It's International Women's Day! It's a day to celebrate the achievements of women everywhere. I firmly believe in a world in which every human being is entitled to the same respect no matter what makes them different.
We have our work cut out for us. Great challenges ahead. Starting with climate change. We need all the brains, all the perspectives and all the creativity available to find solutions. Since it's Women's History Month and International Women's Day, I decided to highlight the valuable contribution of one of our employees, Alicia. I call her my Captain because she is THE person I trust to bring the boat in.
When I hired her, she didn't know much about what we do at Orisha. Not agriculture, not software engineering. Surprisingly, that never worried me. I think I knew she would learn faster than her shadow.
Now that she can program with her eyes closed, Captain Alicia has taken on so many responsibilities that she allows the entire team to do more for our clients.
"Your mission to grow vegetables to feed the province is, for me, the noblest vocation there is. But I also know that it is hard, tiring and under-appreciated work. By taking on the development role at Orisha, I hope to humbly contribute to this mission. I am doing what I am doing today because I want to work for you so that my work can make your work easier." - Alicia
Many of you are producers. So entrepreneurs. You know how little time we have to manage everything. We all dream of someone we can trust to take the initiative to overcome challenges. Well, I'm lucky enough to have that person come up with solutions before I even notice the problem. And on top of that, they are better solutions than I would have thought of!
Just in the last year, she has :
Took over research and development at Orisha with flying colours
Reinventing our team meetings. From the annoying waste of time to formative entertainment
Turned a crazy kinesiologist into a brilliant programmer
My captain is not very loud, but when she talks, you know you have to listen. Several times she has dared to challenge my ideas... and that's exactly what I need. Each time, she has saved me from bad decisions!
Through it all, she is always there to support everyone on the team. Starting with encouraging me to take care of myself when she sees that I'm slipping.
I stop here but I could talk for a long time about my captain Alicia!
When I think that not so long ago, one could miss the contributions of an extraordinary woman!
I've often heard it said that in order to accomplish great things, you have to start by surrounding yourself well. At Orisha, we are crazy about helping to feed humanity in a sustainable way. Well, with people like Alicia on the team, I believe it!
Thanks to you, Ali, we have a stronger team, a better product and... Spotify playlists that will always surprise me!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for using your superpowers to help us make a difference!
Guillaume
Co-founder of Orisha