Unstoppable Women Archana Ravichandran

Today’s episode features a Live Podcast that we recorded at Google back in April with Laela Sturdy, General Partner at Google Capital where she has led investments for the firm in growth stage consumer and enterprise companies. 
 
In this podcast, Laela talks about her career journey from Amnesty International to consulting, to eventually following her passion for technology by joining Google.  Laela rose quickly through the ranks at Google and shares her experience on how to find interesting projects and build a career at a large company. She also talks about how she went from being an operator to an investor and advice that she has for others looking to do the same.  Finally, she discusses the skillsets that she relies on to be a great investor, her leadership philosophies, and how she brings her authentic self to work.

This week, our guest is Mia Mends, CEO of Sodexo Benefits & Rewards Services in North America.  In this episode Mia defines what it means to be an authentic leader.  She approaches the world with optimism and a belief in doing what’s right -- it’s clear that this approach has been key to her success.  As a Ghanaian immigrant, Mia’s work ethic and discipline formed the foundation of her success. She talks to us about her career trajectory and how she took major risks in her career.  Finally, she discusses the skillsets that she relies on to be an incredible CEO, her leadership philosophies, and an insider’s view on a non-intuitive negotiation style that has helped her succeed in every part of her career.  

This week, I’m excited to have Kara Goldin, CEO of Hint Water on the show.  Kara had a front row seat to building the first set of ecommerce platforms while she was an executive at AOL.  She left that behind to start a company that solved a problem that she was having and bravely went against goliaths of the CPG industry, Coke & Pepsi.  Kara’s passion for building is a theme throughout her career and while others perceive her as “fearless”, its her drive for learning that propels her success.  Kara also breaks down the skillsets for being a successful CEO and how she went about building a personal brand.

Today’s guest is Cheryl Porro, SVP of Technology & Products at Salesforce.org.  Salesforce.org is a social enterprise that gets technology in the hands of nonprofits and education institutions. Cheryl’s story is fantastic as she articulates how she went from being being a Punk-rocker in her twenties to a senior leader at one of the largest SaaS companies in the world.  Cheryl talks about her process for learning how to connect with teams at scale, mastering presentation skills, and how self-care around mind, body, and spirit propelled her to the next level.

We are hard at work planning the next set of shows.  Today we bring you this favorite from the last year: Anne Raimondi. Anne is the SVP of Operations at Zendesk. In this episode we cover how to build a personal board of directors, the right time to leave a company, how to evaluate your next role, and most importantly -- what does Executive Presence actually mean and how to master it.

My guest this week is Heidi Williams, Former VP of Engineering at Box. Heidi spent 17 years at Adobe working her way up from Engineer to Engineering Manager as well as leading product management and Strategic Engagements where she worked with NBC Sports and Adobe Primetime delivering an Emmy-nominated mobile video experience for the 2012 Olympics.
Most recently, Heidi was the VP of Platform Engineering at Box. Last year, Heidi left Box and launched WEST, a cross-company mentorship program for mid-career women in tech.
In this episode we cover:
 
How she went from being an Engineering IC to a Manager   How to advocate for a promotion Being an authentic leader Setting yourself up for success when going out on maternity leave