Women Disrupting Tech

Burnout doesn't happen because people work too hard. It happens because half their work is invisible.

In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Jamie Albaum, co-founder of Kellotime, a platform that helps organizations understand how their teams actually spend their time.

We explore how invisible labor — the operational work, coordination, and care tasks that keep companies running — quietly builds up inside teams and contributes to burnout and structural bias.

Jamie explains how unmeasured workload distorts promotions, recognition, and retention, and why founders who want to build sustainable companies need to understand the gap between assumed workload and real workload.

This episode is for female founders, startup leaders, and women in tech who want to understand how invisible labor creates burnout before it's too late.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why burnout often starts in the gap between assumed workload and real workload
• How time tracking helps founders identify overload before it becomes a crisis
• What data reveals about gendered labor patterns inside teams
• Why invisible labor shapes promotions, recognition, and retention
• How workload visibility improves pricing, fundraising, and project planning

Chapters:

02:10 The Birth of Kello Time: Addressing Burnout in Organizations

05:03 Understanding the Importance of Timekeeping

07:55 Cultural Implications of Invisible Labor

10:54 The Impact of Burnout on Employee Engagement

13:49 Identifying Patterns of Burnout Across Organizations

16:55 The Role of Data in Shaping Workplace Culture

19:51 Kello Time's Unique Approach to Timekeeping

22:45 The Gender Dynamics of Invisible Labor

25:35 Kello Time's Functionality and Benefits

28:27 Strategic Resource Management with Kello Time

31:19 Building Trust and Avoiding Micromanagement

34:25 Cultural Shifts and Employee Wellbeing

37:33 Recognizing Signs of Employee Disengagement

40:24 The Importance of Open Communication

43:22 Encouraging Time Off for Better Productivity

46:31 Implementing Sabbatical Policies for Employee Retention

49:35 Advice for Founders on Managing Workloads

52:16 The Invisible Labor of Fundraising

55:14 Practicing Public Speaking as a Founder

58:17 Connecting with Jamie and Kello Time

Connect with Jamie Albaum and Kellotime:

Jamie Albaum on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiealbaum/

Website: https://www.kellotime.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kellotime

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kello_time/

🎧 Listen to Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations with women building sustainable tech companies.

Starting a tech company is hard. Starting one during a war requires a different kind of resilience.

In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Oryna Starkina, founder and CEO of Starksoft, a mobile development company she built during the pandemic and has kept running through the war in Ukraine. We explore how distributed teams create operational resilience, why the pandemic was actually a "golden window" for tech startups, and how Oryna turned her natural anxiety into a risk management advantage.

This episode is for female founders, women in tech, and entrepreneurs building companies in uncertain times who want to understand how resilience is both a business architecture and a personal practice.

What you'll learn in this episode:

* Why 2020 was an opportunity window for tech, not just a crisis

• How a distributed team structure keeps a company running during power outages and war

• Why working with SMEs provided more stability than enterprise clients during crisis

• How naturally anxious founders can leverage overthinking as scenario planning

• Why physical routines break the "thinking loop" and create space for better decisions

• What's shifting for women in tech leadership roles in Ukraine — and why it's likely permanent

Chapters:

02:05 Navigating Crisis: The Birth of Starksoft

04:49 Building a Resilient Business Model

07:56 Client Relationships and Support During Turbulence

10:29 Overcoming Personal Challenges: Anxiety and Imposter Syndrome

13:26 Networking and Attracting Clients

16:16 The Role of Routine in Managing Anxiety

18:58 Mindfulness and Focus Through Physical Activity

22:01 Leveraging Overthinking for Business Success

24:52 Coping with Uncertainty in a War Zone

30:49 Impact of War on Workforce Dynamics

35:09 Women in Tech: Rising Opportunities

39:52 Long-Term Changes in Female Entrepreneurship

41:55 Lessons from Uncertainty: Insights for Founders

44:16 Preparing for the Unknown: Practical Strategies

48:43 Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: Realizations and Growth

More about the episode

Check the show notes for magic moments, practical takeaways and insights.

More about Oryna Starkina and Starksoft

Connect with Oryna Starkina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arastark/

Learn more about Starksoft: https://www.starksoft.online/

🎧 Listen to Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations with women building the future of tech.

Burnout isn't about working too hard. It's about working against yourself.

