Victoria O’Connell is a long-time entrepreneur and has over 17 years of experience co-founding and managing JDP Global, an international e-commerce and real estate company.
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How did you get into tech?
Always loved gadgets and tech, as a child would save my money for the latest gadget, I think its the idea of the convenience that was being created and the problem solving behind it that fascinates me. I actually jumped into tech when I was working out of university and started moonlighting on a tech startup, when that failed we jumped straight into another one that luckily succeeded. That then led the way and experience for Golightly.
What is it about tech that you love?
The problem solving and ever evolving field out there. As soon as the problem is solved, the results are visible – you get happy with the results, you see growth and then there is a new problem staring you in the face and you’re back to work lol
What’s been your career highlight so far?
Seeing Golightly being received so well by people all around the world since its launch in January, even through Covid, growing to 5k members in 74 countries – its just incredible to feel the mission is felt so strongly by others. Also seeing some of the comments from members and the doors it seems to open for some women to travel … that’s just both humbling and amazing at the same time.
What challenges have you faced as a Female Founder?
A lot of the tech industry appears to be dominated by men and that can sometimes lead to feelings of disregard or perhaps just misunderstandings into the why and the need and the urgency of what we are building. At Golightly, we rely on a lot of integrations, and often found the male run companies seemed to place us on a back burner, whereas the companies with females in the decision making areas were only too happy to help and support us even from early stages!
On a more positive note – what tangible advice/guidance would you give to aspiring female founders?
I’d say mission is key to growth and loving what you are doing is essential but also, I find it super important to listen to everyone around – whether its advisors, friends, colleagues or even neighbours – everyone has some advice – take in every single piece of that information, learn to process it, use what’s right for you (and what you are building), and here’s the harder part – disregard what’s not – with this attitude I find that sometimes the right advice comes from the most unexpected places in the most unexpected ways, or even from an amalgamation of many different perspectives – but whatever it is listening to it all and processing the advice accordingly can be the key that finally turns the lock, so to speak.
What does career success look like to you?
Career success at this point in time is seeing the Golightly community come together and grow, it is also seeing customers happy and engaged with what we offer. But I also see career success as a constantly changing pathway, an ever growing goal for us to achieve and that is exciting as it keeps the focus strong to the future.
A long-time entrepreneur, Victoria has over 17 years of experience co-founding and managing JDP Global, an international e-commerce and real estate company. In 2017 her new London flat was burglarized and completely destroyed by a group of men that booked her home via a major home-share site. This horrible experience made Victoria think about how she – and many women – feel vulnerable while both traveling and renting out one’s home.
Learn more about Victoria O’Connell here
Learn more about Go Lightly here
