Catherine Tabor

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Catherine Tabor, CEO and Founder of  Sparkfly, a cloud-based offer management solutions company maximizing customer acquisition by connecting real-time behavior with online and in-store sales. Catherine’s father was a physics professor, and she visited his university classes as a child. “I was mesmerized as he used math to solve real problems. I am a believer in technology solving problems, not just ‘tech for the sake of tech’.”  That was demonstrated when, as a Georgia State University undergraduate, Catherine was recruited by The Coca-Cola Company to manage their employee discount program.  “I grew it to manage 1 million employees, nationally, with companies like Delta Airlines, Suntrust Bank. It was a bulletin board, where companies would list offers.”  Employees would visit, use coupon codes, and make purchases.  But the system did not allow for customers to redeem personalized offers at physical locations nor enable merchants to get accurate data.  The resulting challenge was “how could we layer technology on top of antiquated POS systems, and make them do innovative things.”   Catherine began by convincing POS providers “that there was a gap.”  Her first integration success was with  Radiant Systems, in Atlanta, (eventually acquired by the venerable  NCR). Radiant “embraced my concept; agreed to integrate my platform; and then got acquired by NCR. By the nature of ‘being included in the fold’, it enabled build out, and networking.” After competing with larger, better-funded companies, “in 2017, we signed a contract with Chipotle.” Adoption of the SparkFly platform became the basis of Chipotle’s core digitalization transformation.  The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted SparkFly, as it has many businesses. Fortunately, SparkFly’s platform pushes greater levels of digital participation/presence leading to stabilization. Catherine instituted a weekly “all-hands” phone call so that her team continuously feels close. “I tell them all the time: I cannot promise you good news, but I promise that I will always tell you the truth.” Key leadership nuggets from Catherine Tabor include:  “The driving force for me is having passion around the objective.” In the face of setbacks, it is Catherine’s core belief in what she is achieving that keeps her going. “Know your own value.” “There’s no reason not to take a chance. You just have to go for it.” Catherine looks at any potential failure and asks, “what is the worst that can happen?” Facing that answer realistically allows her to shed fear. “If you truly believe in what you’re doing, you never give up. I believe that ‘grit’ is the most important character trait leading to success.”  In juxtaposition, “I have had to learn to realize quickly when I’ve gone down the wrong path.” This has guided Catherine’s decisions about system nuances, doing business with the “right” customers, acquiring appropriate investors and advisors, and hiring/retaining employees. “Surround yourself with people who support what you want to do, and what you want to be.” 

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinetabor/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Catherine Tabor</a>, CEO and Founder of  <a href="https://www.sparkfly.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sparkfly</a>, a cloud-based offer management solutions company maximizing customer acquisition by connecting real-time behavior with online and in-store sales. Catherine’s father was a physics professor, and she visited his university classes as a child. “I was mesmerized as he used math to solve real problems. I am a believer in technology solving problems, not just ‘tech for the sake of tech’.”  That was demonstrated when, as a <a href="https://www.gsu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Georgia State University</a> undergraduate, Catherine was recruited by <a href="https://www.coca-colacompany.com/home" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Coca-Cola Company</a> to manage their employee discount program.  “I grew it to manage 1 million employees, nationally, with companies like <a href="https://www.delta.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Delta Airlines</a>, <a href="https://www.suntrust.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Suntrust Bank</a>. It was a bulletin board, where companies would list offers.”  Employees would visit, use coupon codes, and make purchases.  But the system did not allow for customers to redeem personalized offers at physical locations nor enable merchants to get accurate data.  The resulting challenge was “how could we layer technology on top of antiquated POS systems, and make them do innovative things.”   Catherine began by convincing POS providers “that there was a gap.”  Her first integration success was with <a href="http://www.rdspos.com/Products-Solutions/Quick-Service/Point-of-Sale-Solutions/Radiant-POS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Radiant Systems</a>, in Atlanta, (eventually acquired by the venerable <a href="https://www.ncr.com/news/newsroom/news-releases/hospitality/ncr-completes-acquisition-of-radiant-systems" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> NCR</a>). Radiant “embraced my concept; agreed to integrate my platform; and then got acquired by NCR. By the nature of ‘being included in the fold’, it enabled build out, and networking.” After competing with larger, better-funded companies, “in 2017, we signed a contract with <a href="https://www.chipotle.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chipotle</a>.” Adoption of the SparkFly platform became the basis of Chipotle’s core digitalization transformation.  The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Covid-19 pandemic</a> disrupted SparkFly, as it has many businesses. Fortunately, SparkFly’s platform pushes greater levels of digital participation/presence leading to stabilization. Catherine instituted a weekly “all-hands” phone call so that her team continuously feels close. “I tell them all the time: I cannot promise you good news, but I promise that I will always tell you the truth.” Key leadership nuggets from Catherine Tabor include: <ul> <li>“The driving force for me is having passion around the objective.” In the face of setbacks, it is Catherine’s core belief in what she is achieving that keeps her going. “Know your own value.”</li> <li>“There’s no reason not to take a chance. You just have to go for it.” Catherine looks at any potential failure and asks, “what is the worst that can happen?” Facing that answer realistically allows her to shed fear.</li> <li>“If you truly believe in what you’re doing, you never give up. I believe that ‘grit’ is the most important character trait leading to success.” </li> <li>In juxtaposition, “I have had to learn to realize quickly when I’ve gone down the wrong path.” This has guided Catherine’s decisions about system nuances, doing business with the “right” customers, acquiring appropriate investors and advisors, and hiring/retaining employees. “Surround yourself with people who support what you want to do, and what you want to be.”</li> </ul>

Ep 101: Catherine Tabor: Making Sparks Fly

Michelle Accardi

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer at Star2Star Communications, a global VoIP telecommunications vendor. Headquartered in Sarasota, Florida,  Star2Star offers proprietary, hybrid unified voice and data communications solutions, in “the cloud.” A well-known aphorism is: “Life is what happens, after we make other plans.” Michelle’s original aspiration was to be a Broadway star.  Discovering that Manhattan was an exorbitant place to live, she took her first job in sales and “wound up, really liking it!”  In karmic fashion, the CFO of a small technology company was at the front desk when a young Michelle cold-called with her resume. Infresco Corporation, (a joint venture with CA Technologies/Computer Associates), was “willing to take a risk” on her. “When I got there, I was so intrigued.” The company was creating “interesting technology” to convert “green screen” mainframe applications and databases and “make them look like really beautiful Websites.”  Very soon, “I was doing things I had never done, before,” like creating Access databases.  Her boss counseled her to reconsider becoming an attorney. “You have a natural aptitude for technology and people.” She took his advice and “never looked back.”  Within one year, CA Technologies merged Infresco into the larger corporation. Michelle began her upward CA trajectory. “They were starting a reference program at CA and needed someone who knew all the (Infresco) customers. I was recommended.” CA offered Michelle a $25,000 bonus to make the customers referenceable.  She misunderstood CA’s timeline for this, and beat it by a dramatic 11 months, enabling 200 customers to become referenceable in slightly more than a month vs. the year CA had forecasted. Within 6 months, she was managing a customer reference team in North America and, in a year, managing that globally. This was followed by stints in field marketing, product marketing, and sales enablement. All catapulted her into successively more important roles.  Along the way, Michelle gained valuable insights.  In field marketing, she noted how much was learned by “getting close to the customer.” In sales enablement she implemented “fun projects to motivate people.” She eventually became Vice President for digital transformation, “the biggest ‘leap’ because this was  when digital marketing was starting, and I was asked to take on a technology team, lead web design, architecture, and IT team. I learned a lot about ‘agile’ as a methodology.”   “Technology is always going to change,” said Michelle. Her mantra is “drop in with both feet.” Moving to Star2Star is a full circle story.  The company was co-founded by  Norm Worthington, who was the co-founder of Infresco.   “It was Kismet,” she said. She started as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Actually, I was marketing employee #2.  My job was to build a team and strategy. We built every piece of content, and the Website; and recruited a great team.” She became Chief Operating Officer, mandated to drive operational systems’ excellence, and then President and Chief Revenue Officer.  “It has been really challenging to learn different aspects of running a technology company, driving it to the next level.”  She describes the broad offerings of Star2Star. “We offer so much: collaboration, contact center, text messaging, workflow integration of communications into every business process you can think of, mobile applications, text-based alerting, desktop communications as a service, and more.”  Michelle noted “we also have the only desktop solutions certified to work in a Citrix environment. We help you with your entire network.” Star2Star offers an optimized SD-WAN service to ensure call quality, essential when people are working from home. “We have proprietary technology that allows us to do things that our competitors can’t.” Industry analysts have noticed.  Gartner, has recognized Star2Star for six years as a Magic Quadrant  leader in unified communications. Michelle, herself, has been named a  channel leader for the last six years by CRN.   The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated Star2Star growth. In response to the crisis, Michelle is justifiably proud of the company’s stellar customer-focused philosophy.  All company employees moved into a work-from-home environment, using Star2Star’s own technology.  “Then we went to our base of customers.” Star2Star helped each customer deploy effective remote working scenarios and created innovative payment programs to support customers. “Communication is the lifeblood of any business. We didn’t want to be the bill that put any of our smaller companies over the edge.” Star2Star has also used this period to diversify even further. “We moved into digital transformation projects for customers in the restaurant and retail spaces, who needed curbside pickup applications.” Star2Star provided those. “Doctors’ offices needed testing.” Star2Star provided that.  Many customers needed enhanced employee alerting systems.  Star2Star provided them. For a nonprofit customer, and other health facilities, Star2Star provided text alert services. Michelle acknowledges that being a woman has only minimally affected her career. She and her husband juggle a large family of 6 children. Her husband serves as the “stay-at-home” parent, and “I see a lot of ‘reverse sexism’,” which is a challenge,” she says.  But she exults that “women are built to adapt” and feels capable of taking on many increasing responsibilities. If Michelle has a regret it is that “I should have gone into entrepreneurship” at her career advent. “I think balance is a fallacy,” opines Michelle. “Do things that you love, with people you like. And just have perseverance. Nothing is going to be perfect, anywhere.” Michelle’s essential advice is succinct. “Feel the fear and do it, anyway.” Seize opportunities; make the most of them. “You really have nothing to lose.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleaccardi/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michelle Accardi</a>, President and Chief Revenue Officer at <a href="https://www.star2star.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Star2Star Communications</a>, a global VoIP telecommunications vendor. Headquartered in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarasota,_Florida" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sarasota, Florida</a>,  Star2Star offers proprietary, hybrid unified voice and data communications solutions, in “the cloud.” A well-known aphorism is: “Life is what happens, after we make other plans.” Michelle’s original aspiration was to be a Broadway star.  Discovering that Manhattan was an exorbitant place to live, she took her first job in sales and “wound up, really liking it!”  In karmic fashion, the CFO of a small technology company was at the front desk when a young Michelle cold-called with her resume. <a href="https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/C1968900" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Infresco Corporation</a>, (a joint venture with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CA_Technologies" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CA Technologies</a>/Computer Associates), was “willing to take a risk” on her. “When I got there, I was so intrigued.” The company was creating “interesting technology” to convert “green screen” mainframe applications and databases and “make them look like really beautiful Websites.”  Very soon, “I was doing things I had never done, before,” like creating <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/access" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Access databases</a>.  Her boss counseled her to reconsider becoming an attorney. “You have a natural aptitude for technology and people.” She took his advice and “never looked back.”  Within one year, CA Technologies merged Infresco into the larger corporation. Michelle began her upward CA trajectory. “They were starting a reference program at CA and needed someone who knew all the (Infresco) customers. I was recommended.” CA offered Michelle a $25,000 bonus to make the customers referenceable.  She misunderstood CA’s timeline for this, and beat it by a dramatic 11 months, enabling 200 customers to become referenceable in slightly more than a month vs. the year CA had forecasted. Within 6 months, she was managing a customer reference team in North America and, in a year, managing that globally. This was followed by stints in field marketing, product marketing, and sales enablement. All catapulted her into successively more important roles.  Along the way, Michelle gained valuable insights.  In field marketing, she noted how much was learned by “getting close to the customer.” In sales enablement she implemented “fun projects to motivate people.” She eventually became Vice President for digital transformation, “the biggest ‘leap’ because this was  when digital marketing was starting, and I was asked to take on a technology team, lead web design, architecture, and IT team. I learned a lot about ‘agile’ as a methodology.”   “Technology is always going to change,” said Michelle. Her mantra is “drop in with both feet.” Moving to Star2Star is a full circle story.  The company was co-founded by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/norman-worthington-19437b/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Norm Worthington</a>, who was the co-founder of Infresco.   “It was Kismet,” she said. She started as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Actually, I was marketing employee #2.  My job was to build a team and strategy. We built every piece of content, and the Website; and recruited a great team.” She became Chief Operating Officer, mandated to drive operational systems’ excellence, and then President and Chief Revenue Officer.  “It has been really challenging to learn different aspects of running a technology company, driving it to the next level.”  She describes the broad offerings of Star2Star. “We offer so much: collaboration, contact center, text messaging, workflow integration of communications into every business process you can think of, mobile applications, text-based alerting, desktop communications as a service, and more.”  Michelle noted “we also have the only desktop solutions certified to work in a Citrix environment. We help you with your entire network.” Star2Star offers an optimized SD-WAN service to ensure call quality, essential when people are working from home. “We have proprietary technology that allows us to do things that our competitors can’t.” Industry analysts have noticed.  <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gartner</a>, has recognized Star2Star for six years as a <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/research/magic-quadrant" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Magic Quadrant</a> <a href="https://www.star2star.com/insights/analyst-insights/2020-gartner-mq" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> leader in unified communications</a>. Michelle, herself, has been named a <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/02/10/1982435/0/en/Michelle-Accardi-Of-Star2Star-Communications-Recognized-As-CRN-2020-Channel-Chief-For-6th-Consecutive-Year.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> channel leader</a> for the last six years by <a href="https://www.crn.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CRN</a>.   The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated Star2Star growth. In response to the crisis, Michelle is justifiably proud of the company’s stellar customer-focused philosophy.  All company employees moved into a work-from-home environment, using Star2Star’s own technology.  “Then we went to our base of customers.” Star2Star helped each customer deploy effective remote working scenarios and created innovative payment programs to support customers. “Communication is the lifeblood of any business. We didn’t want to be the bill that put any of our smaller companies over the edge.” Star2Star has also used this period to diversify even further. “We moved into digital transformation projects for customers in the restaurant and retail spaces, who needed curbside pickup applications.” Star2Star provided those. “Doctors’ offices needed testing.” Star2Star provided that.  Many customers needed enhanced employee alerting systems.  Star2Star provided them. For a nonprofit customer, and other health facilities, Star2Star provided text alert services. Michelle acknowledges that being a woman has only minimally affected her career. She and her husband juggle a large family of 6 children. Her husband serves as the “stay-at-home” parent, and “I see a lot of ‘reverse sexism’,” which is a challenge,” she says.  But she exults that “women are built to adapt” and feels capable of taking on many increasing responsibilities. If Michelle has a regret it is that “I should have gone into entrepreneurship” at her career advent. “I think balance is a fallacy,” opines Michelle. “Do things that you love, with people you like. And just have perseverance. Nothing is going to be perfect, anywhere.” Michelle’s essential advice is succinct. “Feel the fear and do it, anyway.” Seize opportunities; make the most of them. “You really have nothing to lose.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Ep 100: Michelle Accardi: Jump in With Both Feet

Sandra Estok

Diva Tech Talk interviewed cybersecurity expert, author, keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur, Sandra Estok.  Creator of the international book series, Happily Ever Cyber, Sandra founded her own company:  Way2Protect LLC, after an extensive corporate career.   Originally from  Venezuela,  at age 11, Sandra and family were evicted from her childhood home. They found refuge in a shack.  “It had one window, one door, and no water or  bathroom inside,” she recalled.  She felt ostracized from other children in the neighborhood, who lived in more conventional conditions.  When she tried to join their neighborhood volleyball game, “one of the kids said ‘you’re never going to make it; you’re a loser.’“  Bruised, emotionally and physically, Sandra was grateful for a teacher’s inspiration: “Happiness is a choice.  No matter what, you can choose happiness.” She went on to master volleyball and life by choosing to become highly proficient at whatever she tackled, knowing that “whatever you put your mind to, you can achieve.” “Technology was, somehow, in my veins,” said Sandra.  When she graduated from high school at 16, with no money for college, she enrolled in a government secretarial training program that led to an internship at the Heinz Company.  There she rotated through departments including information technology.  She enrolled in night school, in a tech certification program, that led to full completion of college, and graduating as a systems’ engineer.  “Throughout my journey, I moved from company to company” (Kraft Foods, the Coca Cola Company,  PepsiCo and SC Johnson), “in tech-related roles, building all kinds of things.” SC Johnson, where she worked for a total of 19 years, transferred her to Wisconsin.  “It was my dream,” to live in the United States.   Sandra’s success secrets? “I was able to apply what I was learning at school to my jobs” and built a “connected” fabric between her academic and work lives. She also accepted new challenges readily.  Her hard work, focus, appetite for new technology created exciting opportunities along the way. Sandra advises ambitious tech women to anticipate the newest trends and evaluate them in terms of skills you must acquire. Then acquire those skills and “success will find you.”   Her final role, before leaving SC Johnson, was reporting to it’s  Chief Information Security Officer, as Director, Global Information Security Business Operations.  Sandra developed and coordinated overall worldwide security business functions for SC Johnson on every continent. Her leadership advice is: “Always walk the talk. Don’t try to evangelize with words. Do it with your actions.”   In her transition to the U.S. with her working visa, Sandra underwent a watershed experience. Returning from Colombia, she was detained. Her passport was temporarily revoked.  A smuggler from China had appropriated personal information and had been smuggling women into the USA using her identity! Two weeks later, returning from a European trip, she was detained again.  Each time she traveled internationally, before she became a full-fledged U.S. citizen, Sandra had to prove her identity incessantly. “That negative experience ‘connected the dots’ and is driving me today.  Identity theft and cybercrime can happen to anyone!” Sandra’s gift for making complex tech concepts comprehensible to non-technical people, coupled with passion to make a much greater impact, outside of a single corporation, led her to become a startup founder.  “Leaving the corporate world is a big decision,” Sandra acknowledged. “But I say…just go for it!”  Like her 11-year old self, longing to play volleyball with kids who were rejecting her, she relied on internal fortitude, focus, faith, and fearlessness to make the leap. To transition, Sandra became a consultant in the first year of founding her company, which helped her evolve to the “entrepreneurship mindset” while maintaining cash flow.  An outgrowth of consulting is Sandra’s first book:  HAPPILY EVER CYBER: Protecting Yourself Against Hackers, Scammers and CyberMonsters.   Through the stories she tells, it is clear cybercrime can affect anyone, at any age or walk of life. But if you understand cybersecurity basics, on a non-tech level, you will be galvanized to take action to protect what matters most to you. Her book encapsulates a very timely, scary subject and transforms it to be both non-threatening and empowering. “It helps you pinpoint what is most important to you, that you most want to protect. You can take measures to protect it.” An extension of the book is a foundation she envisions to help orphaned and foster children.  “There are 153 million orphans in the world.  And we have a global shortage of cybersecurity talent. So many kids can find their way through technology.”  Sandra exhorts listeners to always remember you are the architect of your own life. And you can build anything. She advises you to find a mentor, in the space in which you want to operate. Then cultivate coaches who can guide you to become better in any area you want to tackle.  Above all, marry the clarity in your mind with the feelings in your heart. “Don’t worry about the 'how.' Just get clear on the ‘why’ and act on it.”  Her final advice? “Practice gratitude in everything you do in your life.”  Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_security" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cybersecurity</a> expert, author, keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/way2protect/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sandra Estok.</a>  Creator of the international book series, <a href="https://www.happilyevercyber.com/optin36587773" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Happily Ever Cyber</a>, Sandra founded her own company:  Way2Protect LLC, after an extensive corporate career.   Originally from  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Venezuela</a>,  at age 11, Sandra and family were evicted from her childhood home. They found refuge in a shack.  “It had one window, one door, and no water or  bathroom inside,” she recalled.  She felt ostracized from other children in the neighborhood, who lived in more conventional conditions.  When she tried to join their neighborhood volleyball game, “one of the kids said ‘you’re never going to make it; you’re a loser.’“  Bruised, emotionally and physically, Sandra was grateful for a teacher’s inspiration: “Happiness is a choice.  No matter what, you can choose happiness.” She went on to master volleyball and life by choosing to become highly proficient at whatever she tackled, knowing that “whatever you put your mind to, you can achieve.” “Technology was, somehow, in my veins,” said Sandra.  When she graduated from high school at 16, with no money for college, she enrolled in a government secretarial training program that led to an internship at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Heinz Company</a>.  There she rotated through departments including information technology.  She enrolled in night school, in a tech certification program, that led to full completion of college, and graduating as a systems’ engineer.  “Throughout my journey, I moved from company to company” (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraft_Foods" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kraft Foods</a>, the <a href="https://www.coca-cola.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Coca Cola</a> Company, <a href="https://www.pepsico.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> PepsiCo</a> and <a href="https://www.scjohnson.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SC Johnson</a>), “in tech-related roles, building all kinds of things.” SC Johnson, where she worked for a total of 19 years, transferred her to Wisconsin.  “It was my dream,” to live in the United States.   Sandra’s success secrets? “I was able to apply what I was learning at school to my jobs” and built a “connected” fabric between her academic and work lives. She also accepted new challenges readily.  Her hard work, focus, appetite for new technology created exciting opportunities along the way. Sandra advises ambitious tech women to anticipate the newest trends and evaluate them in terms of skills you must acquire. Then acquire those skills and “success will find you.”   Her final role, before leaving SC Johnson, was reporting to it’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_information_security_officer" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Chief Information Security Officer</a>, as Director, Global Information Security Business Operations.  Sandra developed and coordinated overall worldwide security business functions for SC Johnson on every continent. Her leadership advice is: “Always walk the talk. Don’t try to evangelize with words. Do it with your actions.”   In her transition to the U.S. with her working visa, Sandra underwent a watershed experience. Returning from Colombia, she was detained. Her passport was temporarily revoked.  A smuggler from China had appropriated personal information and had been smuggling women into the USA using her identity! Two weeks later, returning from a European trip, she was detained again.  Each time she traveled internationally, before she became a full-fledged U.S. citizen, Sandra had to prove her identity incessantly. “That negative experience ‘connected the dots’ and is driving me today.  Identity theft and cybercrime can happen to anyone!” Sandra’s gift for making complex tech concepts comprehensible to non-technical people, coupled with passion to make a much greater impact, outside of a single corporation, led her to become a startup founder.  “Leaving the corporate world is a big decision,” Sandra acknowledged. “But I say…just go for it!”  Like her 11-year old self, longing to play volleyball with kids who were rejecting her, she relied on internal fortitude, focus, faith, and fearlessness to make the leap. To transition, Sandra became a consultant in the first year of founding her company, which helped her evolve to the “entrepreneurship mindset” while maintaining cash flow.  An outgrowth of consulting is Sandra’s first book: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Happily-Ever-Cyber-Yourself-Cybermonsters-ebook/dp/B084652YZH/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> HAPPILY EVER CYBER: Protecting Yourself Against Hackers, Scammers and CyberMonsters.</a>   Through the stories she tells, it is clear cybercrime can affect anyone, at any age or walk of life. But if you understand cybersecurity basics, on a non-tech level, you will be galvanized to take action to protect what matters most to you. Her book encapsulates a very timely, scary subject and transforms it to be both non-threatening and empowering. “It helps you pinpoint what is most important to you, that you most want to protect. You can take measures to protect it.” An extension of the book is a foundation she envisions to help orphaned and foster children.  “There are 153 million orphans in the world.  And we have a global shortage of cybersecurity talent. So many kids can find their way through technology.”  Sandra exhorts listeners to always remember you are the architect of your own life. And you can build anything. She advises you to find a mentor, in the space in which you want to operate. Then cultivate coaches who can guide you to become better in any area you want to tackle.  Above all, marry the clarity in your mind with the feelings in your heart. “Don’t worry about the 'how.' Just get clear on the ‘why’ and act on it.”  Her final advice? “Practice gratitude in everything you do in your life.”  Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Ep 99: Sandra Estok: Changing Perspectives Through Storytelling

