Inspiring Women of Wrike Celebrate International Women's Day

March 8, 2022 - 5 min read

Emily Westbrooks

It’s International Women’s Day today, and we have so many incredible women we’re excited to celebrate here at Wrike. Women play a monumental role in our company, from our product design team to marketing operations and everything in between.

To get a sense of the inspiring women who make Wrike what it is, we asked a few of our team members to share how they’re celebrating International Women’s Day, how they feel empowered in their roles at Wrike, and the women in their lives who have inspired them.

Anna Grigoryan, Director of Product Management - Platform UI & Mobile at Wrike, explained that International Women’s Day usually marks a day of gratitude toward the woman in her life. “It's usually the time for me to reach out to my female colleagues, friends, my mom, and other wonderful women around me to thank them for who they are and for continuing to be beautiful and courageous and spreading love,” she says. This is something we can all do, however we identify, to create a sense of gratitude on International Women’s Day.

In her role at Wrike, Grigoryan reflected, “I feel as empowered as any other man in the room.”

Alex Lane, Wrike’s Workplace Operations Manager, said she views International Women’s Day as an opportunity to lift up women who haven’t had the same opportunities as she has. “Today is a chance to bring awareness to the challenges (and the achievements!) that women face that I don't always see in my day-to-day life,” she said. “I'm very privileged to have the opportunities I have, but not all women have those opportunities. International Women’s Day is a chance to highlight ways we can support each other to make a more inclusive and welcoming world for all.”

Lane is celebrating by sharing a few podcast recommendations, featuring track athlete and mother Allyson Felix and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi. “Allyson and Indra talk about their personal experiences with gender bias, navigating motherhood in the corporate world, balancing work and family, and how they became the best of the best at what they do. I am inspired by their stories and listening to how they made a positive difference in not only their personal worlds but paved the way for other women to feel confident and empowered to do the same.”

Kenedee Parry, Sales Development Representative, shared that her role at Wrike has allowed her to feel empowered to speak her mind. “In tech, women are usually the minority. And in Sales, women are mostly the minority. It can feel daunting sometimes, but Wrike allows for me to speak my mind and talk directly to anyone in a higher-up position. I feel respected by all and not discriminated against based on gender.” She credited her female sports coach with paving the way for others: “My coach didn't play into any of that and pushed us to work and be the best we could be. She pushed herself into meetings with the male athletic directors to advocate for women's sports.”

Strategic Customer Success Manager Dury Bell said she likes to celebrate International Women’s Day by reaching out to the women in her life. “I will personally message the different women in my life and let them know how thankful I am for them!” Bell is continually inspired by her mother: “She immigrated from South Korea in the 1980s and always has a heart to serve those in her community and help those in need.”

When it comes to elevating women in tech positions, Demand Marketing Manager Laura Perez Riau explained how important it is to have gender representation in the executive team and promote mentorship programs. “Having women in leadership positions has always been a source of inspiration and empowerment for me, and at Wrike, we've always had outstanding women leading the way. Someone you can look up to, learn and get advice from, and that shows you change is possible.”

Finally, Senior Human Resources Generalist Lauren Warnock offered the perfect heartfelt example of lifting up a woman who inspires her: “Oria Ortov [Customer Success Manager at Wrike] and I started on the same day. She is one of the most unique and accomplished women I've ever met. She speaks multiple languages, has traveled the world, goes on hikes with her family to get back to nature, and is perhaps the most humble person who marches to her own beat. In her world, success is measured in laughter and empathy, which the whole world should be paying more attention to.”

So today, on International Women’s Day, we’re going to be following the lead of these incredible women. We’ll lift up the many inspiring women in our lives by making sure they know the impact of their contributions — and we’d encourage you to do the same.

Emily Westbrooks

Emily Westbrooks is a Content Marketing Manager at Wrike. She brings over a decade of experience as a freelance journalist, editor, blogger, and author to the Wrike blog, where she writes about the latest trends in work management, what’s on the horizon for the future of work, and how work and life intersect in meaningful ways. Emily joined Wrike in 2020 at our Dublin office, and relocated to Houston, Texas, in 2022 with her husband and kids, Maya, Noah, Angelina, and Laylabelle. After spending over a decade in rainy Ireland, she enjoys being outside in the sunshine with her family as much as possible — hiking, running, walking, and swimming.

#Company Culture #Thought Leadership #CSR

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To do this, they implemented ideas such as a company-wide 3 p.m. finish on Friday afternoons, cutting hour-long meetings to 45 minutes, and encouraging employees to block out lunchtime each day on their calendar. You’ll notice that all of these new measures provide equal benefits for both in-office and remote employees. When building your culture, ask employees what’s most important to them and create a company culture that benefits all workers. Better tools improve hybrid workplace culture Perhaps the most critical aspect of hybrid work is creating a digital workspace that enables all employees to work together from anywhere. Collaboration is a key cornerstone of hybrid work culture, and it’s a great place to start. These tools will ensure you are supporting in-house and remote workers to collaborate. Your digital workspace is essential to making sure remote workers don’t feel isolated from their team or that office workers aren’t getting more opportunities. 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They include: A comprehensive digital workspace that captures all work so that projects, resources, communications, and status updates are accessible to remote, hybrid, and in-office workers Asynchronous communication tools to combat the ‘always on’ mentality and minimize excess meetings Security features to ensure the safety of company information and employee data Companies can also achieve a comprehensive digital workspace without bombarding teams with excess tools that can cause miscommunication and unnecessary complexity. Businesses should focus on two core tools to facilitate the hybrid model and enable a better culture of digital collaboration. IM communications tools An IM tool such as Slack or Microsoft Teams allows employees to engage with each other regularly. Channels can be set up for teams and employees with similar interests to ensure all employees feel included. 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Security features It’s critical to ensure that work and information is protected regardless of where employees work. As businesses become increasingly digitized, bad actors will continue to devise new ways to access and potentially take advantage of your unsecured data. Provide your IT teams with the tools they need to rigidly safeguard your company’s work, perform structured audits on a regular basis, as well as ensure your employees are educated on proper security protocols and practices before they delve into the world of digital collaboration. It’s time to reimagine the way we work The way we work has changed for good, making it the perfect time to reevaluate your workforce based on the changing needs and behaviors of your business and employees. For your company to be resilient and provide the best possible workplace culture, you need to reevaluate work through a lens of flexibility. A collaborative, autonomous culture for workers provides considerably more benefits than the closed, siloed work culture of the past. A compassionate, flexible work environment will increase employee happiness and engagement, and it’s become more important than ever to break down silos in a hybrid workplace to ensure that employees are dedicated to teamwork and collaboration no matter where they are. For more resources on hybrid work culture, check out: Return to Work Management Guide: How to Manage a Hybrid Team Research Uncovers the Technology That Will Power Hybrid Work An Introduction to Hybrid Team Management A Guide to Hybrid Remote Working WFH or Hybrid Office? How to Know Which Works Best for You

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Inspiring Women of Wrike Celebrate International Women's Day

Emily Westbrooks

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