Enjoy this podcast replay: This week's guest is Jennifer Buchholz, the Founder of Excel and Flourish - a corporate technical training company. Jennifer helps organizations, teams, and individuals leverage their technology to save time, increase productivity, and reduce frustrations. Today we talk about Jennifer's early experiences with technology and how her childhood helped shape her career path in tech training. We also talk about the importance of taking ownership as a woman in technology to accomplish the tasks at hand. You can learn more about Excel & Flourish here: https://www.excelandflourish.com/ Thank you for listening; we hope Jennifer's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career.

Enjoy this podcast replay: This week's guest is Heather Doran, Chief of Staff for Business Applications Marketing & Global Industry at Microsoft. Heather is an enthusiastic leader with a proven record of implementing high-performing marketing, operations, and event strategies. She has an innate ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams to successfully develop a vision based on customer-focused insights and data that delivers results. Today we talk about Heather's move into the tech industry and how she moved her way up through the ranks at Microsoft. We also talk about how women can find success and break down barriers in a male-dominated industry. Thank you for listening; we hope Heather's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career. Career Update: As head of Business Operations for Commercial Cloud & AI Marketing, I lead operational excellence at the center of product, marketing, and technology. My impact spans across organizational strategy, financial management, and operational enablement. In my role, I am an agent of change management, organizational design and thriving team cultures. My focus is driving operational efficiency at scale while influencing business growth and meaningful value creation. I partner across Microsoft’s senior leadership teams to improve quality, delivery and value, while optimizing to accelerate our AI transformation. I am known as an enthusiastic leader with a proven record of leading successful teams to drive business strategy, operations, rhythms of business, spend optimization and organizational efficiency across cloud & AI. I have an innate ability to inspire teams, collaborate cross-functionally, and successfully deliver business results at scale. My responsibilities include successful management of $500M+ marketing budget, discipline in portfolio management and optimization, and commitment to creating marketing excellence and growth-oriented team cultures that are marked by collaboration, growth mindset, accountability, and integrity. Specialties: business operations, executive communications, financial management, portfolio planning, product marketing, events, organizational design, change management, and inclusive team cultures. Known for high professional standards, attention to detail, inspirational leadership, inclusive teams and high impact.

Enjoy this Podcast Replay: This week's guest is Cynthia Meinke, a Senior Account Executive with New Era Technologies - a global managed technology solutions provider. They are trusted advisers to more than 9,000 customers worldwide and provide a seamless blend of solutions that securely connect people, places, and information in a rapidly changing digital world. Cynthia passionately embraces partnering with her clients to deliver an exceptional customer experience with every interaction through high-velocity and elegant innovation to push revenue growth up while driving costs down through improved business processes and operational excellence. Today we talk about Cynthia's career journey and how her early years in the foster system helped develop her into a strong-willed leader who wanted more in life. Cynthia saw that computers and technology could help her provide not only for herself but her family as well. She 'cut her teeth' early on by repairing various systems and eventually saw her opportunity in tech sales. Her career growth has led her to New Era, where she is a Senior Sales Executive. Listen to today's episode to learn more about Cynthia's remarkable story. Learn more about New Era Technology here: https://www.neweratech.com/us/ Thank you - we hope Cynthia's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career. Professional update: As a certified healthcare consultant, helps healthcare organizations across the nation improve patient care and save costs by utilizing virtualization technologies to automate meaningful clinical workflows.Specialties: Virtualization Technologies, Healthcare Meaningful Use Automation, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management, Cultivating Business Relationships  

Enjoy this conversation between Jennifer Didier and Jeff Butler from Cask Canada.  Jeff tells us about the foundations of how Cask was founded and grown into the company it is today. Jeff Butler Bio: At Cask Canada, I am the General Manager of the most awarded pure-play ServiceNow partner in the world. I bring over six years of experience in the ServiceNow ecosystem, where I have helped clients and prospects achieve their digital transformation goals by planning and implementing the ServiceNow platform to deliver business value and reduce costs.I am passionate about developing long-term trusted relationships with clients and strategic alliance partners, leveraging my skills in new business development, customer relationship management, and channel strategy. I have successfully managed and grown the ServiceNow practice and alliance at KPMG Canada and Kyndryl, where I was responsible for generating over $50 million in revenue and delivering over 40 projects across various industries and sectors. I am committed to delivering excellence, innovation, and value to my clients.

