Retaining WIT Jossie Haines & Jordanna Kwok

In the last episode of this season of the Retaining WIT podcast, Jossie and Jordanna discuss some of their recent topics and podcast guests, before digging in on exploring current events, technologies, and their own journeys. Thank you for joining us!

We dive into:


Personal tech life updates
Big events in the industry
Artificial intelligence

Resources:⁠

You can connect with Jordanna on LinkedIn:⁠⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordannakwok/⁠⁠ and on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/jordeewok⁠⁠

You can connect with Jossie on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jossiemann/⁠⁠ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JossieHaines⁠⁠. Jossie offers free strategy calls to women leaders in tech to empower them to thrive, be sure to DM her on LinkedIn for more info!


This podcast comes to you in collaboration with the sheTO community (formerly Divhersity). Did you know that less than 9% of engineering executive roles are held by women? sheTO is on a mission to change that. sheTO is a private network for women and non-binary engineering leaders with a goal of accelerating careers of our embers and building their high powered network. Learn more at ⁠⁠sheTO.org⁠⁠!

On today’s episode of the Retaining WIT podcast, we are joined by Farzona Pulatova, an Engineering Leader in Silicon Valley! Our interview with Farzona focuses on exploring the confidence gap and its impact on women in the tech industry. What is the confidence gap? How can this struggle be navigated? Our guest shares her insights on why women often struggle with confidence, and how this can hold them back in their careers. We discuss practical strategies for building confidence, including tips for overcoming imposter syndrome and cultivating a growth mindset.

Farzona is an engineering leader with 16 years of experience in the tech industry with a history of leading teams to build consumer-facing products at MasterClass, Uber, Twitter, and Orbitz, to name a few. She's passionate about mentoring and coaching women in various stages of their careers and increasing the number of women in organizations. She has also helped create, lead, and support woman-focused ERGs and initiatives in the workplace. On a personal note, Farzona is a big fan of audiobooks and is always on the hunt for reading and listening to something new.

We dive into:


How do we combat uncertainty with pre-committal, preparation, and mentally re-framing challenges?
How do we elevate and validate each other to build confidence and act?
What do we do if we're struggling, in order to accomplish our goals and thrive?



Resources:

You can connect with Farzona on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/farzona/

You can connect with Jordanna on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordannakwok/⁠ and on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/jordeewok⁠

You can connect with Jossie on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jossiemann/⁠ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JossieHaines⁠. Jossie offers free strategy calls to women leaders in tech to empower them to thrive, be sure to DM her on LinkedIn for more info!


This podcast comes to you in collaboration with the sheTO community (formerly Divhersity). Did you know that less than 9% of engineering executive roles are held by women? sheTO is on a mission to change that. sheTO is a private network for women and non-binary engineering leaders with a goal of accelerating careers of our embers and building their high powered network. Learn more at ⁠sheTO.org⁠!

On today’s episode of the Retaining WIT podcast, we are joined by Teresa Martyny who is now Sr Engineering Manager at dbtLabs. The main topic of our conversation today is managing performance and making an impact in uncertain times. We discuss how to strategically build out team resilience and response, from care and curious communication to contextualizing company stressors in a way that is actionable on an individual and team basis.



Teresa Martyny started her career in tech in 1997 at North East Regional Data Center at the University of Florida. She spent time leading teams building powerful data products, most recently at companies like
New Relic, Twitter, and Amazon and is now an Sr Engineering Manager at dbt Labs. Her mission is to enable teams to build incredible products through thriving, collaborating efficiently, and being audacious.


We dive into:


What are key strategies to effectively manage a team during times of uncertainty?
How can you boost your team's motivation and morale during hard times?
What are the challenges leaders face when making an impact during uncertain times?



Resources:

You can connect with Teresa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresamartyny/

You can connect with Jordanna on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordannakwok/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordeewok



You can connect with Jossie on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jossiemann/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JossieHaines Jossie offers free strategy calls to women leaders in tech to empower them to thrive, be sure to DM her on LinkedIn for more info!


This podcast comes to you in collaboration with the sheTO community (formerly Divhersity). Did you know that less than 9% of engineering executive roles are held by women? sheTO is on a mission to change that. sheTO is a private network for women and non-binary engineering leaders with a goal of accelerating careers of our members and building their high powered network. Learn more at sheTO.org!

In this episode of the Retaining WIT podcast, we are joined by Samantha Zeitlin, Former Senior Manager of Security Machine Learning at Elastic. The main topic of our conversation today is effectively building and managing a professional network. Networking is crucial for career success, especially as we go up the career ladder. Yet, women in tech often hesitate to leverage this crucial skill due to a misconception it will take a lot of time, or feeling discomfort about reaching out to strangers.


Sam was a cancer researcher for twenty years before switching to software, learning Python for data science and machine learning. More recently, she has specialized in MLOps and managing machine learning teams that put models in production.

 

We dive into:


How do you approach networking with authenticity and purpose, rather than trying to "collect" as many contacts as possible?
How do you make time for networking?
How do you stay connected with your network over time, especially with individuals who may not be in your immediate work circle?