In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Alice Pavin, a Business and Life Coach for female founders navigating the gap between external success and internal alignment.

We explore what happens when everything looks perfect on paper, but something still feels off — and what it takes to listen to the whisper before it becomes a shout.

This episode is for women in tech, female founders, and entrepreneurs who are building at high intensity but wondering if there's a more sustainable way forward.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why burnout is misalignment, not just overwork
• How to use your heart as a compass and your mind as an execution tool
• What morning routines actually do for flow state and nervous system regulation
• How to practice heart-centered decision-making before investor meetings
• Why silence is uncomfortable — and why it's essential for growth
• What microdosing can and can't do as a tool for self-connection

Chapters

02:00 Introduction to Wellbeing and Entrepreneurship

03:12 The Whisper of the Body

05:02 Spiritual CV and Inner Balance

08:32 The Power of Silence

14:12 Mind vs. Heart: Finding Balance

18:29 Signs of Imbalance and Body Communication

21:28 Practicing Heart-Centered Living

28:59 Morning Routines for Flow State

30:37 Breathwork for Heart Connection

32:26 Heart-Centered Visualization Exercise

42:23 Understanding Microdosing and Its Benefits

50:14 Microdosing Protocols and Practices

58:58 Integrating Microdosing with Personal Development

1:03:52 Empowering Female Founders in Investment Conversations

About this episode

📰 Read the show notes: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/02/26/episode-141/

🔗 Connect with Alice Pavin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicepavin

🎧 Listen to Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations with women building the future of health and tech.

What if women's health is not a niche, but infrastructure?

In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Ida Tin, the woman who coined the term FemTech and co-founder of Clue, one of the world's leading women's health apps.

Together, we unpack why innovation in women's health has stalled, what a missing data set is costing us, and why fixing it may be the highest-return investment in the global economy.

This episode is for women in tech, femtech founders, and investors who believe women's health deserves to be treated as foundational infrastructure — not a funding afterthought.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why continuous hormonal data is the missing layer in women's health
• How the "leaky pipeline" metaphor reframes health as an economic issue
• What it takes to raise conviction capital as a female founder in FemTech
• Why Europe has a unique opportunity to lead in gender-informed healthcare
• How to use the "imaginary empty chair" framework for ethical data design
• What Ida learned from taking Clue through FDA clearance as the world's first data-driven birth control

Chapters:

02:00 The Journey to Femtech

04:56 Clue: Revolutionizing Women's Health

07:56 The Importance of Men's Understanding in Women's Health

10:22 The Need for Hormonal Data

11:17 Challenges in Hormonal Monitoring

14:20 The Societal Impact of Women's Health

17:22 Women's Health as Societal Infrastructure

20:04 Investing in Women's Health

23:15 The Future of Gender-Informed Healthcare

26:23 Europe's Opportunity in Women's Health

28:39 The Interconnection of Health and Environment

29:24 Innovations in Health Monitoring

31:07 Understanding Hormonal Health

31:55 Transformations in Women's Health

33:55 The Importance of Data in Women's Health

34:25 The Femtech Assembly: A Movement for Change

37:49 Building a Cohesive Femtech Community

40:28 Data Privacy in Femtech

45:24 Reframing Women's Health as an Opportunity

52:56 Advice for Female Founders in Health Tech

More information and links to connect

🔗 Connect with Ida Tin on LinkedIn.

🔗 Learn more about FemTech Assembly on LinkedIn or Substack.

📰 Check out the show notes for magic moments and insights from the episode.

🎧 Listen to Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations with women building the future of health and tech.

Most AI companies are built to scale fast. Melissa Solis built hers to last.

In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Melissa Solis, founder and CEO of Inbenta, about AI leadership, customer-centric AI, inclusive leadership, and what it really takes to build an AI company that creates long-term value.

Melissa has spent three decades leading AI companies through rapid industry change while prioritizing trust, inclusion, and sustainable growth. She brings a grounded perspective shaped by lived experience in environments that don’t always change on their own.

This episode is intended to help female tech entrepreneurs and AI leaders who are building for the long term.

