🎙 Welcome to the Women Who Tech show!

In this heartfelt and reflective 12th episode, I sit down with Alina Korol - design leader, researcher and mentor - for a candid conversation about design leadership and self-employment, her personal and professional transformation over the past few years, joy of process over result, and the power of self-belief.

⚡ Note: the episode is recorded in Ukrainian

🔥 We dive into:

✔️  Why transformation often hits personal and professional life at once - and how crisis can spark real change

✔️  Alina’s go-to books and resources for navigating life’s turning points

✔️  The meaning behind Notice little things and how it ties into mindfulness (go see Perfect days by Wim Wenders full of Japanese philosophy of Wabi-sabi! 🥰)

✔️  The people who believed in Alina early on and how that made her her

✔️  How the UN Women Leadership Program became a life-changing experience

✔️  What it is like to kickstart an education program that many designers grew to love and the upcoming Product bootcamp announcement!

✔️  Alina’s unique insights into modern Ukrainian startups character

✔️  Testing hypothesis with founders

✔️  How Ukraine leads in client-oriented services and digitalisation

One quote that stuck with me after our conversation: “Don’t let to diminish yourself and dim the inner light on the path of transformation”.

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🔗 Alina on LinkedIn

🔗 Alina offers consulting and mentorship here

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn

Music by Make Like a Tree

BONUS

Education

https://progresiya.biasless.world/

Books

https://shopcatalog.com/products/the-mountain-is-you

https://shopcatalog.com/products/when-youre-ready-this-is-how-you-heal

🎙 Welcome to the Women Who Tech show!

In the 11-th episode, I sit down with Mariia Lobachova, Technical project manager, mentor and creator of Manage Me Hard YouTube channel for PMs to talk modern work — myths of project manager role, American and German work culture and the backstage of content creation.

🔹 Turn up the volume if you are interested in navigating tech in Germany, building credibility as a woman professional, and sharing knowledge through content creation.

🔥 We dive into:

✔️  How an engineering background shapes a sharp Technical PM

✔️  The most critical phases of a project — and why they make or break delivery

✔️  3 common misconceptions about the project manager role

✔️  How PMP certification can boost your career

✔️  Gaining credibility as a young woman — outperforming and meeting expectations

✔️  The work culture contrasts between Germany and the U.S.

✔️  Challenges of expat life in Berlin

✔️  The story behind provocative Mariia’s YouTube channel name - Manage Me Hard

✔️  Practical video tips for aspiring PMs

✔️  Content creation workflow - taking up to 10 hours to produce a video and cracking YouTube algorithms

One quote that stuck with me after our conversation: “The initiation and closing project phases are the most stressful for a technical project manager”.

👉 Hit Follow to stay inspired and never miss an episode!

🔗 Mariia on LinkedIn

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn

🔗 YouTube channel for PMs in Ukrainian by Mariia

🔗 Mariia offers mentorship here

Music by ⁠Make Like a Tree⁠

🎙 Welcome to the Women Who Tech show!

In the 10-th episode, I sit down with Camille Dufresne, Senior product designer and UX researcher for a real talk about freelancing in Germany — client work, financial realities and owning your value as an independent professional.

🔹 Turn up the volume if you are interested in freelancing and want to learn the tricks of financial management and red flags of potential clients from real-life experience!

🔥 We dive into:

✔️ How networking, conferences, and referrals fuel a steady stream of clients

✔️ Authenticity and empathy as Camille’s approach in networking

✔️ Why having a financial safety net as a freelancer is non-negotiable

✔️ The truth about unpaid sick days and time off—and what to plan for

✔️ How to debrief a potential client and quickly assess if there’s a mutual fit

✔️ Pro tip #1: Delegate or say no to work outside your core competencies

✔️ Pro tip #2: Find a solid Steuerberater to take the tax and insurance weight off your shoulders

✔️ And the classic: Who’s the real boss when you freelance? Freelancing vs. Full-time employment

One quote that stuck with me after our conversation: “Freelancing is a certain lifestyle where you balance work and personal time, make sure it fits your personality”.

