Diva Tech Talk Podcast

Diva Tech Talk Podcast

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Diva Tech Talk Podcast episodes

  • Ep 41: Dr. Denise Mahoney: Building the Future Diverse Workforce

    Diva Tech Talk interviewed Dr. Denise Mahoney, the Pre-Apprentice Liaison for the Kent County Technical Career Center, situated in the Kent County, Mi., Intermediate School District. Her current work is funded by a U.S. Department of Labor grant to increase the number of technology-oriented apprentices in West Michigan. Fosters technical opportunities and educational paths for 11th and 12th graders. "Companies should keep their eyes open to the apprenticeship model," Denise said. "It is just another way to get qualified employees into the workforce." For Denise, Fortran and Cobol programming were part of her initial undergraduate curriculum at the University of South Dakota. While she worked for a financial company serving the Kodak Corporation, Denise was quickly drawn into another love: teaching. At Western Michigan University, she got her teacher's certificate and then moved over to Michigan State University for her Master's in Education Leadership. She ultimately obtained her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at New Mexico State University, and Denise's dissertation concentrated on issues of gender diversity in technology. She described her personal evolution as "not super-exciting but fairly typical of people who moved into IT from other areas."

    Denise's high school career tech center has served over 2300 students, to date, with 70% placed as apprentices in information technology roles, and 30% situated in manufacturing environments and/or mechatronics. The benefits for students include the ability to "earn while they learn;" test their fitness for a specific career; test a company's culture; attain a recognized credential; and gain a career mentor. The companies who participate increase access to a talented, expanded workforce and get the chance to "try before they buy" in terms of potential job candidates. Denise has a lot of advice for students. "Learn everything you can," she exclaimed. "We are training you for jobs that don't even exist," today.

    In getting her doctorate, Denise gathered data about the factors that influence women to choose technology careers. Her findings were broken down into 5 key themes. These women were: influenced by others, had a supportive network, mentored others, possessed technological aptitudes, and possessed well-developed communication skills. She sees the female technologist's success paragon as collaborative and creative. Many of the employers with whom Denise works tell her that what they need in their employees are not just the technical skills but the "soft skills": teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving, and the predilection to help and collaborate with others.

    Denise stressed that "IT is a great career for women." It offers flexibility, the ability to be "hands-on", and strong opportunities for leadership. "You just have to figure out where your niche is," Denise said.

    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.

    24 min
  • Ep 40: Logicalis: Celebrating Girls (and Women) in Technology

    Diva Tech Talk was honored to be onsite at one of the largest Midwestern offices for Logicalis U.S., during its recent GIRLS IN TECHNOLOGY DAY. Logicalis (www.us.logicalis.com) is an international information technology solutions and managed services provider that designs, builds and supports enterprise solutions for customers throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia Pacific. Logicalis entertained 56 high school and early college girls, offering tailored discussions of practical topics related to succeeding in a technology career. Horizon-broadening sessions covered topics as diverse as: uncovering what you are good at, communicating with confidence, the wide variety of career options in the technology field, how to use social media to build your personal brand, how to ace a job interview, and how to write an excellent resume.

    Logicalis supports an internal group dedicated to fostering the missions of its own women employees. Two of the veteran leaders of that group (Logicalis Vice Presidents, Renae Johnson and Julie Spiller) were in the cohort interviewed during this podcast.

    Ghazal Asif, Director of Global Channels of Cisco Meraki, was also a key participant in the day. Ghazal was enthusiastic about having the chance to be one of the main keynote speakers since "the idea of women having equal opportunity is very near and dear to my heart." She spoke eloquently about the need to be fearless in the face of any setback, or any opportunity. "If we look at the data and the stats, it is sad to see that over the last couple of decades, we haven't made much progress" in diversity building, she said. "Yet, as of today, there's more awareness, more research on why diversity and inclusion is so good for companies. In every industry, across every function, women are under-represented. More women should step forward so that in 10 or 20 years from now, we can look back and say 'we made a difference and we changed some of those stats' for the next generation, and generations to come."

