Are you an ideas person? Do you think outside the box? Do you love solving problems? If so, you might consider a career in innovation!
Insider Guides spoke to international student Wei Lerr Wong about her innovation journey that led her to Canberra. She moved there from Southeast Asia to study a double degree in Data Analytics and International Business at the Australian National University (ANU).
Lerr’s always loved working with children, and she has a strong desire to help people. So, while she’s studying, she’s co-developing a business idea to help kids with speech disabilities communicate more easily!
Why move to Canberra to study?
As a teenager, Lerr knew she wanted to study abroad.
“Although I value stability, after high school I wanted to push myself to start fresh in a place where no one knew me,” she says.
“Canberra felt perfect because it’s not a typical big city - but because it’s Australia’s capital, there’s so much potential to be found”, she explains.
Choosing Canberra for study gave Lerr unique opportunities. For example, she was able to found ANU’s Google Developer Student Club (now Google Developer Group on Campus), which was an initiative that had existed in larger cities for years.
Why is Canberra a great place for innovators?
Lerr explains that Canberra’s smaller size is one of the biggest advantages of studying there.
“Canberra’s close-knit community makes it easy to build strong connections. Often, I find that I share mutual friends with someone I’ve just met,” she says.
Canberra offers a huge array of opportunities and possibilities in innovation, just waiting to be explored by creative minds. Because the city is one of the most highly educated in the country, it’s a great place to find like-minded people driven to work on innovative ideas.
What can you learn from developing a business idea?
Developing a business idea can teach you so much about what works and what doesn’t! Lerr explains that one of the most useful things she’s learned about is the “puppy problem”, which means that people won’t necessarily adopt an idea just because they like or support it.
She’s learned that engaging directly with users is essential to understanding their needs before jumping to solutions.
“Focusing on real problems and validating assumptions early is what turns an idea into a solution that actually works,” she explains.
How can female international students feel empowered in tech?
Female international students have a lot to offer the tech industry in terms of their skills in entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership.
“I believe it’s about owning the power we already carry. The potential is already within us,” says Lerr. She encourages other female students to just go for it and try new things to discover and develop their power.
“Sometimes we hesitate to share ideas because we’re waiting for things to be perfect. I used to feel that way too. But great ideas often start messy, and that’s completely fine – the key is to iterate and improve along the way!”
If you’re looking for a place to meet like-minded innovators, Female Founders is a bi-monthly event dedicated to empowering and inspiring female entrepreneurs in Canberra.
How can you begin to innovate?
You might be wondering how you can start your own innovation journey. The good news is that you can start whenever, even while you’re studying. In fact, Lerr recommends just going for it!
“Don’t let your visa hold you back. If you have a great idea, just start! The process of validating a problem, talking to users, iterating your solution, and more teaches skills that are transferable everywhere. Even if your idea doesn’t make it to market, the learning experience will stay with you forever!”
Top tips for innovation success in Canberra
Lerr recommends connecting with CBRIN (Canberra Innovation Network). She says it’s a fantastic way to connect with mentors and like-minded peers.
The team she’s working with on the business idea to help kids with disabilities communicate joined the InnovationACT program, which is a two-week intensive workshop to ideate, validate, prototype and test business viability. They also reached out to speech pathologists via LinkedIn to speech pathologists for interviews – without sharing their solution upfront, the team focused on understanding these speech pathologists’ challenges and needs.
“Both the program and these insights made our idea more concrete and helped us ensure we were addressing a real problem effectively!” she says.
What does the future hold?
Lerr is well on the way to combining her passion for helping people with her specialised tech skills.
“I’ve realised that helping people isn’t just for doctors. Making someone’s life easier through technology and business can be just as meaningful. My goal is to use my tech skills to create solutions and my business skills to scale them so they can reach more people!”
