exciting now my name is Laura Tim and
I’m really honored to be here I’m
originally Estonian which is from a
small Baltic country in Eastern Europe
and I live in London the UK but I travel
all the time as well so people who know
me when they call me they ask me like
which country are you in or which city
are you in and I’m really honored to be
here today because being able to share
my message on this topic and beyond
borders especially now when I was a
little girl I was constantly asking
questions so being here at TEDx is so
special for me because TEDx is so much
celebrating ideas and starting
conversations and that’s like that’s
like drinking water for me or the air I
breathe ever since I can remember and
with my dad I think I used to drive him
mad because I was constantly asking him
questions about the world the way things
were working but even more so I was
always challenging him about the way he
was doing something and it could have
been anything making a cup of coffee
making some tea fixing something around
the house so I was always looking at
what he was doing and I would be like oh
don’t you think there’s a better way of
doing this and he would just look at me
and he’s not small in by any means like
he’s tall big bones very strong man and
he would just look at me like no no I
know what I’m doing like just let me do
what I need to do and I would be there
and I would still watch him alike you
sure there’s not the better way to do
this and after waiting a bit then I’d be
like well I was thinking that perhaps if
you do it slightly differently and I
would explain it to him how I thought he
could have done it so it’s just
expressing my
opinion and my idea and be like no no no
no I’ve done this for years and years I
know exactly what I’m doing so I’d be
watching him and then after a while I’d
be telling him again like no no you’re
wasting too much time you can do this in
a better way and differently in most
cases he would just disregard what I was
trying to tell him but then there were
also times when you see the look on his
face and almost like this light bulb
popping out and he’s like oh no what
she’s saying actually makes complete
sense but as a man born in Estonia at a
time when it was still Soviet Union and
the way he was raised the man was always
right and especially as a dad to this
young girl who was barely four or five
at the time he was like no no I know
what I’m doing trust me and then he’s
like oh my gosh so I can’t do this
differently at the moment but when she’s
not looking I can start doing this
differently and it’s interesting because
for him also there were a lot of
stereotypes what was a man’s job what
was a woman’s job and then he had this
little girl who was constantly
questioning him and everything that I
came across so it must have been really
difficult for him and I just thank God
for the patience that he had and and
also I would recognize instances where
he would start doing something
differently without giving me the credit
and I would just smile I feel like as
long as you’re doing this you’re saving
time in effort I don’t need you to tell
me that I was right because it was never
about that it was about seeing that
something can be done in a different way
in a better way and in a more effective
way and that was something that I
adopted into my life and it’s it’s part
of my DNA now when I see something and
quite often I’ll be in a coffee shop
doing my things I’ll be working phone
calls and I’ll look at the waitress and
I’m like she’s come back and forth three
times she could have done it what like
in one go and that’s so natural for me
so with my life usually if
it’s evening it’s late and I go from one
room to the next a few times I’m like I
must be so tired because usually I do
this all in one go so the same ability
of asking questions and questioning
things and thinking about can this be
done in a different way
I’ve also adopted in business now it was
difficult with my dad and challenging
because of his way of thinking about the
gender roles because me I never saw the
fact that I was a girl as an issue for
me actually the fact that I was a girl
and there’s someone else was a boy I
never came into the equation but for him
it did now with my mom she was so
supportive like if my dad would tell me
there was something I couldn’t do
because I was a girl my mom was the
opposite she never mentioned gender as
part of the agenda she would always tell
me that Laura if you’re interested in
something you want to do something go
ahead do it if you don’t like it change
and I grew up with that belief that I
can do anything and everything and if I
don’t like it I can always change so the
world was always my oyster and the
things that I learned from the
challenges that I had with my dad I
adopted in business it helped me not
just move from Estonia to the UK it’s
helped me work in so many different
industries I’ve done hospitality retail
construction IT motor industry logistics
I’ve done I’ve been part of so many
different companies initially as an
employee but then as the employer and
I’ve also advised a lot of business
owners and being on the board of a
construction company in the UK being the
