{"id":17198,"date":"2021-03-10T16:40:03","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T16:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=17198"},"modified":"2021-03-10T16:39:08","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T16:39:08","slug":"international-womens-day-ringside-sandra-krief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/international-womens-day-ringside-sandra-krief\/","title":{"rendered":"International Women&#8217;s Day Ringside: Sandra Krief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As part of our support for\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.internationalwomensday.com\/Theme\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer external\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" data-dtm-element=\"link\" data-dtm-context=\"sticky\" data-dtm-name=\"International Women\u2019s Day \u201cChoose to Challenge\u201d\">International Women\u2019s Day \u201cChoose to Challenge\u201d<\/a>, we invited women in leadership to discuss their views on gender inequality and related issues. For this #IWD2021 Ringside, we caught up with Sandra Krief, <\/span>VP Americas sales, service providers.<\/p>\n<h2><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Can you tell us a bit about yourself?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Thanks for inviting me to this interview, I am very passionate about the subject of gender equality and why it is so important in the business world and beyond. I am Canadian, born and raised in Montreal. I moved to New York City over 15 years ago for work and met my husband. We have two kids, Mia is eleven years old, and Samuel nine. I love dancing, laughing and reading.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m a computer engineering graduate and started my career as a test engineer. I always loved working with people, so after starting off in engineering I transitioned into Sales engineering and then into sales. I really enjoy the work I do and get along so well with the people I work with everyday.<\/p>\n<blockquote><span class='bctt-click-to-tweet'><span class='bctt-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fringcentr.al%2F3eoUAMG&#038;text=Make%20sure%20your%20manager%2Fleader%20believes%20in%20you%2C%20trusts%20you%2C%20promotes%20your%20efforts%20internally%2C%20and%20embraces%20your%20success.&#038;via=RingCentralUK&#038;related=RingCentralUK' target='_blank'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Make sure your manager\/leader believes in you, trusts you, promotes your efforts internally, and embraces your success. <\/a><\/span><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fringcentr.al%2F3eoUAMG&#038;text=Make%20sure%20your%20manager%2Fleader%20believes%20in%20you%2C%20trusts%20you%2C%20promotes%20your%20efforts%20internally%2C%20and%20embraces%20your%20success.&#038;via=RingCentralUK&#038;related=RingCentralUK' target='_blank' class='bctt-ctt-btn'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/blockquote>\n<h2><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What advice would you pass on to other women to help them progress and overcome issues associated with &#8216;the glass ceiling&#8217; in our industry?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The best piece of advice I can share (which I only realised after I was passed for a promotion) is to make sure your manager\/leader believes in you, trusts you, promotes your efforts internally, and embraces your success \u2013 and most importantly doesn&#8217;t feel threatened by it. This will help determine whether a \u201cglass ceiling\u201d existed or not for you on a personal level. When picking a job, we all look for a company we have passion for and truly believe in what they are doing, but one thing to always keep in mind is to also pick the leader you will be working with.<\/p>\n<p>With that, I would also say to work hard, come prepared to your meetings, be the expert on the subject being presented, build genuine connections and (perhaps the most important one) be yourself. It&#8217;s so easy to lose yourself in an industry still dominated by a different gender. Don&#8217;t let that get to you. Embrace each of your strengths for what they are and never conceal them.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\t<div class=\"cta-banner  CID-2FdM5dTp IID-6a0c611eeb378\"\r\n\t\tdata-dl-custom-type=\"ctaButton\">\r\n\t\t<div class=\"cta-banner-img-wrap\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"cta-banner-img\" style=\"background-image:url(\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/covid-turned-back-the-clock.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<div class=\"cta-body\" data-dl-custom-type=\"ctaButton\">\r\n\t\t\t<span class=\"cta-sub-heading\"> International Women's Day 2021<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"cta-heading\"> Why organisations should mind the pay gap<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t<p>The gender pay gap: what it is, how it happens, and what you can do to redress the balance.<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<a class=\"rc-cta-shortcode btn btn-primary btn-lg\" data-dl-element=\"button\"\r\n\t\t\t\thref=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/why-organisations-should-mind-pay-gap\/\" class=\"btn btn-primary\"\r\n\t\t\t\ttarget=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-dl-additional-info=\" Why organisations should mind the pay gap\"\r\n\t\t\t\tdata-dl-name=\" Why organisations should mind the pay gap | Read the report\">Read the report<\/a>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">How has COVID-19 impacted your work life balance and responsibilities outside of work? Any words of wisdom you can share on how you&#8217;ve managed the past 12 months?