    Finally, Vince DeLuca, CEO of Logicalis, took time to present to this audience because "these young ladies are our future." DeLuca was encouraged by his interactions with the girls and women. "Knowing that they have interest in technology is really important," he said. "I also think that overall diversity in the field is wildly important to our (Logicalis) success. When we have a male-dominated organization, with just male leaders, we don't enough of a flow of ideas." DeLuca really enjoyed his event participation. "To see the amount of interest, the general attention of these young ladies is really rewarding. The benefit that I get out of this would be seeing every one of these folks succeed in their own passion. I may not get to see that individually, but as a group I think they will do that; and that, to me, is the best reward that I could ever get."

    DeLuca waxed philosophical about how the overall education of our youth can be helped by everyone in their environment. "We live in such an interesting world right now. I think, as a society, we need to do a better job educating everyone about what's happening out there," he said. DeLuca sees some key tech trends that can help with this. "Collaboration has to be near the top," he said. "There's so many ways to connect vast amounts of resource groups or information." DeLuca is proud that community-building is part of the Logicalis culture. "Giving back to the communities we serve is a core value, across all our offices," he said. "It's so important to us, not just to reap the benefit of what we are trying to do with our customers, but making an impact into the community."

    Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com onTwitter @divatechtalks, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk.

    46 min
  • Ep 39: Janet Tyler: When to slow down and when to accelerate

    Diva Tech Talk interviewed Janet Tyler, Chief Operating Officer, at Red Level Networks (www.redlevelnetworks.com). Janet's early tech interest was enthusiastically fostered by her father. "That carried me in through college" where Janet earned an MBA in Organizational Development at Eastern Michigan University, and her computer interest was a continuous underlying theme. After obtaining her master's degree, Janet's first job was at New Horizons (www.newhorizons.com) where she initially trained customers in emergent applications (like Microsoft DOS). She traveled extensively, training end-users on relatively new applications, and then moved into a New Horizons marketing and operations management role.

    From New Horizons, Janet moved to the Franco Public Relations Group for whom she led a technology practice encompassing customers like Microsoft, Omnicom, T-Mobile, Supply Solutions Inc. and various tech startups. After four years at Franco PR, Janet "hatched an idea" with the its President to "spin off a company that was dedicated solely to the needs of technology companies:" Airfoil Public Relations (www.airfoilgroup.com ). There she was President and Chief Operating Officer. Janet grew as the company did, at one point moving to Silicon Valley. She spent 3-4 years establishing the Airfoil operation in California, before moving back to the Midwest in the middle of the 2009 recession. In 2012, she became co-CEO of the company, and helped build a highly collaborative culture.

    Among Airfoil accounts were eBay, eBay Motors, Microsoft, LinkedIn, PayPal, and many others including less renowned startups.

    In the last two years, Janet joined Red Level to help them pursue their "mission to provide IT consulting and services to companies throughout Michigan, predominantly, who are invested in technology and who innovate." As COO, she oversees all operations and marketing. Her personal strengths include: strong communications capability, process orientation, project management skills, broad future view/vision and a sincere team orientation

    Being a woman has not negatively affected Janet. "I have rarely looked at myself as a 'woman' leader," she said.

    "My lens is not geared to that." One of her personal weaknesses, along the way, has been her occasional "negative self-talk, and self-doubt." Now, she is achieving a greater level of peaceful, internal balance through mindfulness and meditation.

    Janet's top leadership lesson for other women includes realizing when you approach individual burnout. Then train and develop others, build a team and lead it to remain effective in delivering results. "This can be very difficult for people who have a high need for control." She also recommends that you learn "when to slow down and when to speed up" in getting things done, and making decisions.

    You can reach Janet Tyler at [email protected], or through Twitter at @janet_tyler.

    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.

    39 min
  • Ep 38: Julie Christ: Digital Disrupter Building Life-Long Client Relationships

    Diva Tech Talk interviewed veteran tech professional, Julie Christ, Founder and CEO of TechSmart Solutions. Julie graduated from the University of Michigan, with a computer science degree, and a business minor, then a relatively new degree program. "It was pretty leading edge," said Julie. "Throughout my career, I would be only female in a room of 40-50 people. It was a differentiator for me. It never inhibited me; it never bothered me. I just knew that I would be remembered." Julie's first job was as a business analyst at Compuware (www.compuware.com) where she was working to understand customer needs from a tech perspective. Her first Compuware customer was General Motors (www.gm.com).

