Galya Westler has some strong opinions about women. She sees many of her female peers holding themselves back and not fulfilling their potential. Galya knows a thing or two about success, having incorporated 2 companies since she relocated to Vancouver from Israel a few years ago. She is currently the owner and product director at 2Galvanize Ltd. and Plazus Technologies Inc. Since moving back to Canada (where she was born), Galya focused her efforts on creating social mobile apps for corporate clients, specifically private social networks for companies.
Galya knows that women can – and should – lead the way for others to become leaders in different fields, including technology, which is a traditionally male-dominated industry where she has enjoyed much success. Speaking from her own experience, Galya knows that it is possible for women to have everything that they want, such as flexible working hours and high pay, which enables them to enjoy time and money freedom. Galya is a passionate advocate for connecting and uplifting women. In fact, she wants more women to lead influential and inspiring lives so that they can be shining examples to others.
A big part of what drives Galya is her commitment to bringing peace, love and empowerment to people around the world via her work and also through her various charitable and volunteer activities. This includes being president of the Vancouver Entrepreneurs Toastmasters Club, which is regarded as the city’s premiere speaking club. Galya manages to squeeze this – and other speaking commitments in and around the world where she talks about technology and mobile product trends groups – into her hectic schedule.
Galya Westler is spearheading a movement that she’s created with the goal of helping people to communicate more intimately and more humbly, the way we used to. Galya feels that the biggest problem of this generation is that “we’re suffering of social media obesity as we pig out on selfies of attention.” Many people who grew up with social media, in particular, have become self-obsessed with creating these carefully curated lives for everyone else to witness and admire. Millennials themselves have acknowledged how they’ve become more superficial and cavalier with their relationships compared to previous generations.
Social media has certainly created a new 21st century affliction that’s officially called “Facebook envy”. It’s the feeling of unhappiness that people feel when they see too many pictures of their friends going on exotic vacations, fancy new restaurants, wearing nice clothes and driving expensive cars. They feel that they can’t keep up with others (or F.O.M.O. which is another name for Facebook envy) and end up feeling miserable and resentful. It’s actually a well-documented mental health issue such that South Korea has opened a rehab centre to help youth who are addicted to the internet and social media.
Although people have been steadily growing their list of friends via social media, Galya says that “we’ve become more isolated and lonely in the process” which is a paradox given that people have built vast networks of virtual “friends” and “followers” online. Galya says that people are “in danger of being socially obese” in that we’ve joined so many social media platforms and become linked to so many people, except there is the absence of a true and intimate connection with others. We try and keep up with the Joneses and lose so much time following other people’s lives that we end up not living our own. Galya’s work at 2Galvanize and Plazus reflects her passion for creating platforms to connect people with one another so that they can “be genuinely there for each other” and not merely spectators to other people’s seemingly well-lived lives. It’s certainly a worthy objective from someone who walks their talk and sincerely wants to change the world.
Galya will be speaking at TEDxStanleyPark on May 28, 2016 about “Social Media Obesity and our Loneliness”.
Photo Credit
Photo (c) Gayla Westler
Guest Author Bio
George Verdolaga
George Verdolaga is an author, educator and speaker. He helps people get out of their own way so that they can reach their career and lifestyle goals faster and more efficiently via The Job Farmer and The Contractor Lifestyle books and his Sitting Pretty Course.
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Blog / Website: Verdolaga Learning Systems
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