Attendee Spotlight: Ria Goculdas
Members | November 30, 2015
Name: Ria Goculdas
Position: Senior Associate
Company: Northbridge
Industry: Insurance
Tell us a bit about what you do, and what do you enjoy most about it?
I implement customer innovation projects to support the marketing, claims, risk services and corporate underwriting teams, and help the organization to be more competitive by staying on top of competitive intelligence. I enjoy writing about new technological developments in our company blog.
What attracted you to Lean In Canada?
What attracted me was the opportunity to network with our women, and I have found the speakers are always interesting. It’s a great forum to engage in debate and discussions with like-minded women as well.
What was one thing that most resonated with you today?
The myth of “Doing it All” – An anecdote is given in which Tina Fey says that the rudest question which people regularly ask women is “How do you do it all?”, because the assumption is that a woman who is achieving in business must not have time to spend with family, and this same question is not asked to men in business. An anecdote about Laurie Glimcher describes how she recognizes that she cannot do all work and is frank about her limits.
If you were to recommend Lean In Canada to anyone, what would you say?
A team of game changers using knowledge and experience to bridge the leadership gap between men and women and bring equality in the workplace. They bring together great speakers, networking opportunities, and support!
How are you leaning in?
Getting out of my comfort zone and challenging old and established ideas in my workplace – some people who work in insurance see the industry as static, versus dynamic, and are resistant to change their ways.
Name one notable woman you think deserves a shout out or career recognition – and what would you like us to know about her?
Indra Nooyi is Pepsi’s CEO. She brought the company to a full transformation, in terms of revenues and success. She is focusing on what she says is now driving innovation in the company: design thinking. In 2012 she brought in Mauro Porcini as Pepsi’s first-ever chief design officer. Now, Nooyi says, “design” has a voice in nearly every important decision that the company makes.
