Microsoft Spotlight Podcast

In episode 29 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Kema Davies who was UK Early Careers Recruitment Lead for Microsoft before joining Meta. Kema has a successful career within IT Recruitment within the tech industry and shares her knowledge and passion for DE&I.    Kema's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kema-davies/ Kema's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kem...

In episode 28 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Nikki Chapple who is Principal Cloud Architect for Cloudway. Nikki has been recently awarded Office Apps and Services MVP for her excellent community work within the Microsoft Compliance arena. Nikki has also Ryan John Murphy from Microsoft to create a new podcast called "M365 Compliance" Nikki's LinkedIn: https://www.linked...

In episode 27 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Tricia Sinclair who is Dynamics 365 Customer Service Lead for Avanade. Tricia is also the founder of an amazing project called "The Power Platform School" which helps adults of diverse backgrounds learn the Microsoft Power Platform for free with the view of upskilling and finding a new career within IT.    Tricia’s...

In episode 26 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Ellie King who is co-founder of Equal. IT! Ellie works with organizations to help diversify tech teams through refined talent acquisition complemented by diversity and inclusion consulting. She also runs our own podcast and YouTube channel about all things DE&I, so make sure you subscribe via the links below. We also lea...

In todays final episode of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast for 2021, our hosts are joined by April Edwards, who is the Senior Cloud Advocate for Microsoft. April talks to our hosts about her life before Microsoft, moving from and her friendship with Abel Wang who inspired her career. April has spoken at many events across the globe and presents the DevOps Lab which can be found over on YouTube. Ap...

In episode 25 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Heather Newman who is a Principal PM Manager for Dynamics 365 and  Power Platform Community at Microsoft! Andrew and Jon discuss the "real cool shit" on Heather's LinkedIn profile as we dive into your career path back to Microsoft after a conversation with Dona Sarkar. Heather even shared a stage with Bill Gates very ea...

In episode 24 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Ioana Tanase who is an Accessibility PM at Microsoft! Ioana, originally from Romania speaks to our hosts about finding out she had dyslexia when she was 32 and how that has affected her life. Ioana has published books including "Life v2" having moved from Romania to London and wanting to write about her experiences. Being an...

In today's episode, Jon Jarvis is joined by guest co-host Sophie Dimelow and Sara Lagerquist! Sara is a 3 time Microsoft Business Applications MVP from Sweden and works as a Power Platform Consultant at CRM-Konsulterna. Sara has spoken at many events over the past couple of years including the South Coast Summit, 365 Saturday Amsterdam, and the upcoming Scottish Summit in February 2022. Sara is an...

In today's episode of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Holly Lehman, who is the Product Marketing Manager for  Microsoft Teams. Holly talks to our guests about her life before Microsoft, moving between Vegas and Seattle working in hospitality. Holly has spoken at many events across the globe and has her own community podcast titled “Head in the Cloud, Heart in the Comm...

On this week's episode of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, we are joined by Antje Lamartine who is a Microsoft MVP based in Germany.   Antje is a Senior Change Success Manager for IF-Blueprint AG based in Munich, Germany. In this episode, we discussed Antje's life in the US/  Germany, how the Women In Tech community varies in each country and how she becames a part of the Microsoft MVP C...

On this week's episode of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, we are joined by Tracy van der Schyff who is the first dual MVP that has joined us on the show.   Tracy is a Microsoft 365 coach and has owned her own company The GUID  Stuff for the past 10 years. This episode is one of the funniest episodes with both hosts in hysterics throughout. Tracy speaks about her  own health after r...

On this week's episode of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, we listen to the inspirational story of Elena Sinel who is the Ceo and Founder of  TeensInAI   Elena is our second Microsoft Regional Director on the show and is the first Regional Director from Uzbekistan. Having worked all over the world, Elena settled in London having never worked in IT but after her daughter had a bad experie...

On Episode 17 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined  by April Dunnam who is the Power Platform Advocacy lead at Microsoft. April  talks to our hosts about her IT career so far, earning her MVP status  in 2018 after running her on consulting company for 8 years before  taking on a role at Microsoft in 2019. April unlike most of our guests  so far has had...