only female on the board was something
that was part of my everyday life but it
never stopped me from reaching to that
level the fact that was a female and
don’t get me wrong especially when you
were a dress you definitely know that
you’re not a boy
and when I would walk into networking
events and talking to these new people
and when they’d ask me what what you do
and I’d say construction they’d be like
what this is you say construction
because we’re all expecting me to say oh
fashion or or acting or something that’s
meant to be feminine and I loved the
ability to be then changing that
perception that next time when they meet
someone a female they might not think
that that must be someone in the fashion
industry so I love changing people’s
perceptions about things I’ve also
played different sports anything from
football basketball I’ve done dancing
horse riding lessons
dodgeball I even have a story about
dodgeball how I went from the worst
player to one of the better players so
now as I multi UK and as my career
developed and I started advising
business owners he also started speaking
on stages especially with women I saw
how much they eyes lit up when they
heard my story and they were so inspired
because of like if Laura can do it and I
can do it and for me that means the
world helping them believe that their
gender is not an issue actually being a
female for me it was always I was happy
to be female because I thought there’s
so much more that we can give an offer
and but I came across so many women who
asked me like how do you do it
how are you part of these especially
construction industry boards and how do
you deal with all these men and I just
look usually I look at them I said like
well when I walk into the room even when
I know logically that I’m the female I
never focus on the fact that I’m the
female there I focus in the fact that
I’m just one of the people in that room
trying to add value and potentially find
the solution to a problem so as you as a
woman if you walk to the room stop
thinking about your gender and start
thinking about what can you add what’s
the value you
and it makes complete difference even
when I walk in and I sense that there’s
some energy disbalance
as soon as I focus on adding value
within five ten minutes
I always felt the energy shifting and I
would feel as an equal in that room so
now coming across there’s so much
research and studies about the number of
females on board level and that we don’t
have enough females and globally usually
if there is a female on the board level
it’s only one woman but the studies have
shown that actually do have an impact on
the gender roles to close the gender gap
but also to have an impact on the
society you need at least three women to
be on a board for them to be able to
voice their opinions and truly have an
impact so there’s still a long way to go
but we should celebrate that we’ve come
so far what’s helped me get to where I
when they when they applying for a job
they’ll see that oh they’re looking for
a CEO they’re looking for a director
they’re looking for senior managers Oh
assistant that’s what I’m gonna apply
for we aim too low we should aim high
there’s no reason why a man should get
the CEO position if you have the same
qualifications so don’t aim low how are
you expecting to reach that or seize
that opportunity if you’re not even
really seizing it or reaching for it
women don’t reach for those
opportunities and when it comes to
promotions and this is true for men and
women and I see this in organizations
all the time and especially coming from
Eastern Europe where everyone works
really hard and we love hard-working
people and I like I work really hard but
I don’t get a promotion so I ask them
like have you asked that you’d like to
get a promotion have you told your
employee that you’d really like to
progress your career like
no I just sit there at my computer I do
my best I work hard I do my over-over
hours as well Mike well quite often
people just don’t notice if you don’t
ask for it you won’t get what you want
and even if you don’t get it the first
time
if your employer knows that you’re
looking to progress they’ll pay you in
mind they’ll remember oh there’s
so-and-so in the organization they were
always looking to progress let’s see if
we can promote them and help them grow
with the company and there’s a big gap
when it comes to income and salaries
when a woman goes to negotiate her
employment and his salary the number
that the employer gives her she’ll be
like okay and studies pack this up a man
says like no no you said that they said
that the highest level gap is here I
want the highest level salary that you
said you were offering I have the
experience I have no knowledge I have
the contacts men have no problem
negotiating an industry there’s so many
stereotypical roles that still need
shifting and this is true for men and
women equally and there’s so much talk
about there that there’s no gender
balance within these industries but we
need to change the perceptions of both
men and women as women we can’t say
there’s not enough women working in
construction well how many ladies do
actually apply for positions within the
