Episodes
Colleen and Sonia are officially closing up shop! This is the final episode of Women in Business & Technology. We’re celebrating with a phenomenal guest: Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer and committed ally, Chris Capossela. Chris shares more about his career as well as his broader team’s culture journey. Our hosts wrap with a conversation about legislation banning race-based hair discrimination.
Published 01/01/20
Published 01/01/20
Colleen and Sonia share their plans for closing out 2019. Colleen interviews Amy Nelson, the Founder and CEO of The Riveter, a modern union of women fighting together for equity of opportunity for all working women. They talk about Amy’s journey into entrepreneurship and positioning motherhood as a superpower to investors. Finally, our hosts wrap the show with a study that shows that women are addressed less often by their formal professional titles than their male counterparts.
Published 12/15/19
Our hosts start the show with Sonia’s recap of a month on the road. Then, Colleen interviews Jennifer Brown, an award-winning entrepreneur, diversity & inclusion speaker, consultant, and author of the new book: How to Be an Inclusive Leader. The two discuss the responsibility of leaders to get educated on and invest in diversity and inclusion initiatives. Colleen and Sonia wrap with a conversation about a letter of solidarity from women members of parliament to Princess Meghan Markle.
Published 12/04/19
Our show starts with a segment spotlighting the Female Founders Alliance Ready Set Raise accelerator. Then, Microsoft Content Strategist Ashley Walls interviews Minda Harts—the Founder and CEO of The Memo. They discuss Minda’s new book, The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table in front of a live audience of Microsoft employees affiliated with Women@Microsoft and Blacks@Microsoft. Our hosts wrap the show with a conversation about the first all-woman spacewalk.
Published 11/15/19
Our hosts kick off the show by amplifying M12’s announcement of the second Female Founders Competition. Sonia interviews Mihika Iyer, a young podcaster who has been producing the show InspireHER. Then, Colleen has a conversation with Legalpad Co-founder and COO Sara Itucas about immigration, work visas, and the necessity of global talent. Finally, our hosts wrap with a conversation about a study that showed that startups with female founders raise more venture cash.
Published 10/30/19
Sonia provides a recap on the recent #MicrosoftEvent in New York City where seven new Surface products were revealed. Colleen interviews Microsoft Senior Program Manager of Mixed Reality, AR, and VR and General Chair of the Grace Hopper Celebration, Vidya Srinivasan. Finally, our hosts wrap up the show with a conversation about gender diversity on boards, and how important it is to actual board directors.
Published 10/15/19
Our show intro is now Sonia’s Travel Corner, and she brings us up to speed on her globetrotting. Colleen interviews serial entrepreneur Linda Rose about her new book, Get Acquired of Millions: A Roadmap for Technology Service Providers to Maximize Company Value. Our hosts then discuss the list of the Forbes 100 Most Innovative Leaders, and the aftermath of featuring only one woman on that list.
Published 10/01/19
Colleen interviews Dr. Cheryl Ingram, the Founder and CEO of Diverse City LLC—a DEI consulting firm—and Inclusology—a company building DEI enterprise software. Sonia and Colleen discuss the McKinsey Global Institute report titled “The Future of Women at Work: Transitions in the age of automation.” Sonia distributes a challenge to commit to more inclusive hiring practices.
Published 09/16/19
We kick off our Community Connect segment with Sarah Haggard, the founder and CEO of Tribute, a modern mentorship add for the enterprise. Then, Colleen interviews Les Alfred, the founder of Balanced Black Girl Media and the host of the Balanced Black Girl Podcast. Our hosts wrap the show with a conversation about Greta Thunberg’s carbon-neutral journey to the UN Climate Action Summit.
Published 08/30/19
Sonia and Colleen reflect on a recent speaking engagement supporting early-in-career professionals. Colleen sits down with Chloe Csadenyi-Benson, the founder of Gather Seattle—a platform bringing together creatives in the Pacific Northwest. Producer Lexi Swanson interviews University of Washington Professor of History Margaret O’Mara about her book, The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America. Our hosts wrap the show with a conversation about Athleta’s sponsorship of Allyson Felix.
Published 08/15/19
Sonia and Colleen celebrate the milestone of Episode 50! Then, we hear from Intentionalist Founder and CEO Laura Clise about intentional spending. Sonia interviews Tori Dunlap, the founder of Her First $100K—a money and career platform for millennial women. Our hosts wrap the show with a discussion about 25 Dutch venture capitalists who have committed to realizing more equitable funding of female founders.
Published 08/01/19
Sonia and Colleen are back from (separately) vacationing in Alaska! We hear from Cheri Wells, a program manager of TechRoots, a community for diverse talent in the tech industry. Then, Colleen interviews author Maxie McCoy about her book, You’re Not Lost: An Inspired Action Plan for Finding Your Own Way. Finally, our hosts wrap with a conversation about the U.S. Women’s National Team’s win at the Women’s World Cup, and the fight for equal pay.
