked at collaborative consumption, why people engage with platforms like Uber and Airbnb and what may come next.
Until now, she was highly riskaverse – a trait she sees a lot in young women and that needed to go if more strides were to be made towards gender equality.
New Zealand was ‘‘super progressive’’ compared with the Middle East and there was no reason for women not to succeed, Makkar said. ‘‘Don’t settle. You can have a family, you can have a career. You can have it all. Why not? Women have the skills; we’re hard workers. As long as you’re happy with what you’re doing.’’