construction industry unless you apply
unless you believe you can succeed in
that industry we won’t have more women
in that industry so this is why I’m
encouraging young girls and ladies and
it’s not even about the age if you’re
interested in that industry I think you
can succeed then go for it go and apply
unless you apply you won’t get the
position women don’t have enough
positive role models who talked about
the positive sides of reaching the board
level there’s so many studies and
YouTube videos about how hard it is to
reach the board level and how difficulty
life is and you’re not being treated
equally but there’s also those success
stories and I want you to think about
these things positively I’ve not allowed
my gender my background my race to be an
issue so why should you with women a lot
of it starts from ourselves what we
believe we can achieve we often believe
what someone else tells us what is
possible for us and that that’s not true
don’t allow someone else someone else’s
perception of what is what is possible
become yours but also if you don’t if
you think something is impossible for
you don’t tell someone else that they
can’t do it so don’t also be a limiting
belief in someone else’s life so us as
women we actually put up so many
barriers and in order for us to succeed
and reach the board level we also need
to work on ourselves first perception
and I love this
we also perceive that men have better
qualities well leadership roles and
what’s wrong here is that we’ve seen
that the value that women bring isn’t
it’s not perceived as high as as the
characteristics that men have when when
it’s actually equally important so this
is where the society men and women need
to realize that the different strengths
that we have when we combine those
that’s where we really succeed so the
ability to have empathy the ability to
bring people together to to listen to
communicate to connect is something that
women bring to the table and this is
where studies show that having that
balance for men and women actually makes
companies more profitable your employees
achieve more they’re happier
so this is where once we start
understanding that what women and men
bring to the table is on an equal level
is when we really start shifting the
beliefs of others and the beliefs of
society Plus think about this we’ve
always thought that men are better in
leadership roles than women are so
naturally when there’s so much talk to
though women are equal there’s gonna be
some sort of a risk the resistance
because change doesn’t happen overnight
it takes a lot of hard work so we need
to help both men and women understand
that it’s gonna take time and it’s a
good thing that this change is a good
thing for men and women we’re not trying
to take away the role of a man in the
business
not at all which is trying to show that
women have so much more to bring to the
table as well
and I encourage women to collaborate
with men I’ve never believed that it’s
just about women that we are the leaders
of the world no that’s the beauty men
and women have different strengths and
characteristics that combined it’s like
yin and yang one doesn’t work without
the other if you don’t have those two
there’s a dis balance and whether it’s
in business in life in society in the
universe so look to collaborate because
there’s power and strength in unity one
of my favorite quotes says that if you
want to go fast go alone
but if you want to go for you need to go
us women we also have the responsibility
to pave the road for other women but
also to set the standards that women
should collaborate with men how can we
otherwise expect to be respected and
seen as equals if we don’t give the same
respect to men and we’re not trying to
collaborate and I was painting the road
for the new generation I’m hoping that
they will create a new model of
leadership and I hope they will
challenge things and it is the
responsibility of men and women equally
to make sure that in the future there is
a better balance when it comes to gender
equality equality and first you actually
one day close the gender gap but it will
only happen if we unite our forces or
resources or skills or abilities now
this is how I saw myself when I was a
little girl I just believe that I can do
anything and everything and I’ve gone
beyond borders connecting people
building networks not just in the UK but
Los Angeles in the last year where I had
no connections I’ve constantly pushed
myself because I’ve known that other
people will follow my lead and it’s
beautiful when I have men and women come
to me to like Laura I can’t believe
you’ve done this but since you’ve done
this I have this new idea that I’m gonna
try now I’d like you to also imagine
what the world one day I hope will be
like when men and women see each other
as equal and respect each other’s
qualities imagine the environment we
will create the society the teamwork the
innovation that we can bring to the
world how beautiful
and it’s so possible now as late Steve
Jobs says that it’s only the people who
are crazy enough to think they can
change the world who are the ones that
actually do I hope you truly believe
you
[Music] [Applause]