Amelia Ransom

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Amelia Ransom, Senior Director, Diversity and Engagement at Avalara, a tech company that ensures global tax compliance is done right.  Amelia is dedicated to “trying to solve a problem that the world has not solved.  It is not for the faint of heart.”  “I didn’t plan to be in diversity and inclusion,” Amelia said. She started in sales, moved to management and eventually was tapped to be the regional Diversity Director. “That role was pivotal for me. I felt like I was using my skills, knowledge and background to help make the company better.” After seven years in that role she moved into store management and later lead all the diversity initiatives for the company.   Amelia emphasized that it takes the full gamut of business proficiencies to tackle employee engagement, diversity and inclusion. Her diversity and inclusion skills have been self-taught, through reading, face-to-face management challenges, and trial and error. “You have to learn when to use your own voice, and when to pull back and amplify everyone else’s.” The role demands that she be “constantly willing to learn, shift and change as the community needs shift and change.” Amelia believes a key component of successful programs depend on noticing repetitive patterns coupled with “knowing what’s going on outside of the walls, in the world,” according to Amelia. “You have to be part of society.  You have to be asking constant questions.” To gain top-level support, Amelia critiques her own proposals and then goes to her “naysayers” to shoot holes in an idea. By the time she gets to ultimate decision-makers, she has bullet-proofed any concept.  Amelia joined Avalara in 2018, where she supports  ERG’s (Employee Resource Groups) who she sees as “a conduit to deeper engagement, a tool to drive more community,”  beginning with a prototype woman-oriented global ERG, to “show everyone what could be.” . This was quickly followed by three other groups:  Ujima (for African Americans), Veterans of Avalara, and the Prism Group, geared toward LGBTQIA individuals. “They have been very instrumental in driving more inclusion, more voices, and more ‘safe space’ for those voices,” said Amelia.   Avalara measures the success of its inclusion programs through raw data, anecdotal feedback, the level of engagement of various populations, as well as metrics around recruiting pools and populations.  Amelia’s goal is that diversity and inclusion are “deep and rooted in the DNA” of Avalara, connected to “Avalara’s goal -- to be involved in every tax transaction in the world.” That implies reaching and engaging every possible permutation of population in the world, too.  Amelia’s personal practices for developing as a leader include 30 minutes each day to read about something she knows nothing about, and retaining mentors “who will tell me the absolute truth.” For her last birthday, she asked people to give her the link to a book that changed their life, so that she could “drive deeper relationships.” She loves to travel and bring those experiences back to others.  In her community life, she serves on the boards of Seattle’s Goodwill Foundation, Seattle’s Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, homeless advocacy nonprofit Building Changes,  the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion, and the advisory board of the Seattle chapter of ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals For America). “My job is to amplify the voices of the marginalized, and underrepresented.” In Amelia’s view, “the biggest threat to the planet, and business, is the untapped potential in people’s minds.”  She believes in plumbing that potential deeply. “I don’t have time to make people comfortable,” Amelia said. Instead she wants to inspire everyone to think, engage, evolve into their greatest potential, and “have seats at the table, which makes all of us better.”  Amelia noted that diversity and inclusion leadership can feel lonely, at times. When Amelia feels that, this quote of Presidential Medal of Honor recipient, famed poet Maya Angelou,  gives her strength: “I go forth alone.  I stand as ten thousand.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliaransom/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amelia Ransom</a>, Senior Director, Diversity and Engagement at <a href="https://www.avalara.com/us/en/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Avalara</a>, a tech company that ensures global tax compliance is done right.  Amelia is dedicated to “trying to solve a problem that the world has not solved.  It is not for the faint of heart.”  “I didn’t plan to be in diversity and inclusion,” Amelia said. She started in sales, moved to management and eventually was tapped to be the regional Diversity Director. “That role was pivotal for me. I felt like I was using my skills, knowledge and background to help make the company better.” After seven years in that role she moved into store management and later lead all the diversity initiatives for the company.   Amelia emphasized that it takes the full gamut of business proficiencies to tackle employee engagement, diversity and inclusion. Her diversity and inclusion skills have been self-taught, through reading, face-to-face management challenges, and trial and error. “You have to learn when to use your own voice, and when to pull back and amplify everyone else’s.” The role demands that she be “constantly willing to learn, shift and change as the community needs shift and change.” Amelia believes a key component of successful programs depend on noticing repetitive patterns coupled with “knowing what’s going on outside of the walls, in the world,” according to Amelia. “You have to be part of society.  You have to be asking constant questions.” To gain top-level support, Amelia critiques her own proposals and then goes to her “naysayers” to shoot holes in an idea. By the time she gets to ultimate decision-makers, she has bullet-proofed any concept.  Amelia joined Avalara in 2018, where she supports <a href="https://www.diversitybestpractices.com/employee-resource-groups" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> ERG’s</a> (Employee Resource Groups) who she sees as “a conduit to deeper engagement, a tool to drive more community,”  beginning with a prototype woman-oriented global ERG, to “show everyone what could be.” . This was quickly followed by three other groups:  Ujima (for African Americans), Veterans of Avalara, and the Prism Group, geared toward LGBTQIA individuals. “They have been very instrumental in driving more inclusion, more voices, and more ‘safe space’ for those voices,” said Amelia.   Avalara measures the success of its inclusion programs through raw data, anecdotal feedback, the level of engagement of various populations, as well as metrics around recruiting pools and populations.  Amelia’s goal is that diversity and inclusion are “deep and rooted in the DNA” of Avalara, connected to “Avalara’s goal -- to be involved in every tax transaction in the world.” That implies reaching and engaging every possible permutation of population in the world, too.  Amelia’s personal practices for developing as a leader include 30 minutes each day to read about something she knows nothing about, and retaining mentors “who will tell me the absolute truth.” For her last birthday, she asked people to give her the link to a book that changed their life, so that she could “drive deeper relationships.” She loves to travel and bring those experiences back to others.  In her community life, she serves on the boards of <a href="https://seattlegoodwill.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seattle’s Goodwill Foundation</a>, <a href="https://www.seattlechamber.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seattle’s Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce</a>, homeless advocacy nonprofit <a href="https://buildingchanges.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Building Changes</a>,  the <a href="https://www.i4sdi.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion</a>, and the advisory board of the Seattle chapter of <a href="http://www.seattlealpfa.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ALPFA</a> (Association of Latino Professionals For America). “My job is to amplify the voices of the marginalized, and underrepresented.” In Amelia’s view, “the biggest threat to the planet, and business, is the untapped potential in people’s minds.”  She believes in plumbing that potential deeply. “I don’t have time to make people comfortable,” Amelia said. Instead she wants to inspire everyone to think, engage, evolve into their greatest potential, and “have seats at the table, which makes all of us better.”  Amelia noted that diversity and inclusion leadership can feel lonely, at times. When Amelia feels that, this quote of Presidential Medal of Honor recipient, famed poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maya Angelou</a>,  gives her strength: “<a href="https://www.poetryverse.com/maya-angelou-poems/our-grandmothers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">I go forth alone.  I stand as ten thousand</a>.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Ep 98: Amelia Ransom: Inclusion Leadership -- Not for The Faint of Heart

Nicki Washington

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Dr. Nicki Washington,  author, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Winthrop University, founder at Washington Consulting LLC and passionate advocate for women of color, in technology. Winthrop University  featured her work. “I was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina,” site of world-class universities and home to Research Triangle Park. Her mother was a 32-year IBM programmer, and father was a K through 12 educator and administrator. “I was surrounded by black men and women who were educators, engineers, college professors, business leaders, attorneys, doctors and more: a network doing inspiring things in science and math.” Her mother purchased a new computer every few years and Dr. Washington assembled each one.  Her mother “introduced me to programming opportunities,”  Pascal and Basic, then more advanced languages.  At Johnson C. Smith University, Dr. Washington’s path changed when an influential professor convinced her to concentrate on computer science.  Dr. Dorothy Cawser Yancy, University President, nominated her for the  David and Lucille Packard fellowship, a $100,000 5-year grant for students to pursue STEM doctorates, including annual week-long symposiums, with professional workshops and “honest safe spaces” for sharing.  Dr. Washington graduated as undergraduate valedictorian and won the award. “My trajectory changed from there.”  Dr. Washington became “a black woman in a program where only one other person looked like me” pursuing masters/doctoral degrees at North Carolina State University.  “I suffered from ‘impostor syndrome;’ and would lean on my community,” since her campus was 20 minutes from her childhood home. She often had to “armor up” every day and was fortunate to gain an empathetic advisor, Dr. Harry Perros, with whom she had “real talks” about struggles as a black woman in a post-graduate computer science program.  She won another fellowship in her graduate school:  NASA’s Harriet G. Jenkins award, giving monetary support and other unique experiences tailored to graduates from  historically black colleges/universities. Dr. Washington shared advice for programmers, technologists, application developers.  “When you reach a roadblock, take a break and step away. Sometimes you are so engrossed, you cannot see high levels.” She decried students’ misconceptions that they must “know everything” and advised “be unafraid to ask for help.”  When faced with bias, she said: “It is not you. You are not the first. You will not be the last. Take up space without losing yourself in the process. Maintain a level of self-care.” Dr. Washington’s message is “until there is a major shift in the narrative, we are going to see major challenges. Find the tribe who can get you through.”   Dr. Washington is now doing appreciable research in  cultural competence in computing citing insufficiencies on the university level.  Approximately 85% of university computing faculty are Caucasian or Asian, not serving as full role models.  “We lose students in the middle ground, between K through 12 and careers.” She noted that while undergraduate curriculum emphasizes technology skills, it does not emphasize cultural competence. “We see, every day, technology announcements that are biased,” as a result. She cited self-driving car and healthcare database applications as two examples where “people developing them are not recognizing biases.” Dr. Washington proposes a long-overdue revolution: required assessment for cultural competence in computing. “I am trying to force a conversation around cultural competence for all computer science students before graduation,” beginning with a required 3-credit course called Race, Gender, Class and Computing.  Her aspiration is a country-wide movement on computing cultural competency, using the right role models, “people who live, eat and breathe this for a living.” During nine years at Howard University, Dr. Washington partnered with Google to bring a middle school course to 300 Howard University’s Middle School students; then co-championed an Exploring Computer Science program to bring computer science to Washington DC public high schools.  She helped establish the first  Google In Residence program at Howard which “expanded to other historically black universities including Fisk, Morehouse College, Spellman and Hampton.”  Since relocating to Winthrop, Dr. Washington is working with Code.org to develop the nationwide framework for K through  12 computer science curriculum “as a blueprint in every state, so every student has access to computer science at every step.” She served as lead writer on South Carolina state’s K through 12 computer science and digital literacy standards and through Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., leads college prep workshops for students and parents.  Dr. Washington’s book:  UNAPOLOGETICALLY DOPE,  “speaks to every black woman and girl who needs to know there was someone just like them who went through the same things.” She speaks to computer science departments across the country on her research.  Dr. Washington’s key advice for women tech leaders, especially women of color, is: “Be unafraid to ‘take up space’ and own your narrative. Be intentional with everything you do. Recognize it’s always bigger than you. It’s not just happening to you. Make sure your intention is the best possible.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnickiw/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Nicki Washington</a>,  author, Associate Professor of Computer Science at <a href="https://www.winthrop.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Winthrop University</a>, founder at Washington Consulting LLC and passionate advocate for women of color, in technology. Winthrop University <a href="http://mytjnow.com/2019/03/27/computer-science-professor-breaks-barriers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> featured</a> her work. “I was born and raised in <a href="https://durhamnc.gov/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Durham, North Carolina</a>,” site of world-class universities and home to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Triangle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Research Triangle Park</a>. Her mother was a 32-year <a href="https://www.ibm.com/us-en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IBM</a> programmer, and father was a K through 12 educator and administrator. “I was surrounded by black men and women who were educators, engineers, college professors, business leaders, attorneys, doctors and more: a network doing inspiring things in science and math.” Her mother purchased a new computer every few years and Dr. Washington assembled each one.  Her mother “introduced me to programming opportunities,” <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_(programming_language)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Pascal</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Basic</a>, then more advanced languages.  At <a href="https://www.jcsu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Johnson C. Smith University</a>, Dr. Washington’s path changed when an influential professor convinced her to concentrate on computer science. <a href="https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/dorothy-cowser-yancy-41" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Dr. Dorothy Cawser Yancy</a>, University President, nominated her for the <a href="https://www.packard.org/what-we-fund/science/packard-fellowships-for-science-and-engineering/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> David and Lucille Packard fellowship</a>, a $100,000 5-year grant for students to pursue STEM doctorates, including annual week-long symposiums, with professional workshops and “honest safe spaces” for sharing.  Dr. Washington graduated as undergraduate valedictorian and won the award. “My trajectory changed from there.”  Dr. Washington became “a black woman in a program where only one other person looked like me” pursuing masters/doctoral degrees at <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">North Carolina State University.</a>  “I suffered from ‘impostor syndrome;’ and would lean on my community,” since her campus was 20 minutes from her childhood home. She often had to “armor up” every day and was fortunate to gain an empathetic advisor, <a href="https://www.csc.ncsu.edu/people/hp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Harry Perros</a>, with whom she had “real talks” about struggles as a black woman in a post-graduate computer science program.  She won another fellowship in her graduate school: <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/education/harriett_jenkins.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> NASA’s Harriet G. Jenkins award</a>, giving monetary support and other unique experiences tailored to graduates from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_black_colleges_and_universities" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> historically black colleges/universities</a>. Dr. Washington shared advice for programmers, technologists, application developers.  “When you reach a roadblock, take a break and step away. Sometimes you are so engrossed, you cannot see high levels.” She decried students’ misconceptions that they must “know everything” and advised “be unafraid to ask for help.”  When faced with bias, she said: “It is not you. You are not the first. You will not be the last. Take up space without losing yourself in the process. Maintain a level of self-care.” Dr. Washington’s message is “until there is a major shift in the narrative, we are going to see major challenges. Find the tribe who can get you through.”   Dr. Washington is now doing appreciable research in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=cultural+competence+in+computing&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0&amp;as_vis=1&amp;oi=scholart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> cultural competence in computing</a> citing insufficiencies on the university level.  Approximately 85% of university computing faculty are Caucasian or Asian, not serving as full role models.  “We lose students in the middle ground, between K through 12 and careers.” She noted that while undergraduate curriculum emphasizes technology skills, it does not emphasize cultural competence. “We see, every day, technology announcements that are biased,” as a result. She cited self-driving car and healthcare database applications as two examples where “people developing them are not recognizing biases.” Dr. Washington proposes a long-overdue revolution: required assessment for cultural competence in computing. “I am trying to force a conversation around cultural competence for all computer science students before graduation,” beginning with a required 3-credit course called Race, Gender, Class and Computing.  Her aspiration is a country-wide movement on computing cultural competency, using the right role models, “people who live, eat and breathe this for a living.” During nine years at <a href="https://home.howard.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Howard University</a>, Dr. Washington partnered with <a href="https://about.google/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google</a> to bring a middle school course to 300 <a href="https://hu-ms2.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Howard University’s Middle School</a> students; then co-championed an <a href="http://www.exploringcs.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Exploring Computer Science</a> program to bring computer science to Washington DC public high schools.  She helped establish the first <a href="https://newsroom.howard.edu/newsroom/static/7931/howard-university-and-google-expand-howard-west-computer-science-residency" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Google In Residence</a> program at Howard which “expanded to other historically black universities including Fisk, Morehouse College, Spellman and Hampton.”  Since relocating to Winthrop, Dr. Washington is working with <a href="https://code.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Code.org</a> to develop the nationwide framework for K through  12 computer science curriculum “as a blueprint in every state, so every student has access to computer science at every step.” She served as lead writer on South Carolina state’s K through 12 computer science and digital literacy standards and through <a href="https://aka1908.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc</a>., leads college prep workshops for students and parents.  Dr. Washington’s book: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unapologetically-Dope-Lessons-Surviving-Thriving/dp/098474679X/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> UNAPOLOGETICALLY DOPE</a>,  “speaks to every black woman and girl who needs to know there was someone just like them who went through the same things.” She speaks to computer science departments across the country on her research.  Dr. Washington’s key advice for women tech leaders, especially women of color, is: “Be unafraid to ‘take up space’ and own your narrative. Be intentional with everything you do. Recognize it’s always bigger than you. It’s not just happening to you. Make sure your intention is the best possible.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Ep 97: Dr. Nicki Washington: Armor Up, Every Day

Remote

Diva Tech Talk interviewed  Sunitha Vinnakota,  tech/IT security leader for General Motors Company, a trailblazer in automotive solutions for almost a century.  Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, global GM employs over 180,000 people; serves customers on 6 continents across 23 time zones in 70 languages; and focuses on pushing the limits of automotive engineering, while maintaining stewardship of the world’s environmental resources. Currently #10 on the Fortune 500 list, GM is the largest U.S. automotive manufacturer, and is led by  Mary Barra, the first female CEO of a major automotive company.  Sunitha brought 25-plus years of evolving technology skills, intellectual curiosity coupled with drive, and broad business acumen.   Sunitha was always interested in technology, encouraged by her mechanical engineer father who urged her to “look at the science all around you.” One of two siblings, growing up near Hyderabad, India, she was fascinated by the logic underlying every invention, tool, process, in her life. All her close male relatives were engineers.  Sunitha said, “from childhood, I wanted to do something different from everyone else.” That fascination led her to concentrate on math, physics and computer science. She completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science and master’s degree in computer applications at Osmania University.  During university days, Sunitha instructed high school students in math and physics.  She moved to teaching Unix at the  Birla Institute of Technology and Science; and was offered a professorship at Osmania.  However, Sunitha turned down university life in favor of working on the development of SAT and ACT tests, for 11th/12th graders, at Indotronix International. Following her 2000 marriage, Sunitha migrated to Michigan.  During that first year, she worked part-time, teaching Java and  C# programming, on the weekends.  After receiving her H1B visa, she became a Java consultant and developer at Chrysler Corporation, now  FCA Group Intl.  She then moved to GM as a consultant and systems analyst, deployed by  TAC Automotive Group.  After the birth of her first daughter, Sunitha took a leave of absence.  Then she chose Ford Motor Company, the fifth largest automotive company in the world, where she was a systems analyst and then a business analyst over the next six years. In 2013, Sunitha moved back to General Motors full-time, as a senior business analyst in vehicle ordering and management systems. She mastered that before moving over to learn ecommerce, in-depth. “It was completely new. We were developing an e-commerce application.” After that achievement, she became a “quality evangelist” maintaining the integrity of IT applications in global sales and marketing working with 1100 people across the globe.  Then, in 2018, she began to work on cybersecurity for GM, worldwide. She now leads security compliance for 230-plus applications, globally. One of Sunitha’s mantras is that everyone must “stay abreast of the latest technologies today” since data is rapidly exploding. Her job encompasses the breadth of GM technology from the “C suite to application owners to the grassroots” and focuses on ensuring that “GM customers know their information is safe with us.”  Sunitha characterized her major strengths as intellectual curiosity, ambition, learning agility, and passion.  “Whatever I do, I dive in deep,” she said.  She wants her stakeholders to say: “I have given this job to Sunitha.  It gets done. I can sleep!” Sunitha was honored by a 2019  IT All Stars Women of Color Award for her work in improving GM application quality by 49% in less than 8 months, achieving 95% in standard compliance in record time. Sunitha’s method of tackling subtle sexism in work situations has always been to “double down.” She increased her skill sets and made a case for traveling, performing at levels above and beyond what is required. Her greatest fear is “not staying abreast of technology. I want to be indispensable.” Sunitha’s words of wisdom for women leaders in technology are: “Don’t be hesitant to explore and learn.  It’s ok to fear, and fail, but don’t let it stop you. Don’t be afraid to ask someone” for help or guidance and “don’t be in your comfort zone for long.” Sunitha has benefited from family mentors: her mother, her father and her mother-in-law, who she admires for having overcome many significant obstacles. Since she loves to teach, Sunitha often works with college “mentees” who she urges to explore every opportunity.  She also is a big believer in developing strong self-respect, and in pragmatically rewarding yourself for achievements. “Don’t just buy a tech gadget;” ensure that you fully understand the gadget’s use/application and then “feel proud” of yourself.   In her community life, Sunitha kicked off the  internship program for the Michigan Council of Women In Technology Foundation, and is on the technology advisory board for Canton Michigan high schools.  Additionally, on weekends, she teaches business analysis skills online for women. Through that,  “I have changed 16 women’s lives, so far,” she stated, because “life is too short; let’s take advantage of it. Don’t give the remote control” away.  Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunitha-vinnakota-a29ba028/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Sunitha Vinnakota</a>,  tech/IT security leader for <a href="https://www.gm.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">General Motors Company</a>, a trailblazer in automotive solutions for almost a century.  Headquartered in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Detroit, Michigan</a>, global GM employs over 180,000 people; serves customers on 6 continents across 23 time zones in 70 languages; and focuses on pushing the limits of automotive engineering, while maintaining stewardship of the world’s environmental resources. Currently #10 on the <a href="https://fortune.com/fortune500/2018/general-motors/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fortune 500 list</a>, GM is the largest U.S. automotive manufacturer, and is led by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/mary-barra/#13a4e45910ad" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Mary Barra</a>, the first female CEO of a major automotive company.  Sunitha brought 25-plus years of evolving technology skills, intellectual curiosity coupled with drive, and broad business acumen.   Sunitha was always interested in technology, encouraged by her mechanical engineer father who urged her to “look at the science all around you.” One of two siblings, growing up near <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyderabad" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hyderabad, India</a>, she was fascinated by the logic underlying every invention, tool, process, in her life. All her close male relatives were engineers.  Sunitha said, “from childhood, I wanted to do something different from everyone else.” That fascination led her to concentrate on math, physics and computer science. She completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science and master’s degree in computer applications at <a href="https://www.osmania.ac.in/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Osmania University</a>.  During university days, Sunitha instructed high school students in math and physics.  She moved to teaching Unix at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birla_Institute_of_Technology_and_Science,_Pilani" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Birla Institute of Technology and Science</a>; and was offered a professorship at Osmania.  However, Sunitha turned down university life in favor of working on the development of SAT and ACT tests, for 11th/12th graders, at <a href="https://www.iic.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Indotronix International</a>. Following her 2000 marriage, Sunitha migrated to Michigan.  During that first year, she worked part-time, teaching <a href="https://www.java.com/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Java</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_Sharp_(programming_language)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> C#</a> programming, on the weekends.  After receiving her <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">H1B visa</a>, she became a Java consultant and developer at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chrysler Corporation,</a> now <a href="https://www.fcagroup.com/en-US/group/Pages/group_overview.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> FCA Group Intl</a>.  She then moved to GM as a consultant and systems analyst, deployed by <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/1352572D:US" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TAC Automotive Group</a>.  After the birth of her first daughter, Sunitha took a leave of absence.  Then she chose <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Motor_Company" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ford Motor Company</a>, the fifth largest automotive company in the world, where she was a systems analyst and then a business analyst over the next six years. In 2013, Sunitha moved back to General Motors full-time, as a senior business analyst in vehicle ordering and management systems. She mastered that before moving over to learn ecommerce, in-depth. “It was completely new. We were developing an e-commerce application.” After that achievement, she became a “quality evangelist” maintaining the integrity of IT applications in global sales and marketing working with 1100 people across the globe.  Then, in 2018, she began to work on cybersecurity for GM, worldwide. She now leads security compliance for 230-plus applications, globally. One of Sunitha’s mantras is that everyone must “stay abreast of the latest technologies today” since data is rapidly exploding. Her job encompasses the breadth of GM technology from the “C suite to application owners to the grassroots” and focuses on ensuring that “GM customers know their information is safe with us.”  Sunitha characterized her major strengths as intellectual curiosity, ambition, learning agility, and passion.  “Whatever I do, I dive in deep,” she said.  She wants her stakeholders to say: “I have given this job to Sunitha.  It gets done. I can sleep!” Sunitha was honored by a 2019 <a href="https://s4.goeshow.com/ccgroup/womenofcolor/2019/docs/2019_Technology_All-Stars_07-24-2019.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> IT All Stars Women of Color Award</a> for her work in improving GM application quality by 49% in less than 8 months, achieving 95% in standard compliance in record time. Sunitha’s method of tackling subtle sexism in work situations has always been to “double down.” She increased her skill sets and made a case for traveling, performing at levels above and beyond what is required. Her greatest fear is “not staying abreast of technology. I want to be indispensable.” Sunitha’s words of wisdom for women leaders in technology are: “Don’t be hesitant to explore and learn.  It’s ok to fear, and fail, but don’t let it stop you. Don’t be afraid to ask someone” for help or guidance and “don’t be in your comfort zone for long.” Sunitha has benefited from family mentors: her mother, her father and her mother-in-law, who she admires for having overcome many significant obstacles. Since she loves to teach, Sunitha often works with college “mentees” who she urges to explore every opportunity.  She also is a big believer in developing strong self-respect, and in pragmatically rewarding yourself for achievements. “Don’t just buy a tech gadget;” ensure that you fully understand the gadget’s use/application and then “feel proud” of yourself.   In her community life, Sunitha kicked off the <a href="https://www.mcwt.org/programs/list/University-Initiatives/Internships" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> internship program</a> for the <a href="https://www.mcwt.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michigan Council of Women In Technology Foundation</a>, and is on the technology advisory board for Canton Michigan high schools.  Additionally, on weekends, she teaches business analysis skills online for women. Through that,  “I have changed 16 women’s lives, so far,” she stated, because “life is too short; let’s take advantage of it. Don’t give the remote control” away.  Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Ep 96: Sunitha Vinnakota: Don’t Give Away The Remote Control for Your Life