Enjoy this podcast replay: Jennifer Didier interviews Samantha Bufton on how she has leveraged her skills to assist her in building her career.  Her journey will take us from her arts and English literature start to COO of Poppulo.  A little more information about Samantha Bufton: Highly-accomplished business, product, and innovation leader adept at growing global business lines via sophisticated B2C/B2B, product, and technology strategies. Over 20 years of success driving transformational growth for organizations of all sizes. Career Update: Samantha Bufton is not Operating Executive at Silver Lake. Be sure to connect with her on LinkedIN.

Enjoy this podcast replay: Join Jennifer Didier and Danica Bunnett as they discuss the operations of Bluon.  Danica will share how her childhood experiences have helped to find her passion and use it to build Bluon to it's current status in the marketplace.  Danica Bunnett Bio: As Bluon’s Chief Operating Officer, Danica manages the day-to-day operations of Bluon, a rapidly growing technology company in the HVAC space that has grown from 30 people to 130 in just over a year. As is typical in a company of Bluon’s size, Danica directly oversees several critical teams while working hand in glove with managers on several others.  Danica is a true hands-on manager and player coach, who utilizes her unique skill set to manage a diverse group of technicians, professionals and software engineers with equal skill, grace and authority. Danica has been with Bluon from the virtual beginning and has been instrumental in its growth as well as its one-of-a-kind culture. In many ways, Bluon is a direct reflection of Danica and her unworldly work ethic, unmatched enthusiasm, seemingly always positive attitude and direct style of communication. She is a graduate of Stanford University with a Bachelors in Product Design Mechanical Engineering. She was also the co-president of Stanford Women in Design (SWID) and believes in bridging Silicon Valley's high-tech innovation with the HVAC world. Career Update: Danica pulls from her background in human-centered design and engineering to help grow and scale Bluon. She brings a fresh perspective and unmatched enthusiasm to improve the execution and operational capabilities across the business. Danica is a graduate of Stanford University with a Bachelor’s in Product Design. As a Lake Tahoe native with deep connection to the outdoors, Danica has always had a strong interest in sustainable technologies and improving the world through innovation. Danica has recently join Chief Member.  You can connect with her on LinkedIN.

Jennifer Didier sits down with co-founder of Kumospace Brett Martin.  Listen to their conversation about the changes that are available in the digital workspace. (Virtual Office) Brett Martin Bio: I am an entrepreneur, angel investor, pragmatist, and optimist. Having spent most of my career in the startup trenches, I now focus on supporting other entrepreneurs as Managing Partner of a small seed-stage venture fund: Charge Ventures. Charge is a NYC-based pre-seed/seed stage venture fund. We invest 200-500k at the earliest stages of company formation and then help founders take things from 0 to 1.When not working directly with startups, I spread the startup gospel as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. My teaching focuses on product strategy and entrepreneurial finance but also have a few war stories to tell, having co-founded Switch, a mobile job discovery application, and Sonar, a location-based social network. I began my career on Wall Street as an equity research associate.In my spare time, I've been fortunate enough to write for Harvard Business review, launch a little website called Vice, found a rock band, and sail thousands of miles on a 30ft sailboat. Brett’s Profile linkedin.com/in/brettlucasmartin Twitter brett1211

Enjoy this podcast replay: Join Jennifer Didier and she speaks to Nimia Amaya. They will discuss the importance of education and the need to have confidence, even it it takes you in a different direction than you thought. Bio for Nimia Amaya: Nimia Amaya is the Demand Generation Director at Younium. A digital mediaand marketing professional with expertise in the North American and LatinAmerican markets. She holds a BA in Broadcast Media from theUniversity of North Texas and has worked with brands such as UnivisionCommunications, Verizon, Levi’s, Macy’s, and Cedar Fair Entertainment. Sheresides in Dallas, TX with her 9-year-old daughter. Update on Nimia Amaya: As an award-winning bilingual marketing and demand generation leader with over 10 years of experience in B2B SaaS, I’ve led marketing efforts for global tech companies based in Sweden, France, and the U.S., specializing in demand generation across the North American and Latin American markets. In my roles, I’ve developed strategies from the ground up, driven revenue growth, and managed multi-million dollar budgets. I’ve also led cross-functional teams with staff in the U.S., Mexico, France, and Sweden, giving me a deep understanding of how to execute high-impact campaigns across geographies. My experience in high-growth startups allows me to adapt quickly, and my data-driven, customer-centric approach ensures that the strategies I implement deliver results aligned with both business and market needs. She currently works at Triple Whale as a Lifecycle Marketing Manager.

