Last week we ran our very first workshop of the Tech Ready Program at the EY Centre on George Street. The room was buzzing with inspired, empowered and fearless women who were ready to take their idea and make it a reality.

The EY Centre, on 200 George Street was stunning, to say the least, and is the first building of it’s kind to have a beautiful exterior while using smart technology for its interior.

The smart technology includes sensors used to obtain information on how the occupants use the building and intelligence around the performance of the building. The data is then used to adjust to the needs of the building and the occupants. In addition, the building has a 6-star green smart interiors rating and is the first building in Australia to get certified under the WELL Building Standard, achieving a GOLD rating. WELL buildings prioritise health and wellbeing across seven categories including; air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind.

I was proud to introduce the presenter for our first workshop, Shelley Laslett. Shelley has an extensive background in startups, coaching, neuroscience and consulting both in Australia and internationally, and has become a dear friend over the years. When I had the idea for Tech Ready, Shelley was a natural fit. She is a trailblazer and is working on her own startup Vitae.Coach.

Vitae.Coach is an early-stage career coaching startup, combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) with neuroscience to help Gen Y’s find and create the career and life they want. Shelley is also a startup advisor, mentor and investor. Shelley was previously York Butter Factory’s (YBF – co-working and Melbourne incubator) General Manager of Innovation – where she designed innovation strategies, startup engagement programs and advised on corporate venturing for organisations such as; ANZ, EY, Salesforce, Qantas, Myer and Fonterra.

In this workshop, we started at the idea stage, the foundation for everything. We covered topics like problem solution fit, the basics of design thinking and how empathy is important when designing customer experiences to name a few.

After the content component of the workshop was done it was time to implement the learning!

There were some inspired conversations and even some ah-ha moments!