BragTalks

Season 5 (episodes 30-35) is hosted by Heather VanCura. These episodes are all about varying pathways to promotion. Hear from a diverse range of professionals from career coach, executives, developer advocate, voice over actor, and more as they share their unique journey to fulfilling careers.

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠, Melissa Kullander shares her achievement of running a marathon on the North Pole (90 degree North) with host Heather VanCura. Melissa talks about how she started a passionate journey to run a marathon on all seven continents, plus the North Pole! Season 6 is all about sharing stories of personal accomplishments and Melissa has an inspiring story to share. Listen to learn how you can start achieving your dreams at any age and apply Melissa's tip for completing a marathon to anything in your life or career. You can't help but be impressed, amazed and inspired by this episode. Also check out her ⁠TV interview ⁠and her official results from the ⁠North Pole,⁠

Biography

Melissa’s passion for running and a love of travel and adventure has been the fuel for her desire to stretch the boundaries of her personal and professional abilities.  She simply states she loves to “Work Hard & Play Hard” to live to the fullest. Although she didn’t start running until her late 30’s, this native Arizona girl quickly went from local 5K fun runs to completing 49 marathons all over the world. She completed a Marathon on all 7 continents including, Comrades, the 56-mile Ultra Marathon in South Africa and, of course, Antarctica. She trained for 2 weeks at a running camp in Iten, Kenya, which is the home of many marathon world record holders. Melissa is recognized as an Iridium member of the Marathon Maniacs for completing 4 marathons in 23 days. She was also an Open Team rower with the Bair Island Aquatic Center in the San Francisco Bay area. Now at age 53, after 4 years of delays, Melissa has set her sights on completing her 50th marathon at the North Pole. She will have also achieved the “Grand Slam” (7 continents; & the North Pole).

On the professional side, she is the VP of Finance at Workday overseeing the financial planning & analysis team that is responsible for the decision support for the company’s Product; Technology organization. She has B.S. degree in Finance from Arizona State University and an MBA from “Thunderbird”, the #1 International School of Business in the U.S.  Over her career in finance, she has enjoyed working and engaging with people all over the world including managing global teams from places like India, Poland, Malaysia, and the UK.  In fact, she has been completely around the world 3 times on 3 separate trips. She credits her ability to work and travel effectively to running and exercising on the road.  Any extra time she gets on these trips, you would undoubtedly see her out for a run.  When there is a conflict with her “work hard/play hard” motto, Melissa's high energy level and dedication will muscle out a solution.  A fond memory of one such situation had her running for 3 hours on the “Dreadmill” in order to keep on track with her training plan.

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Nichole Scott shares her career path from the technology space to voice over artist with host Heather VanCura. Nicole is a talented voice over professional who worked with Heather for many years at Sun Microsystems and Oracle - listen to the story Nichole shares about how she took a leap and created her journey from working in a traditional role, to the freedom and flexibility of being a successful voice over artist. Season 5 is all about sharing stories of pathways to promotion and Nichole has an inspiring story to share. Listen to learn how to chart your unique path to success and career satisfaction.

Biography

Nichole Scott is an American female voice over artist specializing is eLearning, corporate explainer videos, TV, radio, and online commercials as well as character work for video games and animation. Prior to becoming a voice over artist, Nichole had a 20+ year career in marketing working for Oracle and Sun Microsystems, but had a lingering lifelong passion for voice acting and decided to chart a new path. Nichole utilizes the skills she’s honed throughout her life and approaches each voice over project with perspicacity and determination to bring every script to life. 

What people have said about working with Nichole: 

“Nichole's performance in recording a voiceover for our project was nothing short of exceptional. Her meticulous attention to detail and skillful execution brought an unparalleled level of professionalism to the final product. With her exceptional vocal range and ability to convey emotions effectively, Nichole added a captivating dimension to the project that resonated with our audience. We are truly grateful for her outstanding contribution, which significantly elevated the overall quality of our work.” 

