She Geeks Out

The lovely Krystal Sital is author of Secrets We Kept: Three Women of Trinidad. Her deeply personal memoir takes place in Trinidad, telling the stories of her family's trauma and resilience in a beautiful and truly moving way. We talked with Krystal about some of the challenges she faced (and continues to face) in the writing and publishing of this book. We hope you're as inspired as we were!

Cheryl Porro is Senior VP of Technology & Products at Salesforce.org. We talked with Cheryl about how she started out in her career, and what the pathway looked like that took her from chemistry to tech. Cheryl is not only a badass at Salesforce, she's also a staunch advocate for women's empowerment. And, to top everything off with a delicious ending, she geeks out about cupcakes (among many other things)! Expect a truly interesting tour through Cheryl's life and passions. For a complete schedule of events, make sure to visit www.shegeeksout.com!  

Did you know that there was such a job as a Celebrity Growth Manager? Well, there is and we sat down with someone who does this job for a living. Alexandra Eitel works at YouTube and explained just what exactly her job entails. Don't worry, we asked her about all the celebrity gossip! We also discussed the #metoo and Times Up movements, and her involvement in supporting those efforts. Listen on to learn more about this important work, and hear about what shared interest both Alexandra and Felicia massively geek out about! For a complete schedule of events, visit www.shegeeksout.com!  

Holy honesty, ladies and gentlemen! We had an incredible time learning from the totally bad ass Kelley Calkins, co-founder of The Establishment, a multimedia company that elevates the voices that are missing within the real media establishment. They cover society, science, politics, relationships, arts, and everything in between and are 100% female run. Boom! We had lots of feelings about the tech scene in Silicon Valley, and why there's such a gender disparity. Spoiler alert - it's not because women are biologically inferior. Sigh. Expect much laughter and sadness, as we lady entrepreneurs commiserate on the realities of being a women-run business.

Jody Rose is the President of the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA) where she works with New England VC and startup communities. We talk with Jody about her journey from New York to Boston and how she got started in the work that she's doing now. We discuss some of the important programs and work that NEVCA is spearheading-- heads up for Boston-area listeners, the NEVY Awards are coming up soon-- and her origins as... wait for it... a rapper! For a complete calendar of events, visit www.shegeeksout.com.  

Guess what, this Thursday is World Intellectual Property Day! That's a thing we might not have known about, but we promise it's important! And to celebrate, we spoke with the Head of WIPO's (World Intellectual Property Organization) NYC office, the super impressive and super passionate Lucinda Longcroft! This year's theme celebrates the brilliant women creating change in our world and shaping our common future. Lucinda shares her thoughts on IP and the process for getting patents, and why it's so important for people to do it... not too surprisingly the numbers for women applying for receiving patents are incredibly low and WIPO is working to address this, along with many partners in the industry. Listen on if you want to geek out about patents! For more She Geeks Out, make sure to visit www.shegeeksout.com!  

Meet Marisa Marquez: the newest member of the SGO team, and our New York City Organizer! Marisa is an actor, writer, playwright, and event producer. She is also a fellow podcast host! She interviews her parents on the PG Podcast as they review movies and tv shows. We discuss how she got into acting, talk about identity and how it relates to her journey and her work, and share how we initially all got connected! For a full schedule of SGO events, visit www.shegeeksout.com!  

Anna Yen is Managing Director of Ellipsis and author of Sophia of Silicon Valley which comes out TODAY! Go buy this. We talked with Anna about her life, which is loosely represented in her new book. It's the perfect fun read that does a great job of capturing the insanity that is Silicon Valley from a unique perspective. We talked with Anna about what was real and not so real in the book, how important aggressiveness is, particularly as a woman in the tech industry, and we learned some absolutely insane facts about her life! For a complete schedule of events, visit www.shegeeksout.com.  

Bryanne Leeming is the founder of Unruly Studios - the first ever Active STEM Play experience. They make SPLATS. How fun is that? We talk about Bryanne's journey to entrepreneurship and what it's like to be a founder in Boston. Felicia and Rachel are back together in Boston and we start off our conversation by complaining about the weather. Because, BOSTON. Enjoy!  For a calendar of events, visit www.shegeeksout.com.  

