-Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview
Lotta Spjut is a dynamic entrepreneur, Pro Executive Business coach, advisor, and educator who is also a health, fitness, and nutrition Developer - all rolled into one! With a passion for education, Lotta has graced the TEDx stage and other public forums with her expertise on various subjects. As a seasoned entrepreneur, she has extensive experience in the web5 industry, using her business acumen to create successful ventures. Lotta leverages her diverse skillset to offer valuable coaching and advisory services to companies and entrepreneurs looking to take their businesses to the next level.
In addition to her entrepreneurial, coaching, and advisory endeavors, she is committed to promoting a healthy lifestyle through her work in health, fitness, and nutrition. Lotta believes that a strong body and a strong mind work together. Being physically active is as important as being mindful and training our mindsets. With her wide-ranging knowledge and experience in these fields, Lotta is well-equipped to educate and inspire others to lead a healthier and happier life. Lotta is a true renaissance woman, a multi-talented individual who excels in multiple domains, making her a valuable asset in any professional or personal setting.
People have heard about web3 or Web 3.0, though you “title” yourself as a Web5 Entrepreneur. What does that mean? Yes, I know that web5 isn´t that used. Many hardly know the difference between web2 and web3. I will do my best to give a short summary and answer your question:
Web2 refers to the second generation of the internet, mostly focused on static websites and centralized platforms owned by a single company and where we are mainly information consumers giving our personal data out to be able to log in to platforms or pages. Our data are used and sold for advertising, meaning we are more their product than their consumer. In contrast, Web3 refers to the third or next generation of the internet, characterized by decentralized platforms, peer-to-peer interactions, ownership of your data, and blockchain technology.
For a business or an entrepreneur, the main difference between Web2 and Web3 is how they interact with their customers and the opportunities that arise from decentralization. In Web3, businesses can interact with customers in a more transparent and decentralized way, allowing for more secure transactions, increased privacy, and greater control over their data. Let me give you an example.
Businesses can use blockchain technology to create decentralized marketplaces where users can buy and sell goods and services without relying on centralized intermediaries like Amazon or eBay. Additionally, businesses can issue their own digital currencies or tokens, which can be used to incentivize customer loyalty or as a membership subscription.
The shift from Web2 to Web3 represents a significant opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs to create new decentralized business models, increase security and privacy, and enhance customer engagement. We see web2 brands already doing this, such as Nike, Spotify, Starbucks, YSL, Prada, Adidas, Time, and many more. We are still in a very early stage, and we will see many web2 businesses take steps into Web3 where they see that the user cases benefit them. I work with companies and entrepreneurs in Web2; some are now taking their businesses into Web3. In other words, Web2 and Web3 are separate or combined. Many businesses will have one foot in Web2 and the other in Web3, at least to start with. 2+3=5 = Web5
You are part of developing knowledge in the NFT and Web 3.0 markets. How many women do you meet in the same field?
I would love to see more women in the space. Every industry and business benefits from diversity. I just returned from NFT Paris, a conference with +18 000 visitors. I could see that there were a good number of women there, too, even if men were dominating. Many people come from the tech and gaming industries, and more men are in these industries. According to a Boston Consulting Group and People of Crypto Lab study, women are currently underrepresented in the Web3 and NFT markets. Only 13% of founding teams include at least one woman, and just 3% of companies have an exclusively female team.
I meet many women (and men) actively working to onboard more women and increase diversity in the industry. Many amazing business founders are women and actively promote inclusivity for women and minority groups in web3.
Do you have any examples of women who inspired you in your career?
During my +16 years as an entrepreneur and as an employee for 10 years before that, I have met many women who inspire me with their stories. I believe that comparing with others is one of the biggest threats to success and only creates excuses. Getting inspired by others grows your mindset and ability to understand that challenges are also part of the journey. For web3, I get inspired by so many women I meet daily. It can be in a chat, a Twitter post, IRL (In Real Life) meeting. I could mention hundreds of women here that inspire so many others than only me.
If I can only mention a few, Jaime Schmidt is definitely one of them. Her story inspires me a lot and meeting her personally manifested how genuine and humble she is. Starting her business in her kitchen with a small kid and very little funds, and in 2017 she sold her business Schmidt´s Naturals, to Unilever in 2017 for nine figures. Today she is a role model for many women, with many successful businesses in her portfolio and a passion for helping primary women and people of color. She is also the founder of one of the most significant women-founded web3 communities, MyBFF, started by 100+ leaders across industries. BFF is an open-access community with a mission to help women and non-binary people get educated, connected, and empowered in web3.
I highly recommend reading her book “Supermaker” and following her on Instagram and TikTok to get inspired. She shares many valuable tips about entrepreneurship and being a woman in business.
