Elena Simon is General Manager DACH at Gcore, a provider of public cloud and edge computing, AI, content delivery (CDN), hosting, and security solutions.
Alongside her studies in business informatics at the Technical University of Braunschweig, she pursued a dance career, competing in the World Championships in 2004 and 2005. With a diploma and medal, she entered the tech industry in 2007. After positions at a telecom provider and a game developer, she joined Gcore in 2014 as a Business Development Manager and now heads the DACH business. Elena is still a passionate dancer and places great importance on harmony in both her client and employee management.
Tell us about your journey: what sparked your interest in tech, and how did you come to work at Gcore?
My first job in tech was for a local internet and connectivity provider in Braunschweig, Germany. I saw a lot of demand for SaaS solutions in the tech industry there, so I then decided to build my own SaaS organisation. Although these two experiences were very different, this varied journey led me to Gcore because it showed me how creative tech can be.
Whether you’re a founder, a leader, or a software engineer, tech creates the opportunity for constant innovation. I wanted to be at the forefront of that, so cloud computing and building secure, low latency solutions (two of Gcore’s specialties) were the logical next step.
What challenges do you think women face in tech?
I see three main challenges women face in trying to enter the tech field. Firstly, the tech industry can sometimes feel like a boy’s club. You’ll often be the only woman in the room, which can be uncomfortable.
Secondly, women face ‘external’ challenges – such as wage disparity and childcare responsibilities – that limit their career choices more than men. The tech industry unfortunately doesn’t lead the way in making it easier for women to succeed in the face of these external challenges.
Finally, I think men and women alike are deterred from tech because it’s such an intimidating field. There’s a lot of technical knowledge and jargon that make it difficult to understand the opportunities and interesting elements of tech. It can be very unapproachable.
What is Gcore doing to support women in the tech industry?
Gcore is a unique place to work because it has a ‘startup mentality’ despite being around for over a decade. Everything is possible at Gcore – you can build a team focused on diversity, and you can trust that you are at an organisation with those values because very employee is actively involved in shaping them.
Gcore invests in employees – we help individuals rise through the ranks regardless of job-level or gender, and we have the numbers to show it. In two extremely technical teams, presales and customer support, we now have more women than men. We’re actively working on bringing more women into tech.
How do you approach leadership as a woman in tech?
Growing up, I was a competitive dancer, and although many might think tech and dance are incredibly different, the lessons I have learned in this personal hobby have really helped me in my tech career and as a leader. Just like dancers, women in tech must work as a team, supporting each other to advance. Similarly, teamwork involves recognising that diverse teams bring better solutions.
As a leader, I’m committed to building a team in which everyone’s voice is heard. I always have an open-door policy with any team I’m leading, and I try to listen first before pushing my own opinion on others. Harmony in a group is as important in dance as it is in tech, and you can’t achieve that unless you foster a culture of listening and equal participation in team discussions. Just like a performance requires people dancing different parts, a tech team needs people with distinct skills and perspectives.
A team with only one opinion will never be innovative, and my belief in the power of diversity in a team fuels my own confidence as a leader. Even in an intimidating space, I know it’s important to voice my opinion because I’m often bringing a different perspective.
Outside of my day-to-day role, I also always try to use my authority as a leader to open new doors for women in an active way. Rather than just pushing for more female hires, I engage in outreach to bring more women into tech in general, whether that be attending women in tech discussions, speaking at schools, or posting on LinkedIn. I try to break down the idea that tech is too complex or confusing a field – I want to make it more understandable and approachable for women.
What advice would you give to women working in tech?
In my career, I’ve often noticed that women in tech struggle with a lack of confidence. Women are held back from seeking better opportunities because they do not believe in themselves. When people expect less of you as a female leader, it’s hard not to feel the same way about yourself. I’ve had many moments in which people looked to the closest man on my team and assumed he was the boss instead of me. However, maintaining self-confidence is what has allowed me to push past those frustrating moments and show what an effective leader I am. And I’ll admit, it’s pretty satisfying when my work and leadership prove their expectations wrong.
My main advice to women is therefore to set ambitious goals and try to be as confident as you can about them. Challenge yourself in the face of adversity instead of overthinking it. As the Nike slogan says, ‘‘Just Do It!’’.