Thomas Harwell is the Director of Student Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives at Boston University's Questrom School of Business and, like many of our other guests, is simply a delight. We balanced conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion with a healthy dose of Harry Potter, Black Panther and more! For a full schedule of events and a list of past episodes, visit www.shegeeksout.com.  

We revisit Janice Carte, owner of Tiny Spoon Chef, and one of our most popular podcast guests last year! We learn what Janice is up to these days, how the business is doing, and talk about finding the joy in the work you do. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.shegeeksout.com.  

Nina Dudnik is the founder and CEO of Seeding Labs, a Boston-based nonprofit organization that helps scientists in developing nations conduct life-changing research by providing them with lab equipment, training, opportunities for collaboration, and other resources. We chat about GMOs (they're not that bad!), science, and how Nina got started with Seeding Labs. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.shegeeksout.com.  

Marysharon Owens is a Global Business Executive at R/GA and Co-Founder and Positive Psychology Consultant at Artistic Executive. We were completely inspired by her passion and commitment to creating a more inclusive world, to speak up against injustice, and to do it all with a positive attitude. We hope you get as much joy from listening to her as we did from the conversation! For a full schedule of SGO events, make sure to visit www.shegeeksout.com.  

We are thrilled to welcome back Rachele Pojednic, Professor of Nutrition at Simmons, Flywheel Instructor, creator of the Strong Process Forum, and all around bad ass. We talked about her upcoming summit and her new gig as the Interim Executive Director of The Prescription for Activity Task Force. We talk about moving, eating, and resting, the core principles of Strong Process. Listen up! And if you want to listen to our past episode head on over to Episode 23! For more She Geeks Out, make sure to visit www.shegeeksout.com.  

Hope Hall [http://www.hopehall.com] was President Obama's second-ever & first female Principal Presidential Videographer in the Office of Digital Strategy (as she calls it, 'the best job ever'). We talked about her journey toward having this incredible opportunity and what she's doing now. We were inspired by her vision of the world and we hope you will be too! Also check out Hope's incredible words of wisdom in her Mindset doc! For a complete list of events, make sure to visit www.shegeeksout.com!  

Chris Haigh is the Founder and Lead Consultant of True Change Associates, a consultancy dedicated to making the world a more just and equitable world. Chris is also working with us to design and facilitate our newest programming that dives deep into issues not just on diversity and inclusion, but also equity. Listen on and get inspired. We were! For notes and a complete calendar of events, visit www.shegeeksout.com.  

  Leslie Coles is the Director of Progams at VentureLab, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Moms as Mentors - and she is one of the nicest people we know. As if this isn't enough, Leslie is also a She Geeks Out Ambassador and Moms as Mentors is a She Geeks Out partner! We have the good fortune to sit with her at our co-working space at the Impact Hub so this conversation has been a long time coming! We talked about what it's like running a nonprofit, pulling double duty, what supporting girls looks like, and why it's so important.

Janet Comenos is the CEO and Co-Founder of Spotted, a digital platform that helps brands make informed decisions on celebrity endorsements by using data. DATA! We talk about Janet's journey, what it's like running a successful company, the beauty and wonder of sales, and Britney Spears. You can learn more about Spotted over here!

Loren Boyce is the Director of Talent Acquisition at DigitalOcean and the owner of the famous @pugsofinstagram Instagram account. Loren has found her calling in recruiting and lays on some great tips, while taking us on her journey from being a nail salon owner to recruiting master. You can find her on Twitter and, of course, on Instagram! For a full calendar of events and other goodies, visit www.shegeeksout.com.  

Ooooh, we went there friends! Please meet Payal Sharma and Sheera Borstein from YWBoston, a nonprofit committed to eliminating racism and empowering women. We talked about identity, microaggressions, bias and more, and how complicated these issues are even when we're aware that bias exists and microaggressions are a very real thing. It's all a process! We talked with Payal and Sheera about their process and what YWBoston is doing to help end racism. For a complete schedule of events and info on all things She Geeks Out, visit www.shegeeksout.com!