Tech in the Right Direction

Age Is Not A Factor

Join Jennifer Didier and Maggie Reed as they discuss joining the technology industry a little later in Life.  Faced with a health disability Maggie strives for the fullness of life through her career. 
Bio:
Maggie Reed’s journey as a working woman has been defined by her relentless pursuit of personal and professional growth, fueled by a thirst for knowledge and a readiness to adapt to new technologies. After overcoming a chronic illness that left her bedridden for over two years, she fearlessly re-entered the workforce at the age of 53, forging a successful career in Technology.
 Today, Maggie holds the prestigious position of Sr. Customer Success Manager & Engagement Lead at a Fortune Global 500 company.  In addition to excelling in her role, she actively mentors other women within the organization, and holds leadership positions on committees dedicated to advancing the causes of Women in the Workforce and Women in Technology.
 Passionate about promoting women's issues, Maggie leads discussions to find solutions for the challenges faced by women in the technology industry. Her unwavering commitment to gender equality and inclusivity serves as an inspiration to her colleagues and peers.
 
Reach Maggie at Pearlpower61@gmail.com and on twitter @pearlpower61
 

Building Confidence by Leveraging Your Skills and Reframing Them.

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.
Be sure to connect with her on LinkedIN.

Seeing Opportunity in Small Beginnings

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.

A Serial Innovator’s Journey Through Tech

Arlene Harris is an award-winning innovator and founder of several companies including GreatCall, maker of the Jitterbug cellular phone and service now owned by BestBuy. Having grown up in a wireless family business, she started working with computers in the late 60’s and has spent the next five decades at the intersection of wireless and computing. Arlene share’s her journey through the Tech Industry, the struggles she’s experienced finding financing for her big ideas in addition to being one of few in her industry and where she is today. Her newest innovation, launching soon, is a family home management system called Rosy, a private console that will help families manage and support their multi-generational homes. Tune in to hear an inspiring story of a woman defying the odds while facing discrimination, and why she believes women are the future of tech.

Importance of Diversity

As Vice President of Product Management, Liz Ronco is responsible for Spiceworks Ziff Davis’ (SWZD) global product offering, including omnichannel marketing offerings and a comprehensive suite of B2B experiences that enable technology professionals to make the best decisions for their businesses. Liz joined SWZD in 2018 and quickly established new data-driven experiences and products to help businesses and technology providers make better decisions. She’s continued transforming SWZD’s product offering beyond data to optimize existing products and technology to build a product roadmap that maximizes value for end-users and brands - ultimately creating the framework for authentic connections between technology buyers and sellers.  
 
Today we talk about Liz’s leadership style, boundaries, and the importance of diversity in the tech world. 
Learn more about Liz HERE. (https://www.linkedin.com/company/spiceworks-ziff-davis/)
Thank you for listening. We hope Liz inspires you in your tech journey. 

How Experienced Leaders Can Make Real Change in Today’s World

This week's guest is Gavriella Schuster, the founding sponsor of Women in Cloud and the Women in Technology Network. She currently sits on the board of both, along with being a board member of ChinaSoft International, IAMCP, and the University of Washington Bothell. Last year she gave a TEDx speech on "Gender Equity," where she launched her "Become Framework." As an Athena International Global Leadership Award winner and a former Corporate VP at Microsoft, Gavriella knows what it takes to make significant changes for women in tech.
Today we talk about Gavriella's career journey and how she rose through the ranks at Microsoft as a woman in tech. Being at Microsoft for 25+ years, she reached an executive-level position by continuing to build on her knowledge and experiences to stand out from the rest. We also talk about her passion for growing women's presence in the industry and how she's turning that passion into real-world change through the various projects she helps manage. Finally, we talk about exposing the problems facing diversity, equity, and inclusion within the tech industry and how we can all help solve them.
Learn more about Gavriella and the organizations she's involved with by following her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavriella-schuster/
Thank you for listening; we hope Gavriella's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career.

Enhancing the Human Experience with Technology

This week's guest is Sarah Haggard, the Founder and CEO of Tribute− a peer-to-peer mentorship platform available in Slack and Teams that enhances team collaboration, learning, and productivity by creating real-time access to knowledge sharing via micro-mentorship. Sarah is an innovative people and business leader who has led multiple start-up initiatives within her decade-long career in Product Marketing at Microsoft, raising $40M to scale her last business. She is an expert in P&L management, enterprise software, and GTM strategy. Her tenacity and drive for results led to her being widely recognized as a turnaround expert and new business incubator.
Today we talk about Sarah's non-traditional route that started in social work and how this evolved into a career in technology. Sarah also shares how technology is helping shape entrepreneurship and how it can help individuals find the mentoring they need.
Thank you for listening; we hope Sarah's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career.

How We Can Put Bias Aside to Create a Better Future

This week's guest is Veronica Place, an Account Manager at GenCare, a division of General Networks - an organization that delivers technology consulting and managed services for customers who need to collect and process business-critical information. Veronica is passionate about bringing individuals together and whose key strength is coaching people to their potential.
In today's episode, we talk about Veronica's career journey and how it led her to her current position within GenCare. We also discuss Veronica's involvement with non-profits and her passion for creating a more diverse, equal, and inclusive world. Finally, we take the conversation further into how we can put our biases aside to create a better future for the generations to come.
You can learn more about GenCare here: https://gencarenow.com/
We hope Veronica's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career.