    Julie moved overseas, and lived in London, U.K. for a year working for Little Caesar's. When she returned to the U.S., she continued with Little Caesar's (www.littlecaesars.com) in their corporate headquarters as a technical project manager and assumed complete responsibility for that private company's gamut of financial systems. Julie began the consulting segment of her career, working for EDS (www.eds.com), where she underwent rigorous leadership training. Then she moved, for the next 5 years, to $9 billion automotive supplier, Arvin Meritor, where she is proud to have had a career of "firsts", and was part of "some amazing projects!" She moved subsequently, to Volkswagen, under the aegis of Compuware, to launch VW.com ("which was a significant project, re-launched in a very tight timeframe, in multiple time zones and multiple countries, with no issues."). Then she migrated to R.L. Polk(www.rlpolk.com), a supplier of market research and data for the automotive industry. In 2008, Julie founded TechSmart with a fundamental mission of providing overall company solutions ("whether that's a technical solution, or a business solution"). Her client base includes organizations in hospitality, municipal government area, food services, banking as well as several core automotive customers. Julie's leadership lessons for other women/girls in tech include: deploy kindness, recognize and use every person's gifts, be humane, but DON'T over-apologize, and ensure you have mentors. "Look for people who have alignments to what you think makes up a good leader."

    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.

    32 min
  • Ep 37: Jennifer Pfaff: Running with her Career in Focus

    Diva Tech Talk interviewed Jennifer Pfaff, Director of Store IT Services for Domino's (www.dominos.com), a company averaging $2.3 billion in annual revenue, ranking as the 2nd largest franchisor of pizza retail outlets in the world.

    Jennifer did not originally pursue information technology as a career. She initially envisioned her future as an electrical engineer designing cochlear implants to improve hearing, since she suffered an auditory loss at a young age. But while at the University of Arizona, she came to the decision that electrical engineering was not her life's mission and changed her major to Business, with a concentration in MIS and Operations Management. After graduation, she took her first job in Battle Creek, Mi. at the headquarters for Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) in the IT department, subsequently moving into sales there "to learn how we really did our business."

    Coming back to Michigan, "I worked for all three of the Big 3 U.S. automotive companies either directly or through consulting," Jennifer said. "Early on, I discovered that my passion was in the project side of IT." One of her favorite early projects, a breakthrough personalized car owner website for Ford, is very characteristic of the rest of her career. Jennifer and her team began the project with few requirements or resources, but a very aggressive development timeline. The amorphous nature of the project and the quick timeline "drove creativity." Crediting her "fantastic team," this shaped a crucial career philosophy for Jennifer: "If you have the opportunity to try something new, out of your comfort zone, with high visibility" do it! Jennifer then went to another Fortune 500 company, Jacobs Engineering (www.jacobs.com), an international technical and engineering professional services firm, with over 80,000 employees, and 127 offices all over the globe, where she led their global technology project office, managing a worldwide team on several continents. From Jacobs, Jennifer migrated to her current role at Domino's, where her team is working on strengthening and securing the online, ordering and transaction system that allows consumers to place orders. She has also just joined Domino's product strategy group, helping to roll out new digital innovations for Domino's franchisees and consumers. Jennifer's advice for aspiring women leaders and girls in tech is:
    1. "As you are building your brand, focus on what you do best, but make sure that you give some thought to what else it is that you think you want to do, in the future." (And try those!)
    2. For all students, "take as much math as you possibly can. It teaches you to think."
    3. And "If you think broadly, give things a go and you are willing to try things, good things will happen. Be ready; be flexible."

    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.

    37 min
  • Ep 36: Cindy Warner: Transforming the World Through Democratization of Data

    Diva Tech Talk was delighted to interview Cindy Warner, whose rich, multi-level career and mission story is inspiring. Cindy began as a pre-med undergraduate aiming to become an orthopedic surgeon, at the University of California in San Diego. Unfortunately, in her second year, she frequently fainted at the sight of blood, which reoriented her career. So after obtaining her degree in business administration, with a minor in computer science from Grand Valley State University in Michigan, she began an internship at IBM, selling typewriters, and subsequently System 23's and System 36's.

    There "I learned about this small, innovative company called FedEx," (www.fedex.com), Cindy said. "The intriguing thing about FedEx was the speed with which they wanted to move packages, through technology. If you wanted to be in technology at FedEx, you needed to be in operations, first." So Cindy's initial job was as a courier. She rose to become a FedEx Operations Manager and then ran FedEx's Eastern Region. "But I didn't want my career to be only about transportation. I wanted to broaden my horizon."

