Ep 43: Loretta Yakima: