Data With Direction

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Join Ramona and me on Data With Direction as we discuss architecture patterns that set you on a career trajectory beyond your greatest imagination. 

You want to earn more? Show you have the skills to move the needle! 

I remember a time when I created manual triggers that I had to babysit and watch for an hour, only to walk away at a critical moment. With the tools and knowledge I have today, I do it differently. Want to hear those stories and how Ramona and I tackle them now? You'll have to listen!

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Chris Gambill is a data engineering consultant and educator with 25+ years of experience helping organizations modernize their data stacks. As founder of Gambill Data, he specializes in data strategy, cloud migration, and building resilient analytics platforms for mid-market and enterprise clients. He’s passionate about making real-world data engineering accessible.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or learn more at gambilldata.com.

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Are you making these common mistakes in Databricks? In this video, we break down the top 10 pitfalls that data engineers, both new and experienced, fall into when working with Databricks and Spark. From treating Databricks like a simple Jupyter Notebook to neglecting the power of Delta Lake and proper version control, we cover the essential best practices that will elevate your data engineering skills.

If you've ever found yourself debugging a failed production job in the middle of the night or wondering why your queries are crawling at a snail's pace, this video is for you. Learn how to optimize your workflows, write more efficient code, and harness the full potential of the Databricks platform. Avoid these common blunders and start building robust, scalable, and maintainable data pipelines today!

Chapters:

0:00 - Intro: The Databricks Mistakes We All Make
0:22 - #1 This is Not Your Jupyter Notebook
1:03 - #2 The Power of Spark!
1:43 - #3 Caching df.cache()
2:17 - #4 Delta Format!
2:46 - #5 Hardcoded Secrets!
3:16 - #6 Use Proper Logging!
3:47 - #7 Schema Drift!
4:17 - #8 Modularize and Parameterize!
4:52 - #9 Partitioning
5:24 - #10 Version Control

#dataengineering #pythonerrors #learntocode #pythontutorial #softwareengineering #debugging

Support the show

Chris Gambill is a data engineering consultant and educator with 25+ years of experience helping organizations modernize their data stacks. As founder of Gambill Data, he specializes in data strategy, cloud migration, and building resilient analytics platforms for mid-market and enterprise clients. He’s passionate about making real-world data engineering accessible.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or learn more at gambilldata.com.

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Mid-Career Changes to data with CJ Watkins. 

We will be talking about work/study/home life balance, what it looks like moving from a career in education to a career in data, as well as CJ's unique take on data-guided decisions vs data-driven decisions. 


Links from CJ from our video: 

Measure what Matters: 
https://amzn.to/40pNxLZ

Stats Book
https://learningstatisticswithr.com/book/

CJ's LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cwatkins128/

CJ's Website for Data Coaching:
https://leadwithic.com/

Regression Crash Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYTumjgE2IY&t=481s

***Connect with Chris***
https://www.facebook.com/gambilldataengineering/
https://www.instagram.com/thegambill/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/databasemanagement/
https://www.tiktok.com/@chris.gambill

Support the show

Chris Gambill is a data engineering consultant and educator with 25+ years of experience helping organizations modernize their data stacks. As founder of Gambill Data, he specializes in data strategy, cloud migration, and building resilient analytics platforms for mid-market and enterprise clients. He’s passionate about making real-world data engineering accessible.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or learn more at gambilldata.com.

Send us a text

We have Data Analysts out there and Analytics Engineers claiming to be doing ETL in Power BI and Tableau. Find out why it isn't true, and why it will stall your career if you continue to do it! 

Support the show

Chris Gambill is a data engineering consultant and educator with 25+ years of experience helping organizations modernize their data stacks. As founder of Gambill Data, he specializes in data strategy, cloud migration, and building resilient analytics platforms for mid-market and enterprise clients. He’s passionate about making real-world data engineering accessible.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or learn more at gambilldata.com.

Send us a text

Join us for a special live interview with a Navy Corpsman-turned-software engineer!

We'll dive into his journey from military life to the world of tech. 
We'll explore how his time in the Navy prepared him for a career in software engineering, 
the challenges he faced, 
and the resources that helped him succeed!

Whether you're a veteran looking to enter tech or simply interested in the unique transitions between careers, this conversation will offer invaluable insights. Don't miss it!

In this live session, we sit down with a Navy veteran who successfully transitioned from military life to a thriving career in software engineering. Learn how he managed the transition, what skills carried over from his Navy career, and what advice he has for anyone looking to follow a similar path. Tune in to hear his story, and get your questions answered live!

Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/6043226078576640


***Connect with our Guest speaker***
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgambill1/

***Connect with Me***
https://www.facebook.com/gambilldataengineering/
https://www.instagram.com/thegambill/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/databasemanagement/
https://www.tiktok.com/@chris.gambill

Support the show

Chris Gambill is a data engineering consultant and educator with 25+ years of experience helping organizations modernize their data stacks. As founder of Gambill Data, he specializes in data strategy, cloud migration, and building resilient analytics platforms for mid-market and enterprise clients. He’s passionate about making real-world data engineering accessible.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or learn more at gambilldata.com.