One of my favorite communities in the space is CPGPop, and it´s not a women-founded business though we have a subgroup NBA (No Boys Allowed) only for women where it´s an amazing value sharing. Mention a few women in that group and in the space that I had the opportunity also to meet IRL, which inspired hundreds of thousands of women, are Somi Arian, Debra Nipp, Riley Blackwell, Heather Rae Doyle, Joanna Kaufman, Michelle Lora. They are all CEOs and founders of amazing web3 businesses, and I will do my own interviews with them and share as an Executive Contributor. I want to mention a little short about them here too. Somi Arian is a powerwoman and founder, building an amazing Web3 platform that I have been part of since the start, named InPeak. Every business with content can use the platform to interact and build a bigger audience. If LinkedIn and Masterclass had a Web3 "baby", it would be InPeak. InPeak connects Web3 (and Web2) creators and communities through next generation network effects. Somi is a tech philosopher with long tech and business experience and she wrote a best-seller book about technology.
In December last year, I had the great opportunity to meet and spend time in Miami at Art Basel with Debra Nipp. She is the founder of ThreeSpaces, and one of the largest components of their startup is to onboard more women into web3. They partner with artists, businesses, and brands to bring digital art to physical form in businesses and on products. Her company works with many who are not in Web3, and they are continuously onboarding and educating.
Riley Blackwell was one of the first women I recognized in Web3 because of how she helped other women and non-binary people to take a step into space. She founded Together, a Web3-enabled education platform built with and for community professionals. Riley stands for sustainable, inclusive, and engaging communities and has been a leading voice for creative community builders in the space. When Riley came into Web3 seeking paid work as a community professional and couldn't find the support, leadership, and education necessary, she decided to build it.
Anna Miller and I met through a Web3 project in April last year and there are few people I know has the skill set she has when it comes to Web3. I use to say that there are no “experts” in Web3 yet. There are experts in different fields of web3, though Web3 is so wide and still in an early stage. Anna is as close to an “expert” as she´s a scrum master in Web2 and has her own fantastic art community, Yuniverse that brings together the different artists in Web3 at the same time as she is a multi-talented artist herself.
Another enthusiastic woman I met is Heather Rae Doyle. When she recognized she had the network and leadership skills to help women transitioning into web3, she started CoinQueens by hosting IRL events at their country club. Those events and the community that formed catapulted her to create CoinQueens as a digital community to help women build their own IRL (In Real Life) communities centered on web3.
Joanna Kaufman is a true inspiration in the space. I e-met her for the first time last year, and I could directly feel through the screen how she made an impact through her calm way. Later I met her in Miami. Joanna started similar to me, with an interest in the future. She likes to stay on top of tech trends and understand what's coming next. It's not just reading interesting articles and buying new currency; it's truly building alongside others. The community aspect made Joanna stay involved, and she is the founder of Effi, an interactive live-streaming platform. They also participate in events introducing NFTs and web3 to interested women who may be intimidated to start.
I met Michelle Lora for the first time in Miami too. She is such an energy boost! As a health-, wellness, and fitness developer, I appreciate what Michelle is building. Michelle is the founder of Siesta, a lifestyle company around making time to focus on resetting. Their mission is to inspire moments of R&R (rest & relaxation) through thoughtfully designed experiences and products that don’t feel taboo because taking a break is important. This is so important, not only in this space but in everyone's life. I could go on, though I will return to this later, sharing it in my articles.
What is your biggest challenge today as a woman in your profession, and what are the biggest challenges you see for onboarding more women into web3?
The biggest challenge as a woman in my profession. Hmm, it´s not simple to answer, I don´t directly think about my gender when facing challenges though I understand what you mean. I know many women that are treated differently because they are a woman. It´s proven, and there are many studies around it. I haven´t (knock, knock on wood) been in any bigger challenges connected specifically to my gender. I have got comments about working too much and not spending enough time at home, which probably a man should not have got. Though these comments are most often coming from women and not men. Soon being 49 years on this planet and mostly worked with men in men-dominant industries, gives me some experience in fast reacting to gender discrimination or specific behavior.
At the same time, I don´t want to make my gender a disadvantage or an advantage. Then I know that in business and society, there are challenges connected to the inclusivity of women, and it´s important to address and work for diversity, no matter business. This is also such a huge question. I live in a country where women legally have the same rights as men. It´s not always working that way though there are also millions of women living in countries where they legally have no rights on their side. Having equal rights, no matter gender, color, or where you happened to be born, is, in my opinion, where we should put the most effort.
