In honor of International Women’s Day, we asked our Lady-In-Charge, General Manager Joanna Dansby to take a few minutes out of her schedule to answer a few questions.
1.) What is the best and worst decision you’ve ever made?
“Going back to school to study accounting, but waiting 3 years to do it.”
2.) What was your dream job as a kid and why?
“Archaeologist/Anthropology, I loved how you could tell the story of a civilization by digging up the things they used.”
3.) What do you think is the most significant barrier to female leadership?
“It’s a tie between children and emotion. Both are seen as a weakness. Any woman working her way up into a leadership role has already found a way to balance these with their work life, but it is still seen as a potential distraction.”
4.) What woman inspires you and why?
“Marissa Mayer (Yahoo CEO) I was impressed with a question in an interview once, she talked about using her emotions to drive herself forward, and how she feels it is a necessary part of who she is a CEO, she felt it made her a better manager. She left Google (a behemoth) where she was very successful and went to Yahoo to turn things around. She believes in herself and took on a new challenge instead of staying where it was comfortable.”
5.) What will be the biggest challenge for the generation of women behind you?
“The world is changing, and technology continues to transform the way business is done. The challenge for this and future generations is to find ways to keep the world working by utilizing technology without eliminating the need for human involvement. Customer Service is a dying component in this age of technology. The next generations will need to make sure they don’t lose focus on the people who will drive their industries ahead. A little less ‘what can I get from you’, and a little more ‘what can I do for you’.”