Tech in the Right Direction

Growing Your Network: How it Can Benefit You

This week's guest is Beth Bridges, a networking motivator who has run over 2,500 networking events over a ten-year span. She is the author of "Networking on Purpose," which focuses on networking strategy and how it helps grow businesses. Beth is now focusing on taking networking to the virtual world with her nine-minute network training courses. Beth is also the Chief Networking Officer for Blitzr.com, a networking platform that combines traditional one-on-one networking with the digital realm.
Beth has an extensive background in marketing and networking. Early on in her career, her niche was traditional marketing, but the digital world was right around the corner and Beth knew she had to develop her skills. She worked on these skills independently by writing HTML and then developed into a full-on digital marketing guru. This growth set Beth up for success in digital marketing and helped her grow her network within the business world. Beth credits networking with helping grow her career and knows that she couldn't have made it to where she is today without a little help from her networking friends.
Thank you for listening; we hope Beth's story helps inspire others to grow their network and see the benefits of leaning on other professionals. If you would like to learn more about Beth and her company, Visit their site: https://blitzr.com/
Learn more about her book here: https://thenetworkingmotivator.com/

Startup from the Ground Up

This week's guest is Lori McColl, the CEO and Founder of Whim-Detroit, a technology startup and digital transformation group that focuses on implementing agile solutions. She is passionate about sharing her experience in the tech industry and growing a new business. Lori has been a guest speaker at several events, including the future of retail and social movements at the Women's Convention, Social Media Week, Planet M IoT Connect, and Detroit Start-up Week.
Lori has taken a customer-focused approach to growing her business. This focus on client needs has allowed her to build trust, which gives her the ability to innovate and develop projects quickly. This approach has been central to the culture of Whim-Detroit and has allowed them to grow into the successful business they are today.
To learn more about Lori and Whim-Detroit, visit their site here: https://www.whim-detroit.com/
Thank you for listening; we hope Lori's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career.

Overcoming Obstacles and Self-Doubt to Drive Change

This week's guest is Jane Wiseman, CEO of the Institute for Excellence in Government. This consulting services organization helps state and local government clients with strategy development, policy analysis, program implementation, and performance management. Jane is a seasoned government innovation and data analytics thought leader, strategy consultant, and experienced board member for social enterprises and non-profits.
Today we talk about Jane's move into the tech industry and how she became an executive-level leader within her organization. We also talk about how women can drive change in male-dominated industries by overcoming their self-doubt and knocking down obstacles.
Thank you for listening; we hope Jane's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career.

Taking Ownership

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.

Women In Tech: Finding Your Purpose

This week's guest is Ayumi Moore Aoki, the Founder and CEO of WOMEN IN TECH - a leading global organization whose mission is to empower and grow women and girls’ presence in STEM. The organization focuses on four primary areas that are a call for action: Education, Entrepreneurialism, Social Inclusion, Science & Research. The aim is to educate, equip and empower women and girls with the necessary skills and confidence to succeed in STEM careers. She is also the Founder and CEO of the award-winning agency Social Brain® and the Co-Founder of HER Digital Academy.
Today we talk about Ayumi's early years in business and how she eventually transitioned from a career in marketing to finding her purpose with a career in technology. Ayumi was fully immersed in technology - learning to code, build websites, and create apps. During this time, Ayumi learned about the ever-widening gap between women and men within the tech industry. To help close this gap, Ayumi founded Social Brain, WOMEN IN TECH, and HER Digital Academy with the focus of empowering and lifting women up.
Learn more about Ayumi and WOMEN IN TECH here: https://women-in-tech.org/
Thank you for listening; we hope Ayumi's story helps inspire others to grow their tech career.

MENtors that Make a Difference Featuring Vince Menzione

This week on our MENtors that Make a Difference segment is Vince Menzione, an award-winning business leader who has delivered and advanced four successful business transformations by embracing disruptive technology and building successful partnerships to transform organizations. 
Today we talk about Vince's career journey and how it can be summed up into four business transformations that have culminated into the start of his very own podcast. We also talk about the changes happening in tech with regard to women's influence in the industry and how male allies can help support their female counterparts.
Vince also hosts the successful Ultimate Guide to Partnering Podcast, where he spotlights leadership and partnership principles to help technology organizations thrive and survive during this age of rapid transformation. 
You can listen to and learn more about the Ultimate Guide to Partnering Podcast here: https://ultimateguidetopartnering.com/
Thank you for listening; we hope Vince's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career. 

From Art to Technology

Jennifer Didier Interviews Alexandra West of Nerd/Noir.  Alexandra shares her journey from the world of Art to technology, back to Art and making her final career in the world of Technology. Listen to her story of how her art background had allowed her to experience and share a unique technology experience and focus.
About Nerd/Noir:
Founded in 2015, Nerd/Noir is a consulting firm specializing in transforming large-scale product engineering organizations. ​​The company is dedicated to fostering a culture of continuous improvement and helping businesses rethink digital transformation. Nerd/Noir helps clients build self-sustaining coaching capabilities, ensuring long-term success in today's rapidly evolving tech landscape; focusing on outcome-driven strategies and impacts, versus process-centric approaches. The Nerd/Noir team has more than 25 years of experience in modernizing processes and increasing the success of engineering and product teams, from startups to Fortune 500 firms. For more information, please visit https://nerdnoir.com/.
 
Alexandra West, Cofounder & Creative Director
Alexandra West is an award-winning designer, international speaker, and corporate trainer. She is passionate about culture, creativity, and collaboration. Her focus is on bringing both a visual thinking mindset and a strong sense of psychological safety to the world of collaborative work.
Alex has a long history as a creative. After earning her degree in Art History from Emory University, Alex spent her early career in commercial and nonprofit art galleries. She then spent a decade managing large-scale software implementations for Fortune 500 HR teams before leaving corporate America to return to her creative roots. Alex worked as a production designer and art director on feature films, television shows, and commercials for over ten years.
Alex works with organizations on product discovery and development projects, as well as corporate culture and diversity & inclusion initiatives. When not busy curating and coaching, Alex can be found eating cheese. All kinds of cheese.
You can find Alexandra West on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-west-nerdnoir/

How Technology can power fashion

Join Jennifer Didier as she talks technology and fashion with entrepreneurs Kotryna Jukneviciute and Cassie Huang from Arete.  Here about their journey to build Arete and their story of how they got there. 
A little more about Kotryna Jukneviciute:
Kotryna immigrated to the US from Lithuania as a kid. Thanks to her artistic mother, she grew up loving fashion. She started her first venture in third grade and has been an entrepreneur ever since. Kotryna received her BA and MA from Georgetown University and was in the School of Foreign Service. She spent a few years working at the RAND Corporation, where she spearheaded international business partnerships and became known for her research on Russia.  You can reach Kotryna on LinkedIn or email her at kotryna@areteforyou.com
More information on Cassie Huang:
Cassie Huang grew up in Shanghai and came to the US when she was 16. A Georgetown University graduate, she started her career at Morgan Stanley as an investment banker, then joined The Cranemere Group as a private equity investor. Driven by her passion for building and entrepreneurship, she deferred her Wharton MBA to join Forum Brands, gaining experience in startup operations, e-commerce, and team building. Alongside Kotryna, she's now focused on growing Arete, leveraging her business acumen and a shared vision for impactful change. You can reach Cassie on LinkedIn or email her at cassie@areteforyou.com