My journey with Tech Ready Women began on the 22nd of May 2018, and marked the very beginning of me entering the startup space. As a senior student who was seven months away from finishing high school, the idea of startups and entrepreneurship was always on my mind.

The beginning of my startup journey was filled with massive complications. I felt a lot of uncertainty in the early stages compared to my high school friends, as I was taking a lot of risk and adding more homework to my plate, all because of one thing: “I was committed to learning about an entirely new way of thinking!”

Even with the challenges and complications that arose, wherever I went I couldn’t shake the interest in being able to start creating my ideas and shaping others ideas from scratch. No waiting, just acting!

Tech Ready Women appealed to me as I am a young person who wants  to maximise my creativity in the most practical manner. I originally found out about Tech Ready Women through news on a scholarship collaboration between TRW accelerator and Academy Xi.

I’d like to share five incredible tips which I have learned throughout my startup journey which and can helpful for students and young adults considering a career in the startup ecosystem:

1) Ask yourself what is so exciting to you right now that you will do anything to accomplish it?

2) What is the thing that you have always wanted to do?

3) If money was not a problem, what would you spend your time on working for free?

4) What is one new skill that you can work towards developing every day for the next month?

5) What is the price that you have to pay and what are the risks that you have to take if you were to pursue your ideal passion project right now?

Those are some of the most important questions to start off with when considering a new project idea. Most startups are founded upon the basis of a long term vision and mission. It will force you to break through the moments of hardships and improve your resilience to deliver a product that will overdeliver on the customer’s expectations.

I have come to realise that the startup journey is all about managing risk and finding opportunities every day. This was one of the lessons I received from the TRW Program and I am confident that it will deliver those results to your venture, too. The skills, resources and collaboration that happens between members and industry experts through the Tech Ready Program is a testament to the female founder and the community supporting her.