Published 07/17/19
Our hosts start the show by chatting about Sonia’s recent travels. Sonia interviews Lindsey Wilson, the Co-Founder and Board Director of Unloop, a nonprofit organization building the pipeline from prison to tech. Then, Colleen interviews Avni Patel Thompson, a serial entrepreneur dedicated to making parents’ lives easier. Finally, our hosts wrap with a conversation about an Illinois law aimed at diversifying corporate boards
Published 07/01/19
Colleen recaps the iFundWomen Seattle Pitch Competition. Microsoft Software Engineer and guest producer Jingyi Du interviews Microsoft Partner Director of Program Management Kevin Lee about his participation as a male ally in women-sponsored mentor circles. Sonia interviews CoverWallet Co-founder Rashmi Melgiri about diving into entrepreneurship. Our hosts wrap with a conversation about the disproportionate displacement of women workers by artificial intelligence.
Published 06/17/19
Colleen hosts this solo mission of an episode while Sonia is traveling for work! She interviews Deena Pierott and Heather Ratcliffe of Black Women in STEM 2.0. Then, Microsoft storyteller and keynote speaker Miri Rodriguez shares tips on building a strong personal brand. The show wraps with a look at the 33 women-led companies on the latest Fortune 500 list
Published 05/30/19
Our hosts report from the inaugural Future For Us Assembly—a sold-out conference for women of color with big dreams. Sonia interviews Future For Us founders Sage Quiamno and Aparna Rae about how they’re building a platform dedicated to advancing women of color at work. Then, Sonia and Colleen interview the CEO and President of Dreambox Learning, Jessie Woolley-Wilson, who delivered the keynote address at The Assembly about fellowship and scaling impact for good.
Published 05/16/19
Sonia and Colleen report from Seattle’s Women in Tech Regatta, a gathering to connect women in tech to mentors, peers, and resources. They interview Melody Biringer, the Founder of the WIT Regatta, and Sonya Trejo, a Board Member of the Seattle Chapter of Women in Bio—an organization recruiting onsite. Finally, our hosts moderate a panel on True Allyship featuring allies Anthony Suarez (Code.org), Jeremy Modjeska (Highspot), Krish Srinivasan (PCC Community markets), and Scott Enhert (Moz).
Published 05/02/19
Our hosts head to the Female Founders Alliance Champion Awards gala, and interview founder Leslie Feinzaig as well as the award winners: Julie Pham, Molly Moon Neitzel, Yoko Okano, Jill Angelo, Shellie Willis, Judy Loehr, Laura Espriu, Jennifer Arlem Molina, and Mar Brettmann. Colleen speaks with Lisa Hufford, the Founder and CEO of Simplicity Consulting, and the author of Navigating the Talent Shift. The show wraps with a conversation about Ellevest’s recent $33 million funding raise.
Published 04/15/19
Sonia and Colleen report from Microsoft’s Executive Industry Summit, an event designed to give C-suite leaders an immersive view of business transformation. Our hosts join a women’s luncheon onsite, and chat with industry leaders in retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and financial services about why conference spaces for underrepresented people are important. Finally, Sonia interviews Kate Johnson, the President of Microsoft US, about her approach to leading an organization through change.
Published 03/29/19
Colleen landed a new job with M12—the team that manages Microsoft’s corporate venture fund. Sonia interviews Alice Chen and Jasmine Ong of Arise Seattle, an organization that aspires to see a world where more Asian women are leaders in their careers. Our hosts interview the Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani, about her book Brave, Not Perfect. Colleen and Sonia wrap with a conversation about The New York Times Magazine feature, The Secret History of Women in Coding.
Published 03/15/19
Sonia is back from Amsterdam! Colleen meets Karen Okonkwo, the Co-Founder of TONL—the destination for premiere diverse stock photos. Then, Colleen interviews Melisse Shaban, the Founder & CEO at Virtue Labs, a biotech company creating products to repair hair. Our hosts wrap with a Cutting Edge conversation about the correlation between a company’s ROI in building diverse teams and the larger cultural importance of diversity.
Published 02/28/19
Our hosts kick off the show with a conversation about Black History Month. Colleen chats with Nancy McSharry Jensen, the CEO and Co-founder at The Swing Shift—the destination for women in career transition. Sonia interviews Ruchika Tulshyan, the CEO and Founder of Candour, an inclusion strategy organization. Live on Microsoft’s campus, they discuss Ruchika’s book, The Diversity Advantage. The show wraps with a conversation about Pixar’s new short film, Purl.
Published 02/15/19
Sonia and Colleen share progress on their new YouTube show, Microsoft Unboxed. Colleen chats with Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Nuevo Foundation, Beatris Mendez Gandica about her work to inspire kids to be curious, confident, and courageous by discovering the world of STEM. Our hosts interview the Founder of Mismatch.design and the Author of Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design, Kat Holmes. The show wraps with a conversation about The Wing’s updated admissions policy.
Published 02/01/19
Our hosts kick off the show with rave reviews about the multi-level marketing investigative podcast, The Dream. Then, Sonia and Colleen play a round of Persist the Game with creators MaryBeth Pecha and Kathryn Ekloff. Sonia interviews bestselling author, workplace strategist, and Founder of The Spaghetti Project, Erica Keswin. Our hosts wrap with a conversation about entrepreneur Alexa von Tobel’s $200M capital raise.
Published 01/15/19