A Geek Leader Podcast - inspiring technical and creative leaders around the world

About Magdalene

Magdalene Amegashitsi is an accomplished digital and data leader, currently serving as Senior Manager in Digital Advisory at Avanade, where she brings over 12 years of experience in helping organisations unlock value from data through AI, data strategy, governance and digital innovation.

Throughout her career, Magdalene has held a variety of roles spanning Data & AI advisory, data science, team leadership and digital ethics. Her hands-on approach and strategic vision enable mission-driven organisations to transform through intelligent solutions that tie business, data and technology together.

A passionate advocate for inclusion, leadership and empowerment, she founded the Women’s Employee Network (WEN) for the UK & Ireland at Avanade in 2019. Under her leadership the community grew to 150+ active members, fostering growth, connection and professional development for women in technology and leadership.  In 2023, she took on the role of Co-Chair for the WEN for the Europe Chapter (covering 16 countries), broadening her impact across the region.

Magdalene’s dedication to driving change has also been recognised across the tech industry. Notably, she was selected as one of six Role Models and Ambassadors for the Tech Talent Charter “Doing It Anyway” campaign and in 2022 received the TechWomen100 Award by WeAreTheCity.

Outside of her corporate role, Magdalene invests in mentorship, hosts webinars, and partners with charities to support girls from under-privileged backgrounds in entering STEM and tech fields. Her personal mission: do what matters — creating impact, developing people, and building inclusive futures.

Today We Talked About

Magdalene's background

AI

Anaiya

AI Governance

AI Strategy

Roadmap

Value

Data and Analytics

Time Saved

Change Adobption Journey

AI Ready Culture

High Engagement

Have Champions in each department/area

AI Transformation Engagement

Technical Mastery

Transformational Leadership

Organizational Navigation

Connect with Magdalene

LinkedIn

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About Erin

Erin Herman empowers leaders to turn change into a superpower. With 20+ years advising Fortune 500 teams and global institutions, she's led partnerships worth over $300M and helped launch award-winning platforms like the Learning Passport, now in 40+ countries. A former executive at St. Jude and UNICEF, Erin speaks globally on leadership, impact, and innovation. She lives in Kansas City with her husband, daughter, and son.

Today We Talked About

Erin's background

Change Management

Positive Failure Culture

Leadership is not about org charts... its about showing up in the moments that matter most

What is your value system?

Self-confidence

ANTS

Power of Assumptions

Mirror Meetings

The CEG Method - Courage, Empathy, Growth Mindset

Empathy is a "Power Skill"

Empathy is more than just caring, its doing something

Healthy Arrogance

Connect with Erin

LinkedIn

Website

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About Jimi

Jimi Gibson's been in the game for over 25 years, helping businesses figure out what to say and how to say it so people actually listen—and take action. He's the VP of Brand Communication at Thrive Agency, a TEDx speaker, and a Forbes Agency Council member. Before all that, he was a professional magician, which makes a weird amount of sense once you hear how he thinks about messaging. He created something called The Magic Script™, a framework that helps brands connect with people in a real, human way. He's one of those rare folks who can make marketing feel less like noise—and more like a conversation worth having.

Today We Talked About

Jimi's background

Magic

Zero Click World

Thank a Thriver Thursday

Culture

Honor Chair

Core Values

Be part of Creating the Culture

Magic to Marketing

Magic Brain Chemicals

5 Fingers - Authentic Connection

pinky promise

ring finger relationship (passion)

middle finger - save from the villian

pointing finger - point to your avatar

thumbs up

 

Connect With Jimi

LinkedIn

Website

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About John

John Rossman is a business strategist, operator, and expert on digital transformation, leadership, and business reinvention. He has consulted with many great brands including Novartis, Fidelity Investments, Microsoft, Walmart, and Nordstrom. He served as senior innovation advisor at T-Mobile and senior technology advisor to the Gates Foundation. He is an operator and builder whose love is diving into business problems and customer needs designing solutions and business opportunities.

Today We Talked About

Background

Outcomes

Michelangelo Quote - "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark."

Create Clarity

Maintain Velocity

Accelerate Risk and Value

Define the Future State

AI affecting Digital Transformation

Test plans

Active Skeptic

Communication

Craft a story, Repeat

Connect With John

LinkedIn

Website

Twitter

Book

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About Noam

Noam Krasniansky is a serial entrepreneur and innovator with a diverse background in product development, sales, and technology. He is widely recognized for his appearance on the television show "Shark Tank," where he and his wife, Irene, secured a deal for their company, Bambooee.

