Podcast

As part of our podcast, we speak with women working in all areas of tech. They share their own journeys into the tech sector, offer advice and top tips for careers tech, and discuss what we can all do to improve diversity and inclusion in the sector. If you're interested in taking part, please just drop our ChatBot a message and someone will be in touch.

Episode 26: Top Tips For Raising Investment In Tech

In this episode we caught up with Danae Shell, CEO and Co-Founder of Valla. As part of the episode, Danae offers her advice to other women considering starting their own company in tech and looking to raise investment. Danae also discuss how to navigate a non-inclusive environment in this heavily male-dominated industry.
(31 min listen)
Resources:
  • https://valla.uk/guide/guides-home
  • https://www.tiktok.com/@valla.uk?lang=en
  • https://valla.uk/guide/action-toolkit

Episode 25: The Ultimate Career Move – From Opera To Tech

In this episode we caught up with Director of Product and Engineering at Axel Springer, Anna McDougall. As part of the episode Anna talks about her transition into a career in tech, the particular challenges and benefits of having a non-technical background in this industry, and highlights what businesses should be doing to retain female tech talent.
(1 hour listen)

*You Belong In Tech: https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Belong-Tech-Programming-Knowledge-ebook/dp/B09WB6YR39

Episode 24: Making The Most Of Tech Events

In this episode we caught up with Co-Founder of Manchester Tech Festival, Naomi Timperley to talk more about what the festival has in store!

Having been consecutively named by Computer Weekly in their Most Influential Women In Tech list, Naomi also discusses the importance of and offers advice to other people looking to become role models.

(26 min listen)

Episode 23: No Tech Background? No Problem

In this episode we caught up with Strategy Lead at dxw, Michelle Szaraz. As part of the episode Michelle discusses managing a technical team from a non-technical background, gives advice to those looking to create their own opportunities and highlights her top tips for women wanting to start their own venture in the tech space.

(57 min listen)

Episode 22: Top Tech Leadership Skills

In this episode we caught up with Engineering Manager at Sanity.io, Phillipa Rodney. As part of the episode Phillipa discusses the most important skills to develop in a tech leadership position, offers advice to other women looking to progress in this male dominated space, and highlights the benefits of helping others succeed in their career.

(30 min listen)

Episode 21: Creating Your Own Opportunities

In this episode we caught up with Founder of Epic Women In Cyber, GitHub Star, & OpenUK Ambassador, Sonya Moisset. As part of the episode, Sonya offers advice and top tips around making a career change into the tech industry, taking the leap to leadership, and creating career advancement opportunities from the community.

(20 min listen)

Episode 20: How Women Can Thrive In Tech

In this episode we caught up with Engineering Lead at Pollen, Gisela Rossi. Gisela discusses how tech leaders, businesses and the industry in general can help women to thrive in careers in tech, and offers her advice to others looking to advance in their career.

(26 min listen)

Episode 19: Starting Your Own Company In Tech

In this episode we caught up with Co-Founder and CTO at Fiat Republic, Martyna Lewinska. Martyna discusses the key things she has learnt though founding her own company and mentions what businesses should be doing to encourage more women into a career in tech.

Martyna also highlights the most exciting thing happening in the cryptocurrency space.

(12 min listen)

Episode 18: Developer Relations 101

In this episode we caught up with Jane Usoskina, Principal Solutions Architect & Developer Relations Lead at Banked. Jane discusses the benefits and challenges of the Developer Relations role and how it has evolved. Jane also mentions why community is so important in the tech industry.

(29 min listen)

 

Episode 17: Become A Senior Leader In Tech

In this episode we caught up with Jenny Heinze, VP of Automotive & Mobility at DMI. Jenny offers top tips to other women looking to become senior leaders in the tech space, highlights the benefits of having more diverse teams, and discusses what businesses should be doing to encourage more women into senior leadership positions.

(21 min listen)

Episode 16: Important Skills For Tech Leaders

In this episode we caught up with Tracy Roesler, Engineering Manager – Data Platform at Scout 24. Tracy talks about the most important skills for tech leaders, offers her advice to other women looking to navigate leadership positions in the industry, and discusses whether engineering degrees are essential for success.

(25 min listen)

Episode 15: How To Support Your Employees Mental Health

In this episode we caught up with Jessy Halison, Engineering Manager at Ecosia, who discusses the initiatives businesses can implement to hire a more diverse team. Jessy also mentions how businesses can support employees mental health, and offers her advice for those looking to find a mentor.

