Erin Flood, the COO of Fredericton’s HotSpot Parking, was recently accepted into Tech Women Canada in San Francisco. Last week she posted this blog on her website:

My Promise to New Brunswick

The glass ceiling is still there, waiting for the unwary woman who thinks she will be treated the same as a man. The difference today is that strong women are consistently punching their way through and the working world is placing increasing value on those who are successful. We are starting to see an increase in the number of women at the top who act as a beacon to people like me who are just starting out.

I’ll admit that before diving into the world of start-ups and business I was naïve. I thought that I could rise above this “nonsense” and prove myself to all those naysayers. I set out believing that with a little spunk and a lot of confidence I could change the way females are viewed and valued in the workplace.

I was wrong.

But I was only partly wrong. With a lot of spirit and confidence I can make a small difference on my own. But once I started joining like-minded women I started to feel that real change was truly accessible — and New Brunswick has some incredible women.

When I was 13 my father decided it was time to drag my brothers and I out of Toronto and back to New Brunswick. I was furious because, let’s face it, my life was effectively over. I’m now 25 and can confidently say that it was the best decision my father ever made for me. In New Brunswick I am surrounded by entrepreneurs of all ages creating businesses with global potential. When new, exciting and world-changing ideas come to surface the geographic area in which these ideas are born become the spotlight; do we really want our beautiful province, our best kept secret, being revealed to the world? The answer is unequivocally YES.

Building a company in Atlantic Canada gives companies one hell of an advantage, because while the rest of world is flocking to big skyscraper cities, we’re quietly creating stories in our backyard that have the potential to shock the nervous system of the business world (doing all of this while overlooking the Saint John river and not the 401 highway is a nice perk).

I was recently accepted into this year’s Tech Women Canada and I was shocked. I was shocked because, with every new person I meet I realize how much more I have to learn. What I have realized is that directly in front of us, here in New Brunswick, are some of the best resources and some of the most incredible mentors in the world. The heroes who have been the biggest inspiration to me while building Hotspot are the ones directly in front of me.

These people in my own backyard have gotten me to where I am now. It’s my turn to brag and boast about the strong and growing network of strong female entrepreneurs surrounding me. It’s my turn to share the quiet, yet so incredibly strong success stories with the world. My pledge to New Brunswick and the powerhouse female entrepreneurs living here is that I will not leave San Francisco without absorbing every possible piece of knowledge, insight, and wisdom; more importantly, I will not leave SF without telling our story and offering the rest of the world insight on how much potential we truly have.

Our network is strong but we still face unequal treatment in the work place and in the business world. I think that bringing knowledge from people who offer new and unique background stories will help with the journey for Canadian female entrepreneurs. Every step is a step forward. I want to see our Atlantic community step up and boast their female staff in the workplace. Together, we can close the wage gap and promote the powerful contributions that female leaders give to our business success.

I’ll step off my soapbox now and end with a quote that has, and will forever, resonate with me.

“If you want to get something done, hire a woman.”

- Gerry Pond