Linda Rose

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Linda Rose, merger and acquisitions advisor at RoseBiz Inc., and author of  GET ACQUIRED FOR MILLIONS ---  offering wisdom and a practical roadmap to business owners interested in divestiture.  Linda has owned four companies and has served hundreds of others.  In 7th grade, Linda knew she wanted to become a CPA, after visiting with family friends in that field, who had an idyllic lifestyle. Fortunately, her PSAT’s pinpointed strong math proficiency. She graduated with a bachelors and a master’s in accountancy from San Diego State University and spent four years at Arthur Andersen “working on very esoteric tax applications and issues.”  Since her future husband was in the running for a partnership, and there were strict firm policies on fraternization, “I left and went to work for a customer of the firm.”  Then, many life circumstances converged simultaneously. Linda got pregnant; laid off; and became a Southern California homeowner, an expensive proposition. “I found myself implementing an accounting package for a company that needed assistance. That’s what got me into tech!”  Once in the technology field, “I never looked back. I didn’t aspire to have my own business, but I did like what I was doing.” She recruited others as independent contractors, and after several years incorporated. “I really liked the work, and the flexibility it gave me as a mom. And I hired a lot of other moms.”  Then, Linda got “the growth bug,” and began hiring other experts. Her clients spurred her to diversify into staffing, and data center hosting. “For ten years, I had three companies at three separate locations. That forced me to hire very capable people, to delegate, to not have the businesses centered around me.” Linda’s epiphany was “I loved the flexibility and the control that having my own company afforded me.”  Beginning in her 40’s, Linda took five years to self-reflect, analyze markets/trends, make hard decisions, and architect a plan. She sold her staffing company;  then the others, including her final 2017 divestiture of RoseASP, a Microsoft channel partner and MS dynamics hosting company, “which I sold for millions.” “I was at a crossroads.”  Inspired by the self-discovery odyssey in WILD, Linda trekked 40 miles around Mount Hood and then took a 6-week 500 mile hike of the Pacific Crest trail. She concluded “I had this knowledge of selling three companies and buying another company. And I wanted to put that knowledge into the book.” Linda took 18 months to write her  book, aimed toward an underserved niche:  smaller companies, in technology channels, “written from the owner’s viewpoint. It’s a book that prepares you for the process” of selling your business.  Linda shared some wisdom for women in leadership roles.  Her advice included:  Take control of your finances early.  “Find a mentor or mentors you can depend on, who really care about you.”   Build your “home team.”  This is whomever you can rely on to help with all aspects of life:  nannies, transporters, personal chefs, errand-doers and more.   Create your personal brand.  Linda’s own “brand” is centered on “always about being fair, ethical, and servicing my customer --- doing what’s right for the customer and doing what’s right for the employee.  It’s important to decide what you stand for.” One of her recent insights is that “each of us has our own ‘glass ceiling’ “and most of the time, it is lower in our minds than it should be, when viewed objectively. “So, it is important we break through our own limiting beliefs first” before tackling big challenges. During her 500-mile trek, Linda said: “I raised my own personal glass ceiling.” She faced bears, rocky trails, boulders, and other frightening challenges. She overcame them, and found a renewed, exhilarating empowerment, and new paths, including her specialty of consulting on mergers and acquisitions. Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/klindarose/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Linda Rose</a>, merger and acquisitions advisor at <a href="https://rosebizinc.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RoseBiz Inc.</a>, and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Get-Acquired-Millions-Technology-Providers/dp/1733208208/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> GET ACQUIRED FOR MILLIONS</a> ---  offering wisdom and a practical roadmap to business owners interested in divestiture.  Linda has owned four companies and has served hundreds of others.  In 7th grade, Linda knew she wanted to become a CPA, after visiting with family friends in that field, who had an idyllic lifestyle. Fortunately, her PSAT’s pinpointed strong math proficiency. She graduated with a bachelors and a master’s in accountancy from <a href="https://www.sdsu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">San Diego State University</a> and spent four years at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Arthur Andersen</a> “working on very esoteric tax applications and issues.”  Since her future husband was in the running for a partnership, and there were strict firm policies on fraternization, “I left and went to work for a customer of the firm.”  Then, many life circumstances converged simultaneously. Linda got pregnant; laid off; and became a Southern California homeowner, an expensive proposition. “I found myself implementing an accounting package for a company that needed assistance. That’s what got me into tech!”  Once in the technology field, “I never looked back. I didn’t aspire to have my own business, but I did like what I was doing.” She recruited others as independent contractors, and after several years incorporated. “I really liked the work, and the flexibility it gave me as a mom. And I hired a lot of other moms.”  Then, Linda got “the growth bug,” and began hiring other experts. Her clients spurred her to diversify into staffing, and data center hosting. “For ten years, I had three companies at three separate locations. That forced me to hire very capable people, to delegate, to not have the businesses centered around me.” Linda’s epiphany was “I loved the flexibility and the control that having my own company afforded me.”  Beginning in her 40’s, Linda took five years to self-reflect, analyze markets/trends, make hard decisions, and architect a plan. She sold her <a href="http://thompsoninterim.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">staffing company</a>;  then the others, including her final 2017 divestiture of <a href="https://roseasp.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RoseASP</a>, a Microsoft channel partner and MS dynamics hosting company, “which I sold for millions.” “I was at a crossroads.”  Inspired by the self-discovery odyssey in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2305051/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WILD</a>, Linda trekked 40 miles around <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hood" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mount Hood</a> and then took a 6-week 500 mile hike of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pacific Crest</a> trail. She concluded “I had this knowledge of selling three companies and buying another company. And I wanted to put that knowledge into the book.” Linda took 18 months to write her <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Get-Acquired-Millions-Technology-Providers/dp/1733208208/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> book</a>, aimed toward an underserved niche:  smaller companies, in technology channels, “written from the owner’s viewpoint. It’s a book that prepares you for the process” of selling your business.  Linda shared some wisdom for women in leadership roles.  Her advice included: <ol> <li>Take control of your finances early. </li> <li>“Find a mentor or mentors you can depend on, who really care about you.”  </li> <li>Build your “home team.”  This is whomever you can rely on to help with all aspects of life:  nannies, transporters, personal chefs, errand-doers and more.  </li> <li>Create your personal brand.</li> </ol> Linda’s own “brand” is centered on “always about being fair, ethical, and servicing my customer --- doing what’s right for the customer and doing what’s right for the employee.  It’s important to decide what you stand for.” One of her recent insights is that “each of us has our own ‘glass ceiling’ “and most of the time, it is lower in our minds than it should be, when viewed objectively. “So, it is important we break through our own limiting beliefs first” before tackling big challenges. During her 500-mile trek, Linda said: “I raised my own personal glass ceiling.” She faced bears, rocky trails, boulders, and other frightening challenges. She overcame them, and found a renewed, exhilarating empowerment, and new paths, including her specialty of consulting on mergers and acquisitions. Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Ep 95: Linda Rose: Raise Your Personal Ceiling

Jeanine Heck

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Jeanine Heck, Vice President, AI at Comcast, the world’s second largest broadcasting and cable television company; the U.S. largest pay television, cable TV and home internet service provider; and third largest home telephone supplier in the U.S.  As a child, Jeanine sometimes felt like “the lone soldier” as a female “mathlete,” consistently drawn to numbers, and science. “I loved things that had to do with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Engineering popped up” as she chose a college major. “I loved programming.”  As an undergraduate, she felt fortunate to graduate with her BSE from the University of Pennsylvania, which also housed  Wharton. “I got a really good, well-rounded perspective on both tech and business.” Post-graduation Jeanine spent six years at  Gemini Systems (now EssexTec), serving the New York Stock Exchange, first as a programmer.  Then “my main responsibilities, over time, shifted. I raised my hand pretty often to become one of the people who decided what we were building: a business analyst role.” One watershed project was a Java-based visual tool/system that helped monitor and regulate the behavior of individual NYSE traders. “I liked all the technical challenges.  But I didn’t have a passion for the financial markets,” Jeanine admitted. With a “career switcher mindset,” Jeanine entered Columbia University to get her MBA, and “discovered that I missed technology.”  She landed two internships, first at Google in advertising sales and then at NBC, where she worked on an online Web video player. “In both jobs, I was not on the software team, but craving to be.”  The good news was “I found an industry that I loved: the digital media industry.” Jeanine honed in on getting a role at Comcast. “It was more of a humble culture, which stood out in the media industry” and a great opportunity for her to return to Philadelphia.  Her first role was as a product manager for  TV Planner, “the first time we brought together all content in one place.” With 1.5 million unique users, “when you have that kind of scale, you see amazing trends, patterns and data insights.”  Jeanine became impassioned about data discovery and “I have built a career, on that, since then. “ One of the key products that Jeanine managed is Comcast’s  Voice Remote,  “the most loved” of Comcast products “synonymous with our brand.” Shifting into team leadership, directing 70 employees, has been “a little bit bittersweet for me,” Jeanine admitted.  But she has enjoyed mentoring team members, sharing her experience, leading and learning from “the brilliant people” on her teams. Jeanine’s immediate Comcast goals include “developing products that people become attached to” like the successful Voice Remote. She is on a quest to find “the next big product that will take us to the next level of love from our customers.” She has tasked her team to discover “brilliant products” to bring to market. The biggest impact that Jeanine sees in AI developments has been in productivity, and quality. “It (AI) helps you do things more efficiently.” Jeanine’s success-oriented qualities are optimism, collaborative inclination and urgency married to agility: “One of my philosophies is ‘no day but today.’  If we have an idea, I am constantly thinking about how we get that out to customers, sooner.” Jeanine has spent introspection on the essential role of women in business. Personally, she has inculcated wisdom from Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, and concentrated on being taken seriously as an executive. She has also stayed open to feedback in her evolution, going so far as to assess her vocal presence and presentation skills to achieve “gravitas” as a leader. Jeanine has also become a devotee of Brene Brown. “I think she has the right idea.  She talks about being a wholehearted person: being comfortable, taking risks and being vulnerable.” To achieve family balance, she works on putting down her phone, and assiduously listening to her 4 kids. In her community life, Jeanine works with two different high schools to encourage young people to consider technology as part of their life paths: her alma mater, St. Hubert’s in Philadelphia and  Lower Merion High School.  “The fulfilling part for me is that you show them:  you can do this, too, and it opens their minds to the possibilities.”  Jeanine’s pragmatic advice to women aspiring to lead is three-fold.    Have a plan. “Ensure that you are ‘in the driver’s seat.’ Think about what you would like and a path to get there.” Don’t be shy about stating what you want/need. “Speak up for the things you want, and someone will help you find it.”  Cultivate personal resilience. “There’s always a way out of a negative situation. “  Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanineheck/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jeanine Heck</a>, Vice President, AI at <a href="https://corporate.comcast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Comcast</a>, the world’s second largest broadcasting and cable television company; the U.S. largest pay television, cable TV and home internet service provider; and third largest home telephone supplier in the U.S.  As a child, Jeanine sometimes felt like “the lone soldier” as a female “mathlete,” consistently drawn to numbers, and science. “I loved things that had to do with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Engineering popped up” as she chose a college major. “I loved programming.”  As an undergraduate, she felt fortunate to graduate with her BSE from the <a href="https://home.www.upenn.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Pennsylvania</a>, which also housed <a href="https://www.wharton.upenn.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Wharton</a>. “I got a really good, well-rounded perspective on both tech and business.” Post-graduation Jeanine spent six years at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/gemini-systems/about/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Gemini Systems</a> (now EssexTec), serving the <a href="https://www.nyse.com/index" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">New York Stock Exchange</a>, first as a programmer.  Then “my main responsibilities, over time, shifted. I raised my hand pretty often to become one of the people who decided what we were building: a business analyst role.” One watershed project was a Java-based visual tool/system that helped monitor and regulate the behavior of individual NYSE traders. “I liked all the technical challenges.  But I didn’t have a passion for the financial markets,” Jeanine admitted. With a “career switcher mindset,” Jeanine entered <a href="https://www.columbia.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Columbia University</a> to get her MBA, and “discovered that I missed technology.”  She landed two internships, first at <a href="https://about.google/intl/en_us/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google</a> in advertising sales and then at <a href="https://www.nbc.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">NBC</a>, where she worked on an online Web video player. “In both jobs, I was not on the software team, but craving to be.”  The good news was “I found an industry that I loved: the digital media industry.” Jeanine honed in on getting a role at Comcast. “It was more of a humble culture, which stood out in the media industry” and a great opportunity for her to return to Philadelphia.  Her first role was as a product manager for <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20191008154655/http:/tvplanner.comcast.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> TV Planner</a>, “the first time we brought together all content in one place.” With 1.5 million unique users, “when you have that kind of scale, you see amazing trends, patterns and data insights.”  Jeanine became impassioned about data discovery and “I have built a career, on that, since then. “ One of the key products that Jeanine managed is Comcast’s <a href="https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/get-to-know-xr11-remote" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Voice Remote</a>,  “the most loved” of Comcast products “synonymous with our brand.” Shifting into team leadership, directing 70 employees, has been “a little bit bittersweet for me,” Jeanine admitted.  But she has enjoyed mentoring team members, sharing her experience, leading and learning from “the brilliant people” on her teams. Jeanine’s immediate Comcast goals include “developing products that people become attached to” like the successful Voice Remote. She is on a quest to find “the next big product that will take us to the next level of love from our customers.” She has tasked her team to discover “brilliant products” to bring to market. The biggest impact that Jeanine sees in AI developments has been in productivity, and quality. “It (AI) helps you do things more efficiently.” Jeanine’s success-oriented qualities are optimism, collaborative inclination and urgency married to agility: “One of my philosophies is ‘no day but today.’  If we have an idea, I am constantly thinking about how we get that out to customers, sooner.” Jeanine has spent introspection on the essential role of women in business. Personally, she has inculcated wisdom from Sheryl Sandberg’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_In" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lean In</a>, and concentrated on being taken seriously as an executive. She has also stayed open to feedback in her evolution, going so far as to assess her vocal presence and presentation skills to achieve “gravitas” as a leader. Jeanine has also become a devotee of <a href="https://brenebrown.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Brene Brown</a>. “I think she has the right idea.  She talks about being a wholehearted person: being comfortable, taking risks and being vulnerable.” To achieve family balance, she works on putting down her phone, and assiduously listening to her 4 kids. In her community life, Jeanine works with two different high schools to encourage young people to consider technology as part of their life paths: her alma mater, <a href="https://www.huberts.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">St. Hubert’s</a> in Philadelphia and  <a href="https://www.lmsd.org/lower-merion" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lower Merion High School</a>.  “The fulfilling part for me is that you show them:  you can do this, too, and it opens their minds to the possibilities.”  Jeanine’s pragmatic advice to women aspiring to lead is three-fold.   <ul> <li>Have a plan. “Ensure that you are ‘in the driver’s seat.’ Think about what you would like and a path to get there.”</li> <li>Don’t be shy about stating what you want/need. “Speak up for the things you want, and someone will help you find it.” </li> <li>Cultivate personal resilience. “There’s always a way out of a negative situation. “</li> </ul> Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Ep 94: Jeanine Heck: No Day but Today

Liz Armbruester

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Liz Armbruester, SVP, Global Compliance, at Avalara, which helps businesses get tax compliance right. Avalara partners with ERP providers, accounting, e-commerce and financial systems companies, to deliver cloud-based tax compliance solutions, for all transactions. Headquartered in Seattle, WA, Avalara was founded in 2004; went public in 2018; and has offices across the world  From her early years, Liz was a multitasker. “I thrive on doing more than one thing at a time.” Her early aptitudes were in science, and math.  From Villanova University, she transferred to the  University of Arizona. Originally planning to be a doctor, Liz graduated with a major in molecular/cellular biology. It was during this formative college period that she learned “how impactful my instinct was and to listen and trust it.”  This was a life-long lesson Liz applied many times, even with her own son, who made a similar decision in 2019 to transfer universities in pursuit of his dreams. Liz decided against medical school but “easily got jobs in the medical field.” Working with physicians,  she “kept finding my way to the front office. Application software was coming to the fore.” Liz grasped an “opportunity to do something different.” She migrated to semiconductor provider, Zilog where she spent  eight years. Then Liz moved to Vubiquity, a content distribution tech company, owned by tech media giant  Amdocs.  Vubiquity connects content owners to video providers, so that entertainment can be delivered to consumers on any screen.  At both Zilog and Vubiquity, Liz wore multiple hats; worked on innovative projects; and often operated in between highly technical development teams and customers “as a translator” of requirements. Liz left Vubiquity, six years later, as Vice President of Operations, and Procurement, because she found herself “not showing up for dinner...which was not ok.”  Moving from Vubiquity to Avalara, Liz made it clear that balance was key. Yet she committed to “operate, and scale like hell” to empower Avalara’s aggressive evolution.  Liz accepted the challenge, to again “be the translator” between the vision, the partners who build/deliver solutions, and “an infinite number of customers.” Avalara teams, “are just brilliant and bring together all of the pieces; and cohesively work together” as the company’s client base has expanded. “Our finish line changes all the time,” Liz explained, because taxing authorities’ rules are ever-changing.  Liz believes that transition to collaborative teamwork leadership is particularly hard for talented STEM experts.  Often, she noted “one day, I am a ‘fixer’ and the next day, I have to be a ‘facilitator,’ and that transformation can be kind of tough. You can’t do it, all.  You have to let go; let others.” Key to that is teaching, mentoring and inspiring colleagues and teammates. Avalara is also highly committed to a positive “intentional culture” including diversity in its ranks.  Liz praised Amelia Ransom, the company’s Senior Director of Engagement and Diversity, “who has really raised the bar for us.” Working on  D/I initiatives has been eye-opening and allowed Liz to empower diversity transition, including all of Avalara leadership “locking arms. It isn’t a project; it doesn’t have a beginning and an end and has shifted our perspective. I have seen hiring practices change,” said Liz.  “I have seen the transparency with which we talk about bias radically change.” Liz would encourage anyone, at any career stage, to continuously “take a step back and look at the bigger picture” as it relates to “what you do, what you like to do, and what you're passionate about” in a disciplined fashion. “What are the things about what you do that make you successful?” Knowing your intrinsic aptitudes and how they apply to any challenge, is vital to personal progress.  “Don’t just think about the tactical things you are doing. Take a step back and think about your skills, your unique characteristics.” Then apply them to your future goals. “It opens up and reframes your possibilities!” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-armbruester-a7034a5/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Liz Armbruester</a>, SVP, Global Compliance, at <a href="https://www.avalara.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Avalara</a>, which helps businesses get tax compliance right. Avalara partners with ERP providers, accounting, e-commerce and financial systems companies, to deliver cloud-based tax compliance solutions, for all transactions. Headquartered in Seattle, WA, Avalara was founded in 2004; went public in 2018; and has offices across the world  From her early years, Liz was a multitasker. “I thrive on doing more than one thing at a time.” Her early aptitudes were in science, and math.  From <a href="https://www1.villanova.edu/university.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Villanova University</a>, she transferred to the  <a href="https://www.arizona.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Arizona</a>. Originally planning to be a doctor, Liz graduated with a major in molecular/cellular biology. It was during this formative college period that she learned “how impactful my instinct was and to listen and trust it.”  This was a life-long lesson Liz applied many times, even with her own son, who made a similar decision in 2019 to transfer universities in pursuit of his dreams. Liz decided against medical school but “easily got jobs in the medical field.” Working with physicians,  she “kept finding my way to the front office. Application software was coming to the fore.” Liz grasped an “opportunity to do something different.” She migrated to semiconductor provider, <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Zilog</a> where she spent  eight years. Then Liz moved to <a href="https://www.vubiquity.com/company/about/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vubiquity</a>, a content distribution tech company, owned by tech media giant <a href="https://www.amdocs.com/media-room/amdocs-acquire-vubiquity-further-expand-media-entertainment-business" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Amdocs</a>.  Vubiquity connects content owners to video providers, so that entertainment can be delivered to consumers on any screen.  At both Zilog and Vubiquity, Liz wore multiple hats; worked on innovative projects; and often operated in between highly technical development teams and customers “as a translator” of requirements. Liz left Vubiquity, six years later, as Vice President of Operations, and Procurement, because she found herself “not showing up for dinner...which was not ok.”  Moving from Vubiquity to Avalara, Liz made it clear that balance was key. Yet she committed to “operate, and scale like hell” to empower Avalara’s aggressive evolution.  Liz accepted the challenge, to again “be the translator” between the vision, the partners who build/deliver solutions, and “an infinite number of customers.” Avalara teams, “are just brilliant and bring together all of the pieces; and cohesively work together” as the company’s client base has expanded. “Our finish line changes all the time,” Liz explained, because taxing authorities’ rules are ever-changing.  Liz believes that transition to collaborative teamwork leadership is particularly hard for talented STEM experts.  Often, she noted “one day, I am a ‘fixer’ and the next day, I have to be a ‘facilitator,’ and that transformation can be kind of tough. You can’t do it, all.  You have to let go; let others.” Key to that is teaching, mentoring and inspiring colleagues and teammates. Avalara is also highly committed to a positive “intentional culture” including diversity in its ranks.  Liz praised <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliaransom/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amelia Ransom</a>, the company’s Senior Director of Engagement and Diversity, “who has really raised the bar for us.” Working on  D/I initiatives has been eye-opening and allowed Liz to empower diversity transition, including all of Avalara leadership “locking arms. It isn’t a project; it doesn’t have a beginning and an end and has shifted our perspective. I have seen hiring practices change,” said Liz.  “I have seen the transparency with which we talk about bias radically change.” Liz would encourage anyone, at any career stage, to continuously “take a step back and look at the bigger picture” as it relates to “what you do, what you like to do, and what you're passionate about” in a disciplined fashion. “What are the things about what you do that make you successful?” Knowing your intrinsic aptitudes and how they apply to any challenge, is vital to personal progress.  “Don’t just think about the tactical things you are doing. Take a step back and think about your skills, your unique characteristics.” Then apply them to your future goals. “It opens up and reframes your possibilities!” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Ep 93: Liz Armbruester: Reframe Your Possibilities

Liz Siver

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Liz Siver, former Microsoft executive for the U.S. Central Region, now General Manager for NeoPollard Interactive, a breakthrough company, leading  transformation of state lottery systems online.  Liz credited her “network: the people I knew and encountered” for introducing her to technology. She attended the  University of Dayton, graduating with a degree in English. “I kept it simple. It was hard to identify all opportunities, so I took a generic path.”  Liz worked her way through college. Among other assignments, she worked for Girl Scouts of Western Ohio; government of Montgomery County in Ohio; Berry Yellow Pages; and the university in a fund-raising role.  Post-graduation, Liz entered fund development, at Hospice of Michigan, largest state provider of care to those facing end-of-life challenges. “Whether it was grant-writing, special event planning or working with donors, it was an array of interesting experiences.”   After 5 years, “my network came to me,” alerting her to an opportunity as an event manager for the launch of The Somerset Collection in Southeast Michigan.  She worked for Forbes Properties managing that massive development and hired The Disney Company to implement the mall launch.  Through more networking Liz moved to her next challenge, as a marketing manager at Deloitte, a global professional services organization, providing audit, tax, consulting, enterprise risk and financial advisory services to companies, worldwide. “I spent the majority of my time on the audit side of the house, driving business development,” she said. After 3 years at Deloitte, “my network came to me again,” Liz said.  A PR firm worked with both Deloitte and Microsoft and connected Liz to one of the largest technology companies, of the 21st century. Two decades ago, “Microsoft had 23,000 employees, and now the company has 170,000 employees,” marveled Liz. “I went from learning technology to embracing and selling what the potential of technology could be. Fun times!”   Liz’s Microsoft tenure spanned 18 years, and 11 different roles. “The theme was learning, developing; and always be networking, keeping your eye out on the next potential opportunity to learn and grow.” She spent a lot of time on the road and jumped at any chance to lead teams or projects with diverse teams, as many as 100 people.  She also spearheaded the development of the  Central Region’s Microsoft Women’s Leadership organization.  Liz “had the privilege” of spending time with (then-CEO) Steve Ballmer, “who always had a passion” for Detroit, and Southeast Michigan. “He was a visionary.  That vision became really broad.”  Liz loved and learned from tenure at Microsoft.  But, when she considered transitioning, “we had sold all states on ‘the cloud’. At my age, and career point, I thought ‘I have more to give. ‘What I wanted to do was to learn something new. And if I had the privilege of trying to transform an industry, wouldn’t that be exciting?!”  In a year of self-discovery, Liz said “the opportunity presented itself to run a joint venture.” She assumed the management of NeoPollard Interactive, with a parent company in Tel Aviv and Michigan-based HQ in Lansing.  NeoPollard is 50% owned by Israel-based NeoGames and a Winnipeg, Canada company in the lottery industry for decades.  “They have gaming legacy and deep relationships, globally, in the lottery industry.”  The company, “born online” and currently employing 82, works with state lotteries to move into the cloud; and “then provides services to be successful.”  In current mobile device-dominant environments, NeoPollard is trying to “help state lotteries build an additional opportunity for people to play the lottery” outside of traditional “cash and carry retail environments.” What inspires Liz is “the money from state lotteries goes to all the great causes” funded within each individual state.  In addition to doing good, “the fun part is transformation” ---- the opportunity to marry technology passion with belief in what technology can do for humanity. While NeoPollard has dominant market share, they are only currently in four of 50 U.S. states. “I am excited about being on the front end of the industry.” Over her career, Liz has developed leadership philosophies.  One is “be authentic. You can’t be anything better than yourself.”   Also “my responsibility as a leader is figuring out how I make others great.” In defining personal strengths, Liz says that “defining a business opportunity and its challenges, and then understanding how to address those challenges with the right people, partnerships and solutions” is one of her personal attributes.  She strives to “be present” at all times. Throughout her career, Liz feels fortunate that “networking with other women exposed me to interesting people, interesting thoughts; and I like to ‘lean in’ to help people get support.”   For Liz, “it is not about work/life balance, it is about work/life blend.”  The mother of twin daughters, Liz wants her daughters to be open-minded and “able to think through an opportunity, weigh the risk and reward of things, and realize the importance of just getting out there, and making an impact.”  One of Liz’s favorite axioms is “attitude is altitude.”  According to her, “how you show up every day, in your personal life, or your professional life is incredibly important to the people you touch.” For Liz, the best approach to every situation is “a super-positive attitude and open-mindedness.”  This is particularly important in driving innovation because “many people are not where you are.” She also is clear that it is “important to say: I don’t know everything.” She fears the day that she would ever become risk averse. “I would say to my ‘younger self’, take more risks!  Open doors can present closed doors which then present other open doors. You need to have some grit.” Knowing all this, Liz places emphasis on “the ability to recruit other people” to “the cause” who have appropriate skills, appetite for innovation, drive and agility. Liz also places strong value on empathy, in colleagues and her children, and spends time supporting the development of that in both. “We’re too harsh, today, in passing judgement.  At the end of the day, we’re all just people, and should be supporting each other.” Liz was raised in a tradition of “giving back.” She is Vice President of her teenage girls’ high school sports organization; sits on different committees in her church parish; and is co-chairing South Oakland Shelter’s efforts to house the homeless, through her church.  “Your words and your actions mean everything,” said Liz. “Always give back.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-siver/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Liz Siver</a>, former <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Microsoft</a> executive for the U.S. Central Region, now General Manager for <a href="http://www.neopollard.com/about-us/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">NeoPollard Interactive</a>, a breakthrough company, leading  transformation of state lottery systems online.  Liz credited her “network: the people I knew and encountered” for introducing her to technology. She attended the  <a href="https://udayton.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Dayton</a>, graduating with a degree in English. “I kept it simple. It was hard to identify all opportunities, so I took a generic path.”  Liz worked her way through college. Among other assignments, she worked for <a href="https://www.gswo.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Girl Scouts</a> of Western Ohio; government of <a href="https://www.mcohio.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Montgomery County</a> in Ohio; Berry Yellow Pages; and the university in a fund-raising role.  Post-graduation, Liz entered fund development, at <a href="https://www.hom.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hospice of Michigan</a>, largest state provider of care to those facing end-of-life challenges. “Whether it was grant-writing, special event planning or working with donors, it was an array of interesting experiences.”   After 5 years, “my network came to me,” alerting her to an opportunity as an event manager for the launch of <a href="https://www.thesomersetcollection.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Somerset Collection</a> in Southeast Michigan.  She worked for <a href="http://forbespropertiesinc.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Forbes Properties</a> managing that massive development and hired <a href="https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Disney Company</a> to implement the mall launch.  Through more networking Liz moved to her next challenge, as a marketing manager at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deloitte" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Deloitte</a>, a global professional services organization, providing audit, tax, consulting, enterprise risk and financial advisory services to companies, worldwide. “I spent the majority of my time on the audit side of the house, driving business development,” she said. After 3 years at Deloitte, “my network came to me again,” Liz said.  A PR firm worked with both Deloitte and Microsoft and connected Liz to one of the largest technology companies, of the 21st century. Two decades ago, “Microsoft had 23,000 employees, and now the company has 170,000 employees,” marveled Liz. “I went from learning technology to embracing and selling what the potential of technology could be. Fun times!”   Liz’s Microsoft tenure spanned 18 years, and 11 different roles. “The theme was learning, developing; and always be networking, keeping your eye out on the next potential opportunity to learn and grow.” She spent a lot of time on the road and jumped at any chance to lead teams or projects with diverse teams, as many as 100 people.  She also spearheaded the development of the <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/diversity/inside-microsoft/default.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Central Region’s Microsoft Women’s Leadership</a> organization.  Liz “had the privilege” of spending time with (then-CEO) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ballmer" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Steve Ballmer</a>, “who always had a passion” for Detroit, and Southeast Michigan. “He was a visionary.  That vision became really broad.”  Liz loved and learned from tenure at Microsoft.  But, when she considered transitioning, “we had sold all states on ‘the cloud’. At my age, and career point, I thought ‘I have more to give. ‘What I wanted to do was to learn something new. And if I had the privilege of trying to transform an industry, wouldn’t that be exciting?!”  In a year of self-discovery, Liz said “the opportunity presented itself to run a joint venture.” She assumed the management of NeoPollard Interactive, with a parent company in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Aviv" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tel Aviv</a> and Michigan-based HQ in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lansing,_Michigan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lansing</a>.  NeoPollard is 50% owned by Israel-based NeoGames and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Winnipeg, Canada</a> company in the lottery industry for decades.  “They have gaming legacy and deep relationships, globally, in the lottery industry.”  The company, “born online” and currently employing 82, works with state lotteries to move into the cloud; and “then provides services to be successful.”  In current mobile device-dominant environments, NeoPollard is trying to “help state lotteries build an additional opportunity for people to play the lottery” outside of traditional “cash and carry retail environments.” What inspires Liz is “the money from state lotteries goes to all the great causes” funded within each individual state.  In addition to doing good, “the fun part is transformation” ---- the opportunity to marry technology passion with belief in what technology can do for humanity. While NeoPollard has dominant market share, they are only currently in four of 50 U.S. states. “I am excited about being on the front end of the industry.” Over her career, Liz has developed leadership philosophies.  One is “be authentic. You can’t be anything better than yourself.”   Also “my responsibility as a leader is figuring out how I make others great.” In defining personal strengths, Liz says that “defining a business opportunity and its challenges, and then understanding how to address those challenges with the right people, partnerships and solutions” is one of her personal attributes.  She strives to “be present” at all times. Throughout her career, Liz feels fortunate that “networking with other women exposed me to interesting people, interesting thoughts; and I like to ‘lean in’ to help people get support.”   For Liz, “it is not about work/life balance, it is about work/life blend.”  The mother of twin daughters, Liz wants her daughters to be open-minded and “able to think through an opportunity, weigh the risk and reward of things, and realize the importance of just getting out there, and making an impact.”  One of Liz’s favorite axioms is “attitude is altitude.”  According to her, “how you show up every day, in your personal life, or your professional life is incredibly important to the people you touch.” For Liz, the best approach to every situation is “a super-positive attitude and open-mindedness.”  This is particularly important in driving innovation because “many people are not where you are.” She also is clear that it is “important to say: I don’t know everything.” She fears the day that she would ever become risk averse. “I would say to my ‘younger self’, take more risks!  Open doors can present closed doors which then present other open doors. You need to have some grit.” Knowing all this, Liz places emphasis on “the ability to recruit other people” to “the cause” who have appropriate skills, appetite for innovation, drive and agility. Liz also places strong value on empathy, in colleagues and her children, and spends time supporting the development of that in both. “We’re too harsh, today, in passing judgement.  At the end of the day, we’re all just people, and should be supporting each other.” Liz was raised in a tradition of “giving back.” She is Vice President of her teenage girls’ high school sports organization; sits on different committees in her church parish; and is co-chairing <a href="https://www.southoaklandshelter.org/our-story/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">South Oakland Shelter</a>’s efforts to house the homeless, through her church.  “Your words and your actions mean everything,” said Liz. “Always give back.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Ep 92: Liz Siver: Winning Through Networking