    To do that, Cindy moved back to Southern California where she worked on a large Oracle systems implementation for a Fortune 1000 dental equipment manufacturer. "I loved doing the consulting part, which led me to Ernst and Young." She spent 9 years at E&Y/Cap Gemini, first implementing back office Oracle deployments, and subsequently moving into front office consulting in the area of customer relationship management. The downsizing of CG's worldwide consulting operations brought her to next opportunity: building a CRM (customer relationship management) practice, under a one-year contract, for Accenture. "The exciting thing about that time was that Saleforce.com was taking the market by storm," Cindy said. She was then offered the chance to build out Saleforce.com's (www.salesforce.com) professional services practice, and create an "enterprise presence" at that company -- an assignment she fulfilled for two and a half years, commuting frequently from Michigan to California and other parts of the globe. She left Salesforce.com at the beginning of the 2008 recession/depression to "spend more time on entrepreneurial ventures." She already owned a 1938's-style diner, and unique specialty market in Northern Michigan, and decided to replicate it in downtown Detroit. "That lasted about a year until we saw the traffic volumes waning, and decided to close the store." Cindy then moved over to Alix Partners, a company solely focused on helping large corporations restructure so they could turn around. "It was deploying a life lesson. It was a cleansing of my soul. I understood their pain," she said. "In some cases, I was emotionally vested in helping these companies sustain." From there she migrated to become a partner at PWC Consulting for two years where she helped build out their cloud computing and Salesforce.com practices. She then moved to IBM, to direct its worldwide cloud computing strategy, but the entrepreneurial "itch" returned.

    Years before, over lunch with Marc Benioff, founder and CEO for Salesforce.com, Cindy posited the opinion that CRM, at some point in the future, would have to become consumer-centric. That germ of an idea has blossomed into her new startup: 360ofme (www.360ofme.com) which she founded in May, 2016. "The data of YOU is proliferating wildly," she said. "And it is in silos of data." A consumer's healthcare information, purchase decisions, ownership decisions, financial records are all held by the organizations with whom the consumer does business. "None of that is in a single place. None of that has context. We want to give consumers the ability to control their own data, have it with them, share it, and gain insights that will allow them to live better, more predictable lives." The 360ofme team demonstrated a prototype at Dreamforce 2016 (Salesforce.com's annual convention); its first beta version will be available in November, 2016; and there will be full platform launch in January, 2017. The first three vertical markets will be finance, healthcare, and automotive ---- highly regulated industries with crucial consumer data. "Consumers can intentionally interact with companies in those markets," Cindy said.

    Cindy catalogued her top three leadership strengths as enthusiastic passion for what she does, a belief that everyone should have fun, and a tendency to be highly collaborative. When speaking about women in leadership roles, she noted that she has always felt the need to prove herself because of that, "I've almost felt that I have nothing to lose!" She also shares her main leadership lessons:

    1. Humiliation is not a leadership trait.
    2. Helping people find their voices is essential.
    3. Never take "no" for an answer. "Don't let people tell you that you can't!"
    4. Don't take yourself too seriously! Have fun along the way.

    In her philanthropic life, Cindy's favorite organizations include The Special Olympics, veteran-oriented nonprofits, women in technology causes, and reform of the U.S. justice system as it relates to inmates with mental health issues.

    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.

    41 min
  • Ep 35: Visionary Dr. Barbara Ciaramitaro: Be Strategic About Your Future

    Diva Tech Talk spoke with Dr. Barbara Ciaramitaro, Chair of the Decision Science Department, and Director of the newly-expanded Cyber Security Center at Walsh College, a leading non-profit higher education institution offering fifteen business and technology degree programs, on both an undergraduate and Master's level, as well as several business and technology certifications. Walsh is the first, in 2003, to have received the NSA's official designation as an academic center of excellence in information assurance and in 2015 received an additional NSA designation as a center of academic excellence in cyber defense.

