Malvina Belgrano and Molly Zeugner reflect together on what it takes to reach the C-suite as women, from finding visible role models to challenging biased feedback and pay gaps. They argue that safe spaces, transparency and diverse leadership are essential to building fairer workplaces, stronger decisions and better business outcomes.
EdTech GoodHabitz recently welcomed Malvina Belgrano as COO and Molly Zeugner as CPO, bringing the GoodHabitz C-suite to a total of 70% women. The pair use the opportunity to reflect on their journey to the C-suite; the trials, tribulations, and what they wished they knew.
It feels surreal to be part of 70% female C-suite
Having spent most of our working lives as the only woman at the table, it feels surreal to be part of 70% female C-suite. In our respective journeys we’ve learnt some important lessons on what it means to be women in the C-suite, leadership, and how to get there. Here’s what we’ve learnt.
Seeing is believing
It sounds trite, but it’s true. You can’t be what you can’t see.
Find a powerful example to look up to. They don’t have to have followed your career path exactly but having that role model to aspire to is key. Former EF CEO, Eva Kockum, was key to Malvina’s growth, instilling the lesson that leadership isn’t about authority, it’s about impact. Don’t be shoehorned into one type of leadership. You can be sharp, demanding, and kind all at once.
Throughout our careers, we’ve had to be the example for women to look up to. Carrying that invisible weight is a heavy responsibility. But it’s important to recognise the burden as you become more senior and the opportunity it represents to pay it forward to other up and coming female leaders. Take every opportunity to be visible and inspire the next generation.
Challenge biases, even in unexpected places
Being the only woman around a table can be nerve-racking. You have to learn to challenge biases, even in places you least expect them.
Salary negotiations can also be a massive pain point. In our experience, male counterparts are far more likely to negotiate offers than women, who often accept the first number. This isn’t just about individual confidence, it’s a systemic pattern that impacts women. Salary transparency may be uncomfortable, but it benefits employees across the chain. If your peer is getting a noticeable increase, ask the company why?
Feedback is another, often overlooked area where bias appears. Studies show that women receive around 22% more emotion feedback compared to men. That is, personality-based, such as too aggressive, assertive, soft, weak.
How we ‘show up’ at work is seen as equal importance to the work we do. Men, on the other hand, receive performance-based feedback. The same assertiveness that makes a male leader ‘decisive’ can make a female leader ‘difficult’.
Push your coworkers to think in diverse ways, no matter their gender. Question the assumptions behind the feedback and hold each other accountable to fair standards.
Create safe spaces
We’re all in this together. That means creating environment where honest conversations can happen.
At GoodHabitz, we’ve created safe spaces: Slack channels, power lunches, networking groups. These aren’t just marketing initiatives. They’re essential infrastructure where women can come together to openly share experiences and support one another.
Be transparent
If you want to get serious about EDI, you have to be intentional about it. Think about the diverse company you want to work for, then set about embedding it into the most vital areas, including recruitment strategy and talent development.
Nobody gets it right all the time. As a company, you have to be transparent. Tell your employees how you’re showing up. Show the initiatives you’ve got going on. And remember, people move organisations. Create opportunity and watch what happens.
Making the business case for diversity
It seems weird to talk about business outcomes and diversity in the same sentence. But the two are fundamentally linked.
When your leadership only represents one type of person, so does your entire company. Your product, your go to market strategies, your philosophy. At GoodHabitz, we want to reach learners across the globe. That means bringing in different voices to make that a reality.
If you only have one voice in the room, you’ll only get one decision. Swap the echo chamber and business groupthink for challenging norms, sparking innovation, and making more confident decisions.
Naturally, this is about more than gender. It’s about building teams with complementary skills, unique market knowledge, and fresh perspectives to every challenge.
The future should be unremarkable
Ultimately, having a 70% female-strong C-suite shouldn’t be a standout story. But today it is. From where we sit, the future of diversity is where it becomes invisible, where we talk about the leaders for their skills and impact, not for who they are.
Until then, we keep doing the work. Challenging biases, creating opportunities, and proving that diverse leadership isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smartest business strategy out there.
Malvina Belgrano is Chief Operating Officer and Molly Zeugner is Chief Product Officer at GoodHabitz
