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From technology and politics to finance and media, women are making their mark on every industry, around the world, today. In the world of web, female web creators are few in comparison to men. However, that doesn’t mean their expertise is overshadowed. What is important to note is that there’s no indication that the presence of strong, influential, talented women web creators will slow down in the near future. Regardless of one’s gender, women in the industry should serve as inspiration to others.
In honor of International Women’s Day, we decided to reach out to some pretty impressive Women Web Creators from our community, and share their inspiring stories, businesses, and experiences. Let’s celebrate their success!
The Opportunities and Challenges of Being a Female Web Entrepreneur in 2022
Stella Guan
Stella Guan is a multidisciplinary designer with practices across graphic, web design, and furniture design. After a decade of design career working for global companies, she started a design school called Path Unbound and is currently starting up a mid-century modern multi-functional furniture brand. In her web design practice, she maintains a small and selective roster of clients in marketing, medicine, law, tech, and various other fields.
What inspired you to get into web creation?
I started using WordPress over a decade ago as a way to build my own portfolio website without a template. Then I realized I could also do it for other people and charge for it.
What work are you most proud of to date?
My award-winning creative web design that won 6 awards internationally called “The Modern Dating Ventroom”, and my upcoming furniture collection that consists of a vanity table/console table/writing desk convertible, a multi-storage half-moon shaped coffee table and a writing desk, bookcase, and display shelf convertible.
“I never graduated from high school but I did graduate from college; I’m multi-lingual and self-taught, but that has not impressed my mother yet.”
What is your go-to source of inspiration?
Pop culture; art (love pop art); music (classic rock); architecture (mid-century design and Spanish style architecture) and desert landscape (especially those in Southern California and Arizona).
Please tell us something random and interesting about yourself?
I never graduated from high school but I did graduate from college; I’m multi-lingual and self-taught, but that has not impressed my mother yet.
Do you feel women in the industry are treated differently?
I haven’t felt that way myself, although I know salary difference is a big issue. Being able to be assertive and advocate for our worth is very important — and the ability to push back against any problematic behavior is the key to improving gender balance in the workplace.
What piece of advice do you want to share with other female web creators? Something that will inspire them on their journey.
This is a great space to be in with lots of flexibility in how you work. Amplify your voice and be bold!
Lauren Kay
Lauren Kay is the founder of Brave Factor, a small agency that helps nonprofits avoid lost opportunities by giving them a foundation to create brand clarity and increase social impact, specifically through branding and web design and development.
What inspired you to get into web creation?
When I was in high school, trying to plan my future, I always loved graphic design. So when I graduated, I took an online course to learn the fundamentals of design and web development and immediately started working at 19 years old. I heard that to find a job in design, you needed a good portfolio and good people skills, so I focused on gaining experience.
My first job was working as the web designer for a small finance company in 2008. We would create landing pages for their clients as a perk. I loved it. I loved using design and technology to solve business problems and find real solutions. I loved being paid to make things pretty. I have many passions (business thinking, art, psychology, technology just to name a few) and web creation combines them all into one career.
What work are you most proud of to date?
I’m proud of all the work we’ve been able to do, and all of the work our clients can do because of our websites. I have always had a desire to do something that makes me feel like I have more purpose in my life. I didn’t want to just get a paycheck — I wanted to help create change and help improve people’s lives. Being able to work directly with nonprofits and help their cause get more support makes every challenge and every project worth it. We are only a small piece in the work that our clients do, but we are so proud to partner with them in their work to help foster kids in America, prevent human trafficking in Southeast Asia, or spread awareness about misinformation in Indonesia.
“I wake up and choose violence – to an extent! One of my passions is Muay Thai and I’ve been training for almost 8 years. I also have an issue with saving kittens from the street. I seem to always find some kitten that needs help and I love being able to see their personalities develop. “
What is your go-to source of inspiration?
Since I’m more of a designer than a developer, I love finding inspiration on Dribbble, Behance, and Awwwards and applying it to the websites we make. For development, I like to stay inspired with the Elementor groups, like Building Businesses with Elementor.
Please tell us something random and interesting about yourself?
I wake up and choose violence – to an extent! One of my passions is Muay Thai (but not enough to compete) and I’ve been training for almost 8 years. I also have an issue with saving kittens from the street. I seem to always find some kitten that needs help and I love being able to see their personalities develop.
Do you feel women in the industry are treated differently?
We’ve come a long way since the early 2010s and have gained more women in this field. I thankfully haven’t experienced too much sexism being a woman web creator (or I’ve been very naive to it). I think that if you are being treated differently because you are a woman in development, find other people. I know this comes from a place of privilege, but web creation can find clients from around the world if you network correctly. I believe there are a lot of great people out there that won’t treat you differently, and you have every right to be able to work and be respected at the same time.
What piece of advice do you want to share with other female web creators? Something that will inspire them on their journey.
You bring a unique voice into the web design industry. There are a lot of web creators of all shapes and sizes – so find what makes you different and don’t be afraid to shine. It’s a bit cheesy, but I find it to be true.
Can you share with us a particular story, experience, or event that changed your outlook, or helped you overcome a challenge related to you being a woman web creator?
I think there is something powerful in being positive and pushing the situation in your favor. If someone wants to be sexist towards me (or downplay my understanding or skills), it encourages me to prove them wrong (with a smile) all the more. I try to win them over with kindness.
One of the tips that I tell my other developer friends is that when you get those nasty clients, write the dream email you wish to send. Don’t put anything in the “to” field. Just write out your anger and go on a walk. Then come back and rewrite the email as a mediator trying to find the best solution.