I’m really honored to be here I’m
originally Estonian which is from a
small Baltic country in Eastern Europe
and I live in London the UK but I travel
all the time as well so people who know
me when they call me they ask me like
which country are you in or which city
are you in and I’m really honored to be
here today because being able to share
my message on this topic and beyond
borders especially now when I was a
little girl I was constantly asking
questions so being here at TEDx is so
special for me because TEDx is so much
celebrating ideas and starting
conversations and that’s like that’s
like drinking water for me or the air I
breathe ever since I can remember and
with my dad I think I used to drive him
mad because I was constantly asking him
questions about the world the way things
were working but even more so I was
always challenging him about the way he
was doing something and it could have
been anything making a cup of coffee
making some tea fixing something around
the house so I was always looking at
what he was doing and I would be like oh
don’t you think there’s a better way of
doing this and he would just look at me
and he’s not small in by any means like
he’s tall big bones very strong man and
he would just look at me like no no I
know what I’m doing like just let me do
what I need to do and I would be there
and I would still watch him alike you
sure there’s not the better way to do
this and after waiting a bit then I’d be
like well I was thinking that perhaps if
you do it slightly differently and I
would explain it to him how I thought he
could have done it so it’s just
expressing my
opinion and my idea and be like no no no
no I’ve done this for years and years I
know exactly what I’m doing so I’d be
watching him and then after a while I’d
be telling him again like no no you’re
wasting too much time you can do this in
a better way and differently in most
cases he would just disregard what I was
trying to tell him but then there were
also times when you see the look on his
face and almost like this light bulb
popping out and he’s like oh no what
she’s saying actually makes complete
sense but as a man born in Estonia at a
time when it was still Soviet Union and
the way he was raised the man was always
right and especially as a dad to this
young girl who was barely four or five
at the time he was like no no I know
what I’m doing trust me and then he’s
like oh my gosh so I can’t do this
differently at the moment but when she’s
not looking I can start doing this
differently and it’s interesting because
for him also there were a lot of
stereotypes what was a man’s job what
was a woman’s job and then he had this
little girl who was constantly
questioning him and everything that I
came across so it must have been really
difficult for him and I just thank God
for the patience that he had and and
also I would recognize instances where
he would start doing something
differently without giving me the credit
and I would just smile I feel like as
long as you’re doing this you’re saving
time in effort I don’t need you to tell
me that I was right because it was never
about that it was about seeing that
something can be done in a different way
in a better way and in a more effective
way and that was something that I
adopted into my life and it’s it’s part
of my DNA now when I see something and
quite often I’ll be in a coffee shop
doing my things I’ll be working phone
calls and I’ll look at the waitress and
I’m like she’s come back and forth three
times she could have done it what like
in one go and that’s so natural for me
so with my life usually if
it’s evening it’s late and I go from one
room to the next a few times I’m like I
must be so tired because usually I do
this all in one go so the same ability
of asking questions and questioning
things and thinking about can this be
done in a different way
I’ve also adopted in business now it was
difficult with my dad and challenging
because of his way of thinking about the
gender roles because me I never saw the
fact that I was a girl as an issue for
me actually the fact that I was a girl
and there’s someone else was a boy I
never came into the equation but for him
it did now with my mom she was so
supportive like if my dad would tell me
there was something I couldn’t do
because I was a girl my mom was the
opposite she never mentioned gender as
part of the agenda she would always tell
me that Laura if you’re interested in
something you want to do something go
ahead do it if you don’t like it change
and I grew up with that belief that I
can do anything and everything and if I
don’t like it I can always change so the
world was always my oyster and the
things that I learned from the
challenges that I had with my dad I
adopted in business it helped me not
just move from Estonia to the UK it’s
helped me work in so many different
industries I’ve done hospitality retail
construction IT motor industry logistics
I’ve done I’ve been part of so many
different companies initially as an
employee but then as the employer and
I’ve also advised a lot of business
owners and being on the board of a
construction company in the UK being the
only female on the board was something