👉 Hit Follow to stay inspired and never miss an episode!

🔗 Camille on LinkedIn

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn

Music by Make Like a Tree

BONUS

Malt freelance platform

🎙 Welcome to the Women Who Tech show!

In the 9-th episode, I sit down with Giulia Sale, FemTech coach, TEDx speaker and founder of The Art of Bragging — for an empowering conversation about confidence nature, FemTech in UK, and shaking up both startup and speaker scene.

🔹 Turn up the volume of the episode packed with bold energy and inspiration for women founders, speakers, and anyone ready to level up in their game!

🔥 We dive into:

✔️ What it really means to be a founder and own your story

✔️ The confidence gap — why it’s a societal issue and what we can do about it (see the statistics below)

✔️ Giulia’s bold mission: to help 100,000 women scale FemTech businesses by 2035

✔️ How she coaches women on every step of their startup journey — from mapping their idea to pitching it to investors

✔️ How fear of success and limiting beliefs become serious blockers

✔️ Did you know that only 2% of venture capital funding goes to women entrepreneurs?

✔️ The reality of gender bias in startup ecosystems in real-life stories — and how to flip negative-led questions asked of women founders into opportunity-driven ones

✔️ Behind the scenes of Giulia’s powerful TEDx Talk in London

✔️ Why practice is king (or queen!) for becoming a natural public speaker

One quote that stuck with me after our conversation: “My client said: I’m not a founder, founders don’t cry and fail. I said to her: really?”

👉 Hit Follow to stay inspired and never miss an episode!

🔗 Giulia on LinkedIn

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn

Music by Make Like a Tree

BONUS

🔗 Giulia’s talk at TEDx talks

📈 Confidence gap statistics:

→ Only 31% of women feel confident about investing, compared to 44% of men

→ Women entrepreneurs are less likely to pitch for venture capital or apply for loans due to lower confidence levels.

→ 39% of women are confident in their capabilities to start a business, while 55% of men feel the same way.

→ Despite representing 70% of FemTech founders, women-led startups consistently raise less capital than their male counterparts. This funding gap can erode confidence and create additional pressure on female founders.

→ Femtech founders frequently need to invest time in educating investors, particularly male investors, about women's health issues. This can be uncomfortable and challenging, especially when explaining intimate details of female health experiences.

🎙 Welcome to the Women Who Tech Show!

In the eights episode, I sit down with Alisa Salamon, Career Growth Coach, for an engaging conversation about coaching directions, understanding and letting go of the inner self-saboteur and the power of stories we tell ourselves and others.

🔹 Turn up the volume, if you're curios about coaching world and looking for ways to understand and unblock yourself in professional growth - this episode is full of revelations!

🔥 We dive into:

✔️ The key differences between career growth, group, and therapeutic coaching

✔️ How coaching is non-directive unlike mentorship

✔️ Understanding the inner self-saboteur and how it feeds off our inner critic

✔️ Practical steps to uncover and overcome self-sabotaging behaviour

✔️ How to gain C-level visibility and advocate for yourself with confidence

✔️ Positive bias: shift your mindset for success

✔️ Alisa’s inspiring 7-year journey into coaching and building a global practice

✔️ Utilising a bragging doc and role-play sessions: how Alisa helped Lisa to ace her performance review and why it still didn’t lead to promotion 😅

One quote that stuck with me after our conversation: "Stories that we tell ourselves might be not true and hold us back".

👉 Hit Follow to stay inspired and never miss an episode!

🔗 Alisa on LinkedIn

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn

Music by Make Like a Tree

🎙 Welcome to the Women Who Tech Show!

In the seventh episode, I sit down with Paulina Wielewski, Product manager and Mentor for an engaging discussion about her successful job search strategy, serendipity moments and common misconceptions about product management.

🔹 Turn up the volume, if you're looking for a new job or want to learn how the tech industry has changed over the past 10 years - this episode is blend of real-world insights!