Send us a text

What happens when you mix a love for flying with a knack for data?

In this episode, I’m joined by Ridah, one of my mentees and the founder of Aviadata, a company using analytics to revolutionize how flight schools operate. We’ll dive into Ridah’s learning journey, how he developed his skills in data engineering, and how he’s applying those skills to solve real problems in the aviation industry.

✅ His biggest challenges and breakthroughs
✈️ How flight schools are using analytics to improve training
📊 What it takes to turn passion into a data-driven business
🎓 Lessons from mentorship and advice for aspiring data engineers

If you are stuck in your job search and are ready to leverage your passions to start your own business jump in!

#DataEngineering #AviationAnalytics #FlightSchool #Mentorship #DataJourney #LiveStream

Support the show

Chris Gambill is a data engineering consultant and educator with 25+ years of experience helping organizations modernize their data stacks. As founder of Gambill Data, he specializes in data strategy, cloud migration, and building resilient analytics platforms for mid-market and enterprise clients. He’s passionate about making real-world data engineering accessible.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or learn more at gambilldata.com.

Send us a text

Today I'll be jumping on for about 60 minutes to do a short AMA and talk about how to ensure you are securing your secrets in your pipelines

Join Codecademy while supporting the channel! 
If you are a high school or college student you get 35% off with this link:
https://www.pntrs.com/t/2-591852-361892-213588
Not a student, but want a special discount, get 15% off the normal prices with this special link from Gambill Data: https://www.pntrac.com/t/2-523372-361892-213588

Chris Gambill is a data engineering consultant and educator with 25+ years of experience helping organizations modernize their data stacks. As founder of Gambill Data, he specializes in data strategy, cloud migration, and building resilient analytics platforms for mid-market and enterprise clients. He’s passionate about making real-world data engineering accessible.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or learn more at gambilldata.com.

Send us a text

Are you new to data engineering and worried about common pitfalls derailing your projects? Join me LIVE tonight as we dive into the top 5 rookie mistakes every fresher makes and—more importantly—how you can avoid them!

✅ Learn from real-world examples and save hours of headaches.
✅ Engage in interactive Q&A to solve your specific challenges.
✅ Walk away with immediate, actionable tips to boost your skills.

Bring your questions and your stories—let’s tackle these pitfalls together and set you up for success!

Chris Gambill is a data engineering consultant and educator with 25+ years of experience helping organizations modernize their data stacks. As founder of Gambill Data, he specializes in data strategy, cloud migration, and building resilient analytics platforms for mid-market and enterprise clients. He’s passionate about making real-world data engineering accessible.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or learn more at gambilldata.com.

Send us a text

Join me live as we dive into “Ethical AI and Data Governance” ... why your data quality isn’t just a technical checkbox but an ethical imperative. We’ll unpack real‐world failures (from biased hiring tools to misconfigured AI inspections), explore the three pillars of governance (Transparency, Accountability, Fairness), and walk through a sample KPI dashboard you can implement today. Tune in for practical tips, interactive Q&A, and ready-to-use strategies to protect your business from costly mistakes and reputational risk.

Missed this week's videos? Check out what has been going on at Gambill Data: 
Data Engineering 101: Building Resilient Pipelines | https://youtu.be/H8kcMSaPHyY
GIGO Explained: How Data Teams Build Trust With Data Quality |  https://youtu.be/K2Td1j9Otv8
Schema Drift: What it is and How It Is Ruining Your Pipelines! https://youtu.be/CrGJTYQ8PVE

Download the Data Quality Testing Checklist: https://www.gambilldataengineering.com/business-templates

Working on creating resilient self-healing pipelines and want to talk? 
Schedule a call with me: https://calendly.com/chris-gambill-gambilldataengineering

Chris Gambill is a data engineering consultant and educator with 25+ years of experience helping organizations modernize their data stacks. As founder of Gambill Data, he specializes in data strategy, cloud migration, and building resilient analytics platforms for mid-market and enterprise clients. He’s passionate about making real-world data engineering accessible.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or learn more at gambilldata.com.

Send us a text

Tonight I'm going to talk about the last couple videos we did which were the 5 skill every data engineer has to have and then 6 Skills that Separate you from your Competition! 

I'll also discuss data consulting and how I got into it and how you can too! 

As always we will be answering questions about data engineering and cover anything data related on your mind tonight! 


Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/6043226078576640


***Connect with Me***
https://www.facebook.com/gambilldataengineering/
https://www.instagram.com/thegambill/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/databasemanagement/
https://www.tiktok.com/@chris.gambill

Support the show

Chris Gambill is a data engineering consultant and educator with 25+ years of experience helping organizations modernize their data stacks. As founder of Gambill Data, he specializes in data strategy, cloud migration, and building resilient analytics platforms for mid-market and enterprise clients. He’s passionate about making real-world data engineering accessible.

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn or learn more at gambilldata.com.