From receptionist to COO - the career journey of Sapphire boss Vicki O'Neill-King

I started out in the technology industry back when I was a young mum, working on reception - that amazing front of house team that is the face & first experience most have with our businesses. Anybody who has worked in reception knows the importance and impact of customer experience. As COO (quite a few years later) I still live customer experience every day.

Let's be honest about the tech industry. Back in the 1980s when the home computer revolution began and started the careers of much of the senior leadership in our industry, it was boys who persuaded their parents to buy a ZX Spectrum. Like with flares and mullets, we cannot change the facts of fashion of the day, and the truth is technology was not very appealing to girls of my age. But that was a long time ago, and ensuring women have an amazing career in tech, doesn't mean ensuring men don't.

I was lucky enough to be nominated as Leader of the Year at the ERP Today Awards & half of the finalists were women, and not far off 40% of those who attended were women. But an awards event does not hide the fact more boys study STEM subjects than girls, and men dominate jobs in the STEM industries by 3:1 over women.

We want to change this by levelling the playing field for our businesses, our economy, and for women - who we know can thrive at senior levels in our industry.

As leaders it is important that we encourage more females to enter our industry and once they have made that decision, that we remove the obstacles that stop women's careers from flourishing.

At Sapphire, Our Ceiling Smash mentoring scheme not only helps us to retain women but puts them on the path to leadership if that is what they want to do. One of the biggest inhibiting factors for many women is simply lack of confidence - the famous imposter syndrome - and not a lack of skills or talent. I encourage my female colleagues to be fearless, ensuring they are confident to make their voice heard and ensure our business adopts the culture and policies that ensure the ceiling is cracked at every opportunity. It is our responsibility to try and create a place where that can happen.

Long gone are the days [I hope] when businesses discriminated against women for having children, but we also need to provide policies that support them through the menopause, so talented women do not get forced off their career path. Things can be solved by having fair policies, whether it be the menopause, mentoring, or parental leave for partners.

I pride myself on not just being a person who takes ideas about women in tech seriously but as someone who puts them into practice. They say you cannot bring about change unless people can see the change, and see the outcomes of that change, and I like to think that my personal journey is a living example of what that looks like.

Vicki O'Neill King is COO of Sapphire: the largest mid-market digital transformation provider turning operating friction into business momentum. Vicki is also a finalist in this year's CRN Women and Diversity in Channel Awards.