Krasniansky's entrepreneurial spirit began early in life, with ventures ranging from selling orange juice in Costa Rica to hawking products on TV shopping channels. His passion for building companies from a simple idea led him to co-found Bambooee with his wife. Bambooee is an eco-friendly brand of reusable bamboo paper towels, and their success on "Shark Tank" propelled the company to significant sales and national recognition. However, this success also brought a new challenge: widespread counterfeiting and imitation of their product.

The experience with Bambooee's intellectual property being compromised led Krasniansky to a new and innovative solution. He realized that traditional patents and legal protections were often insufficient in the face of a global counterfeit market. This challenge became the catalyst for his next venture, Komposite Blockchain.

As the founder of Komposite, Krasniansky has focused on using blockchain technology to create a cutting-edge platform for brand protection. Komposite's solution aims to safeguard products from counterfeiting and imitation by linking physical goods to unique digital fingerprints and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This system provides a decentralized and verifiable way to prove a product's authenticity, giving brands and consumers peace of mind.

Krasniansky's journey from a traditional product entrepreneur to a Web3 innovator highlights his ability to adapt and find solutions to complex problems. He is a frequent speaker and podcast guest on topics related to entrepreneurship, blockchain, and the future of brand protection in a digital economy.

Today We Talked About

Background

Blockchain

Shark Tank

Copycats

Patents, Trademarks, oh my

Ooonimals

Connect with Noam

Komposite

LinkedIn

 

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About Dane

Dane Espegard, a division manager at Vector Marketing, has nearly two decades of experience training and managing thousands of young professionals in networking, interpersonal communication, and leadership skills. His mentorship has helped individuals realize their personal and professional goals, and he is now revolutionizing corporate cultures with his innovative "dreams program." Dane resides outside Minneapolis with his wife, Brookelynn, and their two daughters, Elin and Izzi.

Today We Talked About

Dane's background

Cutco Cutlery

Dreams

Purpose

Culture

Be the Change you wish to see

Dreams workshop

Being proactive and not reactive

Live life by design

People over process

Positivity

Leaders need to Live it

Authenticity

Connect with Dane

LinkedIn

Website

The Dreams Vault

Book

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About Garrett

Garrett has a 25-year track record of building innovative products and leading successful marketing campaigns. At Apple, he led product management teams and drove strategic partnerships with major tech companies like Adobe, Microsoft, and VMware. Before Callings.ai, he was Global Head of Products & Alliances at Maxon Computer, where he played a key role in expanding the company’s global reach. His ability to craft compelling products and bring teams together around a vision has been instrumental in shaping Callings.ai’s mission

Today We Talked About

Time at Apple

Product Management

Job Market Changes

Modern Job Hunt is workflow

Use AI to help applying to jobs

My Insights

Networking

Coaching

https://callings.ai/geek/

 

Connect with Garrett

Website

LinkedIn

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About Abigail

Abigail Hing Wen is an author, film producer and director, as well as former tech executive. She is the New York Times best-selling author of multiple novels for young people, including Loveboat, Taipei, which has been adapted as the movie Love in Taipei, now on Netflix. Abigail served as an executive producer and on set during production. Her novel Kisses, Codes and Conspiracies, a thriller and romantic comedy novel featuring three teens on the run through the Bay Area, is an instant national bestseller, USA Today bestseller and Amazon Editor’s Pick for YA Book of the Month. Abigail is directing her first short film starring Lea Salonga, a prequel to her middle grade debut The Vale, coming September 2025, and featuring an inventor family that builds an AI generated virtual world. She serves on the board of Harvardwood and is a member of Dan Lin’s Rideback Rise Circle.

In 2025, she served as a judge for the Golden Trailer Awards, recognizing the industry’s most outstanding film trailers. Abigail is a frequent keynote speaker for young people, including Y’Allfest, US Presidential Scholars, and the Los Altos High Writer's Week, as well as libraries, colleges, high schools and bookstores around the country. She’s also given keynotes and fireside chats for the National Conference of State Legislatures, Meta, Google, Paramount, Paypal and other tech and entertainment companies, and spoken on panels at venues such as SDCC, LACC, LA Times Festival of Books and ALA. For more, visit AbigailHingWen.com.

Today We Talked About

Abigail's background

Tech Lawyer

The Vale

Neurdivegent

Bias

The Vale is good...