Resources: 

You can connect with Samantha on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sgzeitlin/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/samanthazeitlin

 

You can connect with Jordanna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordannakwok/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordeewok.

 

You can connect with Jossie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jossiemann/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JossieHaines. Jossie offers free strategy calls to women leaders in tech to empower them to thrive, be sure to DM her on LinkedIn for more
info! 

 

This podcast comes to you in collaboration with the sheTO community (formerly Divhersity). Did you know that less than 9% of engineering executive roles are held by women? sheTO is on a mission to change that. sheTO is a private network for women and non-binary engineering leaders with a goal of accelerating careers of our members and building their high powered network. Learn more at sheTO.org!

On today’s episode of the Retaining WIT podcast, we are joined by Yuliya Falkovich, Head of Engineering for Chassis Capability @ ION Analytics (a division of ION Group). The main topic of our conversation today is bouncing back from layoffs, which is a crucial topic in our current tech landscape. We also follow Yuliya’s journey and discuss visibility, perseverance, and resilience in technical fields. 



We dive into:


The importance of seeking visibility and finding sponsors
Building perseverance through a realization that careers are so often non-linear
Building resilience by being prepared for layoffs before they happen
Dealing with the emotional impact layoffs can have not just on those impacted, but the leader and remaining team as well



Yuliya is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of software engineering and development team management experience. She is leading a globally distributed team of software engineers building innovative products and laying the foundation of reusable UI and natural language search components. In the past she has held numerous senior level positions on the Selerity team, serving as the Director of Application Development prior to ION's acquisition. Yuliya's extensive professional experience spans the financial, media, and technology industries. Prior to Selerity, she held various senior engineering and management roles in Morgan Stanley's fixed income technology department, Thomson Reuters' media department, as well as in various startups. Yuliya is bilingual in English/Russian and currently holds a dual Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from New York University.


Resources:

You can connect with Yuliya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuliyafalkovich/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yuliyafalk



You can connect with Jordanna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordannakwok/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordeewok

 

You can connect with Jossie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jossiemann/ and on YouTube at: http://youtube.com/@jossiehaines/   Jossie offers free strategy calls to women leaders in tech to empower them to thrive, be sure to DM her on LinkedIn for more info!

 

This podcast comes to you in collaboration with the sheTO community (formerly Divhersity). Did you know that women hold less than 9% of engineering executive roles? sheTO is on a mission to change that. sheTO is a private network for women and non-binary engineering leaders with the goal of accelerating careers of our members and building their high-powered network. Learn more at sheTO.org!

On today’s episode of the Retaining WIT podcast, we are joined by Bhavna Bhatnagar, Engineering Leader at Rivian, in the Identity Access Management space. Today's main topic of conversation is how to be heard and respected as a technical leader. So often, women are assumed to be non-technical.  Jossie’s example drives this home, “When I managed at Apple, people constantly assumed I was the project manager, and I even got an apology letter from someone who made that assumption.  I think this is a crucial topic to ensure we retain women in tech.”

In our conversation with Bhavna, we dive into the challenges women face with being technical. We discuss unequal role opportunities, gender bias, unbalanced work requirements for growth, and issues that can arise in pushing policies and initiatives.  She shared how small, consistent wins can reinforce an identity of competence and enable us to gain allies and build trust. She also shares tools for handling situations that bring you unexpectedly out of your comfort zone.

Bhavna has over 25 years of professional experience, from a software engineer to growing through the ranks to a leadership role in the Identity Access Management and Security space.  She has global experience, having grown up and studied in India, and then she made her way to UK, Singapore, Germany, US, India, and then US again for her jobs and family. She is an avid blogger, holds 4 US patents in the identity space, and is one of the authors of the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) specification. She led and started the Women in Tech forums at UBS, helping younger talent find their voice.  She is married to a wonderful supporting husband, lives in South Bay, California, and has 2 boys.

Key Insights:


Find the balance. Apply compassion and curiosity confidently in dealing with perceived bias issues


Start with low complexity, avoid jargon, focus on the business, and consider the audience, especially when talking to non-technical teams and leaders.


Show and delegate repeatable competence. Empowerment through accountability allows teams to have ownership, lean in, and show mastery, bringing pride and technical excellence.



Resources:

On the Web - Bhavna’s articles on zero trust, IAM, and Security:


https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/zero-trust-its-players-principles-bhavna-bhatnagar/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/zero-trust-prevalent-security-bhavna-bhatnagar/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/saml-oauth-openid-connect-bhavna-bhatnagar/



You can connect with Bhavna Bhatnagar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavna-bhatnagar-784403/



You can connect with Jordanna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordannakwok/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordeewok



You can connect with Jossie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jossiemann/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JossieHaines   Jossie offers free strategy calls to women leaders in tech to empower them to thrive, be sure to DM her on LinkedIn for more info!



This podcast comes to you in collaboration with the sheTO community (formerly Divhersity). Did you know that less than 9% of engineering executive roles are held by women? sheTO is on a mission to change that. sheTO is a private network for women and non-binary engineering leaders with a goal of accelerating careers of our members and building their high powered network. Learn more at sheTO.org!