We are on a journey to share insights into leadership, innovation and breaking down the big issues women face in a tech-savvy world. We interview women leaders all around the world from CIOs and Founders, to creators and nonprofit executives, covering generations of innovation. Everyone with whom we've crossed paths has a story of success that we share with our listeners. Don’t get tangled along the way in your journey; listen in and learn from dynamic divas who share everything from balancing life duties, to negotiating, forging their way in their fast-changing industry, to (most of all) finding themselves. Podcast currently hosted by Nicole Johnson Scheffler, Kathleen Norton-Schock, and Amanda Lewan. Follow along with us here at www.divatechtalk.com.

An amazing way to open up the world of technology to more and more women. Highly recommend!

Absolutely inspiring

Great guests and insightful interviews. Love it!

Insightful interview

We are on a journey to share insights into leadership, innovation and breaking down the big issues women face in a tech-savvy world. We interview women leaders all around the world from CIOs and Founders, to creators and nonprofit executives, covering generations of innovation. Everyone with whom we've crossed paths has a story of success that we share with our listeners. Don’t get tangled along the way in your journey; listen in and learn from dynamic divas who share everything from balancing life duties, to negotiating, forging their way in their fast-changing industry, to (most of all) finding themselves. Podcast currently hosted by Nicole Johnson Scheffler, Kathleen Norton-Schock, and Amanda Lewan. Follow along with us here at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>.

Diva Tech Talk Podcast

Christine Rice

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Christine Rice, formerly President of VisionIT (www.visionit.com), and now CEO/President, of its IT staffing division: VisionPro (http://www.visionproteam.com/). VisionPro has 20 offices throughout the U.S., and is also global with offices in Canada, Mexico and Brazil. As a child, Christine had not been partial to technology subjects. “I got involved through my siblings,” she said. Both her older brother and sister worked at EDS (Electronic Data Systems). While she was in high school, “hearing my sister talk about IT, and the projects she was working on,” spurred Christine.  When she graduated high school, she also worked EDS, while simultaneously attending Wayne County Community College in Detroit (www.wcccd.edu/), and then Central Michigan University in Midland, Michigan (https://www.cmich.edu/) obtaining her B.S. in business management. Christine’s first EDS position was as an orientation specialist and then she moved into employee relations/human resources. “Our job was to lower the company’s liability in hiring, firing, and disciplining employees.” Over 15 years, she worked her way up to regional HR manager, with a substantial team, collaborating with EDS leaders at every level. Christine left EDS to join her brother, David Segura (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidseguravisionit/) after he founded VisionIT in 1997.  VisionIT, today, is a global software development company, systems integrator, reseller of key solutions (like SAP), and innovation lab for the development of new applications.  But at startup, it was a technology services and Web development venture. As David realized his need for increasing talent “He came to me for help. I didn’t realize helping would quickly turn into a full-time job. What a journey!”   “As a startup company, you really wear multiple hats,” Christine acknowledged. “I started selling and promoting the company.”  Due to her strong network of established relationships she cemented large clients quickly, and the customer base multiplied. She concentrated on human resources, hiring/firing, fostering talent at VisionIT. “As we were serving companies, doing application development and a variety of projects, they would come back to us,” and ask for resources to make additional progress. So, Christine decided “why don’t I concentrate on building the staffing side of the business?”    Two of Christine’s strengths are the ability to clearly communicate, and consultative business-building. “I like being in front of the customer,” she stated. “As a company, it is where we get our best ROI, because I truly take an interest in the customer’s problems, and how we can solve them.”  She also points to her relentless work ethic: “I was wired to work hard and deliver. And people will focus on that.” Christine shared lessons for entrepreneurs.  “When you are hiring people,” she said, “hire slow, but fire fast.”  As a leader she stressed that “integrity is very important,” and any leader needs to “build trust with your organization.” To do that, she deploys consistent transparency.  Christine’s personal happiness emanates from caring for her family (two college age sons and her husband) and “corporate success and hitting our goals.” To achieve balance, she stresses time management: carving out time for things that have the most priority and being disciplined in using your time well. Christine’s guiding principles for aspiring leaders include: surround yourself with other strong leaders; get involved in your community; listen, attentively, and never stop learning. In her philanthropy life, she works with children and young adults of Hispanic origin. “It’s important for inner city kids to see people who look like them be successful,” she said. She speaks frequently to students and gives presentations on behalf of Latina/Latino organizations who concentrate on education and careers. Her advice, especially for “the young folks” is: “Take that risk.  If you’re not making yourself uncomfortable” according to Christine, you are not making progress and “dress for success --- mentally! Focus on the positive.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Christine Rice, formerly President of VisionIT (<a href="http://www.visionit.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.visionit.com</a>), and now CEO/President, of its IT staffing division: VisionPro (<a href="http://www.visionproteam.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.visionproteam.com/</a>). VisionPro has 20 offices throughout the U.S., and is also global with offices in Canada, Mexico and Brazil. As a child, Christine had not been partial to technology subjects. “I got involved through my siblings,” she said. Both her older brother and sister worked at EDS (Electronic Data Systems). While she was in high school, “hearing my sister talk about IT, and the projects she was working on,” spurred Christine.  When she graduated high school, she also worked EDS, while simultaneously attending Wayne County Community College in Detroit (<a href="http://www.wcccd.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.wcccd.edu/</a>), and then Central Michigan University in Midland, Michigan (<a href="https://www.cmich.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.cmich.edu/</a>) obtaining her B.S. in business management. Christine’s first EDS position was as an orientation specialist and then she moved into employee relations/human resources. “Our job was to lower the company’s liability in hiring, firing, and disciplining employees.” Over 15 years, she worked her way up to regional HR manager, with a substantial team, collaborating with EDS leaders at every level. Christine left EDS to join her brother, David Segura (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidseguravisionit/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidseguravisionit/</a>) after he founded VisionIT in 1997.  VisionIT, today, is a global software development company, systems integrator, reseller of key solutions (like SAP), and innovation lab for the development of new applications.  But at startup, it was a technology services and Web development venture. As David realized his need for increasing talent “He came to me for help. I didn’t realize helping would quickly turn into a full-time job. What a journey!”   “As a startup company, you really wear multiple hats,” Christine acknowledged. “I started selling and promoting the company.”  Due to her strong network of established relationships she cemented large clients quickly, and the customer base multiplied. She concentrated on human resources, hiring/firing, fostering talent at VisionIT. “As we were serving companies, doing application development and a variety of projects, they would come back to us,” and ask for resources to make additional progress. So, Christine decided “why don’t I concentrate on building the staffing side of the business?”    Two of Christine’s strengths are the ability to clearly communicate, and consultative business-building. “I like being in front of the customer,” she stated. “As a company, it is where we get our best ROI, because I truly take an interest in the customer’s problems, and how we can solve them.”  She also points to her relentless work ethic: “I was wired to work hard and deliver. And people will focus on that.” Christine shared lessons for entrepreneurs.  “When you are hiring people,” she said, “hire slow, but fire fast.”  As a leader she stressed that “integrity is very important,” and any leader needs to “build trust with your organization.” To do that, she deploys consistent transparency.  Christine’s personal happiness emanates from caring for her family (two college age sons and her husband) and “corporate success and hitting our goals.” To achieve balance, she stresses time management: carving out time for things that have the most priority and being disciplined in using your time well. Christine’s guiding principles for aspiring leaders include: surround yourself with other strong leaders; get involved in your community; listen, attentively, and never stop learning. In her philanthropy life, she works with children and young adults of Hispanic origin. “It’s important for inner city kids to see people who look like them be successful,” she said. She speaks frequently to students and gives presentations on behalf of Latina/Latino organizations who concentrate on education and careers. Her advice, especially for “the young folks” is: “Take that risk.  If you’re not making yourself uncomfortable” according to Christine, you are not making progress and “dress for success --- mentally! Focus on the positive.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Ep 69: Christine Rice: Journey of a Successful Leader

Shuchi Sharma

Diva Tech Talk was honored to interview Shuchi Sharma, Global Head and VP, Gender Equality &amp; Intelligence, SAP, the software giant  that creates enterprise software to manage operations and customer relations for Fortune 500 companies all over the world. Shuchi never intended to enter software.  “I studied chemistry, with the aim of being a doctor,” she said “because it explains the ‘why’ behind everything. But I excelled in economics. I combined science and economics and got a degree in public health.”  She obtained her bachelors of science at the College of William and Mary, and her masters of public health at the University of Michigan.  “I took courses in maternal and children’s health and HIV policy,” Shuchi said. “I knew that I wanted to focus on women’s issues, in some form.” She began in management consulting working for The Advisory Board, among others. “I worked with technology for many years. Then I had an opportunity to move overseas to Germany.” She worked, in Heidelberg, for SAS, a leader in software analytics, running software consulting across eastern, central and northern Europe.  “That was great fun.” However, “women were not really helping each other. I saw opportunities missed. I thought ‘what can I do about this?’ “ What Shuchi did, in her personal time, was create  The Heidelberg International Professional Women’s Forum (HIP), to bring together women to exchange ideas, learn from each other, and develop skills to enhance success.  “I spent five years, building and leading that organization. It made me realize that this is what I would like my life to be about.”  Among HIP ongoing results were “people finding new opportunities; people starting businesses; people developing new friendships that carried great impact to their lives; creating new ventures they never thought they could achieve.”  There were many new partnerships and businesses, and significant events including “a big summit to fuel entrepreneurship in the community.”  Shuchi is still amazed at “the multiplier effect that something like this can have on lives.” In 2008, Shuchi left SAS to join SAP, to grow the consulting business in northern and southern Europe and the USSR.  “I have been at SAP for 10 years. Now in my fourth role, I feel so blessed,” she said. “I started in business consulting, and after I had my second daughter, I wasn’t ready to travel.”  Shuchi was lucky. Her empathetic boss asked her to build a marketing organization. Over the subsequent 5 years, she built a marketing function for business consulting. Then she was asked to lead a digital transformation team in North America for  SAP’s Success Factors, delivering dramatic improvement in the way companies handle their workforces. She had great fun helping customers use design thinking to envision the state of their workforces 5 years in the future.  In her volunteer life, Shuchi became a salary coach for AAUW’s SmartStart Program, and worked with organizations like Moms Rising. “I stayed very involved in women’s topics.” She then evolved into her current position “changing the mix of gender in the organization and creating that very inclusive culture --- a strategic transformation. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring my skills and interests together.” Shuchi is determined to deliver on SAP’s mandate: “to ensure that we, as an organization, can meet our target of having 30% of women in leadership by 2022.” She tackled leadership in process-oriented fashion.  “First we look at data, to see where we are, where we have to go, and how we are going to get there.” SAP has amassed internal data on their own enterprise analytics platform and use dashboards that track many areas:  gender, early talent benchmarks, diversity and inclusion categories, and more. The analytics tools “help us slice and dice the data by so many different dimensions.” Using it, Shuchi’s team drives the revamp of corporate processes and organizations that have implicit bias. “We use data to have discussions with Level 1 managers” to encourage individual plans to reach the 30% goal.   Shuchi’s team has worked on projects including re-certification of SAP under the IMF’s EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality). “It is very robust analysis that involves data, review of policies and practices, an employee survey, and a third-party audit. Through that, we understand how we are progressing from leadership and development, pay equity, recruitment and promotion, and flexible work culture, perspectives.  That data is going to help us drive change for the next 6 years.” Her team is rolling out programs centered on male allies, sponsorship and mentoring and “return-ship” – recruiting those who dropped out for life reasons, but now want to come back. Nothing can be accomplished in a vacuum, so her team is working on collaborative partnerships with other visionary organizations to help achieve SAP’s target of 30% by 2025. For other companies fielding inclusion programs, Shuchi shared SAP’s ingredients for success: strong executive sponsorship, an effective ecosystem, with diversity and inclusion team members scattered throughout the company, and employee network groups. SAP is thrilled to have received much deserved recognition for their progress in diversity and inclusion. The latest is being named  one of the top 5 companies for women technologists  by the Anita Borg Institute. Shuchi offered wonderful wisdom for women.  On pay equity, she said “if you are in university, seek out resources that the AAUW provides. You can find a workshop to  teach you the skills to negotiate salary, which is something you must do in every facet of life. Just become comfortable with asking. JUST ASK.”   She also recommended books including  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Why We Should All Be Feminists and watershed works by Dr.  Louann Brizendine, particularly  The Female Brain.   In her own career, Shuchi is joyful about her SAP role. “Women are going to change the world…for the better.  If you look across history, women are almost always at the heart of every positive social construct.” But she isn’t free of stress. “I worry that entrenched biases we have seen will continue to exist through our technology. We need to take a very active role to ensure that there is no prejudice; that it is open, available to everyone, and people have opportunities regardless of their race, color, appearance. NOW is the time.”   Shuchi’s two daughters are her personal inspiration. “I want to equip them with everything I can to help them overcome what they might face in the workplace.”  She proudly mentioned that one of her daughters recently beat a boy in a footrace, and when one of his buddies commented that he was beat by a girl, her daughter turned and said: “that’s a normal thing; get used to it!” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk was honored to interview <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shuchi-sharma-2b2232/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shuchi Sharma</a>, Global Head and VP, Gender Equality &amp; Intelligence, <a href="https://www.sap.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SAP</a>, the software giant  that creates <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_software" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">enterprise software</a> to manage operations and customer relations for Fortune 500 companies all over the world. Shuchi never intended to enter software.  “I studied chemistry, with the aim of being a doctor,” she said “because it explains the ‘why’ behind everything. But I excelled in economics. I combined science and economics and got a degree in public health.”  She obtained her bachelors of science at the <a href="https://www.wm.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">College of William and Mary</a>, and her masters of public health at the <a href="https://umich.edu/health-medicine/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Michigan.</a>  “I took courses in maternal and children’s health and HIV policy,” Shuchi said. “I knew that I wanted to focus on women’s issues, in some form.” She began in management consulting working for <a href="https://www.advisory.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Advisory Board</a>, among others. “I worked with technology for many years. Then I had an opportunity to move overseas to Germany.” She worked, in Heidelberg, for <a href="https://www.sas.com/en_us/home.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SAS</a>, a leader in software analytics, running software consulting across eastern, central and northern Europe.  “That was great fun.” However, “women were not really helping each other. I saw opportunities missed. I thought ‘what can I do about this?’ “ What Shuchi did, in her personal time, was create <a href="https://www.hipwf.com/about-heidelberg-international-women/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> The Heidelberg International Professional Women’s Forum</a> (HIP), to bring together women to exchange ideas, learn from each other, and develop skills to enhance success.  “I spent five years, building and leading that organization. It made me realize that this is what I would like my life to be about.”  Among HIP ongoing results were “people finding new opportunities; people starting businesses; people developing new friendships that carried great impact to their lives; creating new ventures they never thought they could achieve.”  There were many new partnerships and businesses, and significant <a href="http://www.hipwf.com/events/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">events</a> including “a big summit to fuel entrepreneurship in the community.”  Shuchi is still amazed at “the multiplier effect that something like this can have on lives.” In 2008, Shuchi left SAS to join SAP, to grow the consulting business in northern and southern Europe and the USSR.  “I have been at SAP for 10 years. Now in my fourth role, I feel so blessed,” she said. “I started in business consulting, and after I had my second daughter, I wasn’t ready to travel.”  Shuchi was lucky. Her empathetic boss asked her to build a marketing organization. Over the subsequent 5 years, she built a marketing function for business consulting. Then she was asked to lead a digital transformation team in North America for <a href="https://www.successfactors.com/content/ssf-site/en/lp/hcm-put-your-people-in-the-lead-remarkable-results-will-follow.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> SAP’s Success Factors</a>, delivering dramatic improvement in the way companies handle their workforces. She had great fun helping customers use design thinking to envision the state of their workforces 5 years in the future.  In her volunteer life, Shuchi became a salary coach for <a href="https://www.aauw.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AAUW</a>’s <a href="https://salary.aauw.org/start-smart/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SmartStart Program</a>, and worked with organizations like <a href="https://www.momsrising.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Moms Rising</a>. “I stayed very involved in women’s topics.” She then evolved into her current position “changing the mix of gender in the organization and creating that very inclusive culture --- a strategic transformation. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring my skills and interests together.” Shuchi is determined to deliver on SAP’s mandate: “to ensure that we, as an organization, can meet our target of having 30% of women in leadership by 2022.” She tackled leadership in process-oriented fashion.  “First we look at data, to see where we are, where we have to go, and how we are going to get there.” SAP has amassed internal data on their own enterprise analytics platform and use dashboards that track many areas:  gender, early talent benchmarks, diversity and inclusion categories, and more. The analytics tools “help us slice and dice the data by so many different dimensions.” Using it, Shuchi’s team drives the revamp of corporate processes and organizations that have implicit bias. “We use data to have discussions with Level 1 managers” to encourage individual plans to reach the 30% goal.   Shuchi’s team has worked on projects including re-certification of SAP under the IMF’s <a href="http://edge-cert.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">EDGE</a> (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality). “It is very robust analysis that involves data, review of policies and practices, an employee survey, and a third-party audit. Through that, we understand how we are progressing from leadership and development, pay equity, recruitment and promotion, and flexible work culture, perspectives.  That data is going to help us drive change for the next 6 years.” Her team is rolling out programs centered on male allies, sponsorship and mentoring and “return-ship” – recruiting those who dropped out for life reasons, but now want to come back. Nothing can be accomplished in a vacuum, so her team is working on collaborative partnerships with other visionary organizations to help achieve SAP’s target of 30% by 2025. For other companies fielding inclusion programs, Shuchi shared SAP’s ingredients for success: strong executive sponsorship, an effective ecosystem, with diversity and inclusion team members scattered throughout the company, and employee network groups. SAP is thrilled to have received much deserved recognition for their progress in diversity and inclusion. The latest is being named <a href="https://anitab.org/accountability/top-companies/2018-results/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> one of the top 5 companies for women technologists</a>  by the Anita Borg Institute. Shuchi offered wonderful wisdom for women.  On pay equity, she said “if you are in university, seek out resources that the AAUW provides. You can find a workshop to  teach you the skills to negotiate salary, which is something you must do in every facet of life. Just become comfortable with asking. JUST ASK.”   She also recommended books including <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chimamanda-Ngozi-Adichie/e/B00PODW5UG/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie</a>’s Why We Should All Be Feminists and watershed works by Dr.  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louann_Brizendine" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Louann Brizendine</a>, particularly <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767920104/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> The Female Brain</a>.   In her own career, Shuchi is joyful about her SAP role. “Women are going to change the world…for the better.  If you look across history, women are almost always at the heart of every positive social construct.” But she isn’t free of stress. “I worry that entrenched biases we have seen will continue to exist through our technology. We need to take a very active role to ensure that there is no prejudice; that it is open, available to everyone, and people have opportunities regardless of their race, color, appearance. NOW is the time.”   Shuchi’s two daughters are her personal inspiration. “I want to equip them with everything I can to help them overcome what they might face in the workplace.”  She proudly mentioned that one of her daughters recently beat a boy in a footrace, and when one of his buddies commented that he was beat by a girl, her daughter turned and said: “that’s a normal thing; get used to it!” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Ep 82: Shuchi Sharma: Women Will Change the World...For the Better

Diva Tech Talk recently interviewed Carey Pachla, President ofFast Switch, a rapidly growing information technologyconsulting company, with 750 staff members and 2015 sales of $80million (a 30% annual growth rate) specializing in contract,contract-to-hire and executive search services. Carey’s journey in technology was an intentional one. Based onresearch and advice, she sought it out; and she could not bemore fulfilled. “The main reason is that there are so manywonderful, smart individuals in this industry, and I learnevery day.” Carey is also Vice President of The Michigan Council of Women inTechnology, and its incoming 2017 President. She discussesthat nonprofit, and some of its programs, on this podcast. Carey has four key pieces of leadership wisdom for otherwomen:   Work hard; there is no substitute for hard work. Take the “long cut.” There are no shortcuts. Learn your trade,dig in, and take the long road. Take a genuine interest in, and listen to your team. Lead by example.  In conclusion, Carey strongly advises other women: “Don’t beafraid and learn.” Carey Pachla can be reached at carey@fastswitch.com. Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter@divatechtalks, and onFacebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk.