AI is all about the inputs

Film

 

Connect with Abigail

LinkedIn

Website

Book

Leave me a tip $

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I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

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About Pam

Pam Buchanan founded Quantum Sense in May 2023 and is pioneering Soul Health innovations. With a remarkable 40 years of self-optimization experience, Pam’s journey began with an introspective look at her career, where she thrived in the fast-paced environment of Silicon Valley. Recognizing that her successes were attributed to more than just physical and mental health, she embarked on over a decade of research and self-examination, ultimately defining it as Soul Health.

Pam’s personal and professional life is marked by her innovative mindset. In the 80s, she was among the first to introduce mutual funds to the banking industry and played a key role in identifying unicorn startups for public markets. Her career highlights include serving as a Managing Director at Nasdaq for 15 years, where she built and maintained relationships with pre-IPO companies, founders, c-level executives, and venture capital and private equity firms. This role placed her in the boardrooms and minds of some of the world’s greatest innovators, including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.

Before her tenure at Nasdaq, Pam spent nearly 20 years at Deutsche Bank, managing financial institutions and independent representatives in mutual fund transactions. Her extensive experience also includes climbing the corporate ranks at firms such as Scudder Investments, Shearson Lehman, and Merrill Lynch. Through these experiences, Pam has witnessed the evolution of the corporate mindset and is now leading the next evolution through Soul Health.

Now, as the Founder of Quantum Sense, Pam draws from her wide-ranging expertise and her ability to distill and convey complex concepts to bring Soul Health to the masses. She has developed programs and services designed to help companies empower their employees by reducing anxiety, increasing energy, enhancing focus, boosting creativity, and improving overall satisfaction both in the office and in life. Pam’s approach includes bringing together experts from neurologists to designers to sound engineers and more to deliver these sensory solutions.

Pam’s journey has been one of personal empowerment and positivity. She has elevated her own energy to excel in the new paradigm, leading with positivity and letting go of the shame associated with the old ways of thinking. By recognizing that Soul Health encompasses more than just mental and physical well-being, she has created an approach that is set to transform the way we understand and achieve overall health.

Pam Buchanan is ready to guide you through the next evolution of health, bringing her unparalleled experience and passion for Soul Health to create lasting positive change in both personal and professional realms.

Today We Talked About

Pam's Background

Mind, Body and Soul

Love Based

Thrive Mode

What does your soul look like?

Be positivity - love

Gratitude

Bring positivity into the workplace

Start with the positive

Jocko - Good Video

Small steps

Ground, Elevate, Evolve

Connect with Pam

LinkedIn

Website

Leave me a tip $

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I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

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About Frankie

Frankie Berkoben is an executive coach and sought-after speaker whose clients include engineering, product, and design leaders at Google, Airbnb, and the White House. 

Known for her work at the intersection of leadership and executive functioning, she helps intellectually brilliant professionals move from cycles of overwhelm and inconsistency to clarity, confidence, and sustainable success. Frankie’s process blends design thinking, the scientific method, positive psychology, and ADHD-specific expertise to help her clients do their best work (and scale their professional impact) without relying on grit, shame, or heroic acts of willpower. 

Executive functioning (the brain’s ability to prioritize, plan, and execute those plans) and systems thinking take equal billing in Frankie’s work. She translates the complexity of how our brains manage decisions, focus, and prioritization into practical tools that resonate with high performers. Taking a systems approach, she moves beyond quick fixes and productivity hacks, diving into neuropsychology and environmental dynamics in order to help clients understand the “why” behind not only what causes them friction and heartache, but also how to elegantly address those underlying needs. 

An unapologetic behavioral psychology nerd, Frankie combines intellectual rigor with a gift for making complex ideas accessible. She’s fascinated by how context (stress, social dynamics, or even internalized beliefs) shapes our capacity and impact, especially at work. These themes are woven throughout her coaching, speaking, and writing: instead of focusing on what’s wrong, let’s understand what makes it feel or go “right”, and optimize for conditions that make success more likely, rather than aiming for rigid definitions of success.

Today We Talked About

Fankie's background

ADHD

Executive Function

Phsychological Safety

Prep-work

Advocating for yourself

Experiements

Take an Iterative Approach

Without Awareness you can't change

Reflection - We learn from reflecting on experience

Imposter Syndrome

Identity Shift

Who am I to be here?

ANTs - Automatic Negative Thoughts

Focused on Solving Problems

Working Memory

What's the thought?

What is the belief that causes that thought?

Blending Emotion and Strategy

Coach the person... not the problem

Connect with Frankie

Website

LinkedIn

Leave me a tip $

Click here to Donate to the show

I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

#1 in Technical Leadership