Women Lead Data

We're kicking off season 2 of the podcast with a bang! In this episode, I’m joined by Akia Obas, Senior Director of Data, Insights, and GTM Business Systems at Netlify. We dive into her career journey—from econometrics to data leadership—and discuss how company size and reporting structure can influence your path.

Akia shares her insights on how joining a startup allowed her to “own the whole cake” (from data pipelines and infrastructure to insights and influencing the business) and how self-reflection can help you choose the right focus areas. She also shares her philosophies for running a lean, high-impact data team, the importance of enablement, and how to prioritize based on influence and impact using the stakeholder engagement matrix. 

It’s a packed episode full of tactical advice—let’s get into it!

In this episode, I’m joined by Veronika Durgin, VP of Data at Saks, to learn more about her leadership journey in the data industry. Veronika shares more about her career journey: how she got into data from a background in biology, spent several years working in DBA roles at well-known companies like Monster, Vistaprint, and HubSpot, and then moved into broader leadership roles in data. We talked a bit about her experience starting a family while managing full-time work and completing a master's degree. Veronika also shares some great insights about how to think about engineering excellence as data teams, what differentiates a good engineer from a great engineer, and how to build a unicorn data team. We also talk about how to continue showing up in difficult work environments–and why it’s so important to do this! So, if you’re a data professional looking to hone your engineering skills and craft, or a data leader working on building an exceptional team–this episode is absolutely for you.

In this episode, I’m joined by Elizabeth Gilbert, Product Data Scientist at Duo, to learn more about her leadership journey in the data industry. Elizabeth shares how she got started in data. We talk about her breadth of startup experience across different sectors like geospatial analytics, healthcare automation, and cybersecurity. We touch on the importance of data literacy and having a common language–both for business users and newcomers entering data professions. Elizabeth also shares how getting more involved in the data community through events like meetups and conferences helped her accelerate her career growth.

Episode Links:

• Cincinnati Data and Analytics Meetup

In this episode, I’m joined by Sol Rashidi to learn more about her leadership journey in the data industry. Sol has been in the space for over 25 years and is currently the ‘Head of Technology, North America’ for Amazon’s Startup Division. Before that, Sol held several former C-suite data roles for giants like Estee Lauder, Merck Pharmaceuticals, Sony Music, and Royal Caribbean. She also helped launch IBM Watson back in 2011–the world’s 1st commercial and enterprise-grade AI application. We touch on so many great topics in this episode–Sol shares about her recent soul-searching journey to find the right next role for her, how to know your shelf-life in a role and the importance of knowing your worth, and she shares how building genuine connections with people in your network can unlock career opportunities. We also talked about Sol’s course on Maven: “Transition from a Tech Practitioner to an Executive”, and her new book “Your AI Survival Guide” to help you navigate all the noise out there about AI right now. So if you’re a data professional looking to grow into leadership roles and develop executive-level soft skills–this episode is for you! So without further ado, let’s hear from Sol!

Episode Links:

• Sol Rashidi on Substack 
• Sol Rashidi on Forbes
• Your AI Survival Guide by Sol Rashidi: Scraped Knees, Bruised Elbows, and Lessons Learned from Real-World AI Deployments
• Maven Course: Transition from a Tech Practitioner to an Executive

In this episode, I’m joined by Sarah Levy, Co-founder and CEO of Euno, to learn more about her leadership journey in the data industry. Sarah has spent the last 20 years in tech and data-related roles ranging from army intelligence and cyber security, to being a 3X founder. We learn more about her current company Euno and how their team is reshaping the workflows of Analytics Engineers. From there we dive into Sarah’s views on how to build the best teams regardless of what it takes. Sarah has so many great insights and experiences to share, this episode is perfect for founders trying to balance speed with building great culture and teams, as well as those looking for advice on how to find a supportive culture in their next role.

• https://euno.ai/

In this episode, I’m joined by Nicole Radziwill, PhD, author and fractional chief data officer to startups and enterprises, to learn more about her leadership journey in the data industry. Nicole shares about her career journey, which is so interesting and varied: from starting out in meteorology (even stormchasing!), transitioning into telecom, to her first chief data officer position in the early 2000s, and getting her PhD then becoming a professor for just over 10 years. Most recently Nicole has been sharing her insights and wisdom back in the data industry in various CDO roles and fractional work, and she has written a new book called Data, Strategy, Culture, and Power, which is a culmination of her decades of learnings. We take some time to talk about the challenges that folks in data roles have, especially CDO roles because they have to navigate the politics and power that surround data. This episode is for any data professionals who have felt the challenges of navigating the politics of the role and are interested in how to move up and overcome. Without further ado, here is Nicole!

• Data, Strategy, Culture & Power (Amazon): https://amzn.to/4bcDED9
• Book Overview: Data, Strategy, Culture, and Power
• Stakeholder Engagement Matrix

In this episode, I’m joined by Meri Nova, Technical Founder of Break Into Data to learn more about her journey in the data industry. Meri shares more about her early career journey, how her education in business and entrepreneurial spirit drove her to become a first-time founder, and how this taught her the importance of data-driven decisions for successfully running a business. Meri shares more about how she launched an online accountability group to help her upskill in data, and how this eventually transformed into the broader community she now leads, Break Into Data. This is such a cool story of how things can evolve and grow when people come together to support one another–I think you’ll enjoy hearing about this journey and where things are heading next.

• https://www.linkedin.com/company/break-into-data/ 
• https://breakintodata.substack.com/about 
• https://substack.com/@merinova
• https://github.com/Break-Into-Data/Break-Into-Data-Discord

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Serena H. Huang, Founder of Data with Serena, to learn more about their leadership journey in the data industry. Serena shares more about her career journey, how she started in economics and consulting, transitioned her focus into People Analytics, and most recently started her business Data with Serena. Serena shares advice for how you can think about getting unstuck in your career, why data leaders should care about preparing their teams for AI, and how betting on yourself as an entrepreneur gives you the ultimate freedom to be yourself in your career. This is such a cool episode, Serena has so much valuable insight and information to share–I think you’re gonna love it.

• Data with Serena
• LinkedIn Learning: The Data Analytics of Diversity, Inclusion, and Well-being

In this episode, I’m joined by Joy Robson, co-founder of Data for Good, to learn more about her leadership journey in the data industry. Joy shares more about her career journey, how she got into data, and how she started Data for Good, a collective that connects socially minded data professionals with non-profit organizations through volunteer opportunities. We also discuss how societal expectations can impact women’s career paths and choices and how you can think about overcoming these challenges.

Episode Links:

• Data for Good
• DataKind
• Data Mishaps Night

In this episode, I’m joined by Maggie Wolff Data Scientist, Product Analytics at American Express Global Business Travel, to learn more about her leadership journey in the data industry. Maggie shares her career journey, with her early dreams of being a webmaster leading her through different PR, communications, and marketing roles, and an interest in mathematics that eventually pulled her to transition into a role in data. Maggie shares more about how she made this career transition, and how self-awareness, community, and content creation played an important role along her journey.

• Data Storyteller Substack
• Data Storyteller TikTok
• Data Storyteller Instagram 
• Data Storyteller LinkedIn Page 
• Data Storyteller on Medium
• Data Storyteller on Gumroad