As we conclude our fourth Fellowship cohort with 100 incredible women, we are catching up with the Fellows to share their experience of the program.
Gaby’s experience crosses customer service and supplier management in double-sided marketplaces - both early stage startups and global leaders. At DingGo, a car repair marketplace, Gaby progressed from customer support to supplier management where she grew the supplier network from 70 repairers in Sydney to 400+ repairers nationally. She received a Woman in Collision Industry award for her efforts. Gaby is now a co-founder of an up and coming fintech, Blossom. Blossom is a savings app that targets a 3.25% return p.a. Given her passion for helping others reach financial freedom, Gaby is motivated and ready to help Australians start saving.
What is The Fellowship to you?
The Fellowship is the most supportive place on earth. It is as if Startmate handed over the keys, unlocking the entire Australian startup community for their Fellows. Whomever you need assistance or advice from, The Fellowship will help you make it happen.
Startmate presents the full extent of opportunities within the Australian startup network. I loved the candid AMAs with so many successful founders. It was inspiring hearing their origin stories and how they got to where they are now.
Would you recommend The Fellowship?
Absolutely! The Fellowship was the reminder I needed to shed my imposter syndrome and dive headfirst into new opportunities. It’s the best decision I made for my career because it encouraged me to turn inward and identify what motivates and excites me. It then granted me the confidence to go and pursue it.
The Fellowship provided me with a network that I will continue to leverage throughout my career and in my personal life. It introduced me to incredibly like-minded, intelligent people who I now call friends.
What lessons did you learn from The Fellowship?
I learnt that even the most successful founders, CEOs and executives suffer from the same imposter syndrome that I do. With a little bit of guts and a lot of motivation, anything is within reach.
Another learning was the breadth of the ecosystem in Australia. There are companies tackling issues in tech, sport, finance and security. I have so many different passions that I didn’t realise could be translated into a career one day.
Finally, I learnt that there is a huge community of talented women who are just as passionate about the start-up community as I am…and they live on my doorstep!
Where are you now?
Since The Fellowship, I have transitioned from a supplier manager role to co-founding a new fintech from the ground up. Blossom is a savings app targeting a 3.25% p.a. return. With Blossom, I want to help Australians become more savvy with their savings and achieve financial peace of mind. The Fellowship gave me the confidence to take this leap.