In this episode, we explore:

• How to build an AI company that prioritizes customer trust over quick wins

• How AI is shifting access and opportunity beyond traditional credentials

• What inclusive AI leadership looks like in practice

• Why gratitude matters as a leadership choice

• Why DEI policies don’t work without respect

• What “building your own table” means in practice

Chapters:

02:25 Journey to CEO: Melissa Solis’ Path

05:18 Inbenta: Transforming Data into AI Solutions

08:03 The Importance of Customer Partnership in AI

11:05 Challenges in Data Management and Deployment

13:43 AI’s Role in Accessibility and Education

16:39 Earning Recognition vs. Receiving It: A Discussion on DEI

25:26 Creating a Fair Workplace: The Future of Leadership

27:48 Building Your Own Table

30:53 The Importance of Open Conversations

32:32 Merit Over Background

35:17 The Power of Gratitude in Leadership

42:16 Surrounding Yourself with Support

46:52 Leaving a Legacy and Empowering Others

More information and links to connect:

Blog and show notes: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/02/12/episode-139/

Connect with Melissa Solis on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/melissa-solis-3532302a

Learn more about Inbenta: https://www.inbenta.com/

🎧 Listen to more Women Disrupting Tech episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

👉 Follow for more conversations with leaders building the future of AI and tech.

In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Philipp Omenitsch, co-founder of Sequel, creator of PitchLeague.ai and The Founder Files, and former startup CTO, about what actually gets funded in venture capital.

Philipp has analyzed 17,000+ pitch decks through the Founder Files. This conversation cuts through fundraising advice and looks at patterns in the data.

You'll learn:

- Why prior startup experience is such a strong funding signal.

- How investors think about risk, scale, and returns.

- What pitch decks really need to do at early stages.

- How technical ownership and team signals build trust.

- Why pay gaps also affect who gets to invest.

We also explore Philipp's work at Sequel, where professional athletes invest in startups, and what that reveals about pay gaps, investing power, and who gets to allocate capital in venture capital.

Whether you're raising your first round or building toward it, this episode helps you understand the funding system you're stepping into with data, not just advice.

Chapters:

01:52 – Introduction to Philipp Omenitsch and Sequel

04:31 – Democratizing access to venture capital

07:09 – Barriers to accessing venture capital

10:09 – The Founder Files and pitch deck analysis

12:45 – Gender disparities in startup funding

15:36 – The importance of prior experience

18:09 – Investment decisions in venture capital

20:30 – The impact of diverse founding teams

23:08 – The importance of diversity in startups

26:01 – Leveraging data for female founders

28:47 – The role of technical co-founders

30:41 – Investing in female founders

32:03 – Communication styles of female founders

33:40 – Key components of a successful pitch deck

34:58 – Empowering athletes in investment decisions

37:33 – The performance mindset of athletes

40:04 – Lessons from startup experiences

44:13 – Building successful pitch tools

More information and show notes

Connect with Philipp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippomenitsch/

Read about key lessons, magic moments and practical takeaways in the show notes: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/02/05/episode-138/

Why do so many international hires look great on paper, only to leave within a year? In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, we look at why international hiring fails without proper relocation and what a real soft landing looks like in practice.

My guest is Judith Roetgering, managing director of Rehive People.

After more than 16 years in global fashion and founding a recruitment and relocation agency, she now helps startups and scaleups relocate and onboard international talent so they actually stay.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• How to get your legal setup and sponsorship in place before you fall in love with an international candidate

• Why switching your internal language and habits is non-negotiable if you want international hires to feel included

• What happens around the six to nine-month mark after a move, and why that is the moment many companies forget to support

• How AI can take over admin so there is more time for the human side of relocation, from housing stress to family questions

If you are a founder, hiring manager, or investor building global teams, this episode will help you see international hiring not as a transaction, but as something you design from the first forecast to the first working day.

Connect with Judith Roetgering:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithroetgering/

Rehive People: https://www.rehivepeople.com/

AI implementations rarely fail because of the technology. They fail because of people, incentives, fear, and organizational blind spots.

In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Sophia Zitman, Director of AI Projects at Kickstart AI, about what actually makes AI work in real organizations.

From starting with the why instead of the tech, to navigating politics, resistance, and design choices that determine whether AI ever makes it to production.

This conversation is for founders, operators, and leaders who want to move beyond AI hype and build systems that are useful, ethical, and adopted.

Follow Women Disrupting Tech for more conversations like this.

