15 questions to ...

15 Questions to …is a new interview series dedicated to spotlighting women in entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurs question the status quo and lead change. They push boundaries and leave their marks on all aspects of (entrepreneurial) life. As such, they are strong role models who inspire and empower future generations of women and deserve to be seen and heard. We see women entrepreneurs in all areas of our community and want to make sure they are recognised far beyond the RWTH Aachen University ecosystem.

Therefore, we are leaving the stage to hear what they have to say. The format is simple: 15 questions, 15 answers – and lots of (un)learning throughout. Our guests: women entrepreneurs with that special can-do and will-do attitude. The stage is yours!

Dr. Desiree-Jessica Pely, Finanical Economist & Computer Science, and Jacqueline-Amadea Pely, Media, Communications, and Tech Management, are not just CEO and CPO, but also co-founders of loyee.io, a young start-up aiming to create more inclusive and sustainable workplaces. With their cloud-based internal communication software, the co-founders connect employees and foster a sense of belonging in remote work to ensure that every employee is valued and empowered to act as a company advocate. To do so, the sisters apply insights from behavioral economics and corporate nudging to scale personalized communication. Founded in August 2021, the team is currently participating in the Spring Batch 2022 of the RWTH Incubation Program to scale their product and sales in Germany and internationally. Now, Desiree-Jessica and Jacqueline-Amadea share their entrepreneurial adventure with us.

1) Given it’s International Women's Day, what's your view on women entrepreneurship in Germany?

The ratio of women in entrepreneurship is rising — what can be certainly improved is the number of VC investments in female-led companies!

2) Did we choose it or did it choose us?

It chose us – we both graduated when the pandemic hit… and to be fair: we did not find any company that inspired us to apply – their remote work strategies just felt so exclusive – not aiming to provide personal growth. This is why we decided to start a business in that domain.

3) Biggest challenge on our entrepreneurial journey so far:

Keeping focus while getting feedback from different stakeholders like investors, clients, users, etc.

4) Lessons we have learned as founder:

Just don’t give up! And this is only possible with a great team!

5) How did we finance ourselves? (Business Model

through scholarships and accelerator programs (equity free ;) ). This helped us to develop our product that is currently used by our clients who pay a SaaS fee for it.

6) 5 years from now we will …

see tech and service companies being remote first – without cutting the real benefits to having everyone together.

7) If I weren’t a founder, I would be …

a finance professor.

8) What do I need to be a successful entrepreneur?

Customers that love our product and recommend it to others.

9) RWTH Innovation helped us with …

sales, sales, sales – mainly by our Coach Alena.

10) Is there anything more that could be done for entrepreneurs in Aachen?

Having a team-building weekend somewhere far, far away from our daily duties.

11) 3 reasons to become an entrepreneur:

• Create your own dream with the people you love

• Grow every day

• Build a better world.

12) To us being an entrepreneur means …

being responsible for your decisions, desires, words, and actions.

13) Our favourite digital tool:

Notion.

14) We are inspired by/our role model is …

Sara Blakely.

15) Our advice to women who aspire to be entrepreneurs:

Just do it and be fearless – there is nothing to be scared of. If you start believing in yourself, others will too!