Reshma Saujani, founder of the non-profit Girls Who Code, got straight to the point.
“If I had applied to be the CEO of Girls Who Code, I wouldn’t have gotten the job,” she told Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on the latest episode of the duchess’ podcast, “Confessions of a Female Founder.”
“I didn’t code,” Saujani continued. “I majored in polyscience, speech communications, and the only thing I’d ever built was a failed [congressional] campaign,” she said, referring to when she tried running for Congress and lost. (She was the first Indian-American to run for Congress back in 2010).
Saujani’s lack of experience in coding didn’t stop her from launching what has become one of the most well-known coding camps in tech.
Girls Who Code says it has helped train more than 670,000 young girls, women, and nonbinary individuals in STEM and, at one point, received support from high-profile names in the tech industry, including Jack Dorsey and Microsoft. (The organization still seems to be kicking, whereas other groups, like Girls in Tech and Women in Code, have faced the reverberating impacts of the anti-DEI sentiment sloshing through Silicon Valley.)
Saujani chatted with Meghan about her early days of building the organization, while touching upon themes of motherhood and life after leaving Girls Who Code. Her interview illustrates the sacrifices many female founders make — and often conceal — while they focus on running a business. The conversation revealed Saujani’s drive as an entrepreneur to remain on the front lines pushing for change.
“This conversation was such a full-circle moment for me,” Saujani told TechCrunch, adding that she first met Meghan in 2019 when she was expanding Girls Who Code to the UK.
“Confessions of a Female Founder” promises to talk to important women and share lessons about building a business. The podcast, which launched last week, has had a successful beginning. It’s currently the No. 1-ranked business podcast on Apple, ahead of Scott Galloway’s “The Prof F Pod.”
In a comment given to TechCrunch, Meghan said she hoped the conversation inspired others to “explore a different vertical of being an entrepreneur: social entrepreneurship.”
“My conversations throughout ‘Confessions of a Female Founder’ have each been illuminating in their own way, and with Reshma, we chat about what it looks like for a woman to lead and succeed while also navigating motherhood with grit and grace,” she said.
Saujani’s conversation is at its best when business nuggets are dropped. For instance, the pair discussed the adage that when you go to someone for money, you get advice, but if you go to someone for advice, you will probably get money.
“You’re just going for advice, and then if it makes sense for them, they’ll offer up what they think you might need,” Meghan said.
But there were intimate moments too; Saujani chatted about her struggles running the nonprofit while dealing with miscarriages and an auto-immune disorder. “I was performing in front of these children that I desperately wanted,” she said. “It was eating me up inside.”
One of the main lessons in Saujani’s founder journey is, of course, taking leaps and not giving up. She took her chance in 2012 when she launched Girls Who Code after seeing that young women, especially women of color, were not entering STEM jobs.
A child of Indian immigrants, she spoke about how she was bullied as a child and how that impacted her path in life.
“I got beat up pretty bad,” she said, adding that she tried hard to assimilate into the white culture she grew up around. “But I also realized I am not white, and I’m never going to be, and I have a responsibility to actually teach people about difference [sic].”
Betting on women is another theme — and one worth reiterating.
When Saujani launched her podcast, she thought it was important for young girls to have and understand the tools needed to solve the problems they will inevitably face.
As the artificial intelligence revolution kicks off, betting on women has become more important than ever. Women make up just 22% of the global AI talent, with representation dropping as a role becomes more senior. AI is also threatening young women in unprecedented ways, most notably through the rise of shockingly accurate deepfake videos. (Girls Who Code says it has taught more than 8,000 students about AI).
Saujani, now a mother, went on to launch Moms First, which advocates for better working environments for moms. Meghan, she revealed, was an early supporter of the cause. The lesson there is a simple one.
“I might die with women having less rights than they had when I was born,” she said, adding that she realized she, like other women, were probably put on earth to keep hope alive. “You lose, you lose, you lose, you lose, and then you win.”
This story was updated to clarify the year Saujani met Meghan.