Diva Tech Talk recently interviewed Carey Pachla, President of Fast Switch, a rapidly growing information technology consulting company, with 750 staff members and 2015 sales of $80 million (a 30% annual growth rate) specializing in contract, contract-to-hire and executive search services. Carey’s journey in technology was an intentional one. Based on research and advice, she sought it out; and she could not be more fulfilled. “The main reason is that there are so many wonderful, smart individuals in this industry, and I learn every day.” Carey is also Vice President of The Michigan Council of Women in Technology, and its incoming 2017 President. She discusses that nonprofit, and some of its programs, on this podcast. Carey has four key pieces of leadership wisdom for other women: <ul> <li> Work hard; there is no substitute for hard work.</li> <li>Take the “long cut.” There are no shortcuts. Learn your trade, dig in, and take the long road.</li> <li>Take a genuine interest in, and listen to your team.</li> <li>Lead by example.</li> </ul> In conclusion, Carey strongly advises other women: “Don’t be afraid and learn.” Carey Pachla can be reached at <a href="mailto:carey@fastswitch.com">carey@fastswitch.com</a>. Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/divatechtalks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@divatechtalks</a>, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk</a>.

Ep 28: Carey Pachla: An Intentional Path to Fulfillment

In our last podcast of 2017, Diva Tech Talk co-founders and hosts (Kathleen Norton-Schock and Nicole Scheffler) provided an interesting discussion of:   Why Diva Tech exists, and the demographics of women in tech, now and in the future   What, as technology leaders and tech industry veterans, they see as key tech trends in 2018   Which divas interviewed in 2017 might be most influential and expert in terms of those trends and   Assorted other topics including major vertical markets to be affected by tech, giving back, and entrepreneurship.   The key tech trends that Diva Tech Talks foresees as being most important in the coming year include:   Artificial intelligence and machine learning   Intelligent analytics and data science in general   Cloud-based applications, and general cloud-propelled infrastructure   Adaptive risk and enhanced security   Event driven/event detection technology   Virtual reality and even full immersion   “Code-free” application development   And the vertical markets that the divas have either recorded experts in, or plan to, include healthcare, fintech, automotive/mobility tech,  retail tech and the whole world of technology as it applies to making nonprofits more efficient and effective. What are the key themes that the Divas are most concerned with?   GIVING BACK   Strategic planning for enterprise, and technology in general   Technology marketing   Entrepreneurship, venture capital,  women-owned businesses and   Bridging the gender gap in tech, to address issues of enterprise viability/profitability, innovation and most especially the upcoming chasm that looms between jobs that need to be filled and the talent to fill them.   Most of all the divas are grateful for our growing, engaged audience, and for all the wonderful women we have interviewed to date, and intend to interview in the coming years. For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

In our last podcast of 2017, Diva Tech Talk co-founders and hosts (Kathleen Norton-Schock and Nicole Scheffler) provided an interesting discussion of: <ol> <li> Why Diva Tech exists, and the demographics of women in tech, now and in the future </li> <li> What, as technology leaders and tech industry veterans, they see as key tech trends in 2018 </li> <li> Which divas interviewed in 2017 might be most influential and expert in terms of those trends and </li> <li> Assorted other topics including major vertical markets to be affected by tech, giving back, and entrepreneurship. </li> </ol> The key tech trends that Diva Tech Talks foresees as being most important in the coming year include: <ul> <li> Artificial intelligence and machine learning </li> <li> Intelligent analytics and data science in general </li> <li> Cloud-based applications, and general cloud-propelled infrastructure </li> <li> Adaptive risk and enhanced security </li> <li> Event driven/event detection technology </li> <li> Virtual reality and even full immersion </li> <li> “Code-free” application development </li> </ul> And the vertical markets that the divas have either recorded experts in, or plan to, include healthcare, fintech, automotive/mobility tech,  retail tech and the whole world of technology as it applies to making nonprofits more efficient and effective. What are the key themes that the Divas are most concerned with? <ul> <li> GIVING BACK </li> <li> Strategic planning for enterprise, and technology in general </li> <li> Technology marketing </li> <li> Entrepreneurship, venture capital,  women-owned businesses and </li> <li> Bridging the gender gap in tech, to address issues of enterprise viability/profitability, innovation and most especially the upcoming chasm that looms between jobs that need to be filled and the talent to fill them. </li> </ul> Most of all the divas are grateful for our growing, engaged audience, and for all the wonderful women we have interviewed to date, and intend to interview in the coming years. For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/DivaTechTalks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@divatechtalks</a>, and on Facebook at <a href="http://four.libsyn.com/h" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Ep: 60: Diva Special: 2018 Tech Trends

Lori McColl

Growing up in rural Canada, Lori completed her undergraduate BBA in marketing, through a scholarship as a star Division One Volleyball player, at Ohio University. She moved on to complete her MBA at Bowling Green State University,  with a minor in MIS (Management Information Services) and discovered that she was fascinated by data. “Having that understanding of how you run a business and putting it together with tech and data creates a holistic lens” on any endeavor according to Lori. Her career started at a “Big Four” professional services firms.  Her work was exciting and diverse. “I’ve had a chance to work with some of the best companies, either on process optimization, data analytics, or enterprise-wide implementation programs.  She received experience in a number of transformation projects. “One of the things I learned was really how to refine messaging, how you spoke with the executive-level team about the risks and challenges they could encounter and the value you can deliver.”    Lori also absorbed how large organizations implemented, managed, navigated and adapted to major change. She is grateful for the 15 years she spent at PwC. “I got a chance to work with some of the best leaders.” Along the way, she tried to envision her future: “where did I want to be in 5 years, 10 years?” Her answer was: “My goal was to be a CEO.” Lori then spent 2.5 years diving deeply into the startup world in Detroit and realized: “When you go from big corporate Fortune 500 world to the startup world, you are in two different worlds!”  Lori made her first move by relocating from the northern suburbs of Southeast Michigan to the heart of Detroit and learning from the start-up groups there. Then, she founded her company. “My vision is that Whim-Detroit does really cool things with really cool companies. We focus on digital transformation: the future of technology, people and processes. We focus on transformation, implementing systems, data and processes.”  And Whim-Detroit solutions are “in the space I love the most,” said Lori, “fashion and sports!” Whim-Detroit has two main components:  a consulting practice and an innovation lab.  “Part of what I am trying to do is create a sustainable model, using one side of the business to support the other side.” Consulting has helped create cash-flow so that Whim-Detroit can bootstrap product development offerings.   Lori “works with really great brands. Most of them are with products that I am either a supporter or a customer of.” In the consulting practice, a current representative Whim-Detroit client is a premier athletic club, that is part of the historical foundation of Detroit.  On the innovation side, Whim-Detroit just delivered the first fashion and technology hackathon in the city’s history. To do that, Lori worked with Pure Michigan Business Connect (part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation) and Bedrock Ventures. Lori thinks some of her strengths are courage, the ability to eloquently communicate, her penchant for creating a vision, creativity and persistence. “In this new entrepreneur space, never give up! Passion equals resiliency.” While rarely experiencing gender discrimination at a younger age, more recently Lori has faced challenges related to being a woman leader. “I started to have typical scenarios: ‘mansplaining’ or being demoted to work under a peer.” One of the solutions she suggested is “having ambassadors, mentors or ‘table-pounders’ to help you navigate through things” in your career.   A revelation for Lori was that “life will be about what you don’t like vs. what you do like!” She carved her path by process of elimination.  As an entrepreneur, Lori acknowledges: “you don’t have balance’ in the traditional sense. But what you do have is a rounded and exciting career that merges work, passion and interesting people.” Lori believes that women have the gift of unique perspectives, based on valuable compassion and empathy. “Compassionate leaders, historically, have built stronger, more long-lasting, organizations.” As a leader, “you should be the last to speak. You’re there to listen; you’re there to inspire. You’re there to bring in the other, best, people you can find….and unlock talent.” For Lori, conscious gratitude is a way to get through the startup hard times. “During the tough times, there is always something you can be grateful for!”  Having passion is also key. “It brings a lot of joy and can overcome the need for other things, material things.” She struggles with fear of failure, despite knowing that the path to success is often paved with failures. To overcome that fear, she “does it in small pieces.” Her athletic mantra has always been “left/right, left/right, one step at a time; just keep moving forward.” And her motto since college athletics has been “you can cry but you can’t quit!” To give back, Lori has enlisted Whim-Detroit as a FOUNDERS FOR CHANGE company, taking the pledge to #changetheratio and encourage diversity on her teams, boards and investors. Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Growing up in rural Canada, Lori completed her undergraduate BBA in marketing, through a scholarship as a star <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/sports/volleyball-women/d1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Division One Volleyball player</a>, at <a href="https://www.ohio.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ohio University</a>. She moved on to complete her MBA at <a href="https://www.bgsu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bowling Green State University</a>,  with a minor in MIS (Management Information Services) and discovered that she was fascinated by data. “Having that understanding of how you run a business and putting it together with tech and data creates a holistic lens” on any endeavor according to Lori. Her career started at a “Big Four” professional services firms.  Her work was exciting and diverse. “I’ve had a chance to work with some of the best companies, either on process optimization, data analytics, or enterprise-wide implementation programs.  She received experience in a number of transformation projects. “One of the things I learned was really how to refine messaging, how you spoke with the executive-level team about the risks and challenges they could encounter and the value you can deliver.”    Lori also absorbed how large organizations implemented, managed, navigated and adapted to major change. She is grateful for the 15 years she spent at PwC. “I got a chance to work with some of the best leaders.” Along the way, she tried to envision her future: “where did I want to be in 5 years, 10 years?” Her answer was: “My goal was to be a CEO.” Lori then spent 2.5 years diving deeply into the startup world in Detroit and realized: “When you go from big corporate Fortune 500 world to the startup world, you are in two different worlds!”  Lori made her first move by relocating from the northern suburbs of Southeast Michigan to the heart of Detroit and learning from the start-up groups there. Then, she founded her company. “My vision is that Whim-Detroit does really cool things with really cool companies. We focus on digital transformation: the future of technology, people and processes. We focus on transformation, implementing systems, data and processes.”  And Whim-Detroit solutions are “in the space I love the most,” said Lori, “fashion and sports!” Whim-Detroit has two main components:  a consulting practice and an innovation lab.  “Part of what I am trying to do is create a sustainable model, using one side of the business to support the other side.” Consulting has helped create cash-flow so that Whim-Detroit can bootstrap product development offerings.   Lori “works with really great brands. Most of them are with products that I am either a supporter or a customer of.” In the consulting practice, a current representative Whim-Detroit client is a premier athletic club, that is part of the historical foundation of Detroit.  On the innovation side, Whim-Detroit just delivered the first fashion and technology hackathon in the city’s history. To do that, Lori worked with Pure Michigan Business Connect (part of the <a href="https://www.michiganbusiness.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michigan Economic Development Corporation</a>) and <a href="http://www.bedrockdetroit.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bedrock Ventures</a>. Lori thinks some of her strengths are courage, the ability to eloquently communicate, her penchant for creating a vision, creativity and persistence. “In this new entrepreneur space, never give up! Passion equals resiliency.” While rarely experiencing gender discrimination at a younger age, more recently Lori has faced challenges related to being a woman leader. “I started to have typical scenarios: ‘mansplaining’ or being demoted to work under a peer.” One of the solutions she suggested is “having ambassadors, mentors or ‘table-pounders’ to help you navigate through things” in your career.   A revelation for Lori was that “life will be about what you don’t like vs. what you do like!” She carved her path by process of elimination.  As an entrepreneur, Lori acknowledges: “you don’t have balance’ in the traditional sense. But what you do have is a rounded and exciting career that merges work, passion and interesting people.” Lori believes that women have the gift of unique perspectives, based on valuable compassion and empathy. “Compassionate leaders, historically, have built stronger, more long-lasting, organizations.” As a leader, “you should be the last to speak. You’re there to listen; you’re there to inspire. You’re there to bring in the other, best, people you can find….and unlock talent.” For Lori, conscious gratitude is a way to get through the startup hard times. “During the tough times, there is always something you can be grateful for!”  Having passion is also key. “It brings a lot of joy and can overcome the need for other things, material things.” She struggles with fear of failure, despite knowing that the path to success is often paved with failures. To overcome that fear, she “does it in small pieces.” Her athletic mantra has always been “left/right, left/right, one step at a time; just keep moving forward.” And her motto since college athletics has been “you can cry but you can’t quit!” To give back, Lori has enlisted Whim-Detroit as a <a href="https://www.foundersforchange.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">FOUNDERS FOR CHANGE</a> company, taking the pledge to #changetheratio and encourage diversity on her teams, boards and investors. Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Ep 71: Lori McColl: You Can Cry, but You Can’t Quit!

Loretta Yakima

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Loretta Yakima, currently a senior project manager under contract at ZF TRW (www.zf.com ). Loretta credits her parents for all facets of her success. “They grounded me so much,” she said. Her love for technology dated from her Michigan public high school’s career preparation center where she enrolled in a data processing class. “It was new and exciting.”  She learned how to code in both RPG and Cobol, “two of the toughest languages” to master. With her programming proficiency, Loretta applied advanced credits to her college degree, and was offered a scholarship to a nearby business school.  She matriculated to Oakland University, in Rochester, MI,  with a major in Economics and a minor in Information Systems.  She also worked full time first for a small consulting company, implementing “Y2K” code changes; and then in information technology for Tier One automotive supplier, Lear Corporation (www.lear.com). Later, Loretta would go on to get her MBA from Walsh College in 2009.  After graduating Loretta became a programmer/business analyst at Pulte Corporation (www.pulte.com), a U.S.-based home-building company, where she grew as the company did.  She worked with ERP software, and then developed a wide variety of Web-based applications, supporting every operation inside the company.  Loretta then evolved into a project management role, where “we didn’t just focus on IT, but were engrained in the process side of things.” At Pulte, as the recession hit, she also worked on “how to change our business processes to become more efficient.”   She moved from information technology, a few years later, and “hopped the fence” to Pulte’s finance department where she then managed the national purchasing shared services group, a total of 65 people, who managed the administration for all labor and materials contracts for the company. A key lesson that Loretta learned from her 15 years at Pulte was the importance of strong partnership between the information technology group and the rest of the business. She benefited from strong leadership training, particularly based on Franklin Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (http://www.franklincovey.com/leadership/7-habits.php/). When Pulte moved to Atlanta, Georgia, Loretta chose to remain in Michigan. She moved to a part-time role as a solutions architect, building customer applications for Detroit-based Digerati and then moved over to Chrysalis Global Consulting (http://www.chrysalisglobal.com), a company that specializes in change management and project management. Under the Chrysalis aegis, she landed her contract role at ZF TRW, a global automotive supplier. “My role is with the financial systems group.   We are figuring out how to merge all the finance systems between ZF and TRW. It’s huge, and it’s exciting and it’s fun.” Loretta would catalogue her personal strengths as being a good listener/diagnostician, a hard worker, empathetic and a skilled multitasker. (“I love being busy.  I love having a lot of things going on.”) To accomplish everything well in life, Loretta said: “You must stay positive, and learn to smile,” no matter what the situation.  Loretta’s three main leadership lessons for other women and girls are:  Don’t be afraid. Try technology out. Know yourself and what is uniquely important to you, personally. Learn how to network.  Loretta would like to be involved with a company or an educational institution that “has enough financial backing to get started with students early on. I think back to the high school technology program in which I was involved.  I would love to build more programs like that, because I think it’s so important --- especially for girls.” Loretta said. For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Loretta Yakima, currently a senior project manager under contract at ZF TRW (<a href="http://www.zf.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.zf.com</a> ). Loretta credits her parents for all facets of her success. “They grounded me so much,” she said. Her love for technology dated from her Michigan public high school’s career preparation center where she enrolled in a data processing class. “It was new and exciting.”  She learned how to code in both RPG and Cobol, “two of the toughest languages” to master. With her programming proficiency, Loretta applied advanced credits to her college degree, and was offered a scholarship to a nearby business school.  She matriculated to Oakland University, in Rochester, MI,  with a major in Economics and a minor in Information Systems.  She also worked full time first for a small consulting company, implementing “Y2K” code changes; and then in information technology for Tier One automotive supplier, Lear Corporation (<a href="http://www.lear.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.lear.com</a>). Later, Loretta would go on to get her MBA from Walsh College in 2009.  After graduating Loretta became a programmer/business analyst at Pulte Corporation (<a href="http://www.pulte.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.pulte.com</a>), a U.S.-based home-building company, where she grew as the company did.  She worked with ERP software, and then developed a wide variety of Web-based applications, supporting every operation inside the company.  Loretta then evolved into a project management role, where “we didn’t just focus on IT, but were engrained in the process side of things.” At Pulte, as the recession hit, she also worked on “how to change our business processes to become more efficient.”   She moved from information technology, a few years later, and “hopped the fence” to Pulte’s finance department where she then managed the national purchasing shared services group, a total of 65 people, who managed the administration for all labor and materials contracts for the company. A key lesson that Loretta learned from her 15 years at Pulte was the importance of strong partnership between the information technology group and the rest of the business. She benefited from strong leadership training, particularly based on Franklin Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (<a href="http://www.franklincovey.com/leadership/7-habits.php/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.franklincovey.com/leadership/7-habits.php/</a>). When Pulte moved to Atlanta, Georgia, Loretta chose to remain in Michigan. She moved to a part-time role as a solutions architect, building customer applications for Detroit-based Digerati and then moved over to Chrysalis Global Consulting (<a href="http://www.chrysalisglobal.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.chrysalisglobal.com</a>), a company that specializes in change management and project management. Under the Chrysalis aegis, she landed her contract role at ZF TRW, a global automotive supplier. “My role is with the financial systems group.   We are figuring out how to merge all the finance systems between ZF and TRW. It’s huge, and it’s exciting and it’s fun.” Loretta would catalogue her personal strengths as being a good listener/diagnostician, a hard worker, empathetic and a skilled multitasker. (“I love being busy.  I love having a lot of things going on.”) To accomplish everything well in life, Loretta said: “You must stay positive, and learn to smile,” no matter what the situation.  Loretta’s three main leadership lessons for other women and girls are: <ul> <li>Don’t be afraid. Try technology out.</li> <li>Know yourself and what is uniquely important to you, personally.</li> <li>Learn how to network.</li> </ul> Loretta would like to be involved with a company or an educational institution that “has enough financial backing to get started with students early on. I think back to the high school technology program in which I was involved.  I would love to build more programs like that, because I think it’s so important --- especially for girls.” Loretta said. For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="http://four.libsyn.com/h" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Ep 43: Loretta Yakima: Queen of Multitasking

Diva Tech Talk was honored to be onsite at one of the largest Midwestern offices for Logicalis U.S., during its recent GIRLS IN TECHNOLOGY DAY. Logicalis (www.us.logicalis.com) is an international information technology solutions and managed services provider that designs, builds and supports enterprise solutions for customers throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia Pacific.  Logicalis entertained 56 high school and early college girls, offering tailored discussions of practical topics related to succeeding in a technology career. Horizon-broadening sessions covered topics as diverse as: uncovering what you are good at, communicating with confidence, the wide variety of career options in the technology field, how to use social media to build your personal brand, how to ace a job interview, and how to write an excellent resume. Logicalis supports an internal group dedicated to fostering the missions of its own women employees.  Two of the veteran leaders of that group (Logicalis Vice Presidents, Renae Johnson and Julie Spiller) were in the cohort interviewed during this podcast.   Ghazal Asif, Director of Global Channels of Cisco Meraki, was also a key participant in the day. Ghazal was enthusiastic about having the chance to be one of the main keynote speakers since “the idea of women having equal opportunity is very near and dear to my heart.” She spoke eloquently about the need to be fearless in the face of any setback, or any opportunity. “If we look at the data and the stats, it is sad to see that over the last couple of decades, we haven’t made much progress” in diversity building, she said. “Yet, as of today, there’s more awareness, more research on why diversity and inclusion is so good for companies. In every industry, across every function, women are under-represented. More women should step forward so that in 10 or 20 years from now, we can look back and say ‘we made a difference and we changed some of those stats’ for the next generation, and generations to come.” Finally, Vince DeLuca, CEO of Logicalis, took time to present to this audience because “these young ladies are our future.”  DeLuca was encouraged by his interactions with the girls and women.  “Knowing that they have interest in technology is really important,” he said.  “I also think that overall diversity in the field is wildly important to our (Logicalis) success. When we have a male-dominated organization, with just male leaders, we don’t enough of a flow of ideas.”   DeLuca really enjoyed his event participation.  “To see the amount of interest, the general attention of these young ladies is really rewarding.  The benefit that I get out of this would be seeing every one of these folks succeed in their own passion.   I may not get to see that individually, but as a group I think they will do that; and that, to me, is the best reward that I could ever get.” DeLuca waxed philosophical about how the overall education of our youth can be helped by everyone in their environment. “We live in such an interesting world right now.  I think, as a society, we need to do a better job educating everyone about what’s happening out there,” he said. DeLuca sees some key tech trends that can help with this.  “Collaboration has to be near the top,” he said. “There’s so many ways to connect vast amounts of resource groups or information.”   DeLuca is proud that community-building is part of the Logicalis culture. “Giving back to the communities we serve is a core value, across all our offices,” he said. “It’s so important to us, not just to reap the benefit of what we are trying to do with our customers, but making an impact into the community.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com onTwitter @divatechtalks, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk.

Diva Tech Talk was honored to be onsite at one of the largest Midwestern offices for Logicalis U.S., during its recent GIRLS IN TECHNOLOGY DAY. Logicalis (<a href="http://www.us.logicalis.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.us.logicalis.com</a>) is an international information technology solutions and managed services provider that designs, builds and supports enterprise solutions for customers throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia Pacific.  Logicalis entertained 56 high school and early college girls, offering tailored discussions of practical topics related to succeeding in a technology career. Horizon-broadening sessions covered topics as diverse as: uncovering what you are good at, communicating with confidence, the wide variety of career options in the technology field, how to use social media to build your personal brand, how to ace a job interview, and how to write an excellent resume. Logicalis supports an internal group dedicated to fostering the missions of its own women employees.  Two of the veteran leaders of that group (Logicalis Vice Presidents, Renae Johnson and Julie Spiller) were in the cohort interviewed during this podcast.   Ghazal Asif, Director of Global Channels of Cisco Meraki, was also a key participant in the day. Ghazal was enthusiastic about having the chance to be one of the main keynote speakers since “the idea of women having equal opportunity is very near and dear to my heart.” She spoke eloquently about the need to be fearless in the face of any setback, or any opportunity. “If we look at the data and the stats, it is sad to see that over the last couple of decades, we haven’t made much progress” in diversity building, she said. “Yet, as of today, there’s more awareness, more research on why diversity and inclusion is so good for companies. In every industry, across every function, women are under-represented. More women should step forward so that in 10 or 20 years from now, we can look back and say ‘we made a difference and we changed some of those stats’ for the next generation, and generations to come.” Finally, Vince DeLuca, CEO of Logicalis, took time to present to this audience because “these young ladies are our future.”  DeLuca was encouraged by his interactions with the girls and women.  “Knowing that they have interest in technology is really important,” he said.  “I also think that overall diversity in the field is wildly important to our (Logicalis) success. When we have a male-dominated organization, with just male leaders, we don’t enough of a flow of ideas.”   DeLuca really enjoyed his event participation.  “To see the amount of interest, the general attention of these young ladies is really rewarding.  The benefit that I get out of this would be seeing every one of these folks succeed in their own passion.   I may not get to see that individually, but as a group I think they will do that; and that, to me, is the best reward that I could ever get.” DeLuca waxed philosophical about how the overall education of our youth can be helped by everyone in their environment. “We live in such an interesting world right now.  I think, as a society, we need to do a better job educating everyone about what’s happening out there,” he said. DeLuca sees some key tech trends that can help with this.  “Collaboration has to be near the top,” he said. “There’s so many ways to connect vast amounts of resource groups or information.”   DeLuca is proud that community-building is part of the Logicalis culture. “Giving back to the communities we serve is a core value, across all our offices,” he said. “It’s so important to us, not just to reap the benefit of what we are trying to do with our customers, but making an impact into the community.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a> onTwitter @divatechtalks, on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk</a>.

Ep 40: Logicalis: Celebrating Girls (and Women) in Technology

The Diva Tech Talk team was ecstatic to attend the 3-day 18th Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing #GHC18 (ghc.anitab.org) --- the world’s largest gathering of women in computer technology --  September 26 through 28, 2018 in Houston, Texas. The conference has taken place since 1994, with a yearly cadence since 2006. Named for U.S. Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, many continue be inspired by her work on the Mark I computer and creation of one the first industry compilers, that eventually led to the development of COBOL, still a relevant programming language today. Grace paved the way for many women to follow her in technical careers. The Grace Hopper Celebration convenes many thousands of women in computing in a single venue to discuss topics of interest, and share research related to women in technology. Students flood the halls to get exposure to tech companies and tech departments; and many engage in onsite career interviews. There are a variety of presentations, poster discussions, and meet-ups throughout the week. It is also an ideal gathering for veteran tech women, employed in the field, to present and listen to each other, while networking and meeting the next generation of upcoming tech women. This year’s conference boasted a record attendance of over 22,000. This episode is full of audio highlights from the event including:  Event overview from Hotwire Interviews with two past Abie Award Winners Teaser into an interview with Noramay Cadena We are Here montage Sneak peek into future Diversity Leadership Series  We encourage listeners to visit us online for a full blog write up at: www.DivaTechTalk.com This blog article covers even more details on the speakers, awards, and top companies report. Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com onTwitter @divatechtalks, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk.

