An Interview with Women of Wearables

Below is my interview with the lovely Marija Butkovic, Founder and CEO of Women of Wearables (WoW.) We discussed my work in the Fem Tech space, my passion for data privacy work, and my current work in government relations.

If you’d like to see the full interview on the WoW site, click here.

Tami, tell us about yourself.

Happy to share a little about me - and quite excited to share about our federal campaign that is designed to benefit this very community. Thank you for the opportunity.

Regarding me, this will be the short and sweet bit. I have a boutique government relations practice in Washington, D.C., and came to work more exclusively on the policy after several years of practicing criminal defense and food and drug law. At my essence, I have a fierce sense of independence with a constant curiosity to question and critically dissect inefficient or dated paradigms. Hence, the move from working within the confines of the letter of the law to now shaping policy and laws. Interestingly, even though I am a few decades into my career, being a lobbyist has only recently exposed to me the messiness - and at times, the complete lack of reason - of why laws and systems are designed as they are. I say, let’s tidy up this mess and enter the 21st century.

What sparked your interest to become an expert in an industry that's all about data, privacy, and policy solutions?

Where to begin! There were two key considerations why I took a deep dive into this industry. First, this industry has yet to be defined, and I thrive in a space where the infrastructure or DNA is still being sorted. And secondly, I fell in love with this industry because of the likes of Women of Wearables. The people in this industry are the beautiful ribbon on the package. Of course, the package being the solutions and innovative platforms this industry is delivering to advance women’s wellness. If I can play a very small role in facilitating, I’m all in.

Tell us about your campaign that is designed to benefit this industry? 

In short, the federal campaign is to lift the barriers that stakeholders in this industry face when they try to access or advertise on social media platforms. The FemTech industry is incredibly resourceful, among many other aspiring descriptors, yet regardless of which sub-industry within FemTech, access to the digital marketplace has been a major challenge. Blocked ads and content moderation are market impediments with real consequences from limiting consumer engagement to securing investment funds. Hence, the campaign. We launched in May and the response on the Hill has been interesting. Congressional Members that we thought would be sympathetic to the cause were not and vice versa. 

LELO is the lead sponsor of the campaign and our take is if we can advance this issue with sexual wellness as part of the conversation, then we have a win for the whole of the FemTech industry. We titled the campaign ‘Abaton,’ to pull from the roots of the word as a sanctuary and repository of expertise as the FemTech community is brimming with knowledge. I will also add that even though the campaign is in its early days and the industry is young, the state of the world right now is presenting tremendous opportunities to fundamentally chart new terrain. To that end, having a presence on the Hill with answers and solutions is a proactive approach to be best positioned for these opportunities versus waiting for the government to define the industry for us. Access to the digital marketplace is the first issue that we are working on at the Hill. Data ownership, privacy, and security are next. 

What has been your greatest challenge and/or greatest achievement from a policy lens?

Since I prefer to work in new, dynamic industries, breaking through the political beast that tends to operate in a ‘status quo’ mode has been the greatest challenge. I appreciate the resistance to change for the sake of change; however, when change is delivering advancements or improvements to an existing model- the lack of curiosity and political appetite to explore these advancements can be quite frustrating. And then to compound, there is a tendency for lawmakers, regulators, and policy people to overcomplicate matters. If the policy didn’t play such a critical role in how our society functions, the comedy of it all would-be blockbusters to the likes of The Thick of It. 

What are, in your opinion and from your experience, some of the hottest areas in the tech industry where you think a lot of work needs to be done? 

Of course, I’m partial and believe there is a lot of work to be done related to policy. For example, many of the applications and technologies being developed do not have an existing regulatory pathway to market. I’m personally not a proponent of overly prescriptive regulations, yet I also know if a nascent industry doesn’t either self-regulate or deliver a vision to lawmakers, that the industry becomes reactive to laws, policies, and regulations. 

Regarding hot areas in the tech industry, there are two I’m quite excited about: technologies that work with energy, vibrations, or frequency, and engagement with and advancements for individuals with limitations or individuals that simply navigate the world differently. Regarding the latter, we have populations of people with sight, mobility, hearing, mental, or other limitations, that may want to interact or participate in parts of society and are unable to do so. Technology can serve as the bridge. Because we don’t currently have those bridges, there is a large pool of untapped brilliance of personalities, perspectives, solutions, and intellect- and how grand will our society be when we can fire on all cylinders. 

What would be your top three pieces of advice related to data privacy and security to startups who have at the beginning of their journey? 

Love ‘top three’ type questions. For what it’s worth, my advice is 1) When collecting or tracking data, protect and treat data as if your own; 2) Be transparent with traffic (users, visitors); and 3) Develop win-win-win data models. If you are going to use an individual’s data (Win 1), provide compensation to the individual through a modern means (Win 2), and do so in a transparent manner to comply with data privacy and security regulations (Win 3). And if data privacy and security regulations have yet to be implemented where you are based, then develop best practices for your own protocols.