While interviewing women around the world, Meg Withgott, cofounder and CTO of Panafold, Inc., always asks the question: “What advice would you give your younger self?”

Open your awareness

“People literally used the word open over and over again,” said Withgott in an interview with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), cohost of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference 2016 in Phoenix, AZ.

Being open was the biggest of the seven themes that predominated the answers Withgott received during her interviews, along with finding the joy in hard tasks, challenge, conflict and stereotyping. Interviewees had different viewpoints on openness, including being open to life’s friction, opening your heart and being open to listening to your colleagues — not categorizing them as a finished product but understanding that they are also someone who is learning.

Comp Sci in academia

The interview also covered change and awareness of teaching computer science in academia, as well as Panafold’s goal of allowing people to view their career as a journey.

One thing that stood out to Withgott from the interviews with successful women was that these “women could step back and see their careers as a learning journey, and that gave them a lot of strength.”

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference.

 Photo by SiliconANGLE