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I&#8217;ve been working most of my career remotely, but interestingly my first day at RingCentral was the first day of the travel shutdown. My experience in starting this job has been 100% remote in a new company with a new team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When working remotely in hybrid mode, the lines between work and life get blurry. The best advice I can give if <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/remote-work-resources\/\">remote work<\/a> is new to you is to manage your calendar tightly and include important things, like dinner time or a walk and even when your workday should stop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I have been doing a couple of new things in the past 12 months. Firstly, I walk my kids to school in the morning, I love it, get all the school gossip and get some fresh air. Secondly, I like to work over the weekend to get ready for my week. I schedule specific times just for work, in my office, allowing me to enjoy the rest of the weekend. Thirdly, I have been using the Headspace app to sleep or decompress. Lastly, I get ready for work just like I was heading into the office (makeup and all) and always use video to make each call count.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Why do you think we still have so few female leaders (vs. male as a percentage of total leadership) in the technology sector?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>This is a difficult and important question to address. I recently joined the McGill Women, Leadership and Philanthropy initiative in New York as an Alumni. One of topics which comes up often is how can we encourage more women to join programs in technology. I think one major hesitation is the lack of women leaders in this sector.<\/p>\n<p>I believe if we had more mentors for females, I mean mentors who really believe equality is essential for a company&#8217;s growth, we would have a lot more female leaders in technology. Technology environments are generally fast-paced, high pressure, demanding and can be intimidating \u2013 so it&#8217;s crucial for women to have a support network to tap into.<\/p>\n<p>The role of mentoring takes time, dedication, and even trusting people to try new things at work beyond their current boundaries, it&#8217;s an investment. We need mentors that can challenge their own comfort to allow their mentee to achieve really great things. I know it is a big investment for any company to really do it right, but I also know the return will be huge.<\/p>\n<blockquote><span class='bctt-click-to-tweet'><span class='bctt-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fringcentr.al%2F3eoUAMG&#038;text=I%20truly%20believe%20that%20if%20we%20had%20more%20mentors%20for%20females%2C%20we%20would%20have%20a%20lot%20more%20female%20leaders%20in%20technology.&#038;via=RingCentralUK&#038;related=RingCentralUK' target='_blank'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">I truly believe that if we had more mentors for females, we would have a lot more female leaders in technology. <\/a><\/span><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fringcentr.al%2F3eoUAMG&#038;text=I%20truly%20believe%20that%20if%20we%20had%20more%20mentors%20for%20females%2C%20we%20would%20have%20a%20lot%20more%20female%20leaders%20in%20technology.&#038;via=RingCentralUK&#038;related=RingCentralUK' target='_blank' class='bctt-ctt-btn'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/blockquote>\n<p>A massive thanks to Sandra for her view on the importance of mentorship as women progress to leadership positions. Watch out for our next #IWD2021 Ringside tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\t\t<div class=\"uc-expo-cta-2 style-4  CID-cta-2FdM5dTp\"\r\n\t\t\tdata-dl-custom-type=\"ctaButton\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"inner-container\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Get more details on the gender pay gap: what it is, how it happens, and what you can do to redress the balance<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"button\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rc-cta-shortcode btn btn-primary btn-lg\" data-dl-element=\"button\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/why-organisations-should-mind-pay-gap\/\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-additional-info=\"Get more details on the gender pay gap: what it is, how it happens, and what you can do to redress the balance\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-name=\"Get more details on the gender pay gap: what it is, how it happens, and what you can do to redress the balance | Read the report\" target=\"_blank\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\trel=\"noopener\" title=\"Go to IWD page\">Read the report<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As part of our support for\u00a0International Women\u2019s Day \u201cChoose to Challenge\u201d, we invited women in leadership to discuss their views on gender inequality and related issues. For this #IWD2021 Ringside, &hellip; <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/international-womens-day-ringside-sandra-krief\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;International Women&#8217;s Day Ringside: Sandra Krief&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":17267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[254,14],"tags":[122,39],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>International Women&#039;s Day Ringside: Sandra Krief | RingCentral UK Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For this #IWD2021 Ringside, we caught up with Sandra Krief, VP Americas sales, service providers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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Clayton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/rcbloguk.wpengine.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/rc-profile-photo\/images\/default-avatar.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rcbloguk.wpengine.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/rc-profile-photo\/images\/default-avatar.png","caption":"Samantha Clayton"},"description":"Samantha is RingCentral\u2019s Content Manager for EMEA Marketing. Before joining the business, she worked in content and public relations roles. She has worked with companies in ed tech, marketing and advertising, connected home, telecoms and publishing. She has a BA in English Literature and an interest in story writing. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and live music.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/claytonsamantha\/"],"url":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/author\/samantha-clayton\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17198"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}