The Diva Tech Talk team was ecstatic to attend the 3-day 18th Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing #GHC18 (<a href="http://ghc.anitab.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ghc.anitab.org</a>) --- the world’s largest gathering of women in computer technology --  September 26 through 28, 2018 in Houston, Texas. The conference has taken place since 1994, with a yearly cadence since 2006. Named for U.S. Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, many continue be inspired by her work on the Mark I computer and creation of one the first industry compilers, that eventually led to the development of COBOL, still a relevant programming language today. Grace paved the way for many women to follow her in technical careers. The Grace Hopper Celebration convenes many thousands of women in computing in a single venue to discuss topics of interest, and share research related to women in technology. Students flood the halls to get exposure to tech companies and tech departments; and many engage in onsite career interviews. There are a variety of presentations, poster discussions, and meet-ups throughout the week. It is also an ideal gathering for veteran tech women, employed in the field, to present and listen to each other, while networking and meeting the next generation of upcoming tech women. This year’s conference boasted a record attendance of over 22,000. This episode is full of audio highlights from the event including: <ul> <li>Event overview from Hotwire</li> <li>Interviews with two past Abie Award Winners</li> <li>Teaser into an interview with Noramay Cadena</li> <li>We are Here montage</li> <li>Sneak peek into future Diversity Leadership Series</li> </ul> We encourage listeners to visit us online for a full blog write up at: <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.DivaTechTalk.com</a> This blog article covers even more details on the speakers, awards, and top companies report. Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a> onTwitter @divatechtalks, on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk</a>.

Ep 73: Grace Hopper Conference 2018: Diva Tech Talk is Here!

Rita Barrios

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Dr. Rita Barrios, Chair for the Department of CyberSecurity and Information Systems, and Associate Professor, at the University of Detroit, Mercy (http://www.udmercy.edu/) graduating approximately 150 trained technology professionals each year. Rita said: “My Dad was always my biggest supporter.” The 7th child of 8 siblings in her “very strict” family, Rita admitted that she was “a little on the geeky side” in her high school years.  She entered the Detroit College of Business, specializing in accounting, but dropped it in favor of a technology major. She got married, and gave birth to a daughter during her senior year of college.   Rita’s several internships during that senior year (when her daughter was 6 months old) were at the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (gtw.railfan.net/), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway (https://www.cn.ca/).  After graduation, she became a full-time employee as a junior programmer.   Grand Trunk’s IT department was eventually bought by Compuware (www.compuware.com).  Rita was promoted from junior programmer to project manager (“a huge leap”).  Her first large challenge was a two-year international EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) project among three cross-border entities, automating the manifest for U.S. Customs to enable trains to cross borders without stopping. She credited her immediate management for empowering this next career phase. “Anything we needed, they made sure we had.”  The secret to the success of that project was digging into the details rather than becoming overwhelmed by the totality of the undertaking. “I took it a bite (byte) at a time!” Rita’s next step was as a Compuware contractor to Ford Credit (https://www.ford.com/finance) to maintain their legacy information systems, going from programmer to senior DBA.  Rita also obtained her Masters of Science in Information Systems, Software Assurance at the University of Detroit, Mercy; then later completed her PhD in information science, with a focus on security assurance and cybersecurity at Nova Southeastern University (http://www.nova.edu/).  “An opportunity came where I could move to academia,” Rita said.  “ That’s how I landed at Detroit, Mercy.” Additionally, she received certifications from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg University, School of Public Health in data specialization, and a certificate in criminal justice and law enforcement from the FBI Detroit Citizens Academy. A single mom for 14 years, Rita is justifiably proud of her two children. “I have a daughter, now working on her PhD in Material Engineering. And I have a son, going into digital media and graphics arts.”   Rita is also excited about her own cybersecurity field. “We teach is how to do investigations, how to do digital forensics/hacking. We partner with the Criminal Justice Program because you cannot have a crime without some digital piece to it, these days, and look at it from the criminal point of view. We also partner with the law school, talking about cyberlaw. “ Rita’s specialty has spun off into a side business. She runs an IT training and education consultancy, RitaBarr LLC (www.ritabarr.com) specializing in corporate IT training, and also partners with Mackinac Investigators on digital forensics investigations.   “At some point, I would like to grow the business.”  Ever-ambitious, Rita is also looking forward to moving to the “business side” of academia, at some point.   Along the way, Rita said that “I have always been the only female in the room.” As an example, “I presented research at the Department of Defense to a bunch of military people, who were all guys. Coming up through IT, I was the only female, but I have never felt like the only female. I was never discriminated against.”  This feeling changed though “when I went to the University.”  There she experienced “over-talking, interruption, all of it. I have been told by my colleagues that I better ‘know my place, young lady, ’ ” she lamented.  Rita recommended her approach to deal with this negative phenomenon. “I am very professional. I go into a very robotic mode, very stoic. I lay out the facts with no emotion. I plan to say.“ Rita’s focused leadership lessons/advice currently include:  “Spend time to get to know people. Find out their strengths, and where they belong.” “Bring the best people around you; then get out of their way.” “If you think about it --- that the project’s too big --- you will not achieve what you want to achieve. So, whatever comes, just take it in.” “Stay flexible. There is nothing you can’t overcome; nothing is impossible.”  And summing up: “There are no shortcuts.”  For Rita, success is always about hard work. For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Dr. Rita Barrios, Chair for the Department of CyberSecurity and Information Systems, and Associate Professor, at the University of Detroit, Mercy (<a href="http://www.udmercy.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.udmercy.edu/</a>) graduating approximately 150 trained technology professionals each year. Rita said: “My Dad was always my biggest supporter.” The 7th child of 8 siblings in her “very strict” family, Rita admitted that she was “a little on the geeky side” in her high school years.  She entered the Detroit College of Business, specializing in accounting, but dropped it in favor of a technology major. She got married, and gave birth to a daughter during her senior year of college.   Rita’s several internships during that senior year (when her daughter was 6 months old) were at the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (<a href="http://gtw.railfan.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">gtw.railfan.net/</a>), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway (<a href="https://www.cn.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.cn.ca/</a>).  After graduation, she became a full-time employee as a junior programmer.   Grand Trunk’s IT department was eventually bought by Compuware (<a href="http://www.compuware.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.compuware.com</a>).  Rita was promoted from junior programmer to project manager (“a huge leap”).  Her first large challenge was a two-year international EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) project among three cross-border entities, automating the manifest for U.S. Customs to enable trains to cross borders without stopping. She credited her immediate management for empowering this next career phase. “Anything we needed, they made sure we had.”  The secret to the success of that project was digging into the details rather than becoming overwhelmed by the totality of the undertaking. “I took it a bite (byte) at a time!” Rita’s next step was as a Compuware contractor to Ford Credit (<a href="https://www.ford.com/finance" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ford.com/finance</a>) to maintain their legacy information systems, going from programmer to senior DBA.  Rita also obtained her Masters of Science in Information Systems, Software Assurance at the University of Detroit, Mercy; then later completed her PhD in information science, with a focus on security assurance and cybersecurity at Nova Southeastern University (<a href="http://www.nova.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.nova.edu/</a>).  “An opportunity came where I could move to academia,” Rita said.  “ That’s how I landed at Detroit, Mercy.” Additionally, she received certifications from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg University, School of Public Health in data specialization, and a certificate in criminal justice and law enforcement from the FBI Detroit Citizens Academy. A single mom for 14 years, Rita is justifiably proud of her two children. “I have a daughter, now working on her PhD in Material Engineering. And I have a son, going into digital media and graphics arts.”   Rita is also excited about her own cybersecurity field. “We teach is how to do investigations, how to do digital forensics/hacking. We partner with the Criminal Justice Program because you cannot have a crime without some digital piece to it, these days, and look at it from the criminal point of view. We also partner with the law school, talking about cyberlaw. “ Rita’s specialty has spun off into a side business. She runs an IT training and education consultancy, RitaBarr LLC (<a href="http://www.ritabarr.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.ritabarr.com</a>) specializing in corporate IT training, and also partners with Mackinac Investigators on digital forensics investigations.   “At some point, I would like to grow the business.”  Ever-ambitious, Rita is also looking forward to moving to the “business side” of academia, at some point.   Along the way, Rita said that “I have always been the only female in the room.” As an example, “I presented research at the Department of Defense to a bunch of military people, who were all guys. Coming up through IT, I was the only female, but I have never felt like the only female. I was never discriminated against.”  This feeling changed though “when I went to the University.”  There she experienced “over-talking, interruption, all of it. I have been told by my colleagues that I better ‘know my place, young lady, ’ ” she lamented.  Rita recommended her approach to deal with this negative phenomenon. “I am very professional. I go into a very robotic mode, very stoic. I lay out the facts with no emotion. I plan to say.“ Rita’s focused leadership lessons/advice currently include: <ul> <li>“Spend time to get to know people. Find out their strengths, and where they belong.”</li> <li>“Bring the best people around you; then get out of their way.”</li> <li>“If you think about it --- that the project’s too big --- you will not achieve what you want to achieve. So, whatever comes, just take it in.”</li> <li>“Stay flexible. There is nothing you can’t overcome; nothing is impossible.”</li> </ul> And summing up: “There are no shortcuts.”  For Rita, success is always about hard work. For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/DivaTechTalks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@divatechtalks</a>, and on Facebook at <a href="http://four.libsyn.com/h" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Ep 54: Rita Barrios: Managing Massive Projects a Byte at A Time

Laura Bilazarian

Diva Tech Talk interviewed former investment banker and social entrepreneur, Laura Bilazarian, CEO and Founder of Teamable (https://teamable.com), accelerating any company’s ability to hire top talent by “smarter recruiting through social networks.”  A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business (https://www.wharton.upenn.edu/ ), with a degree in economics, Laura wanted to work at Google. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the guts to go there without affirmation from my classmates.”  Instead, her first job was at Miller Buckfire  (http://www.millerbuckfire.com) an internationally recognized investment bank. “I traveled the world, and ended up doing private equity in Vietnam,” she said. In the early throes of her career, Laura also played professional rugby, on the #1 award-winning national U.S. women’s team, strengthening her ability to work in teams, problem-solve, and stay calm under pressure. She observed that “What stops you from coming in first is your own mental state.”  She quickly moved to the declarative sentence. “Instead of saying we could win a national championship, I started saying we WILL win.” As she got deeper into investment banking, Laura said “at some point, I just felt that the work was meaningless. I read Mother Teresa’s letters to God and I had a period of introspection.  What is another way I can impact the world?”  She traveled to Armenia, and observed that “tech is a place where you can all win together. We could all use data to connect people to the right work.” She conceived the concept, that became Teamable, and launched a Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com ) campaign around it. She continued to pursue investment banking, co-founding a fund devoted to Armenian companies; and Teamable’s development and data science activities also all take place in Armenia. While raising money for her own company, Laura’s investment banking background afforded insight into what investors were looking for. “I think that’s something that every CEO should learn,” she said. “Do something, like financial modeling, to really understand ‘where are the levers’ in your business. Not all levers are created equal.”   Laura’s three co-founders are technical whizzes – Armenian data scientists and crackerjack programmers.  “The hardest math we did on Wall Street, they were doing in 5th grade.” Laura moved operations to San Francisco; met with Silicon Valley denizens including the top analytics team at Google; and continuously began to validate the approach and build the Teamable company and customer base. She pitched her first successful financing round at well-known Greylock Partners (www.greylock.com/), where they found an angel investor willing to take a chance on Teamable. Highly egalitarian, Laura said that it simply became obvious that, when pitching, she should initially take the title of CEO. “I really don’t know when I earned it,” she said. “Maybe it was with the first money raised, or the first customer signed.” (NOTE:  40-person Teamable has raised over $5 million in its A round of investment, and has over 90 customers, to date.  The company has quadrupled in size since February, 2017). Laura stresses that “really being honest” in terms of feedback is crucial in the Teamable culture. “I want it to be radically transparent,” she said. She also prizes a hard work ethic.  “Where you make the margin is work ethic.  It’s discipline. It’s going above and beyond.”  Finally, she is creating an environment focused on hyper-growth. “Never feeling comfortable; continuing to challenge ourselves.”  Laura admits that her past two years were unbalanced and “a little dark.”  But she thinks it is the direct cause of Teamable’s success. “If you maniacally commit to anything, for two years, you will succeed.” Ever an ambitious learner, Laura is spurred by her technology colleagues and her access to Silicon Valley brain trusts. “I took the whole machine-learning course on Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/) at 2x speed, over a weekend.”  Lean Startup is a book that Laura would recommend any would-be startup founder reading. “I can’t stand anything that seems like a problem,” Laura summed herself up and affirmed that “It’s super-scary to leave what you’ve done. But you can do it!” For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed former investment banker and social entrepreneur, Laura Bilazarian, CEO and Founder of Teamable (<a href="https://teamable.com/home/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://teamable.com</a>), accelerating any company’s ability to hire top talent by “smarter recruiting through social networks.”  A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business (<a href="https://www.wharton.upenn.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.wharton.upenn.edu/</a> ), with a degree in economics, Laura wanted to work at Google. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the guts to go there without affirmation from my classmates.”  Instead, her first job was at Miller Buckfire  (<a href="http://www.millerbuckfire.com/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_company%3B7Hf0Yf7bQB6O8R7F3OxY5Q%3D%3D" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.millerbuckfire.com</a>) an internationally recognized investment bank. “I traveled the world, and ended up doing private equity in Vietnam,” she said. In the early throes of her career, Laura also played professional rugby, on the #1 award-winning national U.S. women’s team, strengthening her ability to work in teams, problem-solve, and stay calm under pressure. She observed that “What stops you from coming in first is your own mental state.”  She quickly moved to the declarative sentence. “Instead of saying we could win a national championship, I started saying we WILL win.” As she got deeper into investment banking, Laura said “at some point, I just felt that the work was meaningless. I read Mother Teresa’s letters to God and I had a period of introspection.  What is another way I can impact the world?”  She traveled to Armenia, and observed that “tech is a place where you can all win together. We could all use data to connect people to the right work.” She conceived the concept, that became Teamable, and launched a Kickstarter (<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.kickstarter.com</a> ) campaign around it. She continued to pursue investment banking, co-founding a fund devoted to Armenian companies; and Teamable’s development and data science activities also all take place in Armenia. While raising money for her own company, Laura’s investment banking background afforded insight into what investors were looking for. “I think that’s something that every CEO should learn,” she said. “Do something, like financial modeling, to really understand ‘where are the levers’ in your business. Not all levers are created equal.”   Laura’s three co-founders are technical whizzes – Armenian data scientists and crackerjack programmers.  “The hardest math we did on Wall Street, they were doing in 5th grade.” Laura moved operations to San Francisco; met with Silicon Valley denizens including the top analytics team at Google; and continuously began to validate the approach and build the Teamable company and customer base. She pitched her first successful financing round at well-known Greylock Partners (<a href="http://www.greylock.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.greylock.com/</a>), where they found an angel investor willing to take a chance on Teamable. Highly egalitarian, Laura said that it simply became obvious that, when pitching, she should initially take the title of CEO. “I really don’t know when I earned it,” she said. “Maybe it was with the first money raised, or the first customer signed.” (NOTE:  40-person Teamable has raised over $5 million in its A round of investment, and has over 90 customers, to date.  The company has quadrupled in size since February, 2017). Laura stresses that “really being honest” in terms of feedback is crucial in the Teamable culture. “I want it to be radically transparent,” she said. She also prizes a hard work ethic.  “Where you make the margin is work ethic.  It’s discipline. It’s going above and beyond.”  Finally, she is creating an environment focused on hyper-growth. “Never feeling comfortable; continuing to challenge ourselves.”  Laura admits that her past two years were unbalanced and “a little dark.”  But she thinks it is the direct cause of Teamable’s success. “If you maniacally commit to anything, for two years, you will succeed.” Ever an ambitious learner, Laura is spurred by her technology colleagues and her access to Silicon Valley brain trusts. “I took the whole machine-learning course on Coursera (<a href="https://www.coursera.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.coursera.org/</a>) at 2x speed, over a weekend.”  Lean Startup is a book that Laura would recommend any would-be startup founder reading. “I can’t stand anything that seems like a problem,” Laura summed herself up and affirmed that “It’s super-scary to leave what you’ve done. But you can do it!” For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/DivaTechTalks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@divatechtalks</a>, and on Facebook at <a href="http://four.libsyn.com/h" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Ep 56: Laura Bilazarian: Not You Can, but You WILL Win

Nafisa Bhojawala

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Nafisa Bhojawala, Studio Chief for Cloud Design at Microsoft Corporation. Nafisa, the daughter of an engineer dad, and an art teacher mom, grew up in India, and Dubai, UAE.  “We grew up, drawing, painting, working on embroidery; just basically making things! But I also loved the clean rules of math and physics.  I learned to appreciate how the world works around me.” When Nafisa chose her university major, she wanted to specialize in fine arts. But her parents persuaded her to “pick a useful profession.” She decided on architecture and emigrated to Chicago to study at Illinois University of Technology. She spent one year, before she realized she was hooked on design, “looking at problems, and solving them, even on a smaller scale.” She logically matriculated into the design school. Nafisa then discovered computer technology.  “I used it first as a tool, as a designer, but very soon I began running into these frustrating situations while using the computer,” which prompted her to think about how challenges could be circumvented. She began “sketching out ways of doing it,” and taking programming classes to “go deeper, to understand how code is written.” Nafisa’s Capstone project was an interaction endeavor: a learning tool targeted to high school students. To gain confidence, she accepted an internship at Morningstar, the respected global financial firm offering influential investment research and recommendations, managing over $200 billion in institutional assets, and providing software/data platforms for investment professionals.  There “I worked for close to a year on a CD-ROM project,” Nafisa said. “They were converting their stock data into an information tool that financial planners could use. It was the first time I was working as a young designer, figuring out how to apply my visual skills to interaction design.”  After obtaining her degree, Nafisa joined The Doblin Group, a global innovation firm dedicated to solving complex problems through rigorous interdisciplinary approach.  It was another evolution for her. “Their work is very diverse. I learned how to do research there; apply business strategy to problems.”  It was there that Nafisa realized that “I like to design things that become real, and that I can see people using.” Through a friend, 19 years ago, Nafisa successfully interviewed for a design position at Microsoft. “When I joined my team, I felt like I had found my tribe: very talented people, supportive of each other. I had a great manager, and a fantastic mentor.  I could learn everything!” As she has moved into more senior leadership, she has come to the realization that “It takes a culture that supports growth and exploration…where people feel like they can take creative risks, and actually try things.” Nafisa shifted into program management and learned she needed to “lean on others.”  The key was also “being humble about it: being a learner,” she said. “Now I’m not afraid of pivoting.  I can figure it out. “ One of her revelations has been that early in her career she focused on how to get things done, (“because you need to perfect your craft”) but later in her career, she has had to “focus on the big picture, because I needed to solve bigger problems, that were more ambiguous.”  She takes pride in the fact that she feels comfortable “being the person who asks the stupid question.” That exercise often results in pinpointing the most innovative solutions. For example, working as a program manager for Microsoft Azure (Microsoft’s primary cloud platform providing a full portfolio of technical services for IT developers), Nafisa realized that there was a “weak link:  the customer research piece.” Accessing customer feedback was a complex issue as the product line was being developed. “There were various stakeholders, timelines were crazy, and we did not have resources.” In less than 6 months, she had created and led a “high trust” team, to “do research at a very fast clip;” and work with diverse user “personas” encompassing developers and IT professionals, to ensure high feature quality and useful deliverables across a decentralized product set.  Azure is robust and successful in part “because we figured out how to pump data through our decision-making process, from the time we decide what we want to build to actually building something.” Nafisa has now moved to leading the UX (User Experience) for Microsoft’s Power BI (Business Intelligence), PowerApps, and Flow, tools designed to elegantly provide the highest level of productivity to developers and others deploying BI rules inside the enterprise. “Now we are adding artificial intelligence and machine learning.  The responsiveness of systems is just at another level. You suddenly feel like you have more power, working for you.” Nafisa acknowledged: “I have a need to create. Art has always been the place I go to, my sanctuary.  It has, also, been a way for me to connect to a very different community, that I would not be connecting with in business. Her art “informs” her career and vice versa. It has taught her useful leadership precepts: “be optimistic about the process and the outcome; pour your soul into it; take risks along the way; recover from the failures you encounter.  You will discover you are very resilient. You know more than you think you do.” Nafisa also characterized her art as essential because “It helps me understand the ‘creatives’ I manage. It is a journey all of us go through.” As a busy mother, as well as business leader/artist, Nafisa achieves balance by “not thinking about perfection.” She works on doing a little bit better each time, bringing heightened awareness to each project.  And “I lean on others,” she said. “My partner who has an equally busy and chaotic work-life is my partner in parenting, too.” She stressed that “we can all be present in all parts of our lives, if we have a strong community to work with, that we trust.” Additionally, “I am very selective about what I spend time on.  I am a little bit ruthless, setting those boundaries.” Nafisa’s final piece of wisdom was simply “anything you choose to learn, can be learned. You get to decide. But keep doing it, because that is how you keep growing.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nafisa-bhojawala-8a0b134/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nafisa Bhojawala</a>, Studio Chief for Cloud Design at <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Microsoft Corporation</a>. Nafisa, the daughter of an engineer dad, and an art teacher mom, grew up in India, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dubai, UAE</a>.  “We grew up, drawing, painting, working on embroidery; just basically making things! But I also loved the clean rules of math and physics.  I learned to appreciate how the world works around me.” When Nafisa chose her university major, she wanted to specialize in fine arts. But her parents persuaded her to “pick a useful profession.” She decided on architecture and emigrated to Chicago to study at <a href="https://web.iit.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Illinois University of Technology</a>. She spent one year, before she realized she was hooked on design, “looking at problems, and solving them, even on a smaller scale.” She logically matriculated into the design school. Nafisa then discovered computer technology.  “I used it first as a tool, as a designer, but very soon I began running into these frustrating situations while using the computer,” which prompted her to think about how challenges could be circumvented. She began “sketching out ways of doing it,” and taking programming classes to “go deeper, to understand how code is written.” Nafisa’s Capstone project was an interaction endeavor: a learning tool targeted to high school students. To gain confidence, she accepted an internship at <a href="https://www.morningstar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Morningstar</a>, the respected global financial firm offering influential investment research and recommendations, managing over $200 billion in institutional assets, and providing software/data platforms for investment professionals.  There “I worked for close to a year on a CD-ROM project,” Nafisa said. “They were converting their stock data into an information tool that financial planners could use. It was the first time I was working as a young designer, figuring out how to apply my visual skills to interaction design.”  After obtaining her degree, Nafisa joined <a href="https://www.doblin.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Doblin Group</a>, a global innovation firm dedicated to solving complex problems through rigorous interdisciplinary approach.  It was another evolution for her. “Their work is very diverse. I learned how to do research there; apply business strategy to problems.”  It was there that Nafisa realized that “I like to design things that become real, and that I can see people using.” Through a friend, 19 years ago, Nafisa successfully interviewed for a design position at Microsoft. “When I joined my team, I felt like I had found my tribe: very talented people, supportive of each other. I had a great manager, and a fantastic mentor.  I could learn everything!” As she has moved into more senior leadership, she has come to the realization that “It takes a culture that supports growth and exploration…where people feel like they can take creative risks, and actually try things.” Nafisa shifted into program management and learned she needed to “lean on others.”  The key was also “being humble about it: being a learner,” she said. “Now I’m not afraid of pivoting.  I can figure it out. “ One of her revelations has been that early in her career she focused on how to get things done, (“because you need to perfect your craft”) but later in her career, she has had to “focus on the big picture, because I needed to solve bigger problems, that were more ambiguous.”  She takes pride in the fact that she feels comfortable “being the person who asks the stupid question.” That exercise often results in pinpointing the most innovative solutions. For example, working as a program manager for <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Microsoft Azure</a> (Microsoft’s primary cloud platform providing a full portfolio of technical services for IT developers), Nafisa realized that there was a “weak link:  the customer research piece.” Accessing customer feedback was a complex issue as the product line was being developed. “There were various stakeholders, timelines were crazy, and we did not have resources.” In less than 6 months, she had created and led a “high trust” team, to “do research at a very fast clip;” and work with diverse user “personas” encompassing developers and IT professionals, to ensure high feature quality and useful deliverables across a decentralized product set.  Azure is robust and successful in part “because we figured out how to pump data through our decision-making process, from the time we decide what we want to build to actually building something.” Nafisa has now moved to leading the UX (User Experience) for Microsoft’s <a href="https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Power BI</a> (Business Intelligence), <a href="https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PowerApps</a>, and <a href="https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Flow</a>, tools designed to elegantly provide the highest level of productivity to developers and others deploying BI rules inside the enterprise. “Now we are adding artificial intelligence and machine learning.  The responsiveness of systems is just at another level. You suddenly feel like you have more power, working for you.” Nafisa acknowledged: “I have a need to create. Art has always been the place I go to, my sanctuary.  It has, also, been a way for me to connect to a very different community, that I would not be connecting with in business. Her art “informs” her career and vice versa. It has taught her useful leadership precepts: “be optimistic about the process and the outcome; pour your soul into it; take risks along the way; recover from the failures you encounter.  You will discover you are very resilient. You know more than you think you do.” Nafisa also characterized her art as essential because “It helps me understand the ‘creatives’ I manage. It is a journey all of us go through.” As a busy mother, as well as business leader/artist, Nafisa achieves balance by “not thinking about perfection.” She works on doing a little bit better each time, bringing heightened awareness to each project.  And “I lean on others,” she said. “My partner who has an equally busy and chaotic work-life is my partner in parenting, too.” She stressed that “we can all be present in all parts of our lives, if we have a strong community to work with, that we trust.” Additionally, “I am very selective about what I spend time on.  I am a little bit ruthless, setting those boundaries.” Nafisa’s final piece of wisdom was simply “anything you choose to learn, can be learned. You get to decide. But keep doing it, because that is how you keep growing.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Ep 79: Nafisa Bhojawala: Anything You Choose to Learn CAN Be Learned