(23 min listen)

Episode 14: The Importance Of Representation

In this episode we caught up with Rahmat Junaid, DevOps Engineer at Automation Logic. Rahmat discusses why it’s important for there to be more female and minority representation within the tech industry and offers her advice to other women of colour who are navigating a career in tech.

Rahmat also highlights what businesses can do to create an inclusive environment for minorities within the industry.

(17 min listen)

Episode 13: How To Succeed As A DevOps Professional

In this episode we caught up with Zuri Guardiola, Consulting Engineer at Automation Logic. Zuri talks about what makes a successful DevOps professional as well as highlighting a key DevOps trend to watch out for.

Zuri also offers advice to recent and upcoming graduates looking to find their first role in tech.

(16 min listen)

Episode 12: Learn Your Next Coding Language

In this episode we caught up with Oxana Kharitonova, Site Reliability Engineer at Cloudflare, Inc. Oxana discusses how she stays on top of the ever-changing trends in the tech industry, offers her advice to others looking to learn a new coding language, and talks about her experience working in different countries as a woman in tech.

(20 min listen)

Episode 11: The Next Generation Of Female Tech Leaders

In this episode we caught up with Natalia Baltazar, Senior Engineering Manager at Lantum, to talk about the biggest challenges ahead for the next generation of female tech leaders. Natalia also discusses how to overcome imposter syndrome and increase confidence as well as offering her top tips to those looking to find a mentor.

(48 min listen)

Episode 10: Benefits of Diverse Hiring

In this episode we caught up with Martyn Pratt, Senior DevOps Consultant Engineer at Automation Logic, to talk about the benefits of diverse tech teams to businesses, and the challenges tech teams face when trying to hire more diversely.

Martyn also offers his advice for those looking to pursue a career in the industry.

(23 min listen)

Episode 9: Diversity Initiatives

In this episode we caught up with Jo Stansfield, Diversity and Inclusion in Tech Consultant, to talk about the importance of mentoring initiatives as well as what businesses can do to create a more diverse workforce in the industry. Jo highlights that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach that businesses can implement in order to increase diversity in tech.

(25 min listen)

Episode 8: Starting A Career In Tech

In this episode we caught up with Ania Kubow, Software Engineer at Eurostar to talk about her interesting journey into a career in tech, why she believes their is a gender disparity in the industry and what initiatives businesses can implement to attract and retain female tech professionals.

(11 min listen)

 

Episode 7: Tackling The Stereotype

In this episode we caught up with Saskia Menke, Software Engineer at Doctolib, to talk about how the community can increase diversity in the industry by tackling the traditional stereotype of tech professionals as well as highlighting relatable role models.

(19 min listen)

Episode 6: Reducing Unconscious Bias

In this episode we chat with Giles Lindsay, Founder and CEO of Agile Delta Consulting, to talk about how businesses and the wider community can make the tech industry more inclusive to women, as well as how to reduce unconscious bias in business decisions.

(23 min listen)

 

Episode 5: Managing Team Morale

In this episode we chat with Tamara Miner, Partner Engineering Manager at Improbable, about the challenges she has faced as a woman in the tech industry. Tamara discusses the benefits of offering internships and gives her advice on how to maintain team morale when working in a remote environment.

(50 min listen)

Episode 4: Maintain Your Productivity

In this episode we chat with Marjana Shammi, Head of Software Engineering at Moneyou about maintaining productivity in a remote environment. Marjana discusses how to balance home life with a career in tech and offers her advice for women wanting to pursue a career in the industry.

(29 min listen)

Episode 3 : Key Skills In DevOps

In this episode we chat with Natalie Godec, Platform Engineer at Babylon Health about how she got into a career in the tech industry, the differences between working in a corporation as opposed to a startup business and the key skills needed to succeed in DevOps.

(21 min listen)

Episode 2 : Community Of Trailblazers

In this episode we chat with Heather Black, Salesforce Advocate, Founder and CEO of Supermums, about the importance of the Salesforce community in improving diversity in the ecosystem, and what being a Trailblazer means to her.

(21 min listen)

Episode 1 : The Benefits of Mentorship

In this episode we chat with Irina Ioana Brudaru, Executive Coach/Advisor at Codette, about her experiences in the industry and the importance of mentorship in tech. Irina describes herself an enthusiastic data nerd, analyst, techie, writer and mentor. Irina has lived and worked in many countries including: Romania, Germany, USA and the Netherlands.

(45 min listen)