“Big Nichole Scott fan! Entering broken record territory - she delivers sweet reads, reacts quickly, and records cleanly. Really happy we're working together - having a reliable voice over artist is a major stress reliever. Thanks again!” 

“Nichole nailed it the first time. Great personality in the read and delivered ahead of deadline! Will use her again. If you need a professional VO she's is one to consider! I know we will use her again!” 

“Nichole is very professional and great to work with. Nichole worked with us on product promotion videos for a Saas service. I highly recommend Nichole's services. Thank you again Nichole.”

“I’ve been using Nichole for 4 years now. She’s timely, professional, and talented, and she’s never been short of stellar.” 

“We need more people like Nichole! High quality, lightning-fast delivery, and nailed it first try with no revisions required. Thanks, Nichole!”

Website

Linkedin: Nichole Scott - Voice Over Artist - Freelance, voice over artist

Instagram: @nivs333 

Fiverr link

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠⁠, Carmen Delgado shares her career path to the technology space with host Heather VanCura. Carmen is a member of the Java developer community and she shares how her journey from working in a traditional financial role, to a fintech role, to technical developer community management. Season 5 is all about sharing stories of pathways to promotion and Carmen has an inspiring story to share. Listen to learn how to chart your unique path to success and career satisfaction.

Biography

Carmen Delgado joined Eclipse Foundation as Adoptium Community Manager in October 2022 and is responsible for helping the Eclipse Adoptium working group members achieve their goals and objectives and being the bridge between their procedures and Eclipse Foundation processes and Staff. Carmen has a project, operations, and financial management background in SMEs, non-profits, and start-ups from different industries: healthcare, Pharma, Fintech, and Tech. She also volunteers as a group manager and mentor at Step4ward, a mentoring program in Spain for women starting in the tech world.

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠, Stefani Boyd shares her journey to becoming CEO with host Heather VanCura. Stefani shares how she created her own journey from a criminal investigator to owning her real estate and mortgage company and being her boss. Season 5 is all about sharing stories of pathways to promotion and Stefani has an inspiring story to share. Listen to learn how to chart your unique path to success and career satisfaction.

Biography

Stefani is a Sacramento local serving those in California and those leaving California with their home mortgage needs.  After a successful career in criminal investigations as one of the youngest criminal investigators in Sacramento County, Stefani went on to pursue her dreams of joining the family real estate business.  She spent years learning the ins and outs of real estate and lending with her family brokerage. Now, Stefani has both her real estate and mortgage broker licenses and is the CEO of her own corporation. A single teen mom turned success story, Stefani is a proud Air Force mom, has three sons, two granddaughters and her adorable Pomeranian, Lola. Stefani is passionate about grassroots community outreach and enjoys working with her community to find solutions to help people experiencing homelessness in Sacramento. She also loves singing, yoga, painting and traveling.; you can learn more about Stefani on her website.

In this episode of ⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠, Ix-chel Ruiz shares her pathway to promotion to becoming a developer advocate with host Heather VanCura. Heather has known Ix-chel for many years through mutual participation in the Java developer community. In this episode Ix-chel shares how she created her own journey to achieve her career goals, how attending conferences and ultimately speaking at conferences led to her current role as a developer advocate. Season 5 is all about sharing stories of pathways to promotion and Ix-chel has an inspiring story to share. Listen to learn how to chart your unique path to success and promotions.

Biography: Ix-chel Ruiz has developed software application & tools since 2000. Her research interests include Java, dynamic languages, client-side technologies and testing. Java Champion, CDF Ambassador, hackergarten enthusiast, Open Source advocate, public speaker and mentor.

In this episode of ⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠, Shari Begun shares her pathway to promotion with host Heather VanCura. Heather met Shari through their Chief core group in 2022 and this is a particularly exciting and engaging session where we learn about Shari's recent promotion and how she achieves her career goals, how the peer coaching and networking support of other women boosted her techniques, and strategies utilized on her pathway to Vice President. Season 5 is all about sharing stories of pathways to promotion and Shari has an inspiring story to share. Listen to learn how to chart your unique path to success and promotions.