Today Jennifer Didier is joined by Shannon Reedy from TeraKeet.  Shannon shares her journey from school up the ladder to help put in better practices for TeraKeet employees. These practices have helped TeraKeet to embrace Women in Technology and assist in bringing them work-life balance.    More on Shannon Reedy: Shannon Reedy Chief Revenue Officer Shannon Reedy is the Chief Revenue Officer at Terakeet, the Fortune 500's preferred owned asset optimization (OAO) partner for strengthening brand and consumer connections online. With a demonstrated history of leadership, data analysis, and results-driven business development, Shannon has helped Terakeet, as well as its global customers, achieve breakthrough performances. As CRO, Shannon guides Terakeet’s company growth and revenue-generating processes, including sales, marketing, and client success strategies, which have collectively driven 66% more revenue under her leadership.

Join Jennifer Didier and Amy Beckley with a very frank conversation about fertility and some of her personal experiences with the currently available options.  Amy got tired of the process and decided to take actions into her own hands.   Bio for Amy Beckley: Many of our listeners are silently struggling with infertility. From mixed messaging in media to fear of failure, people often struggle to find the right path forward in their fertility journey. Amy Beckley is Founder and CEO of Proov.  She went through the exact same challenges and has used her experience to craft an accessible solution. For Amy and many others, the key to becoming pregnant was deceptively simple: learning about hormones, their individual functions, and how to keep them balanced. This knowledge completely changed Amy’s approach to fertility - ultimately resulting in the birth of her second child!

Enjoy this podcast replay: Jennifer Didier and Stephanie Shreve have a great conversation about the ELITE group that finds ways to empower other Women and the next generation of women to join the world of technology.  A little more about Stephanie Shreve: Stephanie Shreve currently is the Chief Marketing Officer at PowerChord, Inc. She is a software and digital marketing executive with 20+ years experience leading high performing teams to support global brands and strategic partners. With a track-record of performance, her goal is to build strong relationships with customers to create solutions that drive business results. She embraces opportunities presented by emerging technologies to reach new markets and grow business.  

Join Jennifer Didier as she interviews President of Cask NX, Stacey Fournier-Thibodaux.  They will be discussing the many facets of AI, including how it is and will continue to affect culture. Bio: Stacey Fournier-Thibodaux serves as the President of Cask NX, a leading ServiceNow consulting and implementation partner. Under her leadership, Cask NX drives transformative initiatives for clients leveraging ServiceNow to automate and reshape their business processes, elevate technology strategies, and foster innovative workplace cultures. With over 20 years of experience, she has delivered innovative solutions and operational excellence for Fortune 200 companies while championing strategic growth and customer success. A passionate advocate for women in tech, Stacey is dedicated to empowering the next generation of leaders to thrive in the evolving landscape of the AI era.

Enjoy this podcast replay: This week's guest is Deanna Emery, a Lead Data Scientist at Aon - a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, reinsurance, retirement, and health solutions. In addition to her work as a Lead Data Scientist, Deanna heads a Sprinternship Program that focuses on growing women and non-binary presence in the STEM fields. Today we talk about Deanna's jump from Astrophysics to becoming a Lead Data Scientist at Aon. Deanna also shares her experiences with growing women's presence in the industry. This focus on increasing women's presence is centered around the Sprintership Program Sponsored by Break Through Tech Chicago and Aon. The project they worked on this year revolved around building out diversity solutions for inventors and creators. Thank you for listening; we hope Deanna's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career. Update on Deanna's career: Founding AI Researcher at Quotient AI | Associate Board Member at Illinois Science and Technology Coalition  You can still reach her on LinkedIN.

