Article originally published in 2017
Gabrielle La Rue, founder of startup Locketgo, and Catherine D’avril, the marketing director, won a scholarship to travel to the popular Texas festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2017. Of the five winning teams, only two were founded by women. Interview with two young women on imposter syndrome and what it’s like to move into a tech field when you know nothing about engineering.
For the record, Locketgo is a company founded in May 2016 whose flagship product meets a real need: what to do with your belongings when you go to a festival? The idea of creating a locker that you book and pay for in advance and can access once you’re on site was born. The two young women sold the idea to event promoters, and Montreal’s Osheaga music festival was among the first to jump on board. The product is made in Quebec, safe and has even been designed so that intoxicated users can use it.
“In the U.S., these kinds of lockers are in every festival, but in Quebec we’re lagging behind. We saw an opportunity to break into the market” – Gabrielle La Rue, founder of Locketgo
Taking technological innovation to the next level
The two young women attended the Centech acceleration program, created by the École de Technologie Supérieure (ETS) to help propel technology companies. This enabled them to take the next step: developing a smart locker. “At Centech, there are only two other women. We’re the only 100% girl team, out of 13.” But it would take more than that for the two young women to dismantle. Gabrielle and Catherine are used to being one of the boys.
“It’s an advantage, but it can be a double-edged sword. If you screw up, it’s like screwing up 10 times more than a guy. You have to make your mark. It’s an attitude you have to have in life.” – Gabrielle La Rue
The young women are not afraid to admit their shortcomings when working with engineers. “I tell them clearly that I don’t understand what they’re explaining to me”. They receive a great deal of support from people who say they are pleasantly surprised that two women with no engineering experience have taken the plunge. “Bank managers want to support us. It gives us a point of originality and attracts people, which works to our advantage. We’re the two girls who do tech. We used to clash with the other Centech teams. We’re ourselves and we like it that way.”
“We have a bit of imposter syndrome. We’re not engineers, but we had to go into technological innovation to make our product grow.” – Catherine D’avril
