Women in Data Podcast

Ep.106 Megan Lieu - Navigating Adjacent Roles in Data: Data Advocate

This month marks the 4th anniversary of the Women in Data Podcast, featuring a special guest, Megan Lieu, a Data Advocate at Deepnotes, LinkedIn Instructor, and Data Influencer with over 100k followers. In this episode, Megan reflects on her journey from a finance career to Data Science, highlighting her initial obsession with coding before realizing her strengths lay in communication, project management, and strategic thinking.  

Karen and Megan delve into the crucial role of Data Advocates in ensuring the usability of data products, emphasizing the importance of understanding user experience and addressing pain points for effective product development.  Additionally, they discuss the provision of valuable resources and interaction with users to facilitate the efficient utilization of products and tools. 

They talk about content creation, navigating social media, and the parallels with Megan’s advocacy role. Megan also shares insights on finding support during career transitions without an established network. 

 

Megan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganlieu/ 

Ep.105 Raquel Seville - Thriving Amid Womens Health Challenges

In this episode, Karen is joined by Raquel Seville, CEO of Dataffluent Limited. They discuss Raquel’s remarkable journey from a data analyst to an entrepreneur, highlighting her impact as a female leader in the Caribbean tech industry. While the conversation delves into the state of data in Jamaica,  the main focus is on the unique challenges women face in balancing career aspirations with personal life, addressing specific female health challenges that can disrupt career progression.  

There is no separation between being a woman and being a professional, and Raquel shares her experience going through myomectomy, severe pre-eclampsia, child loss, and multiple miscarriages. She highlights the fact that black women are much more likely to face life-changing health issues than women of other ethnicities, particularly around fertility. As a data professional, Raquel finds it difficult to just accept these as facts and is determined to discover the why as well as solutions. 

Find Raquel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquelseville/ 

Ep.104 -Data Leaders Should Also Be People Leaders

How do you find career clarity in Data? How do you find the right leader? What are the questions to ask to determine that someone is the right leader for YOU? Also, how does a leader stay current after years in a role? If these are questions you ask, this podcast will help you enormously.  
Antje Bustamante and Neha Wadhawan share their experiences on how they navigated their careers and eventually thrived, even when leadership wasn’t people-focused. Hear how they quiz leaders to discover if their values align with their own.  
Also hear how they would deal today with inadequate leadership or bias that they encountered in the past. 
You will hear surprising insights about the utility of vulnerability, openness and information transparency in leadership.  
In their roles, Antje and Neha distinguish ‘management’ from what they see as genuine empowerment. 

Find out how to establish boundaries and draw your own red lines while seeking out leaders yet, at the same time, taking responsibility for your career. 

 

Find Neha on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/nehawag/
Find Antje on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/antje-bustamante-a44143bb/

Ep.103 Inside WiD's Flagship Event!

The countdown has begun, and we are buzzing with excitement! 

In this thrilling episode, Karen is joined by Roisin McCarthy, the founder of Women in Data, and Chole Aboud, Partner Relations Executive for WiD, to provide you with an exclusive sneak peek into the flagship event happening on March 7, 2024. Tune in to discover details about the incredibly inspiring guest speakers, engaging workshops, hackathon, and partnerships for the day! 

If you're attending, don't forget to come say hi! See you there! 

Ep.102 Anusha Adige - Finding your space in Data

If you are wondering about where and how you fit into the world of Data, this episode will provide a great perspective. Anusha Adige moved from India to Scotland, and from Banking specialist to Business Analyst, and now Data and Analytics Manager. Though she came from a non-technical background, she learned to work with programmers to generate powerful business insights. Karen and Cecilia were fascinated to hear about the transferable skills of someone who is a naturally curious person. Discussions between business people and data people often get lost in translation. So, Data needs “really efficient data translators” and stories supported by numbers. 

Hear how you can develop in confidence and bring more to the business. 

