The Best You - A Coaching Podcast: Personal Growth Through Real Conversations · Gary Gillan

Women's Empowerment in Tech: Breaking Barriers by Hiring Outside the Box with April Hicke

·40 min·2 clips

April describes taking over Pearson airport with a megaphone and organizing 400 stranded passengers into lines.

1. The Best You episode with April Hickey centers on women’s empowerment in tech through Toast, Canada’s first female-focused talent partner. 2. Host Gary Gillen introduces April Hickey as Toast co-founder and CEO, a certified change practitioner, TEDx speaker, and Avenue Magazine Top 40 Under 40 honoree. 3. The episode asks what happens when hiring decisions prioritize background and problem-solving over a checklist of credentials. 4. April Hickey says she was diagnosed with ADHD at age eight, identified as gifted, and placed in French immersion to stay engaged. 5. She describes growing up with a parent who battled addiction, then entering foster care, group homes, and youth shelters by age 14. 6. April says she never finished high school because she had to focus on making money and building her own way. 7. She describes working in restaurants and at Earl’s, where she says she learned people-reading and adaptability from long shifts with customers. 8. April says she later did an HR undergrad at Athabasca University as a mature student after being out of school for more than 10 years. 9. She describes moving from an airline call center into change management and helping implement a work-from-home model before virtual work was common. 10. April recounts the Pearson airport ground-stop story, saying she grabbed a megaphone, climbed onto a counter, and organized about 400 stranded passengers. 11. She says that airport incident led a colleague to identify her as the “crazy yelling airport lady,” which later helped frame her interview at PwC. 12. April says a PwC hiring manager looked past her missing high school, undergrad, and CPA credentials because she brought a different background. 13. She ties that decision to being promoted five times in four years at PwC, where she says she learned the value of hiring outside the box. 14. April argues that diversity is not only about race, gender, or sexual orientation, but also about different life experiences and ways to solve problems. 15. She says Toast now helps clients think differently about hiring, including a ZayZoon candidate who came from the court system and had digital marketing training. 16. April says Toast opened its platform to every woman in tech across Canada on January 27th and offers Slack channels, HR lawyers, career coaches, and a “toast door” for company reviews. 17. The conversation turns to AI, where April says she worries companies are leaning too hard on machines and not enough on human interaction. 18. She cites a statistic that 70% of roles most likely to be automated in the next 20 years are typically held by women, and says women should be included in building AI systems. 19. Gary’s style is conversational and energetic, while April answers with fast, detailed stories and practical hiring examples. 20. The episode will suit people interested in women in tech, recruiting, and career mobility, and it may be less useful for listeners who want a purely technical AI discussion.

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