Speaker 1: That for me was what with the fire and pushed
Speaker 1: me to go okay. I can either be unhappy about
Speaker 1: this issue and how it's affected me, or I can
Speaker 1: take that experience, that personally lived experience, which has given
Speaker 1: me really unique insight into what's causing this problem and
Speaker 1: what needs to change, and I can do something good
Speaker 1: with it and I can help other people. That was
Speaker 1: Tricia Probably. She's only just graduated college, but she's already
Speaker 1: learned value the lessons that have resulted in a successful
Speaker 1: career as a social entrepreneur. One of her best known
Speaker 1: inventions that she patented when she was a young team
Speaker 1: is Rethink, a unique technology that stops bullying. That creation
Speaker 1: earned her a spot on Forbes thirty list. I'm the
Speaker 1: Land for beer and this is senecas on women to hear.
Speaker 1: We are bringing you one hundred of the world's most
Speaker 1: inspiring and history making women you need to hear. Tricia
Speaker 1: Probably recently graduated from Harvard, where she was the youngest
Speaker 1: ever person to win the President's Innovation Challenge. She's also
Speaker 1: appeared on Shark Tank, given a Ted talk, one a
Speaker 1: Rhodes Scholarship, and partnered with the United States State Department
Speaker 1: She's also published her first book for school children. It's
Speaker 1: called Rethink the Internet, How to make the Digital World
Speaker 1: a lot less Sucky. Listen and learn why. Tricia probably
Speaker 1: is one of Seneca's on women to Hear. I'm speaking
Speaker 1: today with Trisha Probu, the inventor of Rethink, a tool
Speaker 1: to reduce cyber bullying. Welcome, Trisia. We're really looking forward
Speaker 1: to this conversation. Thank you so much. I'm past I'm
Speaker 1: so excited to be here. Rethink is such a power,
Speaker 1: a full tool, and obviously something critically needed today for
Speaker 1: our listeners who might not be familiar with it. Can
Speaker 1: you briefly describe how it works and what purposes serves?
Speaker 1: What is it? Rethink is a patent of technology that
Speaker 1: detects and stop cyber bullying before it happens. So when
Speaker 1: you download the Rethink app onto your phone, our custom
Speaker 1: built Rethink keyboard, which has the power to detect hurtful
Speaker 1: or hateful content, replaces your mobile devices default keyboard, and
Speaker 1: then it works across all of the apps on your phone,
Speaker 1: from email to social media to detect offensive content and
Speaker 1: give you a chance to rethink. So if a user
Speaker 1: tries to say something let's just say it's you are
Speaker 1: so ugly. The rethink detects that and then prompts the user,
Speaker 1: WHOA are you sure you want to say that. When
Speaker 1: I first came up with the concept, I wasn't sure
Speaker 1: how effective it was going to be, if it was
Speaker 1: gonna work, if it was going to actually stop cyber bullying.
Speaker 1: So I conducted a study to determine its efficacy and
Speaker 1: found that over nine of the time, youth that receive
Speaker 1: a repink alert change their mind. So it's an incredibly
Speaker 1: effective way to proactively stop cyber bullying. That's so interesting.
Speaker 1: So the bullier, so to speak, the bully thinks twice
Speaker 1: about actually sending that message. Is that right exactly? And
Speaker 1: the core principle there is the idea that we don't
Speaker 1: want to put the burden to stop cyber bullying on
Speaker 1: the victim. And when I first entered the anti hate space,
Speaker 1: that really was the dominant approach was encouraging victims to
Speaker 1: tell a parent or to tell an educator. It sounds
Speaker 1: like a good solution and theory. In fact, research finds
Speaker 1: that of victims don't tell anyone, So putting the burden
Speaker 1: on the victim to stop the cyber bullying or to
Speaker 1: find a perpetrator after it's happened simply doesn't work. What
Speaker 1: I wanted to do was create something that would stop
Speaker 1: cyber bullying at the source, with the cyber bully and hopefully,
Speaker 1: you know, as you point out, get them to think twice,
Speaker 1: learn that what they're saying online really matters and can
Speaker 1: affect the people around them. That's so interesting. It's actually
Speaker 1: very hopeful too, because I think one often thinks that
Speaker 1: maybe bullies can't can't be influenced in a positive way
Speaker 1: at least at so this is really impressive. You've been
Speaker 1: at this even though you're very young. You've been at
Speaker 1: this anti bullying advocacy for a considerable period of years. Now.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us what sparked your personal commitment at
Speaker 1: such a a really young age. You know, I also
Speaker 1: want to know is where did you see cyber bullying?
Speaker 1: Did you see it in the media, did you see
Speaker 1: it in your community? Were you personally affected by it?
Speaker 1: How did you get into this? It was a little
Speaker 1: bit of a combination of seeing cyber bullying in the
Speaker 1: media in my community, um and unfortunately experiencing it in
Speaker 1: my life. Uh So, growing up as a kid, I
Speaker 1: had experiences with bullying and cyber bullying, being different, being
Speaker 1: not like UM some of the students that I was
Speaker 1: growing up with, and so I knew quite well what
Speaker 1: it felt like to be isolated or rejected or alone.
Speaker 1: But for the longest time, I assumed that those experiences
Speaker 1: were because there was something wrong with me. I assumed
Speaker 1: that because I was different, or because I was rejected,
Speaker 1: it was it has something to do with who I was.
Speaker 1: And it was only when I was thirteen that one
Speaker 1: day I came home from school and I happened to
Speaker 1: read online a news article. So you know, this is
Speaker 1: the media about a twelve year old girl who had
Speaker 1: been cyber bullied for over a year and a half
Speaker 1: and received, I mean, just some of the most horrifying messages.
Speaker 1: You know, the world would be a better place without you.
Speaker 1: I hope you drink bleach and die. And unfortunately, Um
Speaker 1: died by suicide. And I remember, at thirteen just being shocked,
Speaker 1: thinking this is so unacceptable, and not really being able
Speaker 1: to wrap my mind around the fact that here was
Speaker 1: a young girl, a girl a year younger than me,
Speaker 1: who had been pushed to this, and I kept thinking,
Speaker 1: this is not okay, and it was really my aha
Speaker 1: moment of oh my goodness. I used to think cyber
Speaker 1: bullying was this problem that only affected me, or only
Speaker 1: affected certain types of people. Now I'm doing research online
Speaker 1: and realizing in many ways it's a silent pandemic that's
Speaker 1: affecting millions of youth globally, and we don't really have
Speaker 1: any solutions to tackle it. And so that was really
Speaker 1: what lit the fire and ignited in me this passion
Speaker 1: to want to stop cyber bullying and to ensure that
Speaker 1: all youth feel safe and respected and included online, like
Speaker 1: I deserved, Like this young woman whose name was Rebecca
Speaker 1: deserved um, like all young people deserved. Tricia, I wonder
Speaker 1: what made you so resilient, because you were obviously being
Speaker 1: targeted as well, and yet instead of having it have
Speaker 1: a negative impact on you in a serious way, you
Speaker 1: were resilient enough to really try to do something about it.
Speaker 1: I think for me it was finding purpose in other people,
Speaker 1: you know, looking around my community, talking with friends realizing
Speaker 1: this issue was affecting them, to reading about it in
Speaker 1: news stories, and realizing again that this was such a
Speaker 1: big problem, you know. I think that's where I got
Speaker 1: my resilience from was wanting to make the world better
Speaker 1: for other people, and that really was from a young age.
Speaker 1: One of my defining treats was I was always a helper.
Speaker 1: I always wanted to help an uplift and empower other people.
Speaker 1: I was always the person who would talk with the
Speaker 1: other students who were scared or afraid, you know, when
Speaker 1: their parents dropped them off at daycare because they didn't
Speaker 1: know any want or because it was their first day.
Speaker 1: I was always the first one to welcome them, to
Speaker 1: support them. And so I think realizing the scope of
Speaker 1: the issue, the fact also that it was disproportionately affecting
Speaker 1: these historically marginalized communities like women and people of color,
Speaker 1: that for me was what lit the fire and pushed
Speaker 1: me to go okay. I can either be unhappy about
Speaker 1: this issue and how it affected me, or I can
Speaker 1: take that experience, that personally lived experience which has given
Speaker 1: me really unique insight into what's causing this problem and
Speaker 1: what needs to change, and I can do something good
Speaker 1: with it and I can help other people. Um And
Speaker 1: I think that that driving mission was really big for
Speaker 1: me in helping me push me to do the work
Speaker 1: and continue to do the work. That's really so beautiful
Speaker 1: and and how mature that at your young age, at
Speaker 1: the time, you began thinking about making a positive impact
Speaker 1: on what has become such a serious problem. So what
Speaker 1: kind of pressures did that put on you? Here? You
Speaker 1: are thirteen years old at the time you begin working
Speaker 1: on Rethink. It's a very high profile role for a teenager.
Speaker 1: How did that make you feel? Did it make you
Speaker 1: feel like you were under tremendous pressure, did you feel
Speaker 1: enormously challenged or did you just go about it in
Speaker 1: a very methodical way? Oh? I think I definitely felt
Speaker 1: the pressure and I felt a little challenged. Um, not
Speaker 1: at first though, because when I first started the work,
Speaker 1: I had no idea that it was going to be
Speaker 1: you know, a product or an entity. Now I like
Speaker 1: to call it a global movement to be more intentional
Speaker 1: and thoughtful online. I was just curious to see if
Speaker 1: this idea that I had come up with could stop
Speaker 1: cyber bullying. So really it started as a science fair
Speaker 1: project and then balloon into something that I could have
Speaker 1: never imagined. And so starting off, I was, you know,
Speaker 1: I was just following, you know, a series of steps,
Speaker 1: and I was really more an investigator and a researcher
Speaker 1: and just curious to understand if this idea I had
Speaker 1: UM could make an impact. But certainly as I realized
Speaker 1: oh my goodness, I absolutely could and it had the
Speaker 1: potential to transform lives, I felt this real pressure to
Speaker 1: do it right, UM, and you know, not to fail
Speaker 1: the many people who are so excited by the idea,
Speaker 1: who thought that it really did have the potential UM
Speaker 1: to stop cyber bullying before it happened. And then of
Speaker 1: course being a young kid, you know, juggling all of
Speaker 1: that work, uh, you know, which quickly grew UM as
Speaker 1: the product became extremely popular. As we were, you know,
Speaker 1: pursuing these partnerships with Scholastic and the State of Michigan
Speaker 1: and the UST Department. UM, the pressure certainly grew juggling
Speaker 1: at all. UM. I think how I dealt with it
Speaker 1: was probably reminded myself how lucky I was to be
Speaker 1: able to do work that I care about so deeply. UM.
Speaker 1: For me, I see the work as a privilege, UM,
Speaker 1: to make impact and to do something that I am
Speaker 1: so passionate about. UM. I think also just creating support
Speaker 1: networks for myself and you know people that I that
Speaker 1: I love friends and family UM that have always believed
Speaker 1: in me and encouraged me. UM, you know, through high
Speaker 1: points and through failures. UM. I think was really the
Speaker 1: cute UM. And you know one other pressure challenge and
Speaker 1: highlight is just it is the way that I was
Speaker 1: perceived and seen because I was so young. You know,
Speaker 1: I talked about partnerships early on a lot of partners Uh.
Speaker 1: It kind of saw me as very cute but not
Speaker 1: very serious. And so that was I was a more
Speaker 1: difficult work challenge. UM. That took you know, just a
Speaker 1: lot of confidence and a lot of hard work and
Speaker 1: a lot of persistence, UM to get some of those
Speaker 1: initial partnerships and then to create um, you know, a
Speaker 1: network UM with which I could I could make this
Speaker 1: this app that I had created a movement. Well, so
Speaker 1: many wonderful lessons of in what you just described as
Speaker 1: to how you embraced this desire to really have impact.
Speaker 1: You know, I was also thinking, as you were, as
Speaker 1: you were talking about it, we should never underestimate what
Speaker 1: can come out of a science fair project. So I
Speaker 1: know that you have a book which came out fairly recently. Yes,
Speaker 1: rethink the Internet. It sounds like a very good title
Speaker 1: for an important test. Tell us about the book and
Speaker 1: why did you write it, what do you hope will
Speaker 1: come of it? So we think the Internet is the
Speaker 1: world's first ever buy youth four youth guide to safely
Speaker 1: and responsibly navigating the Internet. And the book for me
Speaker 1: was really born out of the experience of, you know,
Speaker 1: over my now nearly decade long career doing this work,
Speaker 1: meeting you all over the world, um, you know, in
Speaker 1: the US certainly, but in Europe and Asia, around the world,
Speaker 1: and having this common experience of talking with them about
Speaker 1: technology and the Internet, and realizing that they were extremely
Speaker 1: tech savvy. They knew how to use their phones, but
Speaker 1: they were digitally not very literate. They didn't know what
Speaker 1: digital footprint will is. They hadn't thought very critically about
Speaker 1: managing screen time or detecting this and disinformation online. There
Speaker 1: were a lot of digital literacy skills that were missing, um.
Speaker 1: And part of it was because some of that education
Speaker 1: wasn't being delivered. But another part of it was because
Speaker 1: the education that was being delivered wasn't exciting to them.
Speaker 1: It was pretty bland. Um. Sometimes it was delivered by
Speaker 1: people that they didn't consider legitimate. Miss space you know,
Speaker 1: older adults maybe who didn't use technology as regularly as
Speaker 1: they did or use the social media platforms that were
Speaker 1: relevant to their lives. UM. And so I have this
Speaker 1: experience over and over again. And then the pandemic hit
Speaker 1: and I was at home, and you know, it had
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, all of this extra time, and
Speaker 1: I thought to myself, this is such an incredible time
Speaker 1: to do something I wanted to do for a long time,
Speaker 1: which is to create the book that I think all
Speaker 1: of these youth would love and that they really need. UM.
Speaker 1: And that is, you know, a guide that teaches them
Speaker 1: in a way that's super fun and super accessible, but
Speaker 1: it's also very educational and informative. How to be smart,
Speaker 1: responsible digital citizens, how to make the Internet a kind place,
Speaker 1: how to make positions online that they can live with,
Speaker 1: both online and offline, um, and how to ensure that
Speaker 1: they're helping and uplifting and empowering other people online. And
Speaker 1: so that is what gave birth to Rethink the Internet. UM.
Speaker 1: The format of the book is it's you know, seven stories,
Speaker 1: fictional stories. All of these characters, um, you know, who
Speaker 1: find themselves in tricky situations online and they're trying to
Speaker 1: figure out how to troubleshoot them, and the reader follows
Speaker 1: these characters along their journeys and learns the lessons that
Speaker 1: the characters learned. UM. And the book also comes with
Speaker 1: a companion guide for parents educators so that they can
Speaker 1: support young readers as they're reading the book. UM. But
Speaker 1: really my goal was to write in a voice that
Speaker 1: was super relatable, super accessible, UM, and in a way
Speaker 1: that would be really legitimate to this youth audience. And
Speaker 1: so far that's been the overwhelming piece of feedback is
Speaker 1: you really love that they are hearing from a fellow
Speaker 1: young person UM that knows exactly what topics are relevant
Speaker 1: to them. UM. And that they're not just learning, they're
Speaker 1: learning in a way that's fun and more meaningful to them.
Speaker 1: And what is the age group that you're targeting when
Speaker 1: you talk about youth? So the age group for the
Speaker 1: book is middle grade UM eight eight through twelve is
Speaker 1: basically the the defined age group. But it's funny, I've
Speaker 1: talked with so many adults who said that they found
Speaker 1: found the book really valuable as well, because you know,
Speaker 1: some of the lessons we teach are not just applicable
Speaker 1: to youth, UM. You know, our first chapter, for instance,
Speaker 1: dives into asking for people's permission before you post photos online.
Speaker 1: And there's so many adults who, you know, told me
Speaker 1: after they read that chapter they started to think back
Speaker 1: on all the photos they've taken, not only have friends,
Speaker 1: but of their family, their kids, um, and not really
Speaker 1: ever asked if it was okay with them that they
Speaker 1: go ahead and post that on Facebook or you know,
Speaker 1: share that on another so media platform. So I think
Speaker 1: the lessons very applicable, you know, more broadly to two
Speaker 1: adults as well. But the defined age group is ages
Speaker 1: age or twelve, you know, and posting photos you're You're
Speaker 1: exactly right. Such a simple proposition and yet such an
Speaker 1: important lesson in that Seneca has one hundred women to hear.
Speaker 1: We'll be back after the short break now in your
Speaker 1: young life, and we're still talking about a very young Tricia.
Speaker 1: Probably you're also interested in the diversity gap in entrepreneurship,
Speaker 1: which I find fascinating as well. I know that in
Speaker 1: college you were an ambassador for so Gal, a women
Speaker 1: lad next gen venture firm that invests in women and
Speaker 1: diverse entrepreneurs, which is straordinary in so many ways, one
Speaker 1: being the fact that you were so young when you
Speaker 1: undertook this. But also it really the gap in venture
Speaker 1: capital firms that really serve women and other diverse entrepreneurs
Speaker 1: is enormous. So why is diversity so important in entrepreneurship?
Speaker 1: And how did you get interested in this? Yeah? Absolutely,
Speaker 1: I couldn't agree more. UM. I'll start with the second question,
Speaker 1: how did I get into this? It was really a
Speaker 1: product of becoming a female CEO so young and realizing
Speaker 1: from the get go, especially in the tech space, that
Speaker 1: I was quite alone in doing that. I did not
Speaker 1: have a lot of fellow female CEOs or fellow women
Speaker 1: of color um sitting you know at you know, board
Speaker 1: tables with me um or you know, in meetings with
Speaker 1: high powered players. UM. I also realized that, you know,
Speaker 1: that was the case that older age groups too, and
Speaker 1: perhaps it was you know exacerbated and even more in
Speaker 1: those groups, I didn't have a lot of role models
Speaker 1: to look up to. And for those you know, female
Speaker 1: entrepreneurs and CEOs that I had the chance to connect with,
Speaker 1: you know, the common less you know, common story rather
Speaker 1: that I would hear over and over again is how
Speaker 1: hard it was to explain their products, especially when they
Speaker 1: were geared towards other women, two male vcs that that
Speaker 1: didn't really know what they were talking about, you know,
Speaker 1: didn't trust them unless they had five other men referring
Speaker 1: them and vouching for them. And how frustrating that experience was. Um.
Speaker 1: And So for me that was a huge wake up
Speaker 1: call of of realizing because as a kid, I had
Speaker 1: always been super confident. Um. You know, maybe maybe a
Speaker 1: little too confident for my own good. But but in
Speaker 1: a way that I think ended up helping me in
Speaker 1: that I I really you know, I believed in myself unequivocally. Um.
Speaker 1: And then you know, got into the space and and
Speaker 1: realized that there are so many, so many women who
Speaker 1: get into the space and have no one to rely on,
Speaker 1: you know, no mentors, no support network thing. And I
Speaker 1: found it difficult. You know, for the first time in
Speaker 1: my life, I was struggling because I didn't have you know,
Speaker 1: people vouching for me. In fact, I had people, you
Speaker 1: know that were actively doubting me. So it was that
Speaker 1: experience that then pushed me to say, Okay, this needs
Speaker 1: to change. And you know, as I found my way
Speaker 1: in this space, I have a responsibility uh to try
Speaker 1: and drive some of that change, and so you know,
Speaker 1: part of it was I would teach girls who code
Speaker 1: classes in high school. UM. I graduated nearly a hundred women. UM,
Speaker 1: you know, imparting them with the skill so that they
Speaker 1: could go off and form the sisterhood that we had
Speaker 1: created in our clubs, in tech companies and in other
Speaker 1: spaces and invite more women to join. I also, you know,
Speaker 1: was a part of you know, the Sogal initiative, UM
Speaker 1: inspiring the next generation of of of female leaders. And
Speaker 1: what I've learned in doing that work is the reason
Speaker 1: diversity and entrepreneurship is so so important is because of
Speaker 1: female perspectives. UM. You know, perspectives of people of color
Speaker 1: UM help you to both see products that you otherwise
Speaker 1: wouldn't see, but also, especially in my line of work,
Speaker 1: see problems where you wouldn't otherwise see them. You know.
Speaker 1: I think back to the example that we always talk
Speaker 1: about in the space, which is, uh, seat belts in cars.
Speaker 1: You know, seat belts and cars were historically only ever tested.
Speaker 1: The seat belts and air bags were only ever tested
Speaker 1: on mails. And so you know, statistically, if you look
Speaker 1: at the statistics of who is dying when people were
Speaker 1: getting into car crashes. Um, it was women because these
Speaker 1: air bags and the seat belts were not designed for women.
Speaker 1: And what I've come to realize in this work is
Speaker 1: it's the same thing more broadly in the business space,
Speaker 1: right is you know, you have products that are created
Speaker 1: that have all these externalities, um, you know, on our society,
Speaker 1: and when you don't have women at the table helping
Speaker 1: create those products, helping inform those products or create products
Speaker 1: of their own, um, a lot of those products don't
Speaker 1: work for women, or don't work for people of color
Speaker 1: or other marginalized groups. You know. I think, for instance,
Speaker 1: of a young woman who I met at Sogel who
Speaker 1: was trying to create a product and are product that
Speaker 1: allows people to see what makeup would look like on
Speaker 1: them that actually works for every skin color, because existing
Speaker 1: products only work for people with lighter skin. And she
Speaker 1: realized this when she tried to use these products, um,
Speaker 1: and big shock, or the people creating those products didn't
Speaker 1: really include you know, many people of color. So that's
Speaker 1: you know, one huge takeaway, um. And then you know,
Speaker 1: the other thing I've noticed is diversity and entrepreneurship inspires
Speaker 1: more diversity and entrepreneurship, Right That that is the way
Speaker 1: we create a reinforcing cycle. Um. And so you know
Speaker 1: that's the reason I'm so passionate about it, because if
Speaker 1: we want more diversity and entrepreneurship, we need to push
Speaker 1: forward now, uh, you know, to set the foundation for
Speaker 1: you know, generations of diversity of you know, more young
Speaker 1: women and more people of color, you know, realizing this
Speaker 1: is an opport you know, an option for them, this
Speaker 1: is something that they can do. So that's that's a
Speaker 1: very long winded answer. But all that's to say, Um,
Speaker 1: it really couldn't be more important, And I I wish,
Speaker 1: even with all the work that I've done, that there
Speaker 1: was more of a focus, was more of an emphasis,
Speaker 1: and was even more work towards addressing that problem. Well,
Speaker 1: it really isn't a long winded, uh answer, it's such
Speaker 1: an important answer, And as someone who has herself advocated
Speaker 1: for diversity and entrepreneurship, I don't think I could have
Speaker 1: done a better job than you. Just didn't describing why
Speaker 1: it is so critically important, uh, and why that perspective
Speaker 1: is so important to incorporate into design and other innovations.
Speaker 1: I wonder, as you were talking about the importance of
Speaker 1: venture capital, did you have to go out and raise
Speaker 1: capital for your own creations, for your inventions, whether for
Speaker 1: the technology or for the book. Did you need to
Speaker 1: do that? I considered it UM for the technology and
Speaker 1: had opportunities and found UM pretty consistently that it was
Speaker 1: difficult to connect with investors that had as much of
Speaker 1: a mission focus as I did. And that's kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, an interesting component of our identity as a
Speaker 1: social enterprises we value are are mission just as much
Speaker 1: as our margins. And that's kind of a it's a
Speaker 1: new approach in today's world and um, you know, it's
Speaker 1: a new generation of young people. I think we're trying
Speaker 1: to UM make business something that does good UM and
Speaker 1: and goes beyond just turning a profit. So it I
Speaker 1: ended up just just bootstrapping and being extremely aggressive about
Speaker 1: every funding opportunity I possibly possibly could but UM, but
Speaker 1: in the experiences I did have, it was just, UM,
Speaker 1: it was just hard to to find vcs that, you know,
Speaker 1: one I felt like would respect me enough not to,
Speaker 1: you know, roll over my own decision making. I think
Speaker 1: in part because I was a woman, especially in part
Speaker 1: because I was so young, UM, and also because I
Speaker 1: had this vision of business that could do good for
Speaker 1: the world and make money, and that remains I think
Speaker 1: a really radical vision that is slowly starting to come
Speaker 1: to fruition, but I think can be very powerful and
Speaker 1: is especially needed, you know, as our our world is
Speaker 1: literally on fire um and and needs more activism and
Speaker 1: work um and and less willingness to compromise on things
Speaker 1: that we really can't compromise on. Um. But but it
Speaker 1: was hard to get people to to buy into that vision. Well,
Speaker 1: hopefully that will be your next book, because I think
Speaker 1: we need to know that. You know, it's fascinating to
Speaker 1: listen to you, um, just enjoying it no end. And
Speaker 1: I wonder what personal qualities do you attribute to your success?
Speaker 1: Are their habits, characteristics or mindsets that enabled you to
Speaker 1: do all that you're able to do at such a
Speaker 1: young age. Mm hmm, it's a really good question. I
Speaker 1: would probably we say, you know, three things come to mind.
Speaker 1: One I know already mentioned earlier, but I think this
Speaker 1: is especially for women and women leaders, is just confidence,
Speaker 1: you know. I I can't tell you you know how
Speaker 1: many women you know, especially fellow CEOs I've met, who
Speaker 1: will apologize for wanting to say something during a meeting
Speaker 1: who really ask for rather than demand their seat at
Speaker 1: the table, UM, and really struggle because of that. UM.
Speaker 1: And it's something that I've I've noticed a lot of women,
Speaker 1: myself included. You know, it's just hard for us because
Speaker 1: we've been raised to be polite. UM. And unfortunately, what
Speaker 1: that means, you know, when you get into the business
Speaker 1: world or other domains for leadership, is you have men
Speaker 1: who are often half as qualified as you are, confidently
Speaker 1: strutting around the room and taking whatever they want and
Speaker 1: asking for whatever they want. Well, you know, we just
Speaker 1: kind of sit, you know, quietly wanting to be nice. Um.
Speaker 1: But nice doesn't doesn't always pay in that space. So
Speaker 1: I think just being really confident about yourself and your abilities, UM,
Speaker 1: and recognizing that in so many cases, you know, we
Speaker 1: are we are so much more overqualified relative to the
Speaker 1: people we are. We are you know, we are in
Speaker 1: the room with UM. So believing in that and believing
Speaker 1: in our abilities and being confident but for me was huge. UM.
Speaker 1: Another thing I'll mention is just embracing failure and seeing
Speaker 1: failure as one step along the journey to greatness to
Speaker 1: make me impact to you know, changing the world. Failure
Speaker 1: can be so uncomfortable. UM. Certainly, as a young person,
Speaker 1: I struggle a lot with it. And I think a
Speaker 1: lot of women struggle with failure, you know. I I
Speaker 1: think a lot of Arashima Sajanni, who's a founder of
Speaker 1: grows who Code. She said in her Ted talk, you know,
Speaker 1: we want to get it right. We meaning women, want
Speaker 1: to get it right every time, and if we don't
Speaker 1: get it right, we don't want to do it at all,
Speaker 1: you know. And there's a lot of studies that back
Speaker 1: that up. And so, you know, especially in the world
Speaker 1: of entrepre prenership, your entire job every day is just
Speaker 1: taking risks UM, knowing that ninety percent of them are
Speaker 1: probably going to fail, and so UM, you know, learning
Speaker 1: to embrace failure. And in my case, I always see it.
Speaker 1: You know, if I have a bad day, is this
Speaker 1: is one step further towards my goals because failure is required.
Speaker 1: Failure means I'm trying. Failure means I've discovered one path
Speaker 1: that's not going to work. At least now I know
Speaker 1: not to focus on that path. I can look at
Speaker 1: another one. UM. I think changing the mindset around failure
Speaker 1: and I'm being really open to it. UM is key,
Speaker 1: and then the third is just making connections and never
Speaker 1: underestimating the power of human connection. You know. I think
Speaker 1: one important lesson I've learned is as a kid, I
Speaker 1: always used to think, you know, leaders, especially you know,
Speaker 1: big businesses or in government, you must be the brainiest
Speaker 1: or the smartest people out there. And they are in
Speaker 1: some sense. But after a certain point, you know, smarts
Speaker 1: kind of give way to a general a general plane,
Speaker 1: and everyone's pretty smart. And what really makes the difference
Speaker 1: are you know, what we call so called soft skills,
Speaker 1: you know, being able to really want to get to
Speaker 1: know the people around you. Uh, you know, seeing every
Speaker 1: relationship as an opportunity, um, you know, to to give
Speaker 1: and to get and to learn and to grow. Um.
Speaker 1: It's not necessarily about getting a job interview or getting referral.
Speaker 1: It's about seeing it as also an opportunity for personal
Speaker 1: development and growth. I've learned so much from you know, mentors,
Speaker 1: people who inspire being just in personal conversations and have
Speaker 1: become a better leader and a better woman and a
Speaker 1: better person, uh, you know because of it. And so
Speaker 1: I think never underestimating the power of human connection and
Speaker 1: recognizing that those those soft skills are super super powerful
Speaker 1: UM as you're building a business, UM, or leading in government,
Speaker 1: or leading in any other space, UM, just because uh,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's such a great way uh to
Speaker 1: develop the work that you're doing, also to develop who
Speaker 1: you are and always ensure that you're learning and growing.
Speaker 1: So that's that's certainly been cored of my success. I'd say, well,
Speaker 1: you know, these are I think truly important lessons UM.