Anusha Adige on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusha-adige-474b7287/ 

 

Ep.101 Sarah Victor - How to get comfortable with the unknown

85% of the jobs that will be available in 2030 have not been invented yet! How do we make career decisions today and plan for the future? In this episode, Karen is joined by Sarah Victor, Co-Head of Data Governance, Chief Data Office, Corporate & Investment Bank at J.P. Morgan, who shares strategies that she deployed to navigate an unconventional career path that led to Data. When you move from India to the USA, switch from Engineering to study for an MBA, and start a new role in the Finance sector: what are the risks, and how do you make informed choices? One suggestion is to listen to a diversity of ideas.  

Discover more insights as Karen and Sarah cover a range of predictability, from becoming too comfortable in a job, to learning how to get comfortable being uncomfortable. 

 

Sarah Victor on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-victor-a381703 

Ep.100 Navigating Your Career: Advice from 100 Episodes

In celebration of the 100 episodes, Karen and Cecilia invited to the show Alex Smith and Lara Harris, two members of the production team. They dive into the most valuable career advice shared throughout the podcast's journey, focusing on the listeners' favourite topic: navigating a successful career in the world of data. Covering pivotal career phases, from determining your next move to resiliently facing redundancy, this episode extracts wisdom from key moments, including: 

• Episode 73: How to figure out your next step 
• Episode 62: Future-proofing your career 
• Episode 64: Establishing yourself in a new role 
• Episode 71: Redundancy and job-hunting experiences 

As a bonus, join the celebration on LinkedIn for a chance to win a ticket to the highly anticipated Women in Data flagship event in March. 

 

Follow Karen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-jean-francois/ 

Follow Cecilia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceciliagoliveira/ 

Ep.99 Wuraola Oyewusi - Learning and development in Data Science The internet is generous

Hear about Wuraola’s veracious appetite for learning and where and how she finds online tools to develop her understanding of data science. In this episode, Karen and Cecilia are joined by publisher and technical instructor, Wuraola Oyewusi, who describes her journey in Data. Two take-aways are ‘curiosity is not language dependent’ and ‘the internet is generous.’ To acknowledge the online sources and teachers who helped her with free content, and to give back to the community, Wuraola publishes inspirational content on Linkedin and YouTube. After listening to her speak here, you will want to explore further to find her videos that range in topic from data visualisation, delivered in Yoruba, to How to Switch to a Tech Career. 

Find out how to combine available self-help content and structured courses to enjoy learning and plan your development in Data. 

Wuraola Oyewusi on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wuraolaoyewusi/ 
Wuraola Oyewusi on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@wuraoyewusi 

Ep.98 Reflect, Learn, Grow- A Year-End Retrospective with Karen and Cecilia

In this year-end special, Karen and Cecilia warmly invite you to join them in reflecting on the passing year. They explore the significance of retrospectives, sharing valuable insights and personal strategies for both personal and professional growth. Offering different structures for your own retrospective, they candidly delve into their individual journeys, opening up about mistakes, lessons learned, and memorable moments. Join them for a thoughtful and inspiring discussion as they bid farewell to 2023. 

Ep.97 Transcending Industries: Sumathi Thiyagarajan’s Story

Ever wondered how transferable skills can shape your career path? Karen spent some quality time with the remarkable Sumathi Thiyagarajan, VP of Business Strategy and Analytics for the Milwaukee Bucks, to discuss this exact topic. Sumathi has lived the reality of transitioning across industries, from healthcare to academia, and finally making her mark in the world of sports and entertainment. In this episode, Sumathi shares her journey and her strategies to build credibility, emphasising the power of transferable skills in data and highlighting the often-overlooked non-technical skills that have proven instrumental in her career so far. 
The conversation then takes an inspiring turn as Sumathi shares her personal experiences as a woman of colour navigating data and analytics leadership, and how her position at the top allows her to bring diverse talent and perspectives to the organisation. Get ready to be inspired, challenged and empowered.