Tech Gals Podcast

31/10/2021

06/05/2021

I truly enjoyed recording this episode, so I hope y'all like it :)

It's graduation season, so I thought I'd take the time to talk about 21 non-academic things that college has taught me. This year has been nothing like I would've imagined my senior year, but we've made it through and soon onto the next chapter of life!

Hats off to my fellow class of 2021! 🥳

03/05/2021

As y'all may or may not know, I'm currently a graduating senior. In the spirit of 21 episodes AND being part of the graduating class of 2021, I wanted to share 21 non-academic things that I've learned. While college is a time for expanding your knowledge and skills of the world, I think it's also a time of personal growth.

This episode is very much like a spoken journal or diary entry full of my reflections and takeaways - with hints of personal stories scattered throughout. I really enjoyed recording this episode, walking through the past 4 years of college through the lens of what I've learned, gained, and grown.

26/04/2021

This is a bonus episode because I'm planning a special episode 21, but also I have a major life update for you all (especially those of you who've been avid followers and listeners ;) ). While we're in this solo episode update topic, I thought I'd also drop some exciting podcast updates as well... and my podcast thoughts too. Enjoy ~ and catch up on previous episodes if you haven't yet! :)

23/04/2021

This week I bring on not one, but THREE guests, all in the same conversation to talk about our collective student government experience at UC Berkeley. Our official title is "Senator", but this conversation is definitely a lot less official than that. ASUC has been a big part of my personal senior year and I loved being able to share those experiences with you all through the lenses of some of my peers, and now friends.

We cover our entire ASUC journey so far, so if you want to relive some of your college days or learn about student government at a different university make sure you check out this episode!

Tech Gals is available on all major podcasting platforms.

19/04/2021

Whether or not you attend UC Berkeley, most colleges have some form of student government. At Berkeley, ours is called the ASUC. As a registered 501(c)(3) non profit organization, it's known as one of the largest and most autonomous student organizations responsible for handling millions of $$ of student fees, commercial activities, campus spaces, advocating for students on a local, state, and national level.

Last year, I was elected to be 1 of 20 ASUC Senators for the the 2020-2021 academic year - leading ASUC to become a major part of my life. For this episode, I wanted to bring on 3 other ladies that I've worked with over the past year to talk about our experiences. Specifically, we represent and work with different parts of the STEM communities on campus. We talk about our campaigning and elections processes, balancing ASUC among other commitments, things that surprised us about serving as Senators, our accomplishments and legacies.

15/04/2021

I loved this episode for two reasons. 1) Learning more about the applications of data science not in the tech industry. 2) Hearing about the experiences of woman working abroad was such a motivator but also a reality check.

Make sure to check out this Tech Gals episode, available on all major podcasting platforms if you haven't already!

12/04/2021

Nadaa Taiyab is a senior data scientist at Ontada (McKesson, which is a healthcare company for wholesale medical supplies, equipment, pharmaceutical distribution, and healthcare technology solutions.) However, she was actually pre-med and majored in international relations. Her data science career began 15+ years after her first full time job out of college after taking an intensive 3-month bootcamp (from Galvanize). We talk about the applications of data science in healthcare and cool projects that Nadaa has worked on. Her experiences traveling and working abroad as a young female and what she's learned from transition careers and becoming a mother.

09/04/2021

This episode was amazing. I loved listening to Tiana's unique experiences, hearing her passion, and learning some new tips on how to be more successful in my career.

Also, I love this quote because I think it perfectly describes the experience that we're talking about 😉

If you haven't listened yet, Tech Gals is available on all major podcasting platforms!

05/04/2021

Tiana Kara is the executive director of BUILT BY GIRLS - a community that helps prepare women and nonbinary high school and college students to succeed in their tech careers. Built By Girls has mentorship advisors from all across the corporate tech spectrum: from Twitter to Pixar to Squarespace to Huffpost.

In this episode, we talk about a myriad of topics, some that are specifically unique to Tiana. Her experience as a black women in the highest leadership position and the impact of being a leader and women in tech. Her personal motivation and goal for doing community work in tech. She shares multiple frameworks and tips on how to be successful in different aspects of life: seeking a mentor, finding sponsors, and more. Tiana keeps it real while giving applicable advice at the same time.

More about the WAVE mentorship program: https://www.builtbygirls.com/about-wave

02/04/2021

Social impact and the ethics of technological use, products, and companies is definitely a hot topic these days. It's a topic that many of our listeners are extremely interested and passionate about. This week, Christina Zhang, a manager of the ethical and humane use of technology at Salesforce talks about some of the projects she's worked on, how she got into this space, and her advice for others that are interested.

If you haven't listened yet, the episode is available on all major podcasting platforms!

29/03/2021

Christina Zhang is currently a manager for the department of Ethical and Humane Use of Technology at Salesforce. She didn't start her career in either social impact or tech. In this episode, she shares her process of switching roles and getting into the tech industry. At Salesforce, Christina's worked on diversity, equality, and ethics projects: first as a data analyst, then a program specialist, and now as a manager. What super interesting about her career is that she's basically written her own job description not once but now twice and has been building out the Ethical and Humane Use of Technology department.