    Fascinated by science as a child, Barbara was born too soon to have computers as part of her early learning. After graduating from Wayne State University, though, she was exposed to the rapidly changing technology landscape through her first job at Dickinson Wright PLLC, where she was tapped to be part of the law firm's team to evaluate and introduce new systems. From there she moved to Plunkett Cooney, after a decade, where she became Chief Technology Officer; received her Masters degree in software engineering; and led the firm in selecting and successfully implementing their first state-of-the-art litigation support and database systems. She had a similar role at Miller Canfield and then moved to General Motors.

    As the GM executive aligned with the internal legal department, she oversaw the development of a unique legal technology system, eventually awarded three patents and worth approximately $60 million.

    Barbara was also teaching part-time, while she worked at GM and decided to go back and get her PhD at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida, as part of her evolving career plan. "I tell my students that you have to be strategic about your future," Barbara says. "There are so many opportunities. You need to prepare yourself for the next one, even if you don't know what it is right now."

    Following her own advice, Barbara move to full-time academia after leaving GM. She migrated from Walsh to Ferris State University to design information security courses and was lured back to Walsh in a leadership position. Barb is very proud that at the top 100 companies in Michigan, there are Walsh graduates at all of them. Along the way, Barbara has learned many lessons:

    • Speak the language of business, and to your business audience.
    • Have patience.
    • Stay on top of things when it comes to technology innovation, and new developments.

    As woman in the tech field, Barbara says "I was always aware that I was one of the few there, leading the charge. I grew up with the mantra that I had to be better than the men around me in order to be accepted. Know more, learn more, speak better, be better. I think that's a horrible burden, but that's what I felt I needed to do." She says that bringing more women into the world of technology is one of her passions "because we need that." Her advice to emerging women leaders includes some simple admonitions. "Remain curious," she says. "Always look for new answers, new ways of doing things, new technologies. Be courageous since it's not easy being a woman in the field of technology. And be true to yourself. Your personal integrity is the only thing you are going to carry with you through your entire life."

    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. And please listen to us on iTunes and Stitcher and provide an online review.

    27 min
  • Ep 34: Rhonda St. John Hamborsky: Beating the "Urgency Addiction"

    Diva Tech Talk was excited to interview Rhonda St. John Hamborsky, Director of Strategy and Innovation at multinational AT&T Inc. Rhonda's job is to guide select large global AT&T enterprise customers in terms of technical strategy development. The complexity of Rhonda's current role was not predictable, as a girl/teenager, since she did not originally see her future in technology. "I came into it, accidentally," Rhonda said. "I remember having some struggles mathematically. I attribute it to the teaching styles of the time; we were not able to work in groups or collaborate. So I am so excited for girls, today. I feel like their experience is vastly different, and there is a great opportunity to keep them engaged in math and sciences."

    With a robust career, Rhonda spent much of her early stages at data communications companies and startup consultancies in both Silicon Valley and subsequently in the Midwest. Having started in sales, initially, at startups, Rhonda moved to successful sales management, then engineering management, and then general operational management. "In a startup, you have the opportunity to wear a lot of hats," she said.

    Rhonda moved over to AT&T in a role she says is "one of the best jobs in the company." Having been there for twelve years, Rhonda plans to stay at AT&T for 5 to 7 more years. But she also planning a worthwhile "encore" career, after her AT&T tenure. Enrolled in a graduate program focused on gerontology (the study of aging), she is excited to see where that future path will take her.

    In her career development, Rhonda characterized herself as a "good planner" but acknowledged that this came with maturity. Being at several startups caused what she called "the urgency addiction," earlier in her career. "What that does is it burns you out," she admitted. "At the end of the day, you say 'I know I did a lot today. But did I accomplish anything that's sustainable?'"

    Rhonda's top four lessons for women aspiring to become technology leaders are:

    • Be an active listener
    • Be willing to have your argument debated, and be willing to change your mind.
    • Keep learning.
    • Take a step back, and remember to remain humble.

    And offering two additional points of encouragement, Rhonda urges women to "make your voice heard," and "Don't let the challenges get you down. We're all going to encounter speed bumps along the way. Shake it off. Take a lesson learned from it, and get back in the ring!"

    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. And please listen to us on iTunes and Stitcher and provide an online review.

    30 min
  • Ep 33: Danielle DeLonge: Building a "Jungle Gym" Tech Career

    Diva Tech Talk interviewed Danielle DeLonge, Technology Learning Consultant at Plante Moran, the 14th largest accounting/consulting firm in the United States. For 18 years, Plante Moran has been recognized on FORTUNE magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America.

