Project Recapture Celebrates International Women's Day - Interview with COO Jenn Hunter.
International Women’s Day is a day dedicated to sharing and celebrating the accomplishments of women all over the globe and to bring awareness about women’s equality in not only the workplace, but in all parts of life. As a champion for women in Entrepreneurship and Heavy Industry, today we celebrate Project Recapture’s own, Jenn Hunter.
Jenn answered a handful of questions giving insight into how she got to where she is today, and what she thinks the future holds for women to come.
Question: For those of us who aren’t familiar, can you introduce Project Recapture?
Answer: Project Recapture helps Pulp Mills manage contractor billing by ensuring that the facility is billed the right amount every time, avoiding overages that can cost serious money over time. Project Recapture also improves communication between facilities and contractors, ensuring pay is fair and accurate for everyone.
Question: What is your role at Project Recapture?
Answer: I am the COO. Mostly Customer facing, I’m the lead of the Customer Success Team. I’m proud to say that Project Recapture is an equal opportunity workplace not only celebrates the diversity of our team but challenges the status quo.
Question: What is a challenge you’ve experienced in your career?
Answer: As a women entrepreneur I’ve invested a lot of effort to seek out mentorship from other female founders in similar B2B marketplaces. My requests have frequently gone unanswered. Many organizations say they celebrate and support female founders, however, in my experience they focus on female founders who a) have no male co founders, and b) who focus on social impact or female centric products. I challenge these organizations to be more inclusive because they are missing a big opportunity to promote real awareness and change.
At Project Recapture, we make a human impact and measurable financial impact. We promote transparency and accuracy in billing, empowering financial teams to improve their bottom line. We allow busy operations teams to spend time where they’re most effective, not looking for a ‘penny in a copper mine’. We foster trust between facilities and contractors and we help contractors realize faster payment turnaround and reliable cash flow.
Question: International Women’s Day 2021 campaign theme is #ChooseToChallenge, what does this mean to you?
Answer: #ChooseToChallenge is such an amazing theme for 2021. I’ve been making a conscious effort to challenge myself now for a couple years.
I challenge myself to question the standards I place on myself and my male counterparts both in the workplace and in the home.
As a mom of two boys I challenge myself now more than ever to speak up against unhealthy gender norms like boys need to ‘be tough’ and ‘boys don’t cry’, or men need to be the breadwinners. I’m actively raising true allies of feminism and advocates who will speak out for gender equality.
Question: What does feminism mean to you?
Answer: I’m all for gender equality and was lucky enough to be raised by a strong grandmother and a strong single mother, who were both so confident in their own skin and their own abilities that I never questioned mine. As a woman who is dedicated to family, career, business, and partners; feminism to me is about challenging gender norms and respecting women’s abilities - biological, emotional, intellectual, and physical.
Question: What woman inspires you and why?
Answer: Dame Stephanie Shirley
In 1962 she started a software company when the concept of tech barely existed. As a woman drumming up business she assumed the name Steve to avoid serial gender bias. She hired women as freelance programmers remotely, empowering them financially while they could choose their own hours and manage their own workload.
After her empire was built she gradually transferred ownership to her staff, creating 70 millionaires in the process and she currently spends her wealth and time on charitable efforts.
I highly recommend her memoir ‘Let It Go’.
Question: What do you believe will be the biggest challenge for the generation of women to come?
Answer: I’ll answer this question from a western society perspective, acknowledging how fortunate we are when women around the world are still persecuted for existing.
I believe that as we strive to have it all, with a career and families, we have to learn to share the reins and workload while prioritizing real self care and overall balance in order to not drain ourselves and face potential burnout.
Question: What will you do to impact that future world?
Answer: I will push myself even harder to #ChooseToChallenge, challenge myself, my partner, my boys, my co-founders, team mates, and my network.
Question: What is next for Project Recapture
Answer: We have been working hard to develop a brand identity that aligns with our "blue collar friendly, white collar savvy" approach. We have identified a brand that aligns with how our customers see us adding value to their daily lives.
Stay tuned for a brand that speaks to how we help our customers and contractors navigate a complex contractual world of billing (hint: we Shepherd them through the complex payment process) ...