Manmeet Kaur
Manmeet Kaur is the Founder of WebEasy, a WordPress Design and Marketing Agency. She believes in leading by example and that is why she also runs a coaching program that helps Web-Designers to scale their Business. She loves traveling and making new friends.
What inspired you to get into web creation?
When I started my journey as an entrepreneur the first thing I had to do was create a website. And I wanted every aspect of my website to be flawless. I decided to learn it myself because I wanted my business, my baby, to be perfected by me. My first website took me hours and months to create. And it was then that I discovered my passion for building websites.
What work are you most proud of to date?
I believe you create the most beautiful work when you least accept it, the most beautiful website I have done so far was absolutely out of my comfort zone. I created a website for a spelling & vocabulary academy, Truth to be told, I wasn’t even sure that I could pull this off. You create beauty when you venture out of your comfort zone.
“I am a Japanese linguist as well. I have done 3 years of diploma in Japanese. I can talk, read, laugh, and even cry in Japanese.”
What is your go-to source of inspiration?
My clients. They tell me what to do. They know exactly how they want their site to be, what kind of features they want on their site. All I have to do is ask a series of questions and map out all the answers, BAM! I exactly know what kind of site to create.
Please tell us something random and interesting about yourself?
Well, this is a trick question. I am a Japanese linguist as well. I have done 3 years of diploma in Japanese. I can talk, read, laugh, and even cry in Japanese.
Do you feel women in the industry are treated differently?
Personally, I’ve never experienced something like this, but I believe women are subjected to bias. Simply because they are thought to be doing this until they have a child, after which everything else will slow down.
What piece of advice do you want to share with other female web creators? Something that will inspire them on their journey.
Remember your WHY. Always remember WHY you started in the first place and then everything else doesn’t matter. And a little personal advice here, choose your partner wisely. One who encourages and supports your aspirations and dreams in the same way that you encourage and support theirs.
Can you share with us a particular story, experience, or event that changed your outlook, or helped you overcome a challenge related to you being a woman web creator?
As you begin your business, you will experience an exponential learning curve as you connect with a variety of clientele. I recall interacting with one such client and concluding that this is the type of client with whom I would NOT want to work. “The client” didn’t know what their business model was and asked me to help them figure it out. And as I was doing that and beginning to fulfill what we had agreed, the customer’s wants would shift week to week depending on the conversations the client had with their friends. As a result, I wasted time, effort, resources, and money on the project. I learned that being picky about who you work with is critical to your success.
Tamara Taylor
Tamara Taylor is the president of Showupstrongonline.com, a branch of Show Up Strong®, Inc. They give technology what it needs to get their clients the results they want — optimizing websites, content, and integrations to help businesses perform to their full potential.
What inspired you to get into web creation?
I’ve been a techie nerd for decades and a lifelong learner, so when I went through several “web designers” and wasted more money than I care to admit, and so had my clients and colleagues, I decided to see for myself why it was so hard for people to get it right.
After learning several systems and building my own sites, I started helping my clients work with their designers and developers. Eventually, I created an entire business around building optimized websites that work as an asset for the client’s business in every way possible, while maintaining or developing the brand voice, style, user experience, and integrity.
What work are you most proud of to date?
The work I’m most proud of was for a client that had an incredibly unique skill and a lot of opportunities, but very poor market focus and strategy and a very sad website that didn’t showcase that skill. The client was very rigid on some aspects of their website, but with a little creative thinking and perhaps a little convincing, we managed to turn the website into a client magnet.
The new website, built with Elementor Pro, represented the brand and showcased its unique positioning. They went from having no client inquiries through their website to a 300% increase in clients within nine months, all from website inquiries. It wasn’t the most beautiful-looking website I’ve created, but it produced the most beautiful growth story for a client who truly deserved the business boost.
“To some degree, I think women are still treated differently, in this and other industries. The way their expertise is viewed, skills are questioned, and the expectation of discounted rates are the main issues.”
What is your go-to source of inspiration?
My go-to source for inspiration is the client and their ideal client’s psychographics. I start with the mindset of both to develop the ideas for design and structure. I consider what represents the brand’s energy and message from both the owner(s) and their users’ expectations. I want people to feel like they’ve already met the owner(s) or experienced the product or service by experiencing them through the website.
Do you feel women in the industry are treated differently?
To some degree, I think women are still treated differently, in this and other industries. The way their expertise is viewed, skills are questioned, and the expectation of discounted rates are the main issues.
In contradiction to what most people believe, I do find that it’s not just men who treat women differently in the industry. There have been many women who thought I was going to charge less than the quotes they received from men and have actually been harsher in the questioning expertise arena.
I believe, or at least hope, that is starting to age out of all areas of life and business. When I was born, few women held technical positions in any field, let alone having any legal rights in the workplace. We’ve made a lot of progress in my lifetime, however, we need to pick up the pace.
What piece of advice do you want to share with other female web creators? Something that will inspire them on their journey.
– Price your services by the value you bring, not by what the prospect thinks you “should” charge.
– Learn related skills outside the design bubble to bring more value and knowledge to the table.
– Always keep learning to sharpen your skills and knowledge base so you rarely get tripped up by those questions or requests meant to undermine your expertise and value.
– Find people in your industry and vertical industries with whom you can collaborate on projects to share knowledge and expand on service offerings.
– You don’t have to do it alone. You can create partnerships and hire independent contractors and employees to help you grow your business. Asking for help or sharing the workload isn’t a weakness, it’s a strength.
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