In this episode

• Why humans, not technology, cause most AI failures
• How to design AI around real organizational goals
• Why resistance is often a signal, not a blocker
• What founders underestimate about AI infrastructure
• How AI can lower the barrier to building companies and accessing education

Chapters:

01:23 Why most AI strategies fail in practice

04:23 Sophia Zitman and building AI that delivers value

11:13 The real reason AI projects break down

17:33 Designing AI around people and workflows

23:38 When politics derail even good AI projects

32:23 What successful AI implementation looks like

47:08 AI as an advantage for startups and founders

56:53 AI as an equalizer and building inclusive tech

Connect with Sophia Zitman:

Sophia Zitman on LinkedIn.

Support the podcast:

Subscribe on Substack

Follow the podcast on Spotify

Follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts

Follow the podcast on YouTube

In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, Valerie Hirschhauser explains why following the startup playbook often leads to founder burnout, hustle culture as a system glitch, and how founders can build a sustainable business without sacrificing their well-being.

We talk about hustle as a coping mechanism, why being busy often replaces making real progress, and how profit can act as oxygen for impact instead of undermining it.

This conversation is for founders who wonder whether working harder is really the path to success, and who are looking for a more sustainable way to build.

Inside this conversation:

- Why hustle is often a system glitch, not a lack of ambition

- How burnout shows up long before founders stop functioning

- Why intuition belongs in leadership and boardroom decisions

- How energy management beats time management

- Why profit can act as oxygen for impact, not a compromise

- What changes when founders reclaim agency over their choices

Chapters:

02:20 Valerie Hirschhauser's journey and the search for freedom in tech

05:11 Debunking the illusion of hustle culture for founders

08:07 The invisible impact of burnout on tech founders

11:10 Strategies for navigating the modern startup landscape

13:50 The role of mentorship and support for female founders

16:49 Addressing double standards for women in entrepreneurship

19:26 Rethinking investment expectations and VC relationships

22:22 Why energy management beats time management for leaders

25:27 Cultivating worthiness, balance, and self-belief in STEM

32:45 How to choose agency over autopilot in your career

35:41 Balancing purpose and profitability in a sustainable business

39:17 Why hustle is not a sustainable business strategy

45:34 How location and environment influence work-life integration

48:43 Making leadership development accessible for women in tech

51:25 Leading from the heart: Combining empathy and strength

55:09 The role of trust and investor support in startup success

57:52 Building inclusive and stronger founder ecosystems

Connect with Valerie Hirschhauser:

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriehirschhauser/

The OneMillionWomen Website: https://www.onemillion-women.com/

In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Carolina Bongers, founder of Jungle the Bungle.

Carolina is building a language learning app for children aged two to eight that makes learning feel like play. Her ambition goes far beyond vocabulary. As she puts it: “We’re not teaching words, we’re unlocking worlds.”

We talk about how being raised bilingual shaped her optimism and problem-solving mindset, why fun is not optional when it comes to learning, and how Jungle the Bungle removes the idea of right and wrong answers to keep children curious and engaged.

We also explore her nuanced view on screen time. Children are using screens anyway, so the real responsibility lies in offering content that helps them learn responsibly.

Carolina shares how she validated her idea in an unexpected way by first writing children’s books, why interest came from schools and libraries rather than parents, and what she learned from crowdfunding. Including how asking for money became easier once she saw it as inviting people into a shared success.

We close with her advice to founders. Build things that are intuitive. Assume your users have very little headspace. And when in doubt, design with the simplicity of a two to eight-year-old in mind.

Listen to episode 134 of Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

Chapters

02:05 Introduction to Jungle de Bungle

04:47 The Power of Bilingualism

07:36 Creating Engaging Educational Content

09:58 Addressing Screen Time Concerns

12:36 Fun and Effective Learning Methods

15:39 Transitioning from Books to Apps

18:25 Adapting for Schools and Educational Needs

21:06 Future Growth and Expansion Plans

23:46 Crowdfunding and Community Engagement

26:42 Lessons Learned and Overcoming Challenges

29:40 Vision for the Future of Jungle de Bungle

Links & resources

🗞️ Show notes: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/01/08/episode-134/

🌍 Jungle the Bungle: https://www.junglethebungle.com

📲 Download the Jungle The Bungle from the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/jungle-the-bungle-talen-app/id1571784582

📲 Download the Jungle The Bungle from the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.junglethebungle.app2