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Welcome to the Women in Data Podcast, where every other week your host, Karen Jean-Francois interviews some of the most inspiring women working in data. Through each episode, they share their invaluable experience and knowledge. Leaving no stone unturned, the WiD Podcast series will provide you with information on the use of data in various industries, plus helpful tips for career development. More importantly, it will enable you to become the data professional you want to be.
Episodes

Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Ep.29 Sathya Bala - Breaking the mould
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
This week, Karen is joined by Sathya Bala, Head of Global Data Governance at CHANEL. They talk about what data governance is and how it varies from one industry to another. Sathya then shares her views on the perceptions people have of data professionals, encouraging you to create your own story and your own success.
Enjoy!
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Show Notes :
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Find My skin My Story
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myskinmystory_/ - updates on events, live interviews and more
Email updates: http://eepurl.com/g1l5rL - subscribe to get email updates about our events

Wednesday Mar 03, 2021
Ep.28 Macarena Estévez - Choose to challenge!
Wednesday Mar 03, 2021
Wednesday Mar 03, 2021
This week, Karen is joined by Macarena Estévez, Partner for Analytics & Cognitive at Deloitte Spain and recognised by LinkedIn as Top Voice for Data and Analytics in Spain. In this episode, they talk about what “Choose to challenge” means for Maca. They also discuss leaving a well-paid and secured job to start a business focusing on data and mathematics, along with some applications of mathematics in business. Maca’s philosophy of life is inspiring and I hope you will as you will be glued to her words as I was.
Enjoy!
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Where to find Maca
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On her website: https://macarenaestevez.com/
On her blog: https://inteligencia-analitica.com/
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/MacarenaEstevez/

Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Ep27. Elisabeth Yaneske - Using data science to understand human cells mechanisms
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
This week, Karen is joined by Elisabeth Yaneske, Principal Lecturer in Computer Science at Teesside University. In this episode, they talk about Elisabeth’s research that aims at curing diseases using data science. You will hear about genes expression, the advantages of using data science to model human cells rather than animal testing and touch on what working in academia means.
Enjoy!
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Show Notes:
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Elisabeth’s website: https://www.sniffyfacesart.com/
Read on
Computational biology: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2002050
The poly-omics of ageing: https://bmcbioinformatics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12859-018-2383-z
Protein folding: https://deepmind.com/blog/article/alphafold-a-solution-to-a-50-year-old-grand-challenge-in-biology

Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
Ep.26 Natasha Joslin - Democratising data for better business decisions
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
This week, Karen is joined by Natasha Joslin, co- founder of We Are Mojo, a data agency that helps businesses use their data to accelerate growth. They discuss the growing importance of data literacy within businesses, along with the best approach to using data analytics to answer business questions.
Enjoy!
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Show Notes:
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Find Tash on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-joslin-9b72296/

Wednesday Jan 20, 2021
Ep.25 Elizabeth Harris - Reflections on career resilience
Wednesday Jan 20, 2021
Wednesday Jan 20, 2021
This week, Karen is joined by Lizzie Harris, Senior Customer Analytics Manager at Sainsbury’s. They talk about how Sainsbury’s utilises data and reflect on career resilience. With the global pandemic and various lockdowns across the world, career resilience is likely to be helpful in 2021. In this episode, you will hear Lizzie and Karen’s experience with career resilience, ranging from accepting feedback, being at peace with one’s job title, but also falling victim of the cancel culture.
Enjoy!

Wednesday Jan 06, 2021
Ep.24 Roisin McCarthy and Payal Jain – WiD reflections and projections
Wednesday Jan 06, 2021
Wednesday Jan 06, 2021
In this new year episode, Karen is joined by Roisin McCarthy and Payal Jain, respectively co-founder and Chair of Women in data. They reflect on what 2020 looked like for WiD, the challenges they faced, the wins they had. They also discuss their plans for Women in Data and Girls in Data in 2021. And, if you have been wondering what happened to the Twenty in data awards for 2020, you won’t be disappointed as Roisin reveals what they have been up to.
Enjoy!
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Show Notes:
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Find the Twenty in data and technology here: https://womenindata.co.uk/about/twenty-in-data-technology-2019/

Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
Ep.23 Your career questions answered
Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
You sent us your career questions and, in this episode, Belinda Djamson, Managing Director at Accenture, Claire Thompson, Head of Data and Analytics at NatWest, and Samani Lamabadusuriya, Head of Data and Analytics at Cigna, bring you answers.
To help you navigate this episode, we grouped the questions in 3 parts: Starting in data, from doing to leading and leadership.
Starting in Data
- 2”40 What are the different paths into data science and data engineering? And what do you advise when it comes to choosing which path one should go for?
- 11”30What do you look for when recruiting data professionals?
From doing to leading
- 17”36 How to successfully transition from doing to leading?
- 20”38 Which in your opinion is more important to invest time in obtaining - people skills or tech skills?
- 26”08 The data industry is a very fast paced environment (new tools, new languages, new capabilities), how do you cope with this? How do you up skill and train yourselves?
- 28”11 What do you need to do to get your career to the next level?
- 32”46 Samani: You did an MBA a couple of years ago – could you please develop on the pros & cons of the experience, the added value, and if you would recommend people to do the same?
Leadership
- 38”43 How do you ensure knowledge is shared within your teams?
- 42”29 How do you balance work and home life? Especially while WFH?
- 49”06” Best tips
Enjoy!

Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Ep. 22 Sumedha Menon - From Analytics to Data Science
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
This week, Karen is joined by Sumedha Menon, Data Scientist at Google. If you ever wondered how to transition from Data Analytics to Data Science, this conversation might answer many of your questions. In this episode, Sumedha talks about her personal experience of making this transition, factors she considered and how she made non-linear career choices so she could have a more fulfilling professional journey. She also provides tips on how anyone looking to make this transition can upskill themselves and start their own journey.
Enjoy!

Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Ep.21 Karrie Liu - Success story and cultural clash
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
“I would have been more proud of your achievement if you were my son!”
This week, Karen is joined by Karrie Liu, winner of the top 100 women in technology in 2019. Karrie works as a Freelance mathematician for the NHS and Pharma companies. Making a point of using her skills to help others, she also advises charities on data related issues, allowing girls living in rural areas of India go to school. At the age of 17, Karrie moved to the UK to study and decided to stay and pursue a career in data and mathematics. Nobody would've guessed how much her father didn't appreciate her because of her gender. Tune in to the Women in Data, Karrie shares how she struggled to get her father’s approval along with tips on how women can support other women whose culture doesn't believe that women should study or have a career.
Enjoy!

Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
This week, Karen is joined by Grainne Gilmore, Head of Research at Zoopla and Dewi Spijkerman, Senior Geospatial Analyst at Knight Frank. In this very insightful episode, they talk about how the real estate industry uses data for research purpose, allowing them to understand trends and create insights into the market. They also talk about geospatial analytics and its various applications. Get ready for an exciting peek into the world of real estate and discover the power of geospatial analytics.
Enjoy!