Show Notes: In this episode of Beyond Six Figures, host Ziv Raviv sits down with Andrea Jones-Rooy, PhD – a dynamic data scientist, educator, and performer who has dedicated her career to making data accessible, creative, and human. From teaching thousands of students at NYU to consulting Fortune 500 companies, Andrea blends humor, critical thinking, and a performer’s energy to help leaders use data more wisely. Together, they explore the dangers of bad data, the trap of analysis paralysis, and how business coaches can use numbers as a tool without losing creativity, intuition, and purpose. Episode Highlights: Why not all data is reliable and how to spot red flags before making decisions Why numbers aren’t “the truth” and how to ask better questions about your data Practical strategies for avoiding endless number-crunching and actually moving forward How Andrea encourages coaches and leaders to trust their instincts first, then use data to validate Andrea’s unusual journey from performing arts to political science to data science leader Why Andrea is more interested in teaching people to use data themselves than in building a big consulting firm About Andrea Jones-Rooy, Ph.D. Andrea Jones-Rooy, Ph.D. is a data scientist, educator, and speaker who applies quantitative methods to seemingly intractable challenges, such as polarization, misinformation, and authoritarian censorship, as well as empowers others to think scientifically and creatively about their most pressing problems. To this end, she regularly advises Fortune 100 companies, tech firms, nonprofits, and government agencies, including the United Nations, on how to thoughtfully use data science and AI to answer their toughest social and political questions. In addition to being a sought-after keynote speaker and consultant, Andrea has contributed to outlets such as FiveThirtyEight, The Daily Beast, Quartz, Harvard Business Review, and The Washington Post, among others. For many years, she was a professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the NYU Center for Data Science, where she developed and taught the flagship, and perpetually waitlisted, course Data Science for Everyone, along with advanced courses in natural language processing. She previously taught international relations at Carnegie Mellon University and NYU Shanghai, where she founded mainland China’s first undergraduate program in quantitative social science. She is the host of the podcast Behind the Data, which highlights the importance of understanding where data comes from in the first place in order to make sense of our world. The first three seasons have covered topics from political polls and misinformation to curing rare diseases and understanding our place in the universe. Andrea holds a Ph.D. in political science and complex systems from the University of Michigan. When she’s not doing all of the above, she is a standup comedian and circus performer specializing in trapeze and fire. Links and Resources Mentioned: https://www.jonesrooy.com https://www.behindthedatashow.com https://www.instagram.com/jonesrooy/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonesrooy/