What Being A Maker Means

In this blog, Amit Shah and Andrea Steele talk about attending this past year’s Makers Conference in Los Angeles. In addition to discussing what being a Maker means to them personally, they also speak about pushing the needle to create a gender-balanced environment and supporting gender equality at Unilever.

Makers is a media brand that seeks to tell the stories of bold, trailblazing women so that they can influence the Makers of tomorrow. The annual MAKERS conference is an opportunity for organizations to send female talent to an unbelievable immersive conference experience. The 2018 Makers Conference featured everyone from Gloria Steinem to Sheryl Sandberg, speaking out about crucial topics like Time’s Up and gender inequality.

Andrea Steele, E-commerce Senior Manager, and Ami Shah, Director of E-Commerce Customer Development, were both selected by their company Unilever to attend this year’s conference because of their efforts to break through the glass ceiling in 2017. To hear them tell it, going to the conference reinforced their passion and drive to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Andrea Steele

“Being a Maker means that when there isn’t a path, you create one,” says Andrea Steele. Working for the Digital & E-commerce team has meant forging her own path as there was no traditional structure for her within the company. “Every time I have taken a new job, there hasn’t been a job description. I have created the position based on the needs of the organization, the work that inspires me, and the white space in the company or the market.” 

A blueprint for building a successful Digital & E-commerce division can’t be done alone, and Andrea knows that she has to push her team forward as well. She’s passionate about discovering new talent in her field, especially in light of an industry-wide skills gap. “We have to create that structure and build out those career paths as they evolve because we need to attract and retain that great talent.”

“I encourage my team of four, brilliant women to break out of boxes that large companies sometimes create,” she says. “There isn’t one way to do things, there isn’t one path that we all need to walk down. With the rapidly changing landscape of niche brands and new channels, for them to succeed, and ultimately for Unilever to succeed, we need to foster differentiated points of view and diverse methods of approaching challenges.”

While Andrea wants to inspire other women to become their own Maker, she recognizes that in order to change the paradigm more and more companies will need to do some heavy lifting. “People need to come together. It can’t just be political, it has to be the economy that drives change. Unilever is a purpose-led organization and they are investing in a sustainable future, leading the way in making positive change. But they’ve recognized that they can’t do it without having women at the table. By participating in Makers, Unilever is demonstrating their commitment to gender equality and driving change by having a diverse and inclusive culture.”

“Break out of the box you’ve been given,” Andrea says. “Define your own path based on what interests you, and what makes sense (and cents!) for the company. Go where there’s a need. If you fulfill that need, you’ll be successful.”

Ami Shah

“For any organization,” Ami Shah says, “a diversity and inclusion agenda is extremely important.”

While Ami has been with the company for 10 years, she’s grateful for the actions Unilever has taken to confront gender inequality head-on. They’ve done this by making sure that there is greater female representation in senior management positions, as well as extending Galvanize’s (one of Unilever’s Business Resource Groups that helps support women and their success in the workplace) mission to the field.

“In order to really address and improve diversity, you have to work at it from many angles,” Ami says. “From the top down, but also from the bottom up, by making sure that women at all levels of the company know what the objective is and that they feel supported. But there’s an external piece as well. How do we learn from other organizations and share our best practices to raise all boats? Makers is a great example of Unilever aligning with an external partner to further the mission of gender equality and creating a balanced work environment.”

Being recognized as a Maker and getting to attend the conference was incredibly meaningful to Ami. “The program recognizes women who are bold, disruptive, and blazing new trails,” Ami says. “I have a lot of role models, but the biggest one is my mom. She’s the definition of a Maker. Back in India, she was the only female in her engineering university, and after coming to the US, she had a successful career while raising three kids at the same time. She blazed her own trail with little support which I’ve always found inspiring. I’m honored to work at a company where I have that support, and I can be a part of a program like Makers that celebrates and encourages women to keep pushing forward.”

Similar to Andrea, Ami has taken a non-traditional path over the course of her career and has created her own way by taking risks and seeking out new roles to challenge herself. In 2017 she pushed herself to learn about new business models within E-commerce, and transform those learnings into action to drive the business in new ways. 

She also found her rhythm in being a working mom. “As a working mom, it’s tough to feel like you’re doing your best personally and professionally, as we tend to hold ourselves to unrealistic standards. I found it’s important to not compare myself to others and instead focus my energy on finding a rhythm that works for me.”

Inspired

For both Ami and Andrea, attending the Makers conference has been refreshing and uplifting.

“We push boundaries,” Ami says, “but to be able to spend some time at a conference with other women who are doing the same thing across so many industries was inspiring. When you push boundaries, you encounter many roadblocks which can be deflating after awhile. Hearing how other women overcame challenges they’ve faced was amazing and re-energizing.” 

“I’m pregnant with my first child, and it was inspirational for me,” Andrea admits. “Knowing that she could hear the talks from all of these awe-inspiring people, was just really cool. It was an uplifting display of the incredible women and men all over the world who are working hard to create a better tomorrow.”