    Describing her career path as a "jungle gym path" vs. a "ladder career path," Danielle began her technology journey with a breakthrough Michigan-based organization: Automation Alley, where she facilitated an 8-chapter grant-funded statewide network of technology professionals (ConnecTech). Then she became their Business Accelerator Client Champion, serving as the intermediary between entrepreneurs who wanted "seed" money, and those who funded them. From there she was the Executive Director of Davenport University's development of their Lansing campus. After a stint as a Project Manager for Xede, she moved to Plante Moran โ€” first as an IT Consultant, and now in her current role.

    In this podcast, as the mother of a young daughter, Danielle discussed many things including achievement of life balance; aligning her skills with her community contributions; and the key attributes which contribute to her success: agility, adaptability, building and fostering a strong network, and a predilection for both "listening and creating."

    Danielle recommends a number of books including: LOVE IS THE KILLER APP, THE GIRL'S GUIDE TO HUNTING AND FISHING, REALITY IS BROKEN, and two books which her father gave her: THE POWER OF NICE and NICE GIRLS DON'T GET THE CORNER OFFICE (all downloadable as part of an Audible 30 Day Trial at www.audibletrial.com/dt2.)

    Danielle's top four leadership lessons for other tech women include:

    • Never underestimate the value of clear communication.
    • Learn how to facilitate productive conversations.
    • Know your numbers.
    • The tech field is growing and evolving, and you are always growing and evolving. There is a way for you to carve out a niche in this community, if you persist.

    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. And please listen to us on iTunes and Stitcher and provide an online review.

    30 min
  • Ep 32: Joanne Moretti: Inspiring One Million Tech Women by 2020

    Diva Tech Talk was thrilled to interview technology industry leader and visionary, Joanne Moretti, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales Enablement at Jabil Inc., and General Manager of Jabil's Blue Sky Center. With a 30-plus year career at tech industry giants like CA Technologies, Hewlett Packard and Dell, Joanne had many personal insights and leadership tips to share.

    Beginning her tech career at one of Canada's largest banks (CIBC), Joanne moved to the vendor side when she joined CA Technologies as a systems engineer. She went on to become a successful salesperson; sales manager; General Manager for CA, Canada and then SVP/GM for CA, Canada and the West Coast. Joanne subsequently joined Hewlett Packard and applied solutions selling "know-how" to her role as leader for the HP Sales University, where she and her team developed an award-winning curriculum which encouraged "a much higher level of conversation" between HP sales representatives and their customers.

    From HP, Joanne moved to Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Dell Software and took on the initial role of integrating seven software entity acquisitions, from a marketing/brand perspective to "come up with a uniform message to market around how Dell software was going to enable Dell solutions, overall." Now she is SVP, Marketing and Sales Enablement at Jabil, and General Manager of The Blue Sky Center, "our innovation hub for the whole 180,000 person company. "

    Joanne characterized her three major leadership skills simply. They include adaptability to change, her ability to assess risk, and make decisions. "I think that making decisions is one of the most important things you can do if you're an entrepreneur or an 'intrapreneur.' Decision-making is what fuels progress."

    Joanne's two biggest passions, outside of her professional mission, is attracting women to STEM and strengthening other women technology leaders, as well as working for the goal of expanded, effective education. For her, it is all about "unlocking the potential of people, and the world."

    Joanne also has an aspirational goal to inspire 1 million women, for good, by the year 2020. "And I put presentations together, blogs together, speak publicly whenever I am given the opportunity. I give away my top 10 leadership tips away all the time."

    Some of Joanne's 10 tips for aspiring female tech leaders are highlighted in the podcast and the rest in our blog.

    Additionally, if you would like to access Joanne's recommended book Financial Independence or any other free audio book from the over 180,000 titles and engage in a 30 day trial of Audible books, please go to www.audibletrial.com/dt2 to get the Diva Tech Talk trial.

    Make sure to check us out online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechalk.

    36 min

About Diva Tech Talk Podcast

From the publisher's feed

We are on a journey to share insights into leadership, innovation and breaking down the big issues women face in a tech-savvy world. We interview women leaders all around the world from CIOs andโ€ฆ