Wanda Castelvecchi

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Wanda Castelvecchi, National Practice Manager for Security and Enterprise Networking at ePlus, (https://www.eplus.com/), responsible for over $500 million, annually.    Wanda did not enter the technology industry in traditional fashion. In the mid-1980’s she was a law librarian, using Lexis (https://www.lexisnexis.com), and Westlaw (https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/westlaw) research databases before most attorneys became adept in them.  “I worked for a large law firm in downtown Richmond, Virginia, until my son was born,” she said.  During her maternity leave, the law firm closed. “So, I found myself as a brand-new Mom, with a brand-new baby at home, with no job.  I had to figure out how to make this work!” She became the “Renaissance Woman” at a smaller firm, doing reception and recruiting duties, working in the law library, handling billing, marketing and more.  That firm acquired their first computer. So, she evolved into becoming the firm’s internal computer expert. Wanda saw this as a strong learning challenge, which she mastered. From that firm, Wanda was hired by a technology systems integrator. She proceeded to obtain both Novell certification, and Microsoft certification, within the first 6 months and “thus launched my crazy career in IT!”  After entering the field, she noticed the paucity of women. “It felt like a huge challenge to me not only to be accepted as a newbie in the technology field, but to be accepted as a woman.” At the company, Wanda was promoted into sales from systems analyst but immediately encountered a resistant manager, who stated she would probably “be gone in 90 days.” Wanda decided to prove him wrong. Through sheer persistence, she wound up as the top salesperson of the quarter, during that very first quarter.  “As women, we could let those words crush us, or we can take those words and say ‘I’ll show you what I can do…” Having moved from a technical role into sales, Wanda counseled that the path is not for every technologist.  “What people don’t understand are all the mundane tasks” with which sales professionals cope, including paperwork.  The role requires empathy for deeper psychological issues underlying customer satisfaction, as well as the need to acknowledge and attempt to rectify mistakes when they are made.  She also emphasized that being honest, genuine, reliable, considering yourself an advocate for the customer, and never losing the tendency to ask many questions of a client, as part of sales discovery, is key to success.   Wanda moved from the smaller system integrator to Sycom Technologies (https://www.sycomtech.com/) where she spent the next decade.  She performed at a very high level, becoming Professional Services sales leader of the year for multiple years and then “I became a sales manager. While I had a really good run at it, what makes a good salesperson doesn’t always make a great sale manager!” But she learned valuable lessons from sales leadership: patience with a diverse team; understanding that individual motivation is different and not all team members are driven to excel; and how to listen, set expectations, and create plans with achievable goals.  But above all, Wanda “learned to keep moving and always learning.” From Sycom, Wanda briefly did a short stint at another Cisco partner company,  and then moved to ePlus, (https://www.eplus.com/),  an engineering-centric technology solutions provider working in key technologies from data center to security, cloud, and collaboration.  She has been with ePlus for 9 years. There she was fortunate to get her “best boss” and is absorbing more leadership lessons.  One is selflessness. “Nothing he ever talks about is about himself. Imagine that you wake up every morning and you have the ability to create your own path. And you have a manager who is 100% supportive of that, who has always got your back!” Selfless, herself, Wanda has been active in several nonprofits giving back to the overall community including a role on the Board of Directors for the Richmond Animal League (https://www.ral.org). But her newest endeavor fills her with the most passion. GRIT (which stands for Girls Rock’In Tech) introduces middle school girls to various tech careers, with a specific focus on cybersecurity.  “In addition to there being an overall shortage of women in technology, there is a huge shortage of experts in cybersecurity,” according to Wanda, up to 1 - 2 million jobs going unfilled each year.  So, from her vantage point, it is logical to encourage girls to explore the field. She noted that women are often more risk-averse, have excellent project management skills, and a concern for safety, so the field could be attractive.  “Organizations who don’t have women in their cybersecurity practice are probably less secure,” as a result of the deficit, according to Wanda. Currently active in 4 schools, with plans to be at 6 by 2020, and then growing even more rapidly, the GRIT program’s name has a double meaning since “one of the things we want to be able to develop is grit” (the ability to persevere against all odds) in the young women it serves. “You can be really great at math, engineering or science, or anything you want, if you work really hard,” is GRIT’s mantra. Wanda shared other additional success tips. Among them are:  as you progress, pull people up with you; honesty and integrity are paramount; learn to laugh at yourself; and take your vacations. Most importantly, she emphasized: “Always be learning. Every day, learn something new.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Wanda Castelvecchi, National Practice Manager for Security and Enterprise Networking at ePlus, (<a href="https://www.eplus.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.eplus.com/</a>), responsible for over $500 million, annually.    Wanda did not enter the technology industry in traditional fashion. In the mid-1980’s she was a law librarian, using Lexis (<a href="https://www.lexisnexis.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.lexisnexis.com</a>), and Westlaw (<a href="https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/westlaw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/westlaw</a>) research databases before most attorneys became adept in them.  “I worked for a large law firm in downtown Richmond, Virginia, until my son was born,” she said.  During her maternity leave, the law firm closed. “So, I found myself as a brand-new Mom, with a brand-new baby at home, with no job.  I had to figure out how to make this work!” She became the “Renaissance Woman” at a smaller firm, doing reception and recruiting duties, working in the law library, handling billing, marketing and more.  That firm acquired their first computer. So, she evolved into becoming the firm’s internal computer expert. Wanda saw this as a strong learning challenge, which she mastered. From that firm, Wanda was hired by a technology systems integrator. She proceeded to obtain both Novell certification, and Microsoft certification, within the first 6 months and “thus launched my crazy career in IT!”  After entering the field, she noticed the paucity of women. “It felt like a huge challenge to me not only to be accepted as a newbie in the technology field, but to be accepted as a woman.” At the company, Wanda was promoted into sales from systems analyst but immediately encountered a resistant manager, who stated she would probably “be gone in 90 days.” Wanda decided to prove him wrong. Through sheer persistence, she wound up as the top salesperson of the quarter, during that very first quarter.  “As women, we could let those words crush us, or we can take those words and say ‘I’ll show you what I can do…” Having moved from a technical role into sales, Wanda counseled that the path is not for every technologist.  “What people don’t understand are all the mundane tasks” with which sales professionals cope, including paperwork.  The role requires empathy for deeper psychological issues underlying customer satisfaction, as well as the need to acknowledge and attempt to rectify mistakes when they are made.  She also emphasized that being honest, genuine, reliable, considering yourself an advocate for the customer, and never losing the tendency to ask many questions of a client, as part of sales discovery, is key to success.   Wanda moved from the smaller system integrator to Sycom Technologies (<a href="https://www.sycomtech.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.sycomtech.com/</a>) where she spent the next decade.  She performed at a very high level, becoming Professional Services sales leader of the year for multiple years and then “I became a sales manager. While I had a really good run at it, what makes a good salesperson doesn’t always make a great sale manager!” But she learned valuable lessons from sales leadership: patience with a diverse team; understanding that individual motivation is different and not all team members are driven to excel; and how to listen, set expectations, and create plans with achievable goals.  But above all, Wanda “learned to keep moving and always learning.” From Sycom, Wanda briefly did a short stint at another Cisco partner company,  and then moved to ePlus, (<a href="https://www.eplus.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.eplus.com/</a>),  an engineering-centric technology solutions provider working in key technologies from data center to security, cloud, and collaboration.  She has been with ePlus for 9 years. There she was fortunate to get her “best boss” and is absorbing more leadership lessons.  One is selflessness. “Nothing he ever talks about is about himself. Imagine that you wake up every morning and you have the ability to create your own path. And you have a manager who is 100% supportive of that, who has always got your back!” Selfless, herself, Wanda has been active in several nonprofits giving back to the overall community including a role on the Board of Directors for the Richmond Animal League (<a href="https://www.ral.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ral.org</a>). But her newest endeavor fills her with the most passion. GRIT (which stands for Girls Rock’In Tech) introduces middle school girls to various tech careers, with a specific focus on cybersecurity.  “In addition to there being an overall shortage of women in technology, there is a huge shortage of experts in cybersecurity,” according to Wanda, up to 1 - 2 million jobs going unfilled each year.  So, from her vantage point, it is logical to encourage girls to explore the field. She noted that women are often more risk-averse, have excellent project management skills, and a concern for safety, so the field could be attractive.  “Organizations who don’t have women in their cybersecurity practice are probably less secure,” as a result of the deficit, according to Wanda. Currently active in 4 schools, with plans to be at 6 by 2020, and then growing even more rapidly, the GRIT program’s name has a double meaning since “one of the things we want to be able to develop is grit” (the ability to persevere against all odds) in the young women it serves. “You can be really great at math, engineering or science, or anything you want, if you work really hard,” is GRIT’s mantra. Wanda shared other additional success tips. Among them are:  as you progress, pull people up with you; honesty and integrity are paramount; learn to laugh at yourself; and take your vacations. Most importantly, she emphasized: “Always be learning. Every day, learn something new.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Ep 77: Wanda Castelvecchi: Always Be Learning

Diva Tech Talk interviewed the dynamic  Michelle Greene, Vice President of Information Technology at Masco Corporation, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of home improvement and construction products. An $8.5 billion conglomerate, comprising more than 20 companies, Masco operates nearly 60 manufacturing facilities in the United States and over 20 in other parts of the world.  Michelle was raised in Valdosta, Georgia. “My mother believed that, due to my close relationship with my aunt, I might be a school teacher.”  But “what I recognized quickly was my ability to lead” so she obtained her business bachelor’s degree at Valdosta State University, and a masters’ degree in higher education and information sciences from Florida State University. She entered the workforce as a business analyst at Mellon Bank, in Pittsburgh, Pa.   After two years, she migrated to Raleigh, North Carolina for another analyst position at Sony Ericsson a global leader in mobile communications.  Michelle progressed from business analyst to project manager, and then a Sony Ericsson global program manager position. “I went to Sweden on a short-term assignment,” Michelle said.  That assignment doubled in duration, helping Michelle recognize “my own ability to make it work, wherever I am. If the opportunity and the job is good, I will figure the rest out!” She shepherded the formerly outsourced data center back inside the corporation. Then Michelle moved to a service management job back in the states, then the global management of Sony’s network services, and to her final Sony Ericsson job, Director of Business Infrastructure worldwide. In that role, Michelle directed an annual budget of $70 million; managed all global infrastructure resources on three continents; and led global outsourcing, partners and suppliers for information technology. “My reputation preceded me. I was someone who could get things done. I was a bit of a ‘turnaround’ person.”   Within a year of her return to the states, “The CIO for Sony-Ericsson (Colin Boyd) who previously moved to Johnson Controls” was instrumental in recruiting her to that larger company. Michelle stayed with Johnson Controls for nine years, first working in their Buildings Division in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; then heading up the Automotive Electronics and Interiors  Division in Holland, Michigan. Then she moved back to headquarters as Vice President of Business Partnership, for the entire enterprise. Michelle credited her mentors for inspiring and empowering her. “I have had some very good coaches, along the way.”  When Masco reached out to recruit her, “I had people I could go to” who provided advice. Following mentors’ advice, in 2018, Michelle joined Masco, in her current role.   “I’ve made it my practice, when I take over a new team, to do one-on-ones with every member, so I can understand.  I can meet you, where you are.” She emphasized that her mission is to offer “authentic and strong leadership” in her current role, and all future roles. “I feel like we don’t have enough leaders in IT.  I have the ability to effect change because of my leadership style.” Michelle noted that her personal strengths include authenticity, being a life-long student of leadership best practices, and wielding “influence without authority” in order to “get things done.”  Michelle’s primary rule is “take chances.” She is a strong believer in clear communication.  “I am finding, day-today, our biggest source of issues is you did not have a conversation with someone, or you did not take the time to be effective in the way you were getting across your message.”  Her future plans include extending the information technology organization throughout the larger global organization, not just at headquarters. “We don’t always leverage and maximize our spending, our licensing, our approach, our solutions.”  Along the way, when she experienced gender or race bias, Michelle candidly said: “I recognized, I cannot wear it on my sleeve. That’s their problem; not mine.” Her key pieces of advice when contending with prejudices are: “Don’t take it personally.  And don’t give away your power. Don’t let it define you.”  Michelle recommended a book by Carla Harris called  EXPECT TO WIN, which outlines ten proven strategies for thriving at work.  Michelle also enthused about Marshall Goldsmith’s  WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE, which exhorts leaders to examine the small “transactional flaws” that can keep high-performing individuals from reaching the next pinnacle . “We do need to make adjustments” along the way, according to Michelle.  Key success tips Michelle offers to girls and women are: “Understand WHY you are doing something. Know yourself. Be true to yourself.” Don’t give in to limits nor allow barriers to success. Find the balance between “sharing too much” personal information and being authentic and personable. Cultivate empathy. And the earlier you get a mentor, the better it will be for your career development. In her volunteer life, Michelle sits on the board of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Goodwill and PEARLS for TEEN GIRLS, a unique leadership development program serving middle schoolers and high school girls.  She also just joined the board of Michigan’s DPTV, viewer-supported public television in Southeast Michigan.  The elements of Michelle’s joy include: “great career and great wine!”  She also stressed that “failure, for me, is not an option. I keep it in the back of my mind, to keep me grounded.  But I am not allowing it to be an option.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed the dynamic <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-greene-3575b4179/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Michelle Greene</a>, Vice President of Information Technology at <a href="http://masco.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Masco Corporation</a>, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of home improvement and construction products. An $8.5 billion conglomerate, comprising more than 20 companies, Masco operates nearly 60 manufacturing facilities in the United States and over 20 in other parts of the world.  Michelle was raised in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdosta,_Georgia" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Valdosta, Georgia</a>. “My mother believed that, due to my close relationship with my aunt, I might be a school teacher.”  But “what I recognized quickly was my ability to lead” so she obtained her business bachelor’s degree at <a href="https://www.valdosta.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Valdosta State University</a>, and a masters’ degree in higher education and information sciences from <a href="https://www.fsu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Florida State University</a>. She entered the workforce as a business analyst at <a href="https://www.bnymellon.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mellon Bank</a>, in Pittsburgh, Pa.   After two years, she migrated to Raleigh, North Carolina for another analyst position at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Mobile" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sony Ericsson</a> a global leader in mobile communications.  Michelle progressed from business analyst to project manager, and then a Sony Ericsson global program manager position. “I went to Sweden on a short-term assignment,” Michelle said.  That assignment doubled in duration, helping Michelle recognize “my own ability to make it work, wherever I am. If the opportunity and the job is good, I will figure the rest out!” She shepherded the formerly outsourced data center back inside the corporation. Then Michelle moved to a service management job back in the states, then the global management of Sony’s network services, and to her final Sony Ericsson job, Director of Business Infrastructure worldwide. In that role, Michelle directed an annual budget of $70 million; managed all global infrastructure resources on three continents; and led global outsourcing, partners and suppliers for information technology. “My reputation preceded me. I was someone who could get things done. I was a bit of a ‘turnaround’ person.”   Within a year of her return to the states, “The CIO for Sony-Ericsson (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinmboyd/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Colin Boyd</a>) who previously moved to <a href="https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Johnson Controls</a>” was instrumental in recruiting her to that larger company. Michelle stayed with Johnson Controls for nine years, first working in their Buildings Division in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; then heading up the Automotive Electronics and Interiors  Division in Holland, Michigan. Then she moved back to headquarters as Vice President of Business Partnership, for the entire enterprise. Michelle credited her mentors for inspiring and empowering her. “I have had some very good coaches, along the way.”  When Masco reached out to recruit her, “I had people I could go to” who provided advice. Following mentors’ advice, in 2018, Michelle joined Masco, in her current role.   “I’ve made it my practice, when I take over a new team, to do one-on-ones with every member, so I can understand.  I can meet you, where you are.” She emphasized that her mission is to offer “authentic and strong leadership” in her current role, and all future roles. “I feel like we don’t have enough leaders in IT.  I have the ability to effect change because of my leadership style.” Michelle noted that her personal strengths include authenticity, being a life-long student of leadership best practices, and wielding “influence without authority” in order to “get things done.”  Michelle’s primary rule is “take chances.” She is a strong believer in clear communication.  “I am finding, day-today, our biggest source of issues is you did not have a conversation with someone, or you did not take the time to be effective in the way you were getting across your message.”  Her future plans include extending the information technology organization throughout the larger global organization, not just at headquarters. “We don’t always leverage and maximize our spending, our licensing, our approach, our solutions.”  Along the way, when she experienced gender or race bias, Michelle candidly said: “I recognized, I cannot wear it on my sleeve. That’s their problem; not mine.” Her key pieces of advice when contending with prejudices are: “Don’t take it personally.  And don’t give away your power. Don’t let it define you.”  Michelle recommended a book by Carla Harris called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Expect-Win-Strategies-Thriving-Workplace/dp/0452295904" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> EXPECT TO WIN</a>, which outlines ten proven strategies for thriving at work.  Michelle also enthused about Marshall Goldsmith’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/What-Got-Here-Wont-There-ebook/dp/B000Q9J128/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE,</a> which exhorts leaders to examine the small “transactional flaws” that can keep high-performing individuals from reaching the next pinnacle . “We do need to make adjustments” along the way, according to Michelle.  Key success tips Michelle offers to girls and women are: “Understand WHY you are doing something. Know yourself. Be true to yourself.” Don’t give in to limits nor allow barriers to success. Find the balance between “sharing too much” personal information and being authentic and personable. Cultivate empathy. And the earlier you get a mentor, the better it will be for your career development. In her volunteer life, Michelle sits on the board of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin <a href="https://www.goodwillsew.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Goodwill</a> and <a href="https://www.pearlsforteengirls.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PEARLS for TEEN GIRLS</a>, a unique leadership development program serving middle schoolers and high school girls.  She also just joined the board of Michigan’s <a href="http://www.dptv.org/home/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DPTV</a>, viewer-supported public television in Southeast Michigan.  The elements of Michelle’s joy include: “great career and great wine!”  She also stressed that “failure, for me, is not an option. I keep it in the back of my mind, to keep me grounded.  But I am not allowing it to be an option.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Ep 88: Michelle Greene: Bring Your Authentic Self

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Rebecca Bray, Chief Sales Officer for recruiting/staffing company: Epitec (www.epitec.com). Rebecca did not start out intending to pursue a tech mission. “I just fell into it,” she said. She graduated Central Michigan University with a marketing degree, but it was a college internship at Epitec that inspired her 19-year current career. After graduation, “I figured it would be a good way to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up,” she said.  She has remained with the company because “I love what I do. The opportunities have always kept me engaged, challenged and learning every day.”  In her current role, with responsibility for a team of 50, Rebecca is thrilled to concentrate on challenging, inspiring and “growing our team.”   Focused on daily staff enrichment, Epitec celebrates each staff member’s personal, as well as career, accomplishments every year.  “Training and developing people takes a lot of understanding,” Rebecca said. Giving people the leeway to fail, she believes, is “very important to let people develop and grow. We call it ‘recovery-oriented’. “ Key personal characteristics that have contributed to Rebecca’s success include patience and tenacity. “When I started, I looked very young.  Having credibility was a problem for me.”  To overcome this, Rebecca stressed that learning “who my audience was, and what their needs were,” was essential. Among the teams reporting to her is Epitec’s training and development group, which has created and manages a three-week onboarding and training program for Epitec staff.  She constantly ponders “what’s going to motivate our staff, typically not the generation I come from or with whom I have worked.  It’s a new generation. So, overcoming challenges around different work expectations, different types of goal-setting, different types of reward and recognition programs,” are issues for her. Rebecca is also concerned with the looming large potential gap between the growing number of technology jobs, and skilled candidates to fill them.  To address it, she said “We are partnering with organizations like the Michigan Council of Women in Technology to drive more exposure to young girls and people about technology. We are also working with colleges around some internship programs, and have a robust internal Epitec internship program.”  Rebecca shared some very pragmatic tips for other budding leaders:  “Write down your goals. And put a plan, together, on how you are going to achieve them.” “Be ‘recovery-oriented’ and move forward.” “Invest in yourself. If you want to develop a solid career, it’s really up to you.”  Realistically, to achieve balance, Rebecca noted that “being in the present” is important. “When I am with my family, then I’m engaged with my family.” Conversely, “when I am at work --- I’m focused at work,” she said.  In her philanthropic life, Rebecca is very involved in a volunteer role with Vista Maria (www.vistamaria.org), a Michigan-based nonprofit which offers community-based programs including education, general and treatment foster care, youth assistance programs, independent living, transition services and after school programs for “at risk” girls.  For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Rebecca Bray, Chief Sales Officer for recruiting/staffing company: Epitec (<a href="http://www.epitec.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.epitec.com</a>). Rebecca did not start out intending to pursue a tech mission. “I just fell into it,” she said. She graduated Central Michigan University with a marketing degree, but it was a college internship at Epitec that inspired her 19-year current career. After graduation, “I figured it would be a good way to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up,” she said.  She has remained with the company because “I love what I do. The opportunities have always kept me engaged, challenged and learning every day.”  In her current role, with responsibility for a team of 50, Rebecca is thrilled to concentrate on challenging, inspiring and “growing our team.”   Focused on daily staff enrichment, Epitec celebrates each staff member’s personal, as well as career, accomplishments every year.  “Training and developing people takes a lot of understanding,” Rebecca said. Giving people the leeway to fail, she believes, is “very important to let people develop and grow. We call it ‘recovery-oriented’. “ Key personal characteristics that have contributed to Rebecca’s success include patience and tenacity. “When I started, I looked very young.  Having credibility was a problem for me.”  To overcome this, Rebecca stressed that learning “who my audience was, and what their needs were,” was essential. Among the teams reporting to her is Epitec’s training and development group, which has created and manages a three-week onboarding and training program for Epitec staff.  She constantly ponders “what’s going to motivate our staff, typically not the generation I come from or with whom I have worked.  It’s a new generation. So, overcoming challenges around different work expectations, different types of goal-setting, different types of reward and recognition programs,” are issues for her. Rebecca is also concerned with the looming large potential gap between the growing number of technology jobs, and skilled candidates to fill them.  To address it, she said “We are partnering with organizations like the Michigan Council of Women in Technology to drive more exposure to young girls and people about technology. We are also working with colleges around some internship programs, and have a robust internal Epitec internship program.”  Rebecca shared some very pragmatic tips for other budding leaders: <ol> <li>“Write down your goals. And put a plan, together, on how you are going to achieve them.”</li> <li>“Be ‘recovery-oriented’ and move forward.”</li> <li>“Invest in yourself. If you want to develop a solid career, it’s really up to you.”</li> </ol> Realistically, to achieve balance, Rebecca noted that “being in the present” is important. “When I am with my family, then I’m engaged with my family.” Conversely, “when I am at work --- I’m focused at work,” she said.  In her philanthropic life, Rebecca is very involved in a volunteer role with Vista Maria (<a href="http://www.vistamaria.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.vistamaria.org</a>), a Michigan-based nonprofit which offers community-based programs including education, general and treatment foster care, youth assistance programs, independent living, transition services and after school programs for “at risk” girls.  For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="http://four.libsyn.com/h" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Ep 46: Rebecca Bray: Learning Every Day

