Tech in the Right Direction

This week's guest is Mariyah Saifuddin, the Founder of Innovative Solution Partners, a Michigan-based IT consulting firm specializing in helping businesses utilize data analytics to make effective decisions. Mariyah has 20+ years of IT and entrepreneurial experience, including work for Ernst & Young, Levy Home Entertainment, and Electronic Data Systems. She is a board member of the NAWBO Greater D...

This week's guest is Alicia Baldino, the founder and owner of Brandmetix. Alicia's career started in freelance and virtual marketing, but she quickly felt a drive to create something of her own. Her passion for remote work led her to create Brandmetix, a marketing strategy company that focuses on creating custom solutions for brands.   Alicia created Brandmetix on the idea that working from home c...

This week's guest is Angela Spang, the winner of First Women's Entrepreneur of The Year 2017, business owner, and chairman on the board for the World Academy of Medical Science Training and Education. Angela founded June Medical, a company that focuses on developing surgical medical devices, and has made it a priority to have more women included in developing new products and solutions within June...

This week's guest is Kati Quigley, the Senior Director of Global Industry Marketing at Microsoft. Kati is responsible for the buyer journey across seven different industries and has helped grow Microsoft's presence throughout those verticals. Kati grew her career within Microsoft and used that growth to further women's involvement in tech leadership. Kati found her career path by working in variou...

This week's guest is Asra Nadeem, the first female Pakistani venture capitalist, and global speaker. She began her entrepreneurial career working on product and market development for startups in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. Today she is the co-founder of Opus AI, which is a streaming platform that turns plain text into movies and playable 3D worlds in real-time. Asra is also...

This week we’re joined by Jenna Beckett, web developer, technical trainer, and an active leader in tech who is passionate about promoting the female voice. Jenna joins the show to talk about how she made a career pivot into tech and how she grew into a Full-stack Web Developer and Technical Trainer specializing in the .Net stack. Jenna is an active WIT community leader who is passionate about prom...

There is nothing this incredibly successful entrepreneur and well-rounded expert cannot do. In this week’s episode, we had the joy to talk to Arabel Alva Rosales, the president and CEO of AAR & Associates that utilizes technology to transform both private and public sector entities into exceptionally run organizations. Her business also provides consulting expertise in the area of telecommunicatio...

In this week’s episode, we welcome Karen Fassio. Since her humble beginnings as a receptionist in a tech company to over her 21 years at Microsoft, Karen acquired rich and diverse working experience by holding multiple marketing roles. Currently, she is the leader of the strategy for digital marketing engagement that serves the global Microsoft partner ecosystem. Her engagement with the tech world...

Joining us in this week’s episode of our podcast is Sarika Malhotra, a dynamic business leader who spent over 25 years consulting companies around the world, helping them with their IT needs. Today, Sarika is the founder and CEO of C3IT Software Solutions and a community leader at IAMCP, a not-for-profit working with the Microsoft Partner Channel, however she told us her amazing journey in the wor...

This week, Tech in the Right direction features a multilingual business delivery executive that made her way from Czech Republic to the United States bringing an invaluable global perspective into the tech world. Her name is Sandra Kafka and during our conversation she not only shares her incredible journey with us, but also reminds us that in the world of technology staying agile, adaptable, and...

Joining us this week on Tech in the Right Direction is Rona Borre, CEO of Instant Alliance. Rona is one of the leading female entrepreneurs in the Chicagoland area and has received numerous awards such as Inspiring Woman of the Year and is an advocate for women in tech. Listen in to see the incredible work that Rona is doing to help elevate women in technology and advice on how to get into technol...

This week on Tech in the Right Direction we welcome Michelle Vondrasek. founder and CEO of Von technologies. As one of the few women in the telecommunications industry, Michelle discusses what differentiates her such as consistency, quality and values and dives into the importance of morals, integrity and values within her company and their culture. Jennifer and Michelle discuss the adversity they...

Brea Starmer founder of Lions and Tigers, a marketing and strategy consultancy, shares her story of how she identified a need as a senior consultant, started her own business in 2018, and now serves customers including Microsoft and Google. Discussing the importance of courage, fearlessness and authenticity, Brea also dives into her flexible freelance model, a concept that unlocks a talent pool th...

This week we welcome Alison Chung, founder and President of TeamWerks, a Chicago-based technology consulting firm with a growing specialty practice in computer forensics. Finding her passion for technology during college, Alison never looked back no matter the challenges she faced being a woman in technology. Listen in as Alison shares how she overcame the daunting feeling and fear she experienced...

This week Heather Doran, a Las Vegas native shares her story of how at 16, she started her career in the Casino industry gaining business experience throughout high school and college, working for MGM Resorts for 10 years, and enduing up at Microsoft. She discusses the culture change she experienced when going from the casino industry to the tech industry, the imposter syndrome that she struggled...

This week we are joined by Kate Lister, a well-recognized thought leader and president of a research-based consulting firm. Recently, Kate has written about her perspective on how COVID-19 will affect the way people work and has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek and more. Listen in to be a part of a discussion on how companies have been responding to the ‘new normal’...

This week, we are joined by global technology leader, investor, and advocate for advancement of women in the workplace, Harini Gokul. Harini was raised in India and came to America to further her education, receiving her MBA from Vanderbilt University. Join us as Harini shares her thoughts on being a woman in technology and her positive outlook on the progress within the industry surrounding diver...

After a great first season of Tech in the Right Direction, we’re excited to announce some upcoming changes. Tech in the Direction will now focus solely on host Jennifer Didier’s passion: Women in Tech. As a woman in technology herself, Jennifer has always been passionate about helping guide and mentor other women and young girls to explore the world of technology and what it has to offer. With onl...

This week on Tech in the Right Direction we start off talking with full stack web developer and technical trainer Jenna Beckett. Jenna began her career in construction management but eventually found herself in a bootcamp to become a developer. After a few years in the field she returned to bootcamps, but this time as a trainer helping others learn as she did and helping them enter the tech field....

This week, IT Business Analyst Caitlin Knox joins us to share her journey into technology. Working in Hospitality, studying Political Science, then returning to Hospitality, Caitlin continually explored her skill sets. Taking a leap of faith, with no experience in the tech industry, she found a job as a Tech Assistant. See how Kaitlin uses her ‘humanness’ to stand out and hear her inspiring story...

This week we welcome back the founder of the female mentorship app Tribute, and former Microsoft employee, Sarah Haggard. Sarah saw the world’s desire to enhance our human experience within technology and combined it with her passion for mentorship by creating her own solution: Tribute. Listen in to see how Tribute forms prosperous, long-lasting mentor relationships and how Tribute benefits busine...

This week we sit down with Harini Gokul. Harini attended Vanderbilt and has now been in the IT industry for over 20 years strongly advocating for women in the workplace. Harini believes we are on the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution as we continue to innovate and solve unique problems with technology and create more immersive experiences between the physical and digital world. Join us as w...

For our first episode of the new year, we welcome back Microsoft Vice President, Gavriella Schuster. This time around, Gavriella reviews the tech trends she’s seeing while working at one of the largest tech companies today. We also discuss how she believes we can begin to close the skills gap within the IT industry, the importance of training, retraining and certification, and her hopes for change...

For our final episode of 2019 we have a very special guest, Microsoft Vice President, Gavriella Schuster. As the Corporate Vice President for the One Commercial Partner, Gavriella leads the business strategy across all commercial partners, is responsible for managing the partners, and leading programs globally. Listen in as Gavriella shares her journey through tech, finding great success as a woma...

This week we welcome back guest Jenna Lange, founder and CEO of Lang International. We talk about the importance of human transformation in a digital age and why soft skills such as leadership and communication are critical in the Tech Industry. We also dive into the benefits of training, exposure to new trends and skills, and how it allows us to have a greater impact in what we do. After, we spea...