On Episode 16 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Dona Sarkar who is the Director of Accessibility at Microsoft. Dona talks about her time at Microsoft where she has worked since 2005, Dona was an engineer on the Windows Dev team for 12 years covering 5 versions of Windows. Dona speaks passionately about neurodiversity and how her role at Microsoft will ensure that accessib...

On Episode 15 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, after a small Summer break, our hosts are joined by Sharon Weaver who is a Microsoft Regional  Director, Microsoft Certified Trainer, Process Improvement, and  Productivity Expert.   Sharon is the founder and CEO of Smarter consulting and speaks to our hosts about being a leader within the Kansas area by running the Kansas  City...

On today's episode of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Sophie Dimelow who is our youngest guest so far! Sophie is a Microsoft Sales Consultant at The Pure Technology Group, Sophie talks about how her IT career started after starting off as an IT  recruiter and her journey to her current role. Sophie enthusiastically tells our hosts that although not from a technical ba...

On episode 13th of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Jese Navaranjan who is a Microsoft MVP working at Avanade. Graduating university after completing a maths degree, Jese talks to our hosts about her journey from being a Business Analyst to becoming an MVP. Jese talks about her passion for presenting in user groups and her desire to become a mentor for women in the IT commu...

Sara Fennah is our guest on episode 12 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast! Sara is a freelance Microsoft Certified Trainer having been certified for 14 years! Sara talks to our hosts about her career progression starting as a teacher at a secondary school to delivering Microsoft 365 courses. Both of our hosts had plenty of questions about the MCT program and its community. Sara has a unique style...

In the 11th episode of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, we speak to Microsoft's Anne Michels who works as the Director of Product Marketing for Microsoft Teams. Anne passionately speaks about her job at Microsoft, her love for Microsoft Teams, and how it has positively helped the world in a time of crisis. Recording this during her maternity leave, Anne talks about her she got into her role at Mic...

Andrew and Jon welcome Layla Porter aka LaylaCodesIT to the 10th episode of the Microsoft Spotlight Podcast. Laya works as a Developer Advocate for VMware Tanzu and is a Microsoft MVP and GitHub Star! Layla speaks to our hosts about her journey into IT and her rise in just over 5 years in the industry. Layla talks about her work as a content creator on Twitch, dealing with trolls, and her role as...

On episode 9 of the Microsoft Spotlight we welcomed Anna Chu who is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft! Australian native Anna is based out of Seattle currently and works predominately in the Microsoft Tech Community, working on the launch to what it is today. Anna talks to our hosts about starting at Microsoft as a graduate 15  years ago and her experiences of not only being fem...

On the 8th episode of the Microsoft Spotlight Podcast, we are joined by the one and only Karuana Gatimu the Principal Program Manager for the  Customer Advocacy group for Teams. She is one of the most recognizable faces within Microsoft having hosted several Microsoft lead events including MSIgnite and many other community-driven events.    Karuana takes time out of her busy schedul...

In this episode of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, Kathi Kellenberger talks to our hosts about the journey from working in pharmaceuticals to pursuing a new career in IT. Being our first active MVP on the podcast, Kathi talks about how she became an MVP and maintained the award for 11 years. Kathi has done it all in her career; an MVP, a developer, a DBA, consultant, trainer, author, and now an e...

This episode of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast features Jen Stirrup,  CEO, and Founder of Data Relish. Jen talks to our hosts about her life  growing up in technology, having learned to code from a young age! Other  topics include work as a speaker, the effects of social media, being a  single parent, and also a little bit of martial arts! Jen is the creator of the Diversity C...

On episode 5 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, Andrew and Jon speak to Microsoft's Laurie Pottmeyer! Laurie passionately talks about her role as the Microsoft Teams Community Manager and how she positively engages with the community to improve the Microsoft Teams experience, including the creation of the Women in Teams community. As a single Mum who travels a lot, Laurie tells Andrew and Jon how...