We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelly Flowers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Kelly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?
One thing I would change about the education system is the access to STEAAM programs for girls at an early age. As an organization that is focused on bridging the diversity, equity, and inclusion gap through STEAAM education, we understand the importance of access. It is extremely important to start girls at an early age exploring and having hands-on experience in science, technology, engineering, arts, architecture, and math. It’s equally important for girls to also explore coding and gaming which is the way of the future. As we are aware, girls are underserved as a whole and most are becoming the head of their households. Preparing them to have a sustainable career strengthens families along with helping to bridge the diversity, equity, and inclusion gaps.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a wife and a mother of 3 adult kids. I am originally from Detroit and I’ve been living in Dallas for over 15 years. I have a bachleors degree in business. I started my B2B sales career in the pest control industry which I enjoyed for many. I wanted to transition into different industry and the technology found me. I sold everything from hardware, network, communication and more. I had a successful B2B sales career. I enjoyed my sales career for many year however, during my time in the industry I noticed the limited amount of female representation in leadership roles, which lead me to launch WLT Unlimited a global technology company. We are woman-own and minority, small business, and hub certified. WLT Unlimited helps our partners uncover cost-savings while helping them to secure sustainable technology solutions to pivot their businesses forward. I love help customers shine and reach their business goals. I love for them to be the hero at their company. Being a women and minority owned business opens up many doors for WLT Unlimited and we are just getting started.
What I am most proud of our non-profit Women Leading Technology and the launch of our WLT STEAAM Experience for Girls. Women Leading Technology is a professional technology sorority of sisters in STEAAM industries. We are a diverse sisterhood the gives back to STEAAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, architecture, and math) education. We also offer coding and gaming. Bridging the diversity, equity, and inclusion gap worldwide is our mission and our goal is to open more opportunities for girls and women to have a career in STEAAM.
Working with WLT Unlimited provide companies the opportunities to work with and give back to a small minority women owned business, which demonstrates the companies social responsibility for change. We are in it together and working with WLT Unlimited is one of the first steps towards change.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I decided to pivot forward in business when I reached the age of 50. I started to see life through different lenses. Instead of dedicating my time to realizing someone else’s dream, I decided to fulfill my dreams of giving back and making a difference along the way. I started to more energy and focus more on Women Leading Technology and we launched our WLT STEAAM Experience for Girls which gives girls hands-on experiences in science, technology, engineering, arts, architecture, and math. They also learn gaming and coding from industry leaders giving them current information and real-life experiences.
I then focused on building my own tech company called WLT Unlimited. We have unlimited possibilities to help companies but more importantly, we want to create unlimited opportunities for girls and women to discover a career in the technology industry. We want to be the game changers in the industry,
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I built my reputation by being myself and being unapologetically me. I think it’s important for people to own who they are and embrace their beautiful imperfections. It’s nothing more beautiful than a person that knows who they are and owns it no matter what crowd they are in. Being your authentic self goes a long way and I love me some me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wltunlimited.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WLTUnlimited
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wlt-unlimited
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/unlimitedwlt
Image Credits
Photo by JusKo