Diva Tech Talk Podcast

Growing up in rural Canada, Lori completed her undergraduate BBA in marketing, through a scholarship as a star Division One Volleyball player, at Ohio University. She moved on to complete her MBA at Bowling Green State University, with a minor in MIS (Management Information Services) and discovered that she was fascinated by data. "Having that understanding of how you run a business and putting it together with tech and data creates a holistic lens" on any endeavor according to Lori.

Her career started at a "Big Four" professional services firms. Her work was exciting and diverse. "I've had a chance to work with some of the best companies, either on process optimization, data analytics, or enterprise-wide implementation programs. She received experience in a number of transformation projects. "One of the things I learned was really how to refine messaging, how you spoke with the executive-level team about the risks and challenges they could encounter and the value you can deliver." Lori also absorbed how large organizations implemented, managed, navigated and adapted to major change. She is grateful for the 15 years she spent at PwC. "I got a chance to work with some of the best leaders."

Along the way, she tried to envision her future: "where did I want to be in 5 years, 10 years?" Her answer was: "My goal was to be a CEO." Lori then spent 2.5 years diving deeply into the startup world in Detroit and realized: "When you go from big corporate Fortune 500 world to the startup world, you are in two different worlds!" Lori made her first move by relocating from the northern suburbs of Southeast Michigan to the heart of Detroit and learning from the start-up groups there. Then, she founded her company.

"My vision is that Whim-Detroit does really cool things with really cool companies. We focus on digital transformation: the future of technology, people and processes. We focus on transformation, implementing systems, data and processes." And Whim-Detroit solutions are "in the space I love the most," said Lori, "fashion and sports!"

Whim-Detroit has two main components: a consulting practice and an innovation lab. "Part of what I am trying to do is create a sustainable model, using one side of the business to support the other side." Consulting has helped create cash-flow so that Whim-Detroit can bootstrap product development offerings. Lori "works with really great brands. Most of them are with products that I am either a supporter or a customer of."

In the consulting practice, a current representative Whim-Detroit client is a premier athletic club, that is part of the historical foundation of Detroit. On the innovation side, Whim-Detroit just delivered the first fashion and technology hackathon in the city's history. To do that, Lori worked with Pure Michigan Business Connect (part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation) and Bedrock Ventures.

Lori thinks some of her strengths are courage, the ability to eloquently communicate, her penchant for creating a vision, creativity and persistence. "In this new entrepreneur space, never give up! Passion equals resiliency."

While rarely experiencing gender discrimination at a younger age, more recently Lori has faced challenges related to being a woman leader. "I started to have typical scenarios: 'mansplaining' or being demoted to work under a peer." One of the solutions she suggested is "having ambassadors, mentors or 'table-pounders' to help you navigate through things" in your career.

A revelation for Lori was that "life will be about what you don't like vs. what you do like!" She carved her path by process of elimination. As an entrepreneur, Lori acknowledges: "you don't have balance' in the traditional sense. But what you do have is a rounded and exciting career that merges work, passion and interesting people."

Lori believes that women have the gift of unique perspectives, based on valuable compassion and empathy. "Compassionate leaders, historically, have built stronger, more long-lasting, organizations." As a leader, "you should be the last to speak. You're there to listen; you're there to inspire. You're there to bring in the other, best, people you can find….and unlock talent."

For Lori, conscious gratitude is a way to get through the startup hard times. "During the tough times, there is always something you can be grateful for!" Having passion is also key. "It brings a lot of joy and can overcome the need for other things, material things." She struggles with fear of failure, despite knowing that the path to success is often paved with failures. To overcome that fear, she "does it in small pieces." Her athletic mantra has always been "left/right, left/right, one step at a time; just keep moving forward." And her motto since college athletics has been "you can cry but you can't quit!"

To give back, Lori has enlisted Whim-Detroit as a FOUNDERS FOR CHANGE company, taking the pledge to #changetheratio and encourage diversity on her teams, boards and investors.

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Diva Tech Talk interviewed Kanika Tolver, Washington, D.C. native, Founder and Product Manager at BrandDMV Inc., (http://branddmv.com/), a digital transformation agency that creates Digital Mobile Visuals. With a fascinating career in our nation's capital, Kanika has consistently focused on improving U.S. government effectiveness. Along the way, she has developed impressive technology proficiencies, while consistently connecting those skills to improving the "human experience." Kanika is also a career coach, author and mentor.

From high school, Kanika was fascinated by the interconnectedness of the world. "Initially my mom wanted me to be a pharmacist," Kanika said. "But I said 'no' I want to go into computers! It was fun, to me, to be on the Internet." Kanika went to Bowie State University (https://www.bowiestate.edu/ where she majored in computer science, with a focus on Internet technology, programming in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. "That's when I started to say, 'wow, I really love creating Webpages and Websites'." She worked part-time at the U.S. Department of Urban and Housing Development (https://www.hud.gov/) , while attending university.

After college, Kanika's first opportunity was at Verizon (www.verizon.com/ ) as a leader at their network control center in Virginia. Then she returned to government service, first working for 2.5 years as a SaaS developer for the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/ and then moved to the U.S. Department of Transportation (https://www.transportation.gov/ ). "That was where I really got into digital strategy," she said. With a considerable tenure in the public sector, Kanika left in 2014 because "I had such an entrepreneurial spirit; I had an innovative way of thinking." She was excited to take a role at Deloitte (www.deloitte.com/ ) and "learned the global aspect of business. " In the private sector, for the first time, she faced the challenge of working in predominantly white male environments. "I learned I had to 'boss up' ", Kanika said. "I had to come to the table with subject matter expertise. If I was going to have a seat at the table, I had to merge my personal brand as a woman of color with my technical experience."

Kanika has formed strong opinions about digital transformation. She believes it is less about the technology tools and "more about people, processes, and structures." She sees digital transformation as pervasive. "It encompasses social, cloud, security, data, and governance. As a tech community, we haven't caught up with digital transformation. It's hard to get it right, because it's so many pieces. And we work in silos, a lot."

Evaluating her own success, Kanika's credits her penchant for collaboration, laser focus on her goals, fortitude, and fearlessness. She also has changed her perspective, along the way. "Now I look at failures as accomplishments, rather than defeats," she said. "If I learned something, and was able to move forward, it makes me a conqueror."

In addition to founding her company, Kanika is also the author of LIFE REHAB: DON'T OVERDOSE ON PAIN, PEOPLE, AND POWER written in 2013. To assist others, Kanika authored this journey of self-discovery, which catalogued "letting go" of relationships which didn't work, pain that was unnecessary, and superficial things which didn't matter.

Kanika is a strong proponent of in-person networking, supplementing online connections. "For people who want to maximize their opportunities, it's so important to go out and meet people at conferences, workshops, seminars"

Additionally, she meets people regularly online, using tools like LinkedIn, including the LinkedIn Groups function. She also gives back often through mentorship. "Mentoring shouldn't be looked at as a job; it should come from a place of passion and purpose." Her advice for potential mentees is to concentrate on creating a meaningful relationship with potential mentors, before asking for assistance. In her own life, Kanika's "dream team" of mentors are diverse, spanning fields, ages, races, and talents.

Kanika is a champion of diversity in the tech field. In 2014, she expressed her candid opinion of tech hiring in a CNN MONEY ECONOMY column entitled "Google Should Hire Me" and said that Silicon Valley companies, in order to diversify, must "come out to where the people are," including universities with large minority populations. Kanika is planning to develop a diversity roadmap and publish it in a blog. It would include other diversification recommendations like companies should join alliances dedicated to diversity (like Black Girls Code); create a database of HBCU's and aim recruiting campaigns there; and also make investments in early childhood STEM education programs focused on girls and minorities.

Kanika recommends tools for keeping up-to-date in the fast-paced technology world. She reads a minimum of one tech book per month. Her other tools include podcasts which focus on tech, Udemy, the technology learning site (https://www.udemy.com/ ), tech information sites like Tech Republic (https://www.techrepublic.com/) and meetups which connect a variety of diverse tech experts, in a networking environment.

Kanika's advice for other women is:

• "DEMAND respect in a respectful way. You want to be firm in who you are. You have to take the high road."
• Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses; capitalize on your strengths.
• To keep up, read a minimum of one or two focused articles per day.
• "Look for 'virtual' mentors," if you can't find the right kind of mentor, in-person.

Her overriding message to women is "just strive toward equality --- with pay, and opportunity. Keep moving forward; keep evaluating what culture fit is good for you." Her philosophy is "We need to evaluate what kinds of organizations work for us, so we can thrive."

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Diva Tech Talk interviewed Christine Rice, formerly President of VisionIT (www.visionit.com), and now CEO/President, of its IT staffing division: VisionPro (http://www.visionproteam.com/). VisionPro has 20 offices throughout the U.S., and is also global with offices in Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

As a child, Christine had not been partial to technology subjects. "I got involved through my siblings," she said. Both her older brother and sister worked at EDS (Electronic Data Systems). While she was in high school, "hearing my sister talk about IT, and the projects she was working on," spurred Christine. When she graduated high school, she also worked EDS, while simultaneously attending Wayne County Community College in Detroit (www.wcccd.edu/), and then Central Michigan University in Midland, Michigan (https://www.cmich.edu/) obtaining her B.S. in business management.

Christine's first EDS position was as an orientation specialist and then she moved into employee relations/human resources. "Our job was to lower the company's liability in hiring, firing, and disciplining employees." Over 15 years, she worked her way up to regional HR manager, with a substantial team, collaborating with EDS leaders at every level.

Christine left EDS to join her brother, David Segura (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidseguravisionit/) after he founded VisionIT in 1997. VisionIT, today, is a global software development company, systems integrator, reseller of key solutions (like SAP), and innovation lab for the development of new applications. But at startup, it was a technology services and Web development venture. As David realized his need for increasing talent "He came to me for help. I didn't realize helping would quickly turn into a full-time job. What a journey!"

"As a startup company, you really wear multiple hats," Christine acknowledged. "I started selling and promoting the company." Due to her strong network of established relationships she cemented large clients quickly, and the customer base multiplied. She concentrated on human resources, hiring/firing, fostering talent at VisionIT. "As we were serving companies, doing application development and a variety of projects, they would come back to us," and ask for resources to make additional progress. So, Christine decided "why don't I concentrate on building the staffing side of the business?"

Two of Christine's strengths are the ability to clearly communicate, and consultative business-building. "I like being in front of the customer," she stated. "As a company, it is where we get our best ROI, because I truly take an interest in the customer's problems, and how we can solve them." She also points to her relentless work ethic: "I was wired to work hard and deliver. And people will focus on that."

Christine shared lessons for entrepreneurs. "When you are hiring people," she said, "hire slow, but fire fast." As a leader she stressed that "integrity is very important," and any leader needs to "build trust with your organization." To do that, she deploys consistent transparency. Christine's personal happiness emanates from caring for her family (two college age sons and her husband) and "corporate success and hitting our goals." To achieve balance, she stresses time management: carving out time for things that have the most priority and being disciplined in using your time well.

Christine's guiding principles for aspiring leaders include: surround yourself with other strong leaders; get involved in your community; listen, attentively, and never stop learning. In her philanthropy life, she works with children and young adults of Hispanic origin. "It's important for inner city kids to see people who look like them be successful," she said. She speaks frequently to students and gives presentations on behalf of Latina/Latino organizations who concentrate on education and careers.

Her advice, especially for "the young folks" is: "Take that risk. If you're not making yourself uncomfortable" according to Christine, you are not making progress and "dress for success --- mentally! Focus on the positive."

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Diva Tech Talk interviewed Monsoon Strategy Partner, Pam Metivier, Co-Creator of STEAMTeam ®5, a children's series to get girls excited about STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math. Pam considers this not just a series but "the beginning of a movement," that tells the stories of five girls who use science, technology, engineering, art, and math to accomplish their goals. The books are available on Amazon (www.amazon.com) or on their own website (www.steamteam5.com).

Pam was always a tech maven. "As a child I always liked to take things apart. I took apart my favorite Christmas gift: a Timex watch, when I was about 8," she said. "And I've also been interested in writing my entire life. So, I got a degree in technical writing" from Oklahoma State University (https://go.okstate.edu/).

Pam's early career focused on writing technical and design specifications. Her first job was as a senior tech writer at hospitality software company, Sulcus Hospitality Group. "I started out writing manuals," she explained. "In doing so, you identify opportunities to make the product better." Her next career step was product marketing. "In 1995, I was working for a software company (First Data Corporation: https://www.firstdata.com/) that decided it wanted to create the first online banking application. I taught myself HTML." Pam was recruited into First Data's product development team, "defining requirements, and stuff like that."

In 1997, Pam moved to Silicon Valley, as a tech writer, for Vantive, subsequently acquired by PeopleSoft, then swallowed by Oracle Corporation – www.oracle.com - in 2002. From technical writer, Pam was promoted to direct Vantive's Website development. "Then I moved to co- found my first startup, and it was a little scary but very exciting" Pam said. She headed product marketing at Clip2, her company, which was one of the first social bookmarking sites. Pam said that "I've always kept my hands dirty. I can always use the tools that I recommend my clients should use."

She is highly enthusiastic about STEAMTeam®5. "My business partner and I created this series. He invented it while he was playing with his daughter. He wanted to infuse education into their playtime." The real breakthrough came when Pam attended the Washington D.C. WOMEN'S MARCH in January 2017 (https://www.womensmarch.com/). "I left there wondering: What can I do to contribute in a positive way to the issues that I care about most, which are education, science, women and girls, and their equality?" STEAMTeam®5 was her answer. "I had an 'ah ha' moment, where it was clear that an answer would be to flesh out these theme characters, and create a book series aimed toward little girls, and boys, too, to help normalize girls and STEM and STEAM". Girls reading it would "identify with role models, who are young and fun and someone they would like to be, someday."

As far as tech industry equity, Pam said: "The problem starts with girls younger than we thought. We need to start with girls when they're very, very young --- even preschool age." While STEAMTeam®5 was written for those from 7 to 11 years of age, the audience for the series can be kids as young as 3, with their parents reading to them. If a parent or teacher connects simple things to engineering and science, children will understand that "science is fun!" She stated: "You don't have to exceptional to be equal. I think that is a message that young girls need to hear. My goal is to normalize seeing women and girls in STEM/STEAM courses at school, and in tech careers."

As a busy Mom and entrepreneur, Pam focuses on "one day at a time. Did I balance on that particular day?" Also, "I take little breaks from work to check in with my child to just make sure that he is engaged; or we'll do something fun together." Additionally, she said: "I'm working really hard on putting my phone away." Pam Metivier can be reached on Twitter at @metivier.

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Diva Tech Talk spoke with Eboni Mack, Senior Manager, Analytics, at GTB (www.gtb.com). In high school, Eboni originally had her eye on a thespian career, but instead decided to focus on communications studies in college ("the way people think and how they consume media."). During her college years at the University of Michigan (www.umich.edu), Eboni benefited from a public relations internship at Lapides Publicity Giragosian, a media internship at Fox 2 News (http://www.fox2detroit.com/), a writing stint at the Michigan Daily (https://www.michigandaily.com/) and an internship at Radio One (https://urban1.com/radio-one/). Post-graduation, her first job was as an account executive for AT&T (www.att.com). Simultaneously she went back to school for her MBA, with a dual concentration in marketing and management, from Wayne State University (www.wsu.edu). Two years in, Eboni moved into a market analyst position, a role she held for four years.

She then shifted to MRM McCann (https://mrm-mccann.com/), a large advertising agency (part of the global MRM Worldwide Group) that specializes in helping large companies effectively convey their brand value and deeply connect with customers. Eboni's initial MRM McCann assignment was as senior data analyst for General Motors (www.gm.com). She dove into CRM (customer relationship management) analytics, dissecting email campaigns for Buick and GMC, then a senior site analyst role, evaluating consumer behavior across all GM brands. Eboni then migrated to Team Detroit, going through a brand change to GTB ( Global Team Blue), and is proud of their heritage as a full-service agency to Ford Motor Company (www.ford.com) . "We have creative, project management, strategy and a huge marketing science unit, that has different analytics disciplines from media to online search to attitudinal and survey." Eboni exclaimed. "Bringing all those disciplines together to serve our singular client," is GTB's key differentiator in the competitive advertising world. Eboni's current role is focused on website optimization.

Eboni sees her key strengths as diligence, drive, and inquisitiveness. "I am always looking to learn," she said. "Technology is an industry that is always changing. You need to constantly be feeding your brain with knowledge and information just to keep up!" She said that "being a woman of color has definitely shaped my experience. Throughout my career, there have been many times when I have been 'the only' in a room! But it has shaped my experience in a positive way and has allowed me to bring a different perspective to the table."

Eboni is ambitious. "Within a few years, I see myself moving into a director role, where I am leading a division or department. Long-term, I see myself exploring entrepreneurship." She also plans to get her PhD, at some point in the future, to teach at the university level, later in her career.

For Eboni, "happiness is about being fulfilled in whatever it is I am doing." Her current sources of happiness include her stimulating career, strong relationships with friends and family, and traveling the world. "That criteria may change as I enter different parts of my life." Eboni acknowledged that "I have a fear of failure. My greatest fear is allowing my fear of failure to hold me back. When I leave this earth, I want to know that I've accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish. I don't want to miss out on anything because I was afraid to take a risk."

Eboni's advice to women destined to lead includes:

1. "Always be in a constant state of learning."
2. "Don't be afraid to think outside the box."
3. "Give back along the way."

Eboni served as an advisor to the Dr. Betty Shabazz Delta Academy for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated (http://www.deltasigmatheta.org/educational.html). "I also studied abroad, in South Africa, so I did a lot of volunteering with youth, including the St. Philomena's Children's Home and LoveLife, a health awareness organization geared toward youth in South Africa."

"What I would tell the 'younger Eboni'," she said "is that you don't have to have it all figured out. I literally thought I was going to be ruling the world by 25. When that didn't happen, it was a little disappointing. Now I would tell myself to 'allow yourself to be human.' You don't have to have all the answers. And that's ok, because life is really about the journey, and not the destination." The best way to contact Eboni J. Mack is through her Linked In account.

For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Chris Rydzewski, tech veteran, serving as Executive Director for the Michigan Council of Women in Technology (www.mcwt.org). Chris did not originally plan a path in technology: "Ironically, I stumbled into it," she said.

Matriculating at the University of Michigan (http://umich.edu/ ), "I loved math and stats," she said, "but I wound up with a degree in marketing." Having lived in Texas for a while, Chris returned to Michigan and joined IT powerhouse Compuware (www.compuware.com) in the early 1990's . "They had 5 lines of business, and were really big, at that time." For eight years, Chris sold Compuware solutions, supporting the Rocky Mountain states and then the entire Midwest. Then she became an international product line sales director responsible for coaching direct and channel sales teams in South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Chris then moved to BMC (www.bmc.com) focusing, for 5 years, on sales to large Michigan-based corporations. She subsequently moved back to Compuware as a strategic sales manager for key "named accounts" regionally. The move allowed her to explore other products including product portfolio management and change management offerings. In 2013, Chris moved over to Compuware's application performance management division, a growth segment for the company. Within a year, private equity investment firm, Thoma Bravo LLC purchased Compuware for $2.4 billion. Under the agreement, Thoma Bravo split Compuware into two separate companies: the mainframe software business (under the Compuware name) and Dynatrace (www.dynatrace.com), real-time software management and maintenance. Chris stayed with Dynatrace, selling for them for the next four years. "It was always about solving problems. And that's what I love about technology." In the summer of 2017, changes at Dynatrace spurred Chris to leave the company. She asked herself questions like "what is my gift?" and "what is it that I should be doing, moving forward?" She was "tapped on the shoulder" to consider the opportunity with the Michigan Council of Women in Technology. "For the previous 12 years, I had always been a volunteer," Chris said, but now assumed the role of Executive Director. In her new role, Chris is responsible for full MCWT P&L management with oversight over the organization's fiscal health, budget, fundraising, staff, and more. She is laser-focused on "operational improvements and efficiency." With a mission to "grow and inspire girls and women in the field of technology in Michigan," MCWT consumes most of Chris's energies. "This is the 'give-back' time for me." MCWT runs 35+ large and small events each year; has given over $1 million in scholarships to college-bound and post-college women pursuing technology careers; will run 10 summer tech camps for 5 th through 8 th graders this year; has 13 after-school girls' middle school and high school tech programs; hosts an annual Website design contest for middle school and high school girls; a mentorship program for mid-career women, and more. While still small, compared to other nonprofits, MCWT "has a lot of programs and stakeholders," Chris said. And she is now responsible to work closely with the Mission Officers, Infrastructure Leads, Staff, Volunteers, and the Boards to help drive success for all the programs and events! Chris has been grateful to observe "many great leaders over the last 12 years" of her volunteerism at MCWT, teaching her key leadership lessons: ● "Be passionate" about whatever you choose to do. ● "Be open to new opportunities." ● "Believe in yourself. " ● "Be relevant." Chris commented: "You are not really going to know what you are good at, until you try different things, and see what bubbles up to the top." "I think women have different characteristics" than men, Chris said. " I think we listen better and communicate better." Some of her former colleagues "would be amazed at how I could pull out information" when she was making joint sales calls with them. She emphasized that "you have to make yourself heard" particularly when you are in the minority in the workplace. A self-admitted "workaholic," Chris admits to occasionally have a problem balancing family, and work. She has deployed a few practical tactics to address this. "My husband and I have 'date nights,'" she said and the time between dinner and when her teenage daughter goes to sleep is the time when everyone focuses on family. Driving her daughter anywhere, she turns herphone off. As a family, they also plan big trips that all of them can take, together. "You should not always have your work drive you. Your family is super-important; there is so much more," said Chris. "Technology makes everything relevant" according to Chris. She can be reached through the new and improved MCWT website (www.mcwt.org).

For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Jennifer Charters, Chief Information Officer of Corporate Technology for Ally Bank (www.ally.com), one of the very first online-only financial institutions in the United States. Jennifer's technology fascination began in middle school. "My family purchased a VIC 20," she said. "It basically looked like a keyboard, that you connect into your television." At first, Jennifer played with inbuilt pre-programmed applications but then began to create her own programs. In high school, she moved on to use Apple IIe (www.apple.com) computers and recognized "I had a knack for the logical nature of coding. It came easy for me." She matriculated to Michigan State University (www.msu.org) as one of "less than a handful of women" in the computer science program and also minored in psychology and business because "technology, just for technology's sake, doesn't necessarily make sense. When you apply technology to a problem," it does.

In college, Jennifer was fortunate to obtain internships at IBM (www.ibm.com) with her first summer in North Carolina, second in Rochester, Minn. and third in Chicago, Illinois. "I got experience trying all these different companies." Also, as a member of the Society of Women Engineers, she was fortunate to have numerous recruiters swarming. "One of the companies was Accenture (www.accenture.com)," Jennifer said. "That idea of being a jet-setter and traveling all over the world and getting that opportunity to explore different areas really appealed to me. I started off as a programmer," she said. "It evolved into project and program management; and gave me a lot of exposure to a lot of different companies, and roles within companies." She began in the telecommunications vertical market, then specialized in the field of Internet service providers. "That gave me the chance to work globally," with stints at Deutsche Telekom (https://www.telekom.com/en) in Germany and Grupo Telecom (http://www.telecomitalia.com/tit/en.html) in Italy. Jennifer then focused on other startups including Focal Communications --- later acquired by Broadwing, which was then acquired by Level 3 Communications (http://www.level3.com/en/), in an acquisition flurry. She then moved to a project at AT&T, in New Jersey, right after the World Trade Center was decimated by the events of 9/11; worked on that for two years; then decided to move back from Chicago to Michigan. "Ultimately, I got pregnant," and both she and her husband landed jobs in Michigan. Jennifer switched to an insurance industry project Accenture with The Automotive Club Group (www.aaa.org). "What I was most interested in was staying local, then" said Jennifer. This assignment became her entrée into the fascinating world of fintech. "Then I got pregnant with my daughter," and had an epiphany. Her emphasis shifted to achieving a work/life balance. "I began to look for other opportunities" outside of Accenture.

Jennifer obtained a project manager position at GMAC, the financing arm of General Motors (www.gm.com). "It was an interesting change of pace," she said. She had her second child after having joined GMAC, and when she returned from maternity leave, GM had sold the financing arm to Cerberus, (http://www.cerberuscapital.com/), a private equity company. "Fast forward another year and a half, and the worldwide financial crisis hit. I felt like I was in the crosshairs of it all. It was a financial company linked to the automotive industry, and those were the industries most affected. We were in real trouble, on the verge of bankruptcy." The U.S. government bailed out GMAC reinventing the entity as a bank holding company. "It meant we had more regulations, but it also gave us the opportunity to start a bank --- an online bank: Ally Financial." The key lesson for Jennifer? "In crisis, transformation happens." Jennifer was promoted to program manager and then a director. Eventually, she took her current promotion to Chief Information Officer, Corporate Technology, with responsibility for seven direct reports, and a large organization numbering over 180 colleagues. "Banks had not always been very friendly." With pride, Jennifer feels that Ally fundamentally has changed that. "We care about our customers. Our motto is 'do it right'. Customers are really responding."

"When I try to hire people," Jennifer said, "one of the things I look for is learning agility: somebody who has curiosity, is continually 'sharpening the saw,' and looking for opportunities to stay fresh. In technology, it's constant change." In her volunteer life, she is on the Advisory Board for the Michigan Council of Women in Technology (www.mcwt.org). She also coaches her daughter's 12-week "GIRLS ON THE RUN" program, where she meets weekly with groups of girls "teaching them to be leaders, to be collaborative with each other, to be kind. At the same time, they also learn to run." At the end of the period, they run a 5K race. Jennifer, herself, has recently pushed herself to complete two Iron Man Triathlon Races.

Key lessons that Jennifer has learned through her career:

1. "Relationships are key." Take time to develop them and maintain them. "Having people, you can talk to" is essential.
2. "Understand what your priorities are. Take time for them."
3. It's ok to take a step back. ("You actually learn quite a bit," from taking the occasional break.)
4. "Managing people is a whole different skill-set and experience. You use influence. It requires trust; and that you have a good team around you."
5. "Recognize that your career is your own, it is what you make of it. Follow your dreams."

For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Holly Rollo, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of RSA (www.rsa.com ),a Dell Technologies (www.dell.com) company, offering business-driven security solutions for millions of users around the world and more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies.

Holly said: "you never know what's in store," since she did not originally set out to be a technology leader. The daughter of a Marine who was taught the value of determination and hard work at a young age, Holly's journey began with a passion for investigative reporting. With an undergraduate journalism degree from Santa Clara University (https://www.scu.edu): "I had two job offers: one with a paper, and the other as PR person for a semiconductor company." She chose the PR job and has no regrets. "What is amazing about marketing is that you're constantly chasing a story. It's a creative job. It's a quantitative science job. It's a technology job since marketing has gotten more technical." As Holly got started, she "asked the dumb questions like 'what does this mean for customers?' and 'how do they buy it'…." The answers she received helped her "understand the whole picture" and weave the right stories to strengthen and promote brands, products and services.

From National Semiconductor, (purchased by Texas Instruments (http://www.ti.com/)) Holly moved up through a variety of jobs, building a substantial career including stints at Young and Rubicam, IBM (www.ibm.com) Sanrise (www.sanrise.com) Symantec/Veritas (www.symantec.com), Sybase (www.sybase.com), SAP (www.sap.com), Cisco (www.cisco.com) , FireEye (www.fireeye.com) and Fortinet (www.fortinet.com). Her path was forged by "focusing on what I was good at; what I was interested in." Rather than working in status quo situations, Holly was motivated by attacking "big, hairy problems." Some of those included repositioning companies or older brands to take advantage of new markets, effecting full company turnarounds, positioning organizations for hyper-growth, or rationalizing and organizing hodgepodge tech product portfolios. "I like jumping into the middle of chaos and making order out of it!"

According to Holly, life stages affect your career choices. For instance, starting out, she said, "the brand that you work for, 'speaks'…" and choosing it wisely can determine your career trajectory. "After that, there are different things that are important," she noted. One of her career changes was inspired by a desire to "work with a woman who could mentor me." Then, "later, as I had children, flexibility was more important, Now, what I have learned is that I want to work with people who are amazing, people to have fun with, every day."

In making mission choices, Holly thinks that what instinctively drives decisions can be different for women than men. "Sometimes, what's important is the money. I think women are sometimes uncomfortable with that idea." Holly also stated "there are tradeoffs." She cited the example of choosing a startup with exciting potential, great experience and an impressive title versus working for a larger, more established company at a higher compensation level. Holly also suggested, for personal peace of mind, "there has to be a conversation, at home, about tradeoffs. You have to know what you can balance, at home, in that workload," to make informed decisions.

To achieve balance, in addition to yoga and hiking, Holly reminds herself "it's one day at a time, one work week at a time." The tech industry is unpredictable so "this can also all change tomorrow. The best I can do is just focus on what's right in front of me and take it in bite-sized chunks." Holly is grateful to be in the security field. "There's a bigger mission. Particularly in the current environment, you can really understand how what goes on in the digital world impacts us all. It's about how you detect and respond, managing risk to your mission."

Holly noted that there is "a massive issue in technology employment," and "everyone is going to be needed. We need all kinds of talent. We need more women in engineering; we need more women in leadership; we need more women in storytelling positions." With the advent of the "Me, Too" movement and other progressive societal influences, she thinks that "a lot of behavioral changes are going to happen" to assist in breaking down diversity barriers. "We have the power to vote with our feet, and choose not to work for a certain company, or a certain manager, leader or CEO." The biggest issue in Holly's mind that needs to be addressed is "the pay equity piece." She noted that each individual manager can change that. "Every year, we go through reviews. We have the power to address the pay gap" then. Her perspective is that pay equity is solvable, "if we chip away at it, little by little. Everybody can play a role."

For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Jill Maiorano, Director of Strategic Engagements, Americas Division, at Cisco (www.cisco.com). Topics ranged from management, strategy, to balancing home/family with a busy career.

"I was not a 'technology tinkerer'" Jill said. "From a relatively early age, I decided to be in sales." After graduating Eastern Michigan University, she felt "really blessed that I was able to find tech." Her first tech sales job was with Allnet Communications, providing long-distance services to business customers. She was there a few years when Frontier Communications acquired the company, and was later acquired by Global Crossing Inc. (www.globalcrossing.com). At Allnet, Jill progressed from frontline sales, to sales team management, to opening markets throughout Ohio (Toledo and Cincinnati), to management of the Midwest.

Jill then joined the startup team at USN Communications, a CLEC, where she opened and managed 13 offices across Michigan and Ohio. "It ended with a phone call from the president saying that we had run out of money, no more VC funding. I spent the next two months running what felt like 'resume clinics' and writing referral letters" for the 150 people who had worked for her. Then Jill moved to Qwest Communications (now CenturyLink, www.centurylink.com) as a director; then migrated to Sprint (www.sprint.com) to "the easiest job I ever had" as a sales manager. Her next decision to plunge into greater technology depths drove Jill's decision to join Cisco, 12.5 years ago.

Jill is a Cisco enthusiast for a variety of reasons. "We take our investments, our future, very seriously," she said. "We call it a 'buy/build partner model'. She also loves the fact that Cisco deploys a "work is something you do, not where you go" philosophy to help team members achieve life balance. Jill said: "For 11 years, I ran sales organizations. Each year was slightly different. It was a really interesting time."

In 2016, Jill "took on a role that never existed before." Reporting to the SVP of Cisco's $28 billion Americas (Canada, Latin America and the U.S.A), she was asked to "help with the way we engage with our customers, our partners, our employees." Jill's busy team handles internal and external events, speaking engagements, public relations, internal and external communications of all kinds. "My team also captures the 'stories' "Jill said, both within and outside of Cisco, and "elevate and share them." They have created very impactful Advisory Councils and "do a lot of survey" work to really listen to the field employees to hear more about what is happening in the market, with customers and partners. Ever action-oriented, Jill said: "I'm in the 'then, what?' business, and enjoying it!"

Jill feels very comfortable in her skin and has learned, along the way. She said that to feel fulfilled, "most people need more than a number" for which to strive. "They need to feel they are making a difference." She is also intent on promoting unique treatment for each team member at the company. "While we rally around mutual mission, individual attention, understanding what makes that person tick" is a strength she uses, daily.

While comfortable now, Jill harks back to an earlier time when she "felt defensive" as the only female leader in organizations. "Gaining results took some of that away, but part of it was simply deciding not to live in that 'head space' – to not allow myself to feel like I wasn't welcome" among her male peers. She gives back to the Cisco community by trying to help through an internal affinity group called Cisco Connected Women, a community for all women at Cisco, all over the globe. The Americas chapter has grown to 4000 members with a 14-member managing board, and a 30-member Advisory Board. "Connected Women's role is to help attract, retain, develop, and celebrate women as part of Cisco's competitive and diverse workforce," Jill said. She decried the fact that while science, math and engineering are part of middle school and high school curricula, technology in many regions and school systems is noticeably absent. Jill's rallying cry is "where's the T????". Cisco's Connected Women, 7000 strong globally, implements outreach among adult women and encourages girls to pursue STEM curriculum and vocations.

Jill's children are teenagers, so she is now "at an interesting place where I am trying to get back to things I enjoy" which includes tennis, working out and socializing with friends. "Ultimately what makes me happy is having a blend. When things get out of whack, I really feel the stress. There is no perfect. You have to look at balance, long-term." Jill also admits that she has an "unnatural fear of failure," but has become more comfortable taking risks, and learning from them. "At today's pace, you must be willing to be out on the edge, and then retreat, regroup and relearn."

Key leadership and life lessons that Jill shared were:

1. Be yourself.

2. "Go for it; be a pioneer."

3. "Embrace change." The pace of change is intense, so keep up with it.

4. "Be real with who you are. Know your strengths and your weaknesses. Match your skills with your career."

5. "Create a woman friend network. If you have the right ones in your life, they will 'high five' you better than anybody. They will hug you when you need a hug. They will nudge you when you need a nudge. And they will 'call you on it' when you need that!"

For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed K. Melissa Kennedy, best-selling author, and Managing Partner/Global Innovation Facilitator at 48 Innovate (http://www.48innovate.com/) a platform for generating employee-driven problem-solving through nimble entrepreneurial practices in 48 hours.

Clearly a "change-maker," Melissa owes her technology orientation to "good old Dad,"a network administrator, who "really exposed me and my brother to technology at an early age." In high school, she "dabbled" in tech; but went on to graduate from the University of North Carolina with a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications. She worked for North Carolina State University as the campaign co-leader for an education bond referendum, winning $3.1 billion in higher education bonds --- "the largest higher education bond in U.S. history!" NC State "serendipitously launched my career in more STEM-oriented" directions.

She obtained her NC State master's degree in marketing, with a focus on technology companies. For Melissa, this "opened the door, and gave validation" so she could move from higher education and government to work for what was then a startup provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions – Channel Advisor (https://www.channeladvisor.com/ ). After that, Melissa joined Cisco Systems, (www.cisco.com). "That's when my career exploded." Melissa felt like "I had a real impact on the business because I applied some of my skills from a startup I worked with, in ecommerce, to this big networking giant. I worked with 3000-4000 channel partners, helping them scale their marketing efforts." She credits her ability to work cross-functionally across many organizations as being key to her 5-year Cisco success; and is grateful for this period allowing her to experiment with a variety of marketing techniques.

From Cisco, Melissa jumped headfirst into the world of entrepreneurship. "I just went all in," she said. "I got introduced to StartUp Weekend" (https://startupweekend.org/) a nonprofit 54-hour event convening North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham Triangle designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and experts from all domains to do amazing things. Melissa facilitated over a dozen StartUp Weekends around the world ("from Rio de Janeiro to Cedar Rapids, Iowa").

Learning through her own career, Melissa's current company was born from insightful observations. "Big companies have a problem moving fast," she said. "The startup world taught me that there are tools and skills you can apply within big businesses to help them innovate. And more importantly, you can help them enable and empower their employees to do cool stuff!" She views her central mission as "making work meaningful, fun and productive, again." 48 Innovate offers a methodology to help companies move from idea to concrete 'executive proof' plan in 48 hours or less. "It uses pitch skills. It uses design thinking." She also deploys some "traditional" strategic management tools and planning, all wrapped into one fast-track program. "Organizations can bring cross-functional teams to solve their greatest challenge or address their opportunity in 48 hours."

"I'm passionate about helping other people do things they didn't think they could do. I use technology in all of my work." So, Melissa has three tips for would-be entrepreneurs:

1. "You don't have to know everything." For things at which you are not naturally talented nor proficient, contract it to someone else, or consider partnering.
2. "You have to develop a 'good enough scale.' " Prioritize the high value tasks; concentrate on them.
3. "The pursuit of innovation is all about practice. Start small. Build the "strength muscle of being comfortable in the uncomfortable." Then start applying for innovation opportunities.

Melissa has written a book, that is now an Amazon (www.amazon.com) best-seller: The Innovation Revolution: Discover the Genius Hiding in Plain Sight, to "share the things I learned." She said: "We're in a new era. We have crossed from the Industrial Age, and its linear thinking, to the Information Age. The tools, the processes, from the old age are not going to apply. I have figured out to help leaders and individuals to make the simple change(s) that make a difference!" She firmly believes "everyone has innovation within them. It's up to us to go from idea to action." Melissa can be reached at her 48Innovate website and on Twitter at @kmelissakennedy.

For the full blog write up, make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. Follow our show and tell us what you like with an online review.