🔥 We dive into:

✔️ How a lollipop moment (yes, really!) led Paulina to discover product management

✔️ The reality of applying to 70+ jobs in 3 months and how it led a fitting job offer

✔️ Why asking for recommendations to open positions via LinkedIn doesn’t have to feel awkward

✔️ Building a support system during the job hunt and dealing with rejections

✔️ Honest insights into the recruitment process

✔️ Common myths about PM roles

✔️ And her sharp observations on the tech industry development over the past 10 years

One quote that stuck with me after our conversation: "As a product manager, one day you might make a wrong decision and you should be okay with this. Fail fast, learn fast".

👉 Hit Follow to stay inspired and never miss an episode!

🔗 Paulina on LinkedIn

🔗 Paulina mentors here

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn

Music by Make Like a Tree

BONUS

🔗 Headhunter recommended by Paulina

🔗 Product podcast Paulina likes to listen to

🔗 Lollipop moment explained

🎙 Welcome to the Women Who Tech Show!

In the sixth episode, I sit down with Kateryna Kladyk, Product manager and Master’s student at Technische Universität Berlin for a frank conversation about entrepreneurial aspirations, the transition from design to product management, and sustainability role in the study program and beyond.

🔹 Turn up the volume, if you're considering a career shift or thinking about pursuing a Master’s degree — this episode is packed with insights from real experience!

🔥 We dive into:

✔️ What it’s like to balance a PM role and a Master’s program

✔️ Behind the scenes of the Innovation Management, Entrepreneurship & Sustainability program at Technische Universität Berlin

✔️ How study trips abroad and networking can shape your path

✔️ How sustainability goes beyond environmentalism as a way of thinking for making long-lasting choices

✔️ Sustainability in event planning and socially-responsible business

✔️ Katia’s journey from design to product management

✔️ A candid reflection on her own paused podcast project, “33 Minutes”

One quote that stuck with me after our conversation: "For me, sustainability goes beyond the environment, it is also a way of thinking and making long-lasting choices that bring positive value".

👉 Hit Follow to stay inspired and never miss an episode!

🔗 Katia on LinkedIn

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn

Music by Make Like a Tree

BONUS

The books recommended by Katia:

• Give and Take, Adam Grant

This book really made me rethink how I approach relationships. It shows how being generous with your time, knowledge, and connections can actually lead to long-term success.

• Hired: How to Get a Product Management Job, Product School

If you’re trying to break into PM, this book is a must. It’s packed with practical advice on everything from building a solid application to acing interviews and making a great first impression in your first 90 days.

• Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

I loved following the main character‘s journey from a delicate girl to a resilient woman who builds her own businesses and fights for success. The Civil War backdrop, combined with themes of love and loss, makes her story so much more powerful. Definitely something I will read again.

The bloggers recommended by Katia:

• Chloe Shih

I don’t follow a specific list of bloggers regularly — I’m more of a browser when I need inspiration or a motivation boost. But I am subscribed to Chloe Shih, who’s a seasoned product manager with experience at major tech companies, and I really like how she shares honest, practical advice about the PM world.

• Dana Pavlychko

Another person I admire is Dana Pavlychko. Her journey really resonates with me — she ran a successful publishing house in Ukraine, did her MBA at Oxford, and is now focused on social entrepreneurship. I look up to her for how she balances work and personal life while staying true to her purpose.

🎙 Welcome to the Women Who Tech Show!

In the fifth episode, I sit down with Eugenia Pasichnyk, an Agile and Career coach, to uncover effective career coaching, work-life balance, career clarity and women in leadership as the most common client requests and the practical application of the philosophy.

🔹 Turn up the volume on one of the most inspiring, refreshing, and powerful conversations of the season!