that was part of my everyday life but it
never stopped me from reaching to that
level the fact that was a female and
don’t get me wrong especially when you
were a dress you definitely know that
you’re not a boy
and when I would walk into networking
events and talking to these new people
and when they’d ask me what what you do
and I’d say construction they’d be like
what this is you say construction
because we’re all expecting me to say oh
fashion or or acting or something that’s
meant to be feminine and I loved the
ability to be then changing that
perception that next time when they meet
someone a female they might not think
that that must be someone in the fashion
industry so I love changing people’s
perceptions about things I’ve also
played different sports anything from
football basketball I’ve done dancing
horse riding lessons
dodgeball I even have a story about
dodgeball how I went from the worst
player to one of the better players so
now as I multi UK and as my career
developed and I started advising
business owners he also started speaking
on stages especially with women I saw
how much they eyes lit up when they
heard my story and they were so inspired
because of like if Laura can do it and I
can do it and for me that means the
world helping them believe that their
gender is not an issue actually being a
female for me it was always I was happy
to be female because I thought there’s
so much more that we can give an offer
and but I came across so many women who
asked me like how do you do it
how are you part of these especially
construction industry boards and how do
you deal with all these men and I just
look usually I look at them I said like
well when I walk into the room even when
I know logically that I’m the female I
never focus on the fact that I’m the
female there I focus in the fact that
I’m just one of the people in that room
trying to add value and potentially find
the solution to a problem so as you as a
woman if you walk to the room stop
thinking about your gender and start
thinking about what can you add what’s
the value you
and it makes complete difference even
when I walk in and I sense that there’s
some energy disbalance
as soon as I focus on adding value
within five ten minutes
I always felt the energy shifting and I
would feel as an equal in that room so
now coming across there’s so much
research and studies about the number of
females on board level and that we don’t
have enough females and globally usually
if there is a female on the board level
it’s only one woman but the studies have
shown that actually do have an impact on
the gender roles to close the gender gap
but also to have an impact on the
society you need at least three women to
be on a board for them to be able to
voice their opinions and truly have an
impact so there’s still a long way to go
but we should celebrate that we’ve come
so far what’s helped me get to where I
when they when they applying for a job
they’ll see that oh they’re looking for
a CEO they’re looking for a director
they’re looking for senior managers Oh
assistant that’s what I’m gonna apply
for we aim too low we should aim high
there’s no reason why a man should get
the CEO position if you have the same
qualifications so don’t aim low how are
you expecting to reach that or seize
that opportunity if you’re not even
really seizing it or reaching for it
women don’t reach for those
opportunities and when it comes to
promotions and this is true for men and
women and I see this in organizations
all the time and especially coming from
Eastern Europe where everyone works
really hard and we love hard-working
people and I like I work really hard but
I don’t get a promotion so I ask them
like have you asked that you’d like to
get a promotion have you told your
employee that you’d really like to
progress your career like
no I just sit there at my computer I do
my best I work hard I do my over-over
hours as well Mike well quite often
people just don’t notice if you don’t
ask for it you won’t get what you want
and even if you don’t get it the first
time
if your employer knows that you’re
looking to progress they’ll pay you in
mind they’ll remember oh there’s
so-and-so in the organization they were
always looking to progress let’s see if
we can promote them and help them grow
with the company and there’s a big gap
when it comes to income and salaries
when a woman goes to negotiate her
employment and his salary the number
that the employer gives her she’ll be
like okay and studies pack this up a man
says like no no you said that they said
that the highest level gap is here I
want the highest level salary that you
said you were offering I have the
experience I have no knowledge I have
the contacts men have no problem
negotiating an industry there’s so many
stereotypical roles that still need
shifting and this is true for men and
women equally and there’s so much talk
about there that there’s no gender
balance within these industries but we
need to change the perceptions of both
men and women as women we can’t say
there’s not enough women working in
construction well how many ladies do
actually apply for positions within the
construction industry unless you apply