Biography: Shari Begun is a global sales executive with a unique ability to identify people’s strengths and build diverse, high-performance teams. In addition to her transparent and authentic leadership style, Shari brings a deep understanding of multi-level, complex sales cycle management processes, builds world-class sales organizations, and drives sustainable profitability growth by building visions and cultivating long-term, profitable client relationships. Shari has been recognized as a ROI-driven sales executive with global experience across multiple countries, leading sales strategies focused on large multinational Tier 1 customers and penetrating new and emerging markets. She increases sales YOY revenue by over 45% and leads teams of over 100, earning multiple honors based on sales contributions. In her current role, she leads a worldwide sales and field applications team focused on Mobile, Compute, Consumer, and IOT markets. Shari resides in Silicon Valley where she enjoys mentoring girls and young women on how to enter and thrive in STEM, sales, and other related fields. She is also one of the founders and a steering committee member for a women’s employee resource group at her organization.

In this first episode of season 5 of BragTalks, Melissa Carson shares about some of her pathways to promotion. This episode is hosted by Heather VanCura. Season 5 is all about sharing stories of pathways to promotion and Melissa is a shining example of how to chart your unique path to success and promotions using examples from some of her clients.

Biography: Having worked in HR for several high-performing organizations for 25+ years, including Accenture and EPAM, Melissa Carson founded her business in 2019, offering people strategy development and alignment, leadership development and coaching, and leadership advisory services.  Her clients range from small non-profits to scaling technology companies, all with a common goal of ensuring they have aligned their business and people strategies to drive growth and maximize impact. 

She graduated from the College of William and Mary (BA) and Marymount University (MA) and holds the following professional certifications - GPHR; SPHR; SHRM-SCP; AIIR Consulting - Team Effectiveness Survey & Coaching Mindset Index; ICF Certified Coach (ACC); Global Leadership Assessment (GLA360); Hogan Assessment.  She has served as an adjunct instructor for Wilmington University's Human Resource Management program and as a board member for the Philadelphia Society of People and Strategy, where she still volunteers. She has also published two guides on leading yourself and your career, which you can find at Amazon. You can find Melissa on LinkedIn or via her website, Canopy Strategies.

Season 4 (episodes 21-29) is hosted by Heather VanCura. We cover all aspects of establishing your health and wellness routines in 2023, from preventing burnout, learning to work smarter, connecting your head with your heart, cycles of life, mindset shifts , building a fitness routine and meditation practice, sustainable product design and healthy diet choices, we cover all the bases to keep you on the road to success in your life and in your career. Hear from career minded men and women how they maintain their health and careers in Season 4. This summer we will kick off Season 5 with stories of pathways to promotion.

In this episode of BragTalks, Belinda Ellsworth shares about some of her systems and practical knowledge used in her career helped her to make healthy lifestyle changes. She shares how she incorporates healthy eating choices into her busy schedule. This episode is hosted by Heather VanCura. Season 4 is all about health and wellness as it relates to your career advancement, and this episode highlights best practices and practical tips Belinda used to successfully transform her health using some of the proven methods from her career, including advanced planning and meal preparation to eat healthier and incorporate movement and exercise into her daily work schedule.

Biography: Belinda Ellsworth has been called “a trailblazer in the industry of sales training and personal development.” She has built three successful businesses over the past 25 years while gaining the prestigious reputation as an international speaker and sales expert. Belinda helps thousands of professionals and entrepreneurs create and execute successful business strategies and systems, while still maintaining the work/life balance in their lives. Belinda's passion led her to start her popular podcast, Work From Your Happy Place, which was picked up by iHeartRadio in 2021. She loves interviewing other successful entrepreneurs and artists on her podcast so that others can learn from their stories. Her Tuesday Tips include solid business practices that will stay with your audience forever while positively impacting their bottom line.

Find our more about Belinda and Work From Your Happy Place.