I also believe that boys or men do not create all the “pressure” and expectations for women about how to look and be in business. We do that a lot to ourselves too. Girls and women can be the absolute best supporters and help each other, but some can be terrible against each other. I read, for example, studies about online bullying and net trolls, and most of them are women attacking women. As a former teacher and mother of two girls, I believe it starts with us adults. We have a big responsibility to be role models for the kids as parents, adults, and in school. Children are not doing what we say, they do what we do. Challenges for Web3, including the challenges to get more women into the space, also creates opportunities. Web3 is moving very fast, and it is hard for everyone to keep updated with the speed of technology. On the other side, we don´t need to learn everything. Starting with learning something that interests You is more than a great start. You are still very early compared to the masses and being early can make a huge difference in the long run. We are all using a mobile phone though very few of us know exactly how all apps work and the technology behind them. We know the basics that we are using and that´s enough. There are also many work opportunities created in web3 that are not applied to a technical background. Community managers, social media managers, and jobs that are a lot about communication skills and being able to keep many things running at the same time. Something women are very good at. A challenge I have experienced is that most web3 businesses are start-ups with a limited economy. Some founders and managements take advantage of that and hire people to work for months with the promise to pay them and then they never do it because they ran out of money. I experienced this myself, I consulted a blockchain company for five months and got paid for one. In this case, most of the men in the company did get paid so this might be a gender issue. It is a lesson to never deliver work or stay unless you get paid the month after and separate friendship from business.
Another big challenge in the space is security and the number of bad actors taking advantage of people´s lack of knowledge. It´s important to educate and meet women where they are, and most are not interested in technology terms. Creating safe places for them to learn out of their personal interest together with other “newbies” and to have fun at the same time is important. That´s why I really recommend and love the work of the woman founders I mentioned earlier. Another reason to learn more and to overcome challenges is to support our children who many times are more techie than we are. To be able to keep up or at least understand and help them with challenges that appear feels good for both parties.
Have you encountered any obstacles in your profession as a woman, if so, what, and how did you deal with them?
It is an unfortunate reality that women face obstacles in many professions, including bias, discrimination, and unequal opportunities. While I of course encounter obstacles in my profession too, that´s part of being an entrepreneur, most of these obstacles aren´t specifically because I´m a woman. Though I have mentored and coached many women in my profession, so I have seen a lot of it. One of the biggest obstacles women face in their workplace is a lack of representation in leadership positions. Women are often overlooked for promotions, and the gender pay gap persists in many industries. I don´t think that the gap is the same in web3 but negotiating and telling your value, is something many women can be better at. Another obstacle is the stereotype that women are not as competent or ambitious as men, which can lead to bias and discrimination.
To overcome these obstacles, women must be assertive and confident in advocating for themselves and each other with true intentions. It's essential to clearly communicate your goals and accomplishments and ask for the opportunities you deserve. Networking and building relationships with mentors and sponsors can also be helpful in breaking through barriers. Organizations and businesses also need to do their part in promoting gender diversity and equity. That is not the same as it needs to be 50/50. I don´t believe in “special” treatment, I believe in the right person at the right place, no matter gender but with a fair selection. Offering training and development programs that support women's advancement if women are underrepresented, implementing fair and transparent promotion processes, and addressing unconscious bias in hiring and evaluation are ways to do that.
In conclusion, while obstacles exist for women in business, there are ways to overcome them. By being assertive and advocating for themselves and with the support of businesses committed to gender diversity and equity, women can thrive in their professions. You can be a humble and kind person yet still a “tough” businesswoman. It´s not one or the other.
Finally, what are you up to next, and where do you see yourself in your profession one year from now?
I love that question. I am really excited about the work I am currently doing with web2 companies in the health, wellness, sports, and fitness industry and as an advisor for a web3 company havening a 360 platform. Here any company can market its products through affiliate marketing and people can get rewarded directly to their e-wallets. My advisory role for this company is to help them with a very cool health/wellness app that has everything from physical training to mindfulness and mental health. The app will be for both web2 users and web3 users.
My main role is advising and helping the web2 companies find their place in the market and create value for their customers. I am also looking forward to exploring the opportunities and challenges presented by the emergence of web3 and helping these companies navigate this transition. In terms of personal and professional growth, I am committed to continuing my education and learning as much as I can about new technologies and trends that can benefit my clients. I believe that staying curious and open to new ideas is essential for success in any field, and I am excited to see where this path takes me.
Finally, I hope to continue to bring as much value as possible to my clients and the communities I´m part of. I will stay active within the communities of people who share values and a growth mindset and seek out new opportunities to collaborate and learn from others. Ultimately, I see myself continuing to grow and thrive in my profession, helping others to achieve their goals and create successful businesses that make a positive impact on themselves and the world.
