Venturing as a Woman in the Triangle

I’m new here, in a sense.

The lingo, people and culture of my day-to-day work has shifted. Nerd that I am, one of my first orders of business when I joined Dave (Neal) and Chris (Heivly) at The Startup Factory was to read everything I could get my hands on about venture finance, seed funding, accelerators and startup communities. The heavy box that landed with a thud on my porch served as a tangible reminder of facts I needed to learn.

I expected change, but somehow missed the memo about how different my day-to-day would be. My world at UNC was full of other women, from professors to staff, to students. One minute I was emailing with Michele Bolas, who cranks the engine of Innovate Carolina with Judith Cone, the next I was asking Mary Napier, then Executive Director at the Kenan Institute, for advice. Then, I would hash out the content for the upcoming Minor in Entrepreneurship newsletter with an (unintentionally) all-female student marketing team. The American Underground at the ATC bustles with a different mix of people than Gardner Hall, notably more men.

Second order of business was to find myself a few good role models.