unless you believe you can succeed in
that industry we won’t have more women
in that industry so this is why I’m
encouraging young girls and ladies and
it’s not even about the age if you’re
interested in that industry I think you
can succeed then go for it go and apply
unless you apply you won’t get the
position women don’t have enough
positive role models who talked about
the positive sides of reaching the board
level there’s so many studies and
YouTube videos about how hard it is to
reach the board level and how difficulty
life is and you’re not being treated
equally but there’s also those success
stories and I want you to think about
these things positively I’ve not allowed
my gender my background my race to be an
issue so why should you with women a lot
of it starts from ourselves what we
believe we can achieve we often believe
what someone else tells us what is
possible for us and that that’s not true
don’t allow someone else someone else’s
perception of what is what is possible
become yours but also if you don’t if
you think something is impossible for
you don’t tell someone else that they
can’t do it so don’t also be a limiting
belief in someone else’s life so us as
women we actually put up so many
barriers and in order for us to succeed
and reach the board level we also need
to work on ourselves first perception
and I love this
we also perceive that men have better
qualities well leadership roles and
what’s wrong here is that we’ve seen
that the value that women bring isn’t
it’s not perceived as high as as the
characteristics that men have when when
it’s actually equally important so this
is where the society men and women need
to realize that the different strengths
that we have when we combine those
that’s where we really succeed so the
ability to have empathy the ability to
bring people together to to listen to
communicate to connect is something that
women bring to the table and this is
where studies show that having that
balance for men and women actually makes
companies more profitable your employees
achieve more they’re happier
so this is where once we start
understanding that what women and men
bring to the table is on an equal level
is when we really start shifting the
beliefs of others and the beliefs of
society Plus think about this we’ve
always thought that men are better in
leadership roles than women are so
naturally when there’s so much talk to
though women are equal there’s gonna be
some sort of a risk the resistance
because change doesn’t happen overnight
it takes a lot of hard work so we need
to help both men and women understand
that it’s gonna take time and it’s a
good thing that this change is a good
thing for men and women we’re not trying
to take away the role of a man in the
business
not at all which is trying to show that
women have so much more to bring to the
table as well
and I encourage women to collaborate
with men I’ve never believed that it’s
just about women that we are the leaders
of the world no that’s the beauty men
and women have different strengths and
characteristics that combined it’s like
yin and yang one doesn’t work without
the other if you don’t have those two
there’s a dis balance and whether it’s
in business in life in society in the
universe so look to collaborate because
there’s power and strength in unity one
of my favorite quotes says that if you
want to go fast go alone
but if you want to go for you need to go
us women we also have the responsibility
to pave the road for other women but
also to set the standards that women
should collaborate with men how can we
otherwise expect to be respected and
seen as equals if we don’t give the same
respect to men and we’re not trying to
collaborate and I was painting the road
for the new generation I’m hoping that
they will create a new model of
leadership and I hope they will
challenge things and it is the
responsibility of men and women equally
to make sure that in the future there is
a better balance when it comes to gender
equality equality and first you actually
one day close the gender gap but it will
only happen if we unite our forces or
resources or skills or abilities now
this is how I saw myself when I was a
little girl I just believe that I can do
anything and everything and I’ve gone
beyond borders connecting people
building networks not just in the UK but
Los Angeles in the last year where I had
no connections I’ve constantly pushed
myself because I’ve known that other
people will follow my lead and it’s
beautiful when I have men and women come
to me to like Laura I can’t believe
you’ve done this but since you’ve done
this I have this new idea that I’m gonna
try now I’d like you to also imagine
what the world one day I hope will be
like when men and women see each other
as equal and respect each other’s
qualities imagine the environment we
will create the society the teamwork the
innovation that we can bring to the
world how beautiful
and it’s so possible now as late Steve
Jobs says that it’s only the people who
are crazy enough to think they can
change the world who are the ones that
actually do I hope you truly believe
you
[Music] [Applause]
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