Enjoy this podcast replay: Join Jennifer and Laura Bell Main as they talk about the importance of Software security.  Software security is not just a business challenge, but a challenge for home computer users as well.  Laura Bell Main shares some great insights and tips that everyone can use to have a safer online experience. A little more about Laura Bell Main: Laura Bell Main specializes in securing some of Australia andNew Zealand’s fastest-growing organizations. She has overtwenty years of experience in software development andinformation security. It's her mission and passion to bringsecurity into organizations of every shape and size.Laura is the founder and CEO of SafeStack Academy, anonline education platform offering flexible, high-quality, andpeople-focused, secure development training for fastmoving companies, with a focus on building security skills,practices, and culture across the entire engineering team.SafeStack is a value’s driven company on a mission to makecybersecurity accessible for everyone and any organization.“To protect each one of us, we must protect all of us”This is the underpinning belief that drives Laura. Hercompany pushing hard into this issue by attempting to trainall of our organisations, big and small. Through free plans,student sponsorships and sponsored communities, she isworking towards a future where we no longer spend 99% ofour security resources on 1% of our organizations.She is an experienced conference speaker, trainer, andregular panel member, and has spoken at a range of eventssuch as BlackHat USA, Velocity, and OSCON on the subjectsof privacy, covert communications, agile security, and securitymindset. She is also the co-author of Agile ApplicationSecurity and Security for Everyone.

Enjoy this podcast replay: Caley Adams is the Founder & Creative Director of Wildes District, an NYC-based design studio that specializes in emerging women's and e-commerce brands. Wildes District works closely with founders to build meaningful experiences that span multiple touchpoints — including brand, web, app, print, packaging, and more. In today's episode, Caley discusses the importance of branding, her challenges, and being an entrepreneur along with motherhood.  You can find out more about Caley on her website and be sure to follow her on Instagram.  We hope you enjoyed today's chat with Caley and her advice on branding. 

Enjoy the podcast replay. Jennifer Didier speaks with Hayden Orme as she shares how she left the corporate world to become an entrepreneur.  In this process she has developed a system to help individuals as well as companies find their life, work balance. Hayden Orme Bio: I am the Founder of Handled. By Hayden & Co., as well as a speaker, two-time international bestselling author, award-winning leader, and a 50 Ton Master Merchant Mariner Captain. I have a top-notch team of Executive Assistants, all with years of extensive experience, providing business elevation and optimization services to small business owners and C-suite leaders in a variety of industries. I bring with me more than 13 years of experience supporting top executives in major health and tech companies, including Brightcove, Novartis, and McKesson, before starting HBH & Co. Today, I focus on giving our clients more time and freedom so they can efficiently advance their business and mission, instead of drowning in their inboxes, calendars, and tortuous daily tasks. I believe that burnout is not a status symbol, and leaders do not need to suffer to succeed. Rather, with the right, strategic, high-touch support, it is possible to change the culture and create sustainable growth and holistic success as Empowered Leaders in both life and business. https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayden-orme-84459b11/

Enjoy this podcast replay: Jennifer Didier gets to know Weili Dai. Hear their conversation about Understanding how to make next-genConversational AI in the metaverse a reality. Weili Bai Bio: Weili Dai is one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in the world. Widely considered atechnology visionary, she is the only woman Co-Founder of a global semiconductor company,Marvell Technology Group. For her contributions to technology and society, Newsweek named Ms.Dai one of the “150 Women Who Shake the World” and was profiled by CNN International for theLeading Women Series: Leading the Female Tech Charge, Leading Women Principles Fair and Care,Educating for Future Success, and Leading Women Inspire Others.Forbes Magazine listed Ms. Dai as one of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” and 2021’s“America’s Richest Self-Made Women”. The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) recognized Ms. Daialong with her husband Dr. Sehat Sutardja, Co-Founder and former CEO of Marvell, with theprestigious 2013 Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award, selected due to their exceptionalsuccess in creating Marvell, their individual contributions to today’s modern semiconductor age, aswell as the talents and expertise they’ve continuously leveraged to address and overcome pressingglobal issues like education and smart energy. Ms. Dai was also named to the prestigiousCommittee of 100, an organization representing the most-influential Chinese Americans.Weili Dai holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of California atBerkeley. In recognition of their generosity, her alma mater named Sutardja Dai Hall for Ms. Dai alongwith her husband Sehat Sutardja. Sutardja Dai Hall is home to the Center for Information TechnologyResearch in the Interest of Society (CITRIS). Celebrated as the glue behind her companies, familyand community, Ms. Dai is the proud mother of two sons, Christopher and Nicholas who bothreceived their Ph.D degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley. Ms. Daiwas selected as the first woman commencement speaker for the University of California, Berkeley,College of Engineering graduation ceremony on May 12, 2012.Ms. Dai is the Chairwoman of Lark Health through which she has become a powerful advocate forthe better use of technology to improve the human condition. Ms. Dai continues to have a relentlesspassion to innovate through her various active roles in semiconductor technology and softwarecompanies, including FLC Technology as the Co-Founder and President and Meetkai, as theCo-Founder and Executive Chairwoman where she is leading the charge to make next-genConversational AI in the metaverse a reality.