Rebekah Bastian

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Rebekah Bastian, Vice President of Community and Culture at Zillow Group, leading efforts focused on equity and belonging, social impact and cultural engagement. Rebekah was one of Zillow Group's first employees, moving from Microsoft in 2005. She has spent over 13 years leading product development and evolving into her current role. Rebekah originally started as a music major, but shifted, reassessed, and went back to school taking courses at her local community college. This led to math and physics. Her epiphany was that “[she] can do well at anything [she] works hard at.” Rebekah has been proving that lesson to herself ever since. She encourages others to “work hard at things you enjoy, are passionate about, and things you are good at.” She transferred to the University of Washington where she completed her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and continued on to UC Berkley, for a masters in that field. She applied to Microsoft  and her work included development of the pervasive Outlook email platform.   Subsequently she found Zillow Group, which was in full start-up mode and working under the radar. She took a flyer because she had faith in the founders, Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink, from their success with Expedia.  Ultimately, Rebekah loved the mission of Zillow Group, the ability to start something from scratch, and the chance to get experience with many different roles. She began working on the first version of the Zillow website, which has since become the largest real estate marketplace in the U.S. Rebekah worked on building product until about 8 years ago, when she was promoted into people management. As she progressed, leaders under her grew.  She was able to launch a side project, paving the way for her current role. Zillow Group’s diversity program began by reviewing how to build diverse points of view and people’s experiences into the organization, while shaping culture more intentionally. Rebekah also starting thinking about how she could use the Zillow platform to solve social issues like access for underserved populations to fair, affordable housing. This community work is her real passion.  Rebekah believes in setting employees up for success by removing barriers while affording autonomy. She benefited from this philosophy personally with her own side projects at Zillow Group. Based on the introduction of the Apple iPhone, she assisted on a project that led to the mobile Zillow application. When it launched, it got attention from Apple and gained fast popularity. Zillow Group created the formal mobile team and she became its first mobile product manager. This opened more doors for her career. In her Community and Culture Vice President role, Rebekah organizes and leads the Zillow Group team focused on equity and belonging, cultural engagement, housing stability, and social impact. She believes “power comes from combining these components together” into one unit. That team creates a space where everyone can bring their best selves to thrive at work. This includes  hiring diverse employees, and ensuring that after onboarding, they possess a strong sense of community. There are also affinity equity networks, and a team of “Equity and Belonging” ambassadors. The ambassadors receive tools, resources, and through those, offer support for “every employee in the community to apply an equity lens to their line of work.” Zillow Group is also encouraging internal mobility within the company, bringing everyone to a level playing field for success despite any past inequities in backgrounds. Rebekah believes no organization has proposed and implemented the perfect formula for leadership in diversity, community, inclusion, especially in corporate tech. Rebekah professes that she “love[s] problems that need to be solved that haven’t been totally figured out yet because that is what we do at Zillow Group, --- innovate! We need to be bringing everyone along.” More importantly, “everyone is on the equity and belonging team. It can’t be just one team of a few people doing this work for the company. We have to create systemic change.” Active prioritizing is key when there are so many ideas and directions for a team like this. Rebekah’s product manager experience/role comes into play as she handles the sheer backlog of potential projects that fall under this mission. The team examines metrics on where they are and where they are trying to go to select the most impactful projects aligned with overall strategy. Reviewing employee engagement can help, so she gets that data through various surveys. “In term of deciding the exact priority, you want to have a big vision of where you are trying to go. Zillow Group wants to create a space where every employee can be heard” and positively impact everyone with whom Zillow interacts. Zillow Group also created an internal pathways model called “get involved” so every Zillow team member can easily get immersed in equity and belonging, and give back, or just have fun. They use various technology and channels to share these opportunities. This work is exciting for Rebekah. For example, “Kids Day of Engineering” is an annual Zillow Group event where employees bring their children to participate in engineering activities. Another example is Zillow Group’s “Community Pillar” which takes the rental marketplace and allows individuals with credit or rental barriers find housing --- a great example of “incremental work that can be done on top of an existing product to create a new feature that can solve social issues.” Overall, the approach is to “creates pathways for everyone to get involved. We are really trying to channel all the passion and skills our employees have to do some great work.” Rebekah exclaimed. Rebekah believes every woman should “speak up and advocate” for herself  “asking for what she wants.” Her career breakthroughs began by simply asking. On the topic of balance, Rebekah finds times for things like aerial acrobatics as a “physical outlet, social outlet, and creative outlet.” Rebekah is a big fan of making a list to help her keep everything straight as a mother, leader, and philanthropist. Rebekah ended the Diva Tech Talk interview with one of favorite quotes, from the Girl Scouts:  “Leave it better than you found it.” She thinks that can be “applied to anything you are doing and is needed in our world today.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebekahbastian/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rebekah Bastian</a>, Vice President of Community and Culture at <a href="https://www.zillow.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Zillow</a> Group, leading efforts focused on equity and belonging, social impact and cultural engagement. Rebekah was one of Zillow Group's first employees, moving from Microsoft in 2005. She has spent over 13 years leading product development and evolving into her current role. Rebekah originally started as a music major, but shifted, reassessed, and went back to school taking courses at her local community college. This led to math and physics. Her epiphany was that “[she] can do well at anything [she] works hard at.” Rebekah has been proving that lesson to herself ever since. She encourages others to “work hard at things you enjoy, are passionate about, and things you are good at.” She transferred to the <a href="https://www.washington.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Washington</a> where she completed her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and continued on to <a href="https://www.berkeley.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">UC Berkley</a>, for a masters in that field. She applied to <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Microsoft</a>  and her work included development of the pervasive Outlook email platform.   Subsequently she found Zillow Group, which was in full start-up mode and working under the radar. She took a flyer because she had faith in the founders, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Barton" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rich Barton</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloyd-frink-94b2563/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lloyd Frink</a>, from their success with <a href="https://www.expedia.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Expedia</a>.  Ultimately, Rebekah loved the mission of Zillow Group, the ability to start something from scratch, and the chance to get experience with many different roles. She began working on the first version of the Zillow website, which has since become the largest real estate marketplace in the U.S. Rebekah worked on building product until about 8 years ago, when she was promoted into people management. As she progressed, leaders under her grew.  She was able to launch a side project, paving the way for her current role. Zillow Group’s diversity program began by reviewing how to build diverse points of view and people’s experiences into the organization, while shaping culture more intentionally. Rebekah also starting thinking about how she could use the Zillow platform to solve social issues like access for underserved populations to fair, affordable housing. This community work is her real passion.  Rebekah believes in setting employees up for success by removing barriers while affording autonomy. She benefited from this philosophy personally with her own side projects at Zillow Group. Based on the introduction of the Apple iPhone, she assisted on a project that led to the mobile Zillow application. When it launched, it got attention from Apple and gained fast popularity. Zillow Group created the formal mobile team and she became its first mobile product manager. This opened more doors for her career. In her Community and Culture Vice President role, Rebekah organizes and leads the Zillow Group team focused on equity and belonging, cultural engagement, housing stability, and social impact. She believes “power comes from combining these components together” into one unit. That team creates a space where everyone can bring their best selves to thrive at work. This includes  hiring diverse employees, and ensuring that after onboarding, they possess a strong sense of community. There are also affinity equity networks, and a team of “Equity and Belonging” ambassadors. The ambassadors receive tools, resources, and through those, offer support for “every employee in the community to apply an equity lens to their line of work.” Zillow Group is also encouraging internal mobility within the company, bringing everyone to a level playing field for success despite any past inequities in backgrounds. Rebekah believes no organization has proposed and implemented the perfect formula for leadership in diversity, community, inclusion, especially in corporate tech. Rebekah professes that she “love[s] problems that need to be solved that haven’t been totally figured out yet because that is what we do at Zillow Group, --- innovate! We need to be bringing everyone along.” More importantly, “everyone is on the equity and belonging team. It can’t be just one team of a few people doing this work for the company. We have to create systemic change.” Active prioritizing is key when there are so many ideas and directions for a team like this. Rebekah’s product manager experience/role comes into play as she handles the sheer backlog of potential projects that fall under this mission. The team examines metrics on where they are and where they are trying to go to select the most impactful projects aligned with overall strategy. Reviewing employee engagement can help, so she gets that data through various surveys. “In term of deciding the exact priority, you want to have a big vision of where you are trying to go. Zillow Group wants to create a space where every employee can be heard” and positively impact everyone with whom Zillow interacts. Zillow Group also created an internal pathways model called “get involved” so every Zillow team member can easily get immersed in equity and belonging, and give back, or just have fun. They use various technology and channels to share these opportunities. This work is exciting for Rebekah. For example, “Kids Day of Engineering” is an annual Zillow Group event where employees bring their children to participate in engineering activities. Another example is Zillow Group’s “Community Pillar” which takes the rental marketplace and allows individuals with credit or rental barriers find housing --- a great example of “incremental work that can be done on top of an existing product to create a new feature that can solve social issues.” Overall, the approach is to “creates pathways for everyone to get involved. We are really trying to channel all the passion and skills our employees have to do some great work.” Rebekah exclaimed. Rebekah believes every woman should “speak up and advocate” for herself  “asking for what she wants.” Her career breakthroughs began by simply asking. On the topic of balance, Rebekah finds times for things like aerial acrobatics as a “physical outlet, social outlet, and creative outlet.” Rebekah is a big fan of making a list to help her keep everything straight as a mother, leader, and philanthropist. Rebekah ended the Diva Tech Talk interview with one of favorite quotes, from the Girl Scouts:  “Leave it better than you found it.” She thinks that can be “applied to anything you are doing and is needed in our world today.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Ep 80: Rebekah Bastian: Leave it better than you found it

Kirsten Edmondson Wolfe

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Microsoft (www.microsoft.com)’s Senior Director, Industry Product Marketing, Cloud &amp; Enterprise, Kirsten Edmondson Wolfe. Passionate about politics, Kirsten graduated from the University of California, Davis in International Relations and Asian History, and then moved to D.C to work for an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) “whose job it was to help build democratic institutions in newly non-communist, countries.”  Kirsten’s watershed moment was in 1997. She was “standing at the rooftop bar of the Hotel Aryaduta in Jakarta, Indonesia while the Suharto government fell.”  She “watched students use technologies to film what was going on in the streets. These students brought down a totalitarian government, using cell phones.”  She said to herself: “Wow, I need to get into technology because if I’m going to truly change the world, it’s going to be through tech, not through politics.”   Kirsten resigned her job; went back to Thunderbird International Business School, obtaining an MBA in business marketing; got a job, at the height of the “dot.com implosion” at a large Massachusetts-based consulting company, SETA; and subsequently joined Computer Associates, now CA Technologies (www.ca.com). Kirsten’s initial role at CA was technology consulting focused on “how do we have the U.S. government invest in technology in developing countries so that we can bridge the gap.”  She recruited “a fantastic team” who took what CA was already selling to the U.S. government and “made it more impactful to their mission.”  In one year, Kirsten is proud that CA “went from not being in the Top 20 vendors in security for the U.S. government to #3, behind Symantec and IBM.” As a leader, Kirsten said “I learn every day.”   At CA, “the first thing I learned was that ‘all boats rise together’. It is about collaboration. I succeed as a leader when my team succeeds.”  In 2009, she moved to Deltek (www.deltek.com).  What attracted her was the newly-minted CEO “recruiting folks from other software companies to make Deltek more of a ‘player’ in ERP.”   But, Kirsten learned what she called “a really good life lesson: don’t jump too quick.”   She said: “I realized, about a year in, that I needed to find a company that I could be happy at.” So, Kirsten moved to Microsoft (www.microsoft.com/dynamics)  and concentrated on business applications.   Her Microsoft team works with engineering to “infuse industry requirements into the Microsoft platform.  I can fundamentally change where we go, as a company.  It’s opened a whole new set of opportunities.   This is the one company that if we can stitch all of our stuff together, we can do fantastic things in society.”   Kirsten’s advice to leaders:  “Surround yourself with great people.” “Listen.  Learn from other people.  Acknowledge that you don’t know everything.” “Admit when you are wrong, and that you screwed up.”  In her philanthropic life, Kirsten works on children’s issues through Donors Choose (https://www.donorschoose.org/). “It is an online network of educators,” she explained. Through it, “I help fund some innovative education programs in less successful school districts. My son and I just picked one, yesterday.” Speaking of her family, Kirsten acknowledged the difficulty of achieving life balance. “There’s a lot of non-traditional communication,” and use of innovative technology to make it all work.  She also commented, “at the end of the day, you have to be willing to shut off the laptop, and go for a bike ride!” She is “learning to walk away. I think gender roles, over the last 20 years, is allowing us to put the laptop down, and do things with your family.”  Kirsten strong parting words of inspiration are: “Keep the faith, keep driving. There has never been a better time to be a woman in tech.  We can actually, fundamentally change all of it.” For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Microsoft (<a>www.microsoft.com)’s</a> Senior Director, Industry Product Marketing, Cloud &amp; Enterprise, Kirsten Edmondson Wolfe. Passionate about politics, Kirsten graduated from the University of California, Davis in International Relations and Asian History, and then moved to D.C to work for an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) “whose job it was to help build democratic institutions in newly non-communist, countries.”  Kirsten’s watershed moment was in 1997. She was “standing at the rooftop bar of the Hotel Aryaduta in Jakarta, Indonesia while the Suharto government fell.”  She “watched students use technologies to film what was going on in the streets. These students brought down a totalitarian government, using cell phones.”  She said to herself: “Wow, I need to get into technology because if I’m going to truly change the world, it’s going to be through tech, not through politics.”   Kirsten resigned her job; went back to Thunderbird International Business School, obtaining an MBA in business marketing; got a job, at the height of the “<a href="http://dot.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">dot.com</a> implosion” at a large Massachusetts-based consulting company, SETA; and subsequently joined Computer Associates, now CA Technologies (<a href="http://www.ca.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.ca.com</a>). Kirsten’s initial role at CA was technology consulting focused on “how do we have the U.S. government invest in technology in developing countries so that we can bridge the gap.”  She recruited “a fantastic team” who took what CA was already selling to the U.S. government and “made it more impactful to their mission.”  In one year, Kirsten is proud that CA “went from not being in the Top 20 vendors in security for the U.S. government to #3, behind Symantec and IBM.” As a leader, Kirsten said “I learn every day.”   At CA, “the first thing I learned was that ‘all boats rise together’. It is about collaboration. I succeed as a leader when my team succeeds.”  In 2009, she moved to Deltek (<a href="http://www.deltek.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.deltek.com</a>).  What attracted her was the newly-minted CEO “recruiting folks from other software companies to make Deltek more of a ‘player’ in ERP.”   But, Kirsten learned what she called “a really good life lesson: don’t jump too quick.”   She said: “I realized, about a year in, that I needed to find a company that I could be happy at.” So, Kirsten moved to Microsoft (<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.microsoft.com/dynamics</a>)  and concentrated on business applications.   Her Microsoft team works with engineering to “infuse industry requirements into the Microsoft platform.  I can fundamentally change where we go, as a company.  It’s opened a whole new set of opportunities.   This is the one company that if we can stitch all of our stuff together, we can do fantastic things in society.”   Kirsten’s advice to leaders: <ul> <li>“Surround yourself with great people.”</li> <li>“Listen.  Learn from other people.  Acknowledge that you don’t know everything.”</li> <li>“Admit when you are wrong, and that you screwed up.”</li> </ul> In her philanthropic life, Kirsten works on children’s issues through Donors Choose (<a href="https://www.donorschoose.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.donorschoose.org/</a>). “It is an online network of educators,” she explained. Through it, “I help fund some innovative education programs in less successful school districts. My son and I just picked one, yesterday.” Speaking of her family, Kirsten acknowledged the difficulty of achieving life balance. “There’s a lot of non-traditional communication,” and use of innovative technology to make it all work.  She also commented, “at the end of the day, you have to be willing to shut off the laptop, and go for a bike ride!” She is “learning to walk away. I think gender roles, over the last 20 years, is allowing us to put the laptop down, and do things with your family.”  Kirsten strong parting words of inspiration are: “Keep the faith, keep driving. There has never been a better time to be a woman in tech.  We can actually, fundamentally change all of it.” For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/DivaTechTalks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@divatechtalks</a>, and on Facebook at <a href="http://four.libsyn.com/h" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Ep 51: Kirsten Edmondson Wolfe:  Tech Is The World Change Catalyst

Karla Thomas

Diva Tech chatted with Karla Thomas, DirectorIT, Global Cyber Security and Audit at Tower International. Tower is a Tier 1 leading global manufacturer of engineered automotive structural metal components and assemblies primarily serving original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs"). On the information technology team at Tower for 12 years, Karla has worked all over the globe and as well as throughout the United States. “All along, one of the things key to what I do is the ability to communicate with non-technical people, bridging that gap between IT and the business,” Karla said. She described a number of situations where that ability has been key, and where she had had to overcome challenges because of it. She recommended that professionals not “pigeonhole” themselves into “just understanding what you do. If you want to be successful, you have to  have your ears open,understand and listen to what the business is doing not just what IT is doing.” She also credits industry groups and conferences as ways to open up the mind. Karla’s advice foraspiringleaders is:  Develop a strong, firm,consistent, authentic personality “that you aren’t going to change.”(“As women, we are different in the way that we converse with people, inspire people, motivate people. Lead your way.”) Be willing to do what you ask your people to do. Ensure that you thank and recognize people. Be a conscious role model.  Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk.

Diva Tech chatted with Karla Thomas, DirectorIT, Global Cyber Security and Audit at Tower International. Tower is a Tier 1 leading global manufacturer of engineered automotive structural metal components and assemblies primarily serving original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs"). On the information technology team at Tower for 12 years, Karla has worked all over the globe and as well as throughout the United States. “All along, one of the things key to what I do is the ability to communicate with non-technical people, bridging that gap between IT and the business,” Karla said. She described a number of situations where that ability has been key, and where she had had to overcome challenges because of it. She recommended that professionals not “pigeonhole” themselves into “just understanding what you do. If you want to be successful, you have to  have your ears open,understand and listen to what the business is doing not just what IT is doing.” She also credits industry groups and conferences as ways to open up the mind. Karla’s advice foraspiringleaders is: <ul> <li>Develop a strong, firm,consistent, authentic personality “that you aren’t going to change.”(“As women, we are different in the way that we converse with people, inspire people, motivate people. Lead your way.”)</li> <li>Be willing to do what you ask your people to do.</li> <li>Ensure that you thank and recognize people.</li> <li>Be a conscious role model.</li> </ul> Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalk.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/divatechtalks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@divatechtalks</a>, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk</a>.

Ep 29: Karla Thomas: Leading Her Way in a Global Career 

Kanika Tolver

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Kanika Tolver, Washington, D.C. native, Founder and Product Manager at BrandDMV Inc., (http://branddmv.com/), a digital transformation agency that creates Digital Mobile Visuals. With a fascinating career in our nation’s capital, Kanika has consistently focused on improving U.S. government effectiveness.  Along the way, she has developed impressive technology proficiencies, while consistently connecting those skills to improving the “human experience.”  Kanika is also a career coach, author and mentor. From high school, Kanika was fascinated by the interconnectedness of the world.  “Initially my mom wanted me to be a pharmacist,” Kanika said. “But I said ‘no’ I want to go into computers! It was fun, to me, to be on the Internet.”   Kanika went to Bowie State University (https://www.bowiestate.edu/ where she majored in computer science, with a focus on Internet technology, programming in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.  “That’s when I started to say, ‘wow, I really love creating Webpages and Websites’.” She worked part-time at the U.S. Department of Urban and Housing Development  (https://www.hud.gov/) , while attending university. After college, Kanika’s first opportunity was at Verizon (www.verizon.com/ ) as a leader at their network control center in Virginia. Then she returned to government service, first working for 2.5 years as a SaaS developer for the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/  and then moved to the U.S. Department of Transportation (https://www.transportation.gov/ ). “That was where I really got into digital strategy,” she said. With a considerable tenure in the public sector, Kanika left in 2014 because “I had such an entrepreneurial spirit; I had an innovative way of thinking.” She was excited to take a role at Deloitte (www.deloitte.com/ ) and “learned the global aspect of business. “  In the private sector, for the first time, she faced the challenge of working in predominantly white male environments.  “I learned I had to ‘boss up’ “, Kanika said. “I had to come to the table with subject matter expertise. If I was going to have a seat at the table, I had to merge my personal brand as a woman of color with my technical experience.” Kanika has formed strong opinions about digital transformation. She believes it is less about the technology tools and “more about  people, processes, and structures.” She sees digital transformation as pervasive. “It encompasses social, cloud, security, data, and governance. As a tech community, we haven’t caught up with digital transformation.  It’s hard to get it right, because it’s so many pieces. And we work in silos, a lot.” Evaluating her own success, Kanika’s credits her penchant for collaboration, laser focus on her goals, fortitude, and fearlessness.  She also has changed her perspective, along the way. “Now I look at failures as accomplishments, rather than defeats,” she said. “If I learned something, and was able to move forward, it makes me a conqueror.” In addition to founding her company, Kanika is also the author of LIFE REHAB: DON’T OVERDOSE ON PAIN, PEOPLE, AND POWER written in 2013.  To assist others, Kanika authored this journey of self-discovery, which catalogued “letting go” of relationships which didn’t work, pain that was unnecessary, and superficial things which didn’t matter. Kanika is a strong proponent of in-person networking, supplementing online connections.  “For people who want to maximize their opportunities, it’s so important to go out and meet people at conferences, workshops, seminars” Additionally, she meets people regularly online, using tools like LinkedIn, including the  LinkedIn Groups function. She also gives back often through mentorship. “Mentoring shouldn’t be looked at as a job; it should come from a place of passion and purpose.”  Her advice for potential mentees is to concentrate on creating a meaningful relationship with potential mentors, before asking for assistance. In her own life, Kanika’s “dream team” of mentors are diverse, spanning fields, ages, races, and talents. Kanika is a champion of diversity in the tech field.  In 2014, she expressed her candid opinion of tech hiring in a CNN MONEY ECONOMY column entitled  “Google Should Hire Me” and said that Silicon Valley companies, in order to diversify, must “come out to where the people are,” including universities with large minority populations.  Kanika is planning to develop a diversity roadmap and publish it in a blog. It would include other diversification recommendations like companies should join alliances dedicated to diversity (like Black Girls Code); create a database of  HBCU’s and aim recruiting campaigns there;  and also make investments in early childhood STEM education programs focused on girls and minorities. Kanika recommends tools for keeping up-to-date in the fast-paced technology world.  She reads a minimum of one tech book per month. Her other tools include podcasts which focus on tech, Udemy, the technology learning site (https://www.udemy.com/ ), tech information sites like Tech Republic (https://www.techrepublic.com/) and meetups which connect a variety of diverse tech experts, in a networking environment. Kanika’s advice for other women is:  “DEMAND respect in a respectful way. You want to be firm in who you are. You have to take the high road.” Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses; capitalize on your strengths. To keep up, read a minimum of one or two focused articles per day. “Look for ‘virtual’ mentors,” if you can’t find the right kind of mentor, in-person.  Her overriding message to women is “just strive toward equality --- with pay, and opportunity. Keep moving forward; keep evaluating what culture fit is good for you.”  Her philosophy is “We need to evaluate what kinds of organizations work for us, so we can thrive.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Kanika Tolver, Washington, D.C. native, Founder and Product Manager at BrandDMV Inc., (<a href="http://branddmv.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://branddmv.com/</a>), a digital transformation agency that creates Digital Mobile Visuals. With a fascinating career in our nation’s capital, Kanika has consistently focused on improving U.S. government effectiveness.  Along the way, she has developed impressive technology proficiencies, while consistently connecting those skills to improving the “human experience.”  Kanika is also a career coach, author and mentor. From high school, Kanika was fascinated by the interconnectedness of the world.  “Initially my mom wanted me to be a pharmacist,” Kanika said. “But I said ‘no’ I want to go into computers! It was fun, to me, to be on the Internet.”   Kanika went to Bowie State University (<a href="https://www.bowiestate.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.bowiestate.edu/</a> where she majored in computer science, with a focus on Internet technology, programming in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.  “That’s when I started to say, ‘wow, I really love creating Webpages and Websites’.” She worked part-time at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/hud/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the U.S. Department of Urban and Housing Development</a>  (<a href="https://www.hud.gov/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.hud.gov/</a>) , while attending university. After college, Kanika’s first opportunity was at Verizon (<a href="http://www.verizon.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.verizon.com/</a> ) as a leader at their network control center in Virginia. Then she returned to government service, first working for 2.5 years as a SaaS developer for the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics (<a href="https://www.bls.gov/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.bls.gov/</a>  and then moved to the U.S. Department of Transportation (<a href="https://www.transportation.gov/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.transportation.gov/</a> ). “That was where I really got into digital strategy,” she said. With a considerable tenure in the public sector, Kanika left in 2014 because “I had such an entrepreneurial spirit; I had an innovative way of thinking.” She was excited to take a role at Deloitte (<a href="http://www.deloitte.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.deloitte.com/</a> ) and “learned the global aspect of business. “  In the private sector, for the first time, she faced the challenge of working in predominantly white male environments.  “I learned I had to ‘boss up’ “, Kanika said. “I had to come to the table with subject matter expertise. If I was going to have a seat at the table, I had to merge my personal brand as a woman of color with my technical experience.” Kanika has formed strong opinions about digital transformation. She believes it is less about the technology tools and “more about  people, processes, and structures.” She sees digital transformation as pervasive. “It encompasses social, cloud, security, data, and governance. As a tech community, we haven’t caught up with digital transformation.  It’s hard to get it right, because it’s so many pieces. And we work in silos, a lot.” Evaluating her own success, Kanika’s credits her penchant for collaboration, laser focus on her goals, fortitude, and fearlessness.  She also has changed her perspective, along the way. “Now I look at failures as accomplishments, rather than defeats,” she said. “If I learned something, and was able to move forward, it makes me a conqueror.” In addition to founding her company, Kanika is also the author of <a href="https://kanikatolver.com/shop/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LIFE REHAB: DON’T OVERDOSE ON PAIN, PEOPLE, AND POWER</a> written in 2013.  To assist others, Kanika authored this journey of self-discovery, which catalogued “letting go” of relationships which didn’t work, pain that was unnecessary, and superficial things which didn’t matter. Kanika is a strong proponent of in-person networking, supplementing online connections.  “For people who want to maximize their opportunities, it’s so important to go out and meet people at conferences, workshops, seminars” Additionally, she meets people regularly online, using tools like <a href="http://www.linkedin.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>, including the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/186/finding-and-joining-a-linkedin-group?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> LinkedIn Groups function</a>. She also gives back often through mentorship. “Mentoring shouldn’t be looked at as a job; it should come from a place of passion and purpose.”  Her advice for potential mentees is to concentrate on creating a meaningful relationship with potential mentors, before asking for assistance. In her own life, Kanika’s “dream team” of mentors are diverse, spanning fields, ages, races, and talents. Kanika is a champion of diversity in the tech field.  In 2014, she expressed her candid opinion of tech hiring in a CNN MONEY ECONOMY column entitled <a href="https://money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/2014/06/10/google-diversity/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> “Google Should Hire Me</a>” and said that Silicon Valley companies, in order to diversify, must “come out to where the people are,” including universities with large minority populations.  Kanika is planning to develop a diversity roadmap and publish it in a blog. It would include other diversification recommendations like companies should join alliances dedicated to diversity (like <a href="http://www.blackgirlscode.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Black Girls Code</a>); create a database of <a href="https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> HBCU</a>’s and aim recruiting campaigns there;  and also make investments in early childhood STEM education programs focused on girls and minorities. Kanika recommends tools for keeping up-to-date in the fast-paced technology world.  She reads a minimum of one tech book per month. Her other tools include podcasts which focus on tech, Udemy, the technology learning site (<a href="https://www.udemy.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.udemy.com/</a> ), tech information sites like Tech Republic (<a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.techrepublic.com/</a>) and <a href="https://www.meetup.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">meetups</a> which connect a variety of diverse tech experts, in a networking environment. Kanika’s advice for other women is: <ul> <li>“DEMAND respect in a respectful way. You want to be firm in who you are. You have to take the high road.”</li> <li>Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses; capitalize on your strengths.</li> <li>To keep up, read a minimum of one or two focused articles per day.</li> <li>“Look for ‘virtual’ mentors,” if you can’t find the right kind of mentor, in-person.</li> </ul> Her overriding message to women is “just strive toward equality --- with pay, and opportunity. Keep moving forward; keep evaluating what culture fit is good for you.”  Her philosophy is “We need to evaluate what kinds of organizations work for us, so we can thrive.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher and provide an online review.

Ep 70: Kanika Tolver: Find Your Authentic Self

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