Black Tech Unplugged

Arlan Hamilton shook the tech world when she hopped on the scene in 2015. She took what once used to be the 'good old boys' club and made room for a new group in town by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT via her company Backstage Capital.

Now her life wasn't always rainbows and butterflies (hell she was homeless before this all started). BUT, Arlan uses her hustle mentality and resilience to not only survive, but thrive in the world today.

On this episode of Black Tech Unplugged you learn about Arlan's journey to greatness as well as hear some snippets from her new book "It's About Damn Time".

Purchase Arlan's book here: https://www.itsaboutdamntime.com/ or https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0593136411?tag=randohouseinc39578-20

Full show notes can be found here: https://blacktechunplugged.com/2020/05/09/ep-036-arlan-hamilton-unplugged/

There’s many paths you can take in law, but have you ever thought about being a lawyer in tech? Bärí A. Williams didn’t KNOW that would be her route in life, but many years later she has worked at startups and companies (including Facebook and Stubhub) to make sure they are protected.

Oh! And did I mention on top of being a lawyer she is a diversity warrior? Her passion for making people see every side of a situation is what makes Bärí... well Bärí.

Listen to episode 035 Bärí A. Williams Unplugged where we talk about tech law, Bärí's career journey, and her new book “Diversity in the Workplace: Eye-Opening Interviews to Jumpstart Conversations about Identity, Privilege, and Bias”, which is out right now!

Link to purchase Bärí's book: https://www.amazon.com/Diversity-Workplace-Eye-Opening-Interviews-Conversations/dp/1641529040

Full show notes for this episode: https://blacktechunplugged.com/2020/04/14/ep-035-bari-a-williams-unplugged/

Imagine starting your career thinking you are going to write scripts and act in movies, then.... that doesn’t work out. So now what?

With a little help from her guidance counselor, Pariss found her new career path, TECH. Find out how joining a coding boot camp helped elevate Pariss to become a woman who wears many hats in the tech industry including being the founder of #BlackTechTwitter & Black Tech Pipeline as well as killing it in her current role as recruiter/marketer/ social media extraordinaire at her day job.

Hear Paris’s adventure of going from wannabe Hollywood actress to the tech movement creator in episode 034 of Black Tech Unplugged.

Sometimes we think 'if I just fit in with the rest of the group I'll be alright'. Some call it Leaning In, others call it survival mode, in this case no one was the winner.

Allow me to introduce Yassmin-Abdel Magied, a young Black women who tried to lean into her tech job, but found herself fighting to shine her extraordinary light with the world!

On episode 033 of the podcast Yassmin and I discuss her time in tech, how being in a toxic environment psychologically affected her, and how leaning in did not work for her.

Full story notes here: https://blacktechunplugged.com/2019/11/27/ep-033-yassmin-abdel-magied-unplugged/

Who would've thought a boy from the hood of Stanton Island would end up in the White House?

We did, but I digress...

On episode 032, David Holmes shares his story of how his love for computers at an early age led him to become the Director of Engineering at USDS.

From being called the n-word (it wasn't intentional) to hackathons to his dream role, this is David Holmes story.

Full story notes here: https://blacktechunplugged.com/2019/10/31/ep-032-david-e-holmes-unplugged/

Greg Greenlee is the man we all want to be... the man who has over 17 years of experience in tech. The person who has used his personal experiences in the industry as a motivator to create change in the industry. And furthermore, that's why I had to have him on episode 031 of Black Tech Unplugged, it was time to share his knowledge with us so we can be motivated too.

On episode 31, Greg & I discuss:

* The evolution of his organization, Blacks in Technology (BIT)

* What a Dev Ops Engineer is and how he got into that role

* How he plans to increase the number of Black men and women in tech

Connect with Greg:

https://twitter.com/bit_greggreenle

https://www.facebook.com/blacksintechnology/

http://www.blacksintechnology.net/

Full show notes at: https://blacktechunplugged.com/2019/10/09/ep-031-greg-greenlee-unplugged/

When I tell you that Charles Kuykendoll has been on a ride and yet doing the most, I'm not exaggerating!

This man went from an operations internship at Barclays, which he had no experience to do, to now leading engineering recruiting at AirBNB.

On episode 030, Charles breaks down his unique journey into tech, why being a good person is going to get you far, and how he has a business that doesn't interfere with his 9-5.

Full show notes at: https://blacktechunplugged.com/2019/09/24/ep-030-charles-kuykendoll-unplugged/

Episode 029 features Latesha Byrd, the Founder & CEO of Byrd Career Consulting — a consulting firm on the mission to help millennial professionals turn their dreams into careers that allow them to live life on their own terms.

On this episode Latesha and I discuss:

* Stigma around career switching

* Why you need to take control and "manage up" today

* The importance of LinkedIn and why you should update your profile weekly

Make sure to sign up for Latesha's FREE salary negotiation masterclass on September 19th or September 21st: https://www.lateshabyrd.com/masterclass

Connect with Latesha

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/latesha_byrd

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lateshabyrd

Twitter: http://twitter.com/latesha_byrd

Website: http://lateshabyrd.com

Like many of us, Jessica Williams had no idea that she would end up working in tech. Learn how Jessica went from following people in the office to managing a team in episode 028 of Black Tech Unplugged.

Full show notes: https://blacktechunplugged.com/2019/08/13/ep-028-jessica-williams-unplugged/

Vote for Black Tech Unplugged's SXSW Panel: https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/99023

Connect with Jessica:

Website: https://www.techbizgurl.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicalavernewilliams

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/techbizgurl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/techbizgurl

Last week Black Tech Unplugged celebrated 2 years of podcasting!!

In order to celebrate I had a live podcast in Chicago! Listen to the live episode that includes my 4 panelist: Will McNeil, Jane Hamner, Giovanni Perez & Vunzai Yeazel. This episode is full of amazing advice from these Chicago techies and of course the full show notes have all the cliff notes and links you need.

Full show notes: https://blacktechunplugged.com/2019/06/18/ep-027-black-tech-unplugged-live-in-chicago/

Special shout out to the event sponsors:

* Thank God It's Natural (TGIN) (https://thankgoditsnatural.com/)

* Ulta (http://careers.ulta.com/)

* Full Stack Academy (https://www.fullstackacademy.com/)