Jennifer Didier interviews Ann Garnier. They discuss Ann's exit from being a healthcare employee to opening a business that collects the necessary data needed to further healthcare for all women.  She also shares about her journey and tools that help her to be confident and successful as a woman in technology. Ann Garnier Bio: Ann Garnier, the co-founder and CEO of Lisa Health, is a seasoned healthcare leader andoperator, helping to create, launch, and scale innovative tech companies and productsthat have improved patient outcomes and access to care. Prior to Lisa Health, Ann wasCOO at CarePayment, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Operations at RelayHealth(McKesson), and Vice President, Strategy and Marketing for Paradigm Health (Optum).She is passionate about using technology to transform women’s health, advancingresearch on menopause and healthy aging, and helping women thrive in midlife andcelebrate the start of something great.

Enjoy this Podcast Replay: Leelila Strogov is the Founder and CEO of AtomicMind, an education technology company offering families a boutique coaching experience that prepares students to become “wow candidates” in the increasingly competitive college admissions landscape. Leelila earned her Bachelor of Science degree from MIT and, with dual interests in the humanities and sciences, works with students around the world. As a former journalist, Leelila employs her interest in people and storytelling to students, helping them develop the tools and mindset that enables their success, and assisting families as they navigate college admissions. Today, Leelila talks about her passion in helping students get into top colleges through her background in journaling and storytelling.  You can learn more at atomicmind.com.  We hope you enjoyed listening to Leelila and her mission.   

Enjoy this replay: This week's guest is Anne Bathel, CEO and co-founder of ReDI School of Digital Integration. In 2006 Anne graduated from KaosPilot in Denmark, a hybrid of a business and a design school. From 2006-2009, she worked as a corporate social responsibility consultant. While in this role, Anne developed and implemented Samsung Electronics' award-winning corporate social responsibility strategy for Scandinavia. Anne eventually moved to Japan, where she spent two years researching open social innovation and received the prestigious Rotary Peace Fellowship. In 2012, she moved to Berlin to set up the Berlin Peace Innovation Lab in association with Stanford University. The lab focuses on how technology is facilitating emerging and measurable social change toward global peace. In 2015, in response to the refugee crises, Anne co-founded ReDI School of Digital Integration, a vocational training program teaching programming and tech skills to refugees and marginalized people. ReDI is currently teaching 1500+ adults and kids per year. 65% of these are women and girls. Anne was recognized by Edition F as one of "25 Women" revolutionizing German industry and by Handelsblatt as "Mutmacher of the Year" (2018). She was awarded Best Female Social Entrepreneur of the year in Germany 2020 Thank you for listening; we hope Anne's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career. Guest Update: Anne is CEO and co-founder ReDI School of Digital Integration. She is a 2006 graduate from KaosPilot in Denmark, a hybrid of a business and a design school. From 2006-2009, she worked as a corporate social responsibility consultant. In that capacity, she developed and implemented Samsung Electronics’ award-winning corporate social responsibility strategy for Scandinavia. In July 2010, Anne moved to Japan, where she spent 2 years researching open social innovation and received the prestigious Rotary Peace Fellowship. She wrote her master thesis in Silicon Valley with OpenIDEO. In 2012, she moved to Berlin to set up the Berlin Peace Innovation Lab, which is associated with Stanford University. The lab focuses on how technology is facilitating emerging and measurable social change toward global peace. In 2015, in response to the refugee crises, Anne co-founded ReDI School of Digital Integration, a vocational training program teaching programming and tech skills to refugees and marginalised people. ReDI is teaching 8000+ adults and kids per year. 65% of these identify as female.Anne was recognised by Edition F as one of "25 Women" revolutionising German industry and by Handelsblatt as "Mutmacher of the Year"(2018). She was awarded Best Female Social Entrepreneur of the year in Germany 2020, Ashoka Fellow in 2021 and German CIO of the Year “Digital Future” 2023. In addition she served as jury member of iF Design SOCIAL IMPACT PRIZE 2023, Preis für digitales Miteinander 2023 and “10.000 Tage” by Project Together.