Anna Gát: I've started doing free weekly mentoring calls for women and new immigrants.

Apply and let's see how I can help.

Apply to join The GrownUp Table here.

Having been the founder and CEO of the venture-funded culture startup Interintellect for over six years, and a five-time immigrant over the past twelve years, I am deeply familiar with the challenges of making one's own way in life.

Despite many expensive initiatives and loud expressions of goodwill, the fact is that there are still countless things that complicate fully integrating women and immigrants into leadership and decision-making processes, making them part of the conversations that matter.

I am not talking about getting a seat at the kids' table, even though people will tell you that's the best offer you will ever get. No, this is not about being "token woman on the panel". Not about how "she should write books for women". Not about the "female founders' festival" that removes women from the big league into little sub-industries... This is about real respect for ideas and talent that is ethnicity, gender, and generation agnostic. This is about being offered the same openness and appreciation that you offer to others. About the real hunger for the best ideas wherever they may come from - as opposed to everybody waiting for the pre-selected few to finally come up with something and then saying: We knew he had it in him! This is about making innovation about what is actually new and nonconformist. This is about your seat at the grownup table.

The fact remains that intricate social nets still restrict the most consequential conversations to (local) men-only spaces, which are often informal and therefore offer plenty of deniability to the participants. That MeToo and other cultural barriers reduce mentorship, apprenticeship, and referral opportunities for women and immigrants, barring us from important types of collaboration. That people with less available capital for travel, experimentation, and making mistakes must compete with those for whom none of this is a problem, and we must find a way. And we do find a way - yet the scrappy talents developed by the hard-working mother or the immigrant consumed by endless life admin and hardened by being ignored receive little attention.

I struggled with these problems for a long time, and I learned a lot. Mainly that compromises are rarely worth it. That people will tell you it doesn't matter, but that yes you MUST have money in the bank. That private words of support are cheap and matter much less than public action. That speed is your most valuable asset, second only to the glorious blessing of being underestimated. That if you do fight, fight publicly, so we can all learn from and support each other. That we are all we have, and we can do much more for each other. We can do much, much better.

I'm starting The GrownUp Table as a free series of weekly 1:1 mentoring calls for those who need help, guidance, or just someone to listen and understand what they're dealing with. From my perspective, I learned everything the hard way: I was both disappointed and got invaluable help that got me to the next level; I failed and then raised a million dollars; I felt lonely and found the best friends in the world. I gave up and started again and again and again. And again. If I can be helpful, I want to share what I learned with you so it can go more easily for you. I want to help you find the support you need even if we conclude that I personally can't help you. I promise you that I will do my best for you.

Apply for a 60 minute FREE mentoring call here.

Love,

Anna