⚡ Note: the episode is recorded in Ukrainian with English subtitles

🔥 We dive into:

✔️ Why coaching works only when there’s a conscious request for change

✔️ The role of ethics in coaching and how it differs from psychotherapy

✔️ How business frameworks like Scrum, SWOT analysis and Wardley mapping can be applied to personal growth

✔️ The dangers of authoritarian companies that see employees as mere resources instead of individuals

✔️ Finding the right workplace: Red vs. Blue corporate cultures and aligning with company values

✔️ How a single toxic team member (especially a manager!) can impact an entire team

✔️ Recognising a toxic work environment, knowing when to walk away and how to heal

✔️ The top 3 most common coaching requests: work-life balance, imposter syndrome and women in leadership

✔️ A powerful real-life story—how leaving a company with unsatisfactory work terms opened doors to even greater opportunities

✔️ The practical application of Stoicism and the Pythagorean method

One quote that stuck with me after our conversation: "The match of values makes the workplace comfortable, where a person brings a lot to the table".

👉 Hit Follow to stay inspired and never miss an episode!

🔗 Eugenia on LinkedIn

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn

🫶🏼  Join the charity fundraiser and get the digital guide of 27 resources to boost your job hunting in Tech

The books recommended by Eugenia:

Stoicism

• How to be a stoic, Massimo Pigliucci
• Little book of stoicism, Jonas Salzgeber
• A handbook for New stoics: how to thrive in a world out of your control, Gregory Lopez and Massimo Pigliucci

Psychology

• Man’s search for meaning, Viktor Frankl
• The choice, Edith Eger
• The gift, Edith Eger

Coaching

• Triggers: creating behavior that lasts, becoming the person you want to be, Marshall Goldsmith and

Leadership

• Extreme ownership: how U.S. Navy SEALs lead and win, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

🎙 Welcome to the Women Who Tech Show!

In the fourth episode, I sit down with Clara Scharpf, User Researcher, for an open conversation about the power of research, the art of storytelling in presentations, and the collaboration between researchers and designers.

🔥 We dive into:

✔️ Clara’s journey — from Market Research to User Research which makes her current role more meaningful

✔️ Ethical considerations in consumer psychology

✔️ Why the beginning and ending matter most for creating an engaging presentation

✔️ How aligning on goals, scope, and deliverables of user testing fosters strong collaboration between researchers and designers

✔️ User recruitment tips on how to find the right participants and uncover true user motivations

✔️ The role of AI in research — leveraging tools while maintaining human insight

🔹 Whether you're a researcher, designer, or just curious about how insights shape the products we use, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways!

One quote that stuck with me after our conversation: "Research is not about producing as much presentations as possible".

Hit Follow to stay inspired and never miss an episode! 🚀

🔗 Clara on LinkedIn

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn

Music by Make Like a Tree

🎙 Welcome to the Women Who Tech Show!

In the third episode, I sit down with Isabelle Hüther, Design leader and Mentor, for a real conversation about design leadership, team diversification and representation of women, and the future of design roles.

Isabelle brings a wealth of experience in leading design teams, fostering a sustainable team culture, and mentoring designers worldwide — helping them navigate the job market and level up in their careers.

🔥 We dive into:

✔️ The situational leadership approach — why great leaders wear multiple hats

✔️ What truly makes a good manager and how leadership impacts team success

✔️ Why diverse teams are stronger and better at meeting user needs

✔️ How to make career progression transparent and objective

✔️ The ownership and adaptability mindset every senior designer needs

✔️ The rise of the T-shaped designer — why versatility is key in today’s industry

✔️ The future of design — where designers act as problem solvers beyond tools

✔️ Turning passionate discussions into productive conversations by aligning goals and understanding motivations

🔹 Three words that define design for Isabelle: Empathy, Strategy, Impact.

One quote that stuck with me after our conversation: "A good manager is on the side of empowerment, not manipulation".

Hit Follow to stay inspired and never miss an episode! 🚀

🔗 Isabelle on LinkedIn

🔗 Isabelle offers mentorship on ADPlist

🔗 Lisa on LinkedIn

Music by Make Like a Tree