Tina Fey gives advice to women in tech
(CBS News) Tina Fey took off her bossy pants and put on a cocktail dress for the L'Oreal Next Generation Award ceremony Tuesday in New York City.
Fey hosted the inaugural event, which honored five women who head technology startups. Recipients of the awards included: Doreen Bloch (founder and CEO of Poshly), Bettina Hein (founder and CEO of Pixibility), Sarah McIlroy (founder and CEO of FashionPlaytes), Kathryn Minshew (founder of The Daily Muse) and Vivian Rosenthal (founder and CEO of GoldRun).
L'Oreal started the Women in Digital initiative to strengthen the connection between the beauty and technology industries, Rachel Weiss, L'Oreal USA vice president of digital strategy, told CBS News. Marrying the two industries may appeal to women who are tech-savvy, seeking a voice in a male-dominated field.
"I'm always asked, 'Do you have advice for women in this male dominated field?' Well, first of all 25 years ago, all fields were male-dominated fields unless you were, like, a doula," Fey quipped.
"The main piece of advice I try to offer is, if you're in a male dominated workplace," Fey continued, "don't get too comfortable being the only woman in the room. Remember to try to find opportunities to bring other women in - to throw the rope down. It's a dangerous thing to think: 'I'm the woman in this room, so that's my role.' I try to tell young women - don't be tricked into thinking that you're in the field to compete with other women."
The event couldn't have come at a more significant time for women in technology. On Monday, former Google executive Marissa Mayer was announced as Yahoo's new president and CEO. Mayer joins Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman and IBM CEO Virginia Rometty as one of the few female leaders of Fortune 500 companies.
More information about L'Oreal Women in Digital and all of the recipients of the Next Generation Awards can be found at the organization's website.