Speaker 1: Confidence building, the need to embrace failure for all the
Speaker 1: reasons you beautifully described, and then to connect with others.
Speaker 1: In fact, my my colleague Kim Azareli and I did
Speaker 1: a book several years ago called Fast Forward UM, and
Speaker 1: these were lessons that we learned in the process as
Speaker 1: you have that we incorporated into that advice. So it's
Speaker 1: it's tried and true, and thank you for so wonderfully
Speaker 1: laying those those lessons out. I'm sure listeners are captivated
Speaker 1: by it as well. Unfortunately, we've reached that hour that
Speaker 1: I always regret, which is when you're having a wonderful
Speaker 1: conversation it has to come to an end. But before
Speaker 1: we have to sign off, let me ascue as a
Speaker 1: still very young woman looking at the world with all
Speaker 1: of the challenges that in many ways may only grow worse.
Speaker 1: What makes you optimistic? What keeps you hopeful? Such a
Speaker 1: great question, because I think, like a lot of um,
Speaker 1: a lot of Americans and a lot of global citizens.
Speaker 1: As you point out, we've been in dire need of
Speaker 1: some optimism over the last few years. But UM, I
Speaker 1: think for me, what keeps me optimistic really is my
Speaker 1: generation gen Z and our commitment to advocating for the voiceless,
Speaker 1: for pushing back on the status quo and being okay
Speaker 1: getting uncomfortable, to change culture, to change norms, to change
Speaker 1: how people see groups that have been marginalized or pushed
Speaker 1: to the sides. That really inspires me because this generation
Speaker 1: you know, by definition, in many ways has as based adversity.
Speaker 1: It's a you know, for the duration of you know,
Speaker 1: of of its life. You know, we were born right
Speaker 1: before nine eleven, we lived through the Great Recession, We've
Speaker 1: lived through a pandemic. Um. It has been blow after
Speaker 1: blow after blow for us, and just this unyielding hopefulness
Speaker 1: and really demand to produce change for our world because
Speaker 1: we know that we can't afford to live without that
Speaker 1: change literally, um, and in so many other ways, UM
Speaker 1: for me is deeply inspiring and pushes me to keep
Speaker 1: going because if we can do it amidst amidst the
Speaker 1: many challenges that we've seen and we will see, UM,
Speaker 1: then we can all do it well. Thank you for that.
Speaker 1: I find you very inspiring and um very hopeful about
Speaker 1: what your generation will tackle going forward. Tricia Probably, what
Speaker 1: a wonderful conversation, but even more importantly, just extraordinary the
Speaker 1: different that you have made and I'm confident will continue
Speaker 1: to make in the years to come. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, ambassador, with a real honor to
Speaker 1: be on the podcast, and thank you for the amazing
Speaker 1: work that you're doing for women. I think I speak
Speaker 1: for all of us when I say we are incredibly grateful.
Speaker 1: I feel so much optimism about the future listening to
Speaker 1: the remarkable Trisha Probably. Here are three things I took
Speaker 1: from that conversation. First, the desire to do good in
Speaker 1: the world can drive some of the most powerful ideas.
Speaker 1: At a young age, Tricia learned firsthand that bullying was
Speaker 1: a huge problem and that little fire in her She
Speaker 1: told herself, I can either be unhappy about this issue
Speaker 1: and how it's affected me, or I can use my
Speaker 1: personal experience and my unique insights to create change. Second,
Speaker 1: as the CEO of her own company, Tricia saw that
Speaker 1: women and women of color have a hard time acquiring
Speaker 1: the venture capital they need to succeed as entrepreneurs, but
Speaker 1: without women's participation as entrepreneurs, society will miss out on
Speaker 1: gain changing businesses and technologies. Finally, Tricia gives us great
Speaker 1: hope that her generation gen Z will bring about a
Speaker 1: better world. These young people, she says, are advocating for
Speaker 1: the voiceless, pushing back on the status quo, and are
Speaker 1: ready to be uncomfortable in order to change the culture
Speaker 1: and to ensure that no groups are marginalized. Tune in
Speaker 1: next week to hear about our next featured woman and
Speaker 1: discover why she's one of Seneca's one hundred Women to Hear.
Speaker 1: Seneca's one hundred Women To Hear is a collaboration between
Speaker 1: the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio support
Speaker 1: from founding partner p and Have a great day, h