Scarlett McDermott is a 28-year-old female CTO helping women, veterans, and neurodivergent individuals secure in-demand tech jobs.
Scarlett McDermott is Chief Technology Officer at WithYouWithMe (WYWM) where she leads all technical operations and strategy for the company in Australia, The United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Scarlett’s background is in cyber security and software development and she is also a mum of two. She is passionate about making technology jobs accessible for all—especially women and underrepresented groups—and in making the future of work, work for humans.
Tell us about WithYouWithMe?
WithYouWithMe (WYWM) is on a mission to solve underemployment.
We’re an Australian tech start-up and social impact company focused on reshaping the global employment landscape.
There are various groups in our community—including veterans, military spouses, Neurodivergent individuals and women in tech—who haven’t had fair access to training and jobs in the technology sector.
At WYWM, we help these groups by providing access to aptitude testing, training, and employer connections so they’re able to pursue meaningful careers. How do we do this? We’ve developed our own software platform and training methodology where people can uncover the career path they’re best suited to and develop their digital skills for free through our online learning platform.
WYWM was founded in Sydney by Tom Moore in 2015, an Army veteran, who struggled to find employment after leaving the Army. Today we operate in Australia, the UK, Canada, and the US.
In 2019, WYWM was named the fastest growing technology company in Asia Pacific by Deloitte Fast 50.
What inspired you to get involved with WithYouWithMe?
I’m a military spouse and when I was looking to get back into work after having kids, I came across WYWM’s learning platform. So in short, I found my way to WYWM through our own software platform which is pretty cool!
WYWM’s mission really made an impact on me. I’m passionate about increasing diversity in the tech industry so I knew straight away that it was the perfect fit for me. I also love solving problems so I was naturally drawn to the idea of working for a start-up.
Tell us about your career and background.
I started out in technology as a Tech Support Engineer, which gave me a great foundation in solving problems methodically and under pressure.Next I moved into software development, which is also focused on solving a series of problems to create something new and useful. I brought this experience to WYWM and was able to build up the technology part of the business, including the security team, product team, and the engineering team. Eventually, I moved into the Chief Technology Officer position where I now get to lead all those teams – plus more!
Describe a typical work day for you?
A typical day for me varies – sometimes I work from home, sometimes I’m in the office and sometimes I even work overseas. It’s really flexible how work and life blend together, so sometimes I’ll work from a café, or finish early to pick the kids up and get some ice cream. My day consists of a lot of meetings with the WYWM teams and customers, so a lot of collaboration and working with tech.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
Make sure it’s something you’re passionate about. When starting a business, you’re going to live and breathe it, so your business needs to be something you care deeply about. Try to get diverse perspectives on your ideas and spend time discussing these with people who push back and challenge you. The next step is to build a team who compliment your skills, knowledge and expertise. You’ll never be an expert in all areas of business so it’s better to focus on your strengths. This means accepting areas where you’re potentially less knowledgeable and finding team members who can fill these gaps with their expertise.
What’s next for you, and WithYouWithMe?
What’s next? For WithYouWithMe the plan is to continue our mission to solve underemployment. We’re working on getting even more people access to free training and to tech jobs, as well as building some really cool new features to help better manage the workforces of the future. We also aim to further expand WYWM’s footprint globally, as well as in Australia.
My personal goal is to continue to grow our product and engineering capabilities, and to help our customers solve problems. I look forward to growing as a leader and spending time with my family.
