40 OVER 40 Edwina Dunn
#23
Edwina Dunn
Founder of The Female Lead
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
Edwina Dunn is a passionate advocate for empowering women and an absolute trailblazer in data science. Her previous company revolutionised customer loyalty programmes with the creation of the Tesco Clubcard which transformed retail and data analytics forever.
Edwina has since turned her expertise toward championing female leadership and representation. She is the founder of The Female Lead, a non-profit organization dedicated to showcasing inspiring women from diverse backgrounds and giving them a platform to tell their stories. Through educational resources, research, and storytelling, The Female Lead aims to broaden career horizons for women and girls and highlight the varied paths to success.
Edwina is also the author of When She’s in the Room, a compelling book helping women to achieve their full potential. It's about how women, at every age and stage strive to create balance in life and in work. How women's priorities change and how they constantly adapt. By understanding this, she hopes our leaders, who are still mostly men, could see women as a bonus and not a hinderance or threat.
Basically, Edwina sums up everything the 40 OVER 40 project is all about and it's an absolute honour to have her be part of it.
Please read on to hear some inspirational words from Edwina and see more of the photographs we took together.
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
What motivated you to start The Female Lead and what impact do you feel it is having?
When I was at school, we were told about women who were wonderful - like Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie - but they were old and dead. I couldn’t understand why we didn’t talk about amazing women who are alive today - as we do with Richard Branson and James Dyson. Also, when we started to work with retailers across the world (including Tesco) I was normally the only woman in the Boardroom. I believe that ‘You Can’t Be What You Can’t See’. So The Female Lead is all about celebrating inspiring Role Models who are shaping our world today.
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
Can you share one of the most rewarding moments you’ve had since launching The Female Lead?
I met Oprah Winfrey. In fact I was on a panel with her. She was great - as warm and interesting ‘behind the scenes’ as on stage. She shared that the main reason she was successful today was because she’d always been under-estimated which I totally related to. She spoke the truth and that is incredibly powerful.
I also love that everywhere I go, people old and young, invisible or famous, will tell me that they follow The Female Lead. And they always smile. That’s enough for me. Amazingly, we touch 9 million women’s lives.
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
What are the biggest barriers still holding women and girls back in business and leadership?
Societal structures. The workplace was designed by men, for men. Women and girls are not the problem but if you get told often enough that you can’t or shouldn’t or that your place is in the home, its hard to keep faith in your abilities and remain confident, especially when there are a number of very real, practical hurdles - like raising a family and caring for elderly parents at the same time as holding down a job/career. Unpaid caring work most often falls to women.
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
What advice would you give to women entering male-dominated industries?
Be bold, be brave, be you. Have confidence that you and your skills matter and that although your way of working, your style and approach might be different, never doubt that you can make a difference if you work hard enough.
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
Tell us about your involvement in the Tesco Clubcard and did you realise at the time how revolutionary it would be?
Tesco wanted to create a Thank You for their customers but they didn’t know if doing so would be good for them in the long run. I helped to prove that thanking customers encouraged them to return to Tesco more than they would a competitor. Importantly, we made Clubcard a practical reality. At the time of launch, no one else could do what we were doing with technology and huge amounts of data. We had created new tools and a personalised approach (AI you’d call it now). It was a truly new capability and it doubled Tesco’s marketshare in less than 3 years.
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
What advice would you give to women wanting to break into the tech industry?
Men aren’t better at technology than women. They just use language that can turn women off. Make your own narrative. If you want it, you can be it. It won’t be easy but it’s a lot more fun than giving up. And success brings freedom and choice which hasn’t always been a reality for women. You can’t have it all, all at the same time but if you are smart, you can find a way to have a life and a career.
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
This project is about inspirational women over the age of 40, what’s the best thing about being in this demographic?
At The Female Lead, we call life after 40, PrimeTime. I believe at this age and above, women are beginning to see how they can have a life AND a career. This stage of life can be exciting and fulfilling. You know who you are and what you want. You are not ‘past it’. Quite the opposite. You’re just getting (re)started.
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
If you could go back and give your younger self some advice, what would it be?
Don't worry about where you start, just keep going, be opportunistic and work hard. Be brave and bold and challenge yourself as much as you can. You grow when you’re out of your comfort zone. Most important of all is pick your life partner wisely. Their support and respect may help to make or break your career ambitions.
Edwina Dunnby Jenny Smith
Thank you Edwina for being part of the 40 OVER 40 project.
I think it's fair to say our hormones have affected us all at some time or another. If you fancy a bit of a laugh, check out my podcast, Dear Hormones where women share their hormonal stories, the good the bad and the ugly - listen here.