26/03/2021

In this week's episode, I talk about being a bit behind on sourcing new guests. I'd love to hear from you all any suggestions that you might have! This season, I'm hoping to expand from beyond just those in traditional tech roles, but stories from entrepreneurs, those in the social impact space, educators... or folks with a nontraditional career journey. If you know someone that might be a good fit for the show, I'd love to hear your suggestions! 🤓

Comment below if you have any suggestions! 🥰 You can also shoot me an email at [email protected] or fill out my form on https://www.techgalspod.com/contact

22/03/2021

In this week's episode, I share my personal experiences recruiting for a full time job in the tech industry as as new grad. This has been a topic that's constantly on my mind. It's also something that I've gotten many questions about: What's it like recruiting virtually, in a pandemic? How can friends (or the employed) do to help? Can we ask how the process is going? Can we give advice? On the podcast, we've talked about interviews from a recruiters perspective, but we've yet to share the interviewees perspective. To those of you searching for a new job or looking to make a switch, these are my thoughts about recruiting during a pandemic.

20/03/2021

These are the discriminatory moments that you think exist only in blogs, movies, tv shows... but it does happen in real life. I follow up this story by asking Riya what she would've done differently or what she'd tell others to do if they're in this same situation, and I absolutely love her advice!!

If you haven't taken a listen yet, make sure to do so at Tech Gals on all major podcasting platforms!

15/03/2021

Riya Patel is a senior program manager at Dcode - a for-profit business that works with technology companies and the federal government to solve challenges through commercial innovation. Riya is responsible for managing teams and projects but she also oversees and develops key relationships with various government stakeholders. Before Dcode, she worked with the Department of Defense because of her passion for security. In this episode, she introduces me to the world of government and technology: what it is, what kind of work she does, the types of clients and more. We also talk about her experiences often being one of the only woman of color and sometimes the youngest person in the room. Her experiences with discrimination and bias and learning how to advocate for herself in this very male, non-POC dominate industry.

12/03/2021

My absolute favorite part of this episode is how Katherine really keeps it real. (Although I shouldn't be too surprised because that's exactly how she is in her YouTube videos.) We hit some big topics in this episode, ones that I've yet to cover in other episodes too: tech culture, accountability, mental health, and side hustles!

If you haven't had the chance to take a listen, this episode is on all major podcasting platforms!

09/03/2021

International's Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated around the world today, March 8th. While some countries ignore this holiday in protest, others celebrate it as a day for womanhood. This holiday allegedly began in 1908 when thousands of female garment workers went on strike again their working conditions: making less than men, less status, and experiencing sexual harassment.

In the past decade, IWD has been celebrated to reflect the hardships that women endure, women's fight against hunger and poverty, women's rights, leadership, equality, and more.

Even though this holiday has been around for more than a century now, we still have much more progress to make worldwide until true equality.

Sources: https://time.com/5187268/international-womens-day-history/

https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day

08/03/2021

Katherine Berry, also known as Katherout, is a content creator, pianist, pottery maker, hiker, lifetime learner... (listen to the episode to find out where this comes from!). During her 9-5, she also works in tech sales at a Fortune 500 company. I love this episode for Katherine's raw honesty as we tackle some hefty topics about the tech industry and culture. We talk about employees taking action to keep their tech companies accountable for their decisions and actions. Katherine shares her opinion about side hustles/gigs/hobbies and why she believes everyone should NOT have one. We also dive into different aspects of mental health: from a personal front, at work and with your manager, but also in tech culture.

You can find Katherine on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube

Script to set boundaries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NivNxHo3ng

04/03/2021

Jackie Bavaro has 15+ years of experiences working as a product manager. I think one of the coolest experiences she's had includes helping Asana go from $0 to more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue and launching Asana's associate product manager program.

In this episode, we cover PM skills, management, career mobility, biases, and more!

It's on all major podcasting platforms if you haven't taken a listen yet! 🌱

02/03/2021

Jackie Bavaro is the former Head of Product Management at Asana (PM #1 at Asana). As a seasoned product manager who's worked on products at Google and Microsoft, she's also known for being a co-author of the popular interview prep book called Cracking the PM Interview. In this episode, we talk about the basics of product management and how to be successful. She also shares her advice on biases, tech, and career from her experiences being a seasoned PM.

Learn more about Jackie's newest book: http://bit.ly/crackingthepmcareer

27/02/2021

I've reached out to Christina multiple times this year asking for recruiting advice. Without fail, she always shares extremely tangible advice coupled with a dash of genuine encouragement.

This episode is full of her honest thoughts and experiences. She leaves no filter in sharing the ups and the downs.

If you haven't listened yet, make sure you check it out to hear about getting a job at Uber in Vietnam, strategies for identifying mentors, how she's tried being a good ally, and more! 😇