International Women’s Month ft. Emille Rodrigues
Emille is originally from Brazil and first came to Canada in 2019. She has been working with entrepreneurs for a couple of years now and has the exciting job of helping them find the best partnerships (in academia or even with other companies), hire talent and get funding to accelerate the commercialization of their exciting ideas! With a Ph.D. in Science and her postdoc experience in biomedical applications of materials, she is always eager to connect with women in STEM and the Life Sciences sectors that are trying to make a change in the world with their great ideas.
Being an entrepreneur is a challenge, and being a woman-identifying entrepreneur is another challenge in itself. Has there been a time when being a woman pursuing entrepreneurship created additional obstacles? If so, how did you overcome these challenges?
“Indeed, being a woman in this space (and in the STEM space as well!) can be very challenging. One example is that we tend to be interrupted in the middle of a conversation or presentation more often than men and it can be stressful to be constantly interrupted while talking. To overcome this challenge, I often politely ask to finish my sentence and move on while keeping in mind that my voice is important enough to be heard and that I deserve respect to finish my line of thought/presentation.”
Did anyone inspire you in or during your pursuit of entrepreneurship? Subsequently, what inspired the idea for your business/organization?
“I have always had strong, entrepreneurial women in my family: my grandmother, my aunts, and my cousins. I have always been inspired by their resilience in finding resources and running their businesses while being moms, taking care of each other, and giving back to the community in so many different ways. At the same time, I have always witnessed how hard it was for them to juggle it all. Therefore, I wanted to be part of something that helps entrepreneurs to get where they need to be and to be able to commercialize their ideas — which is why I joined OCI.”
We love having strong representations of women-identifying leaders in the entrepreneurial community — is there anything you wish to tell the next generation of aspiring women entrepreneurs?
“Yes, there is! Know your strength, find your allies, and don’t give up! You are enough and more than capable to execute whatever you need to do, and your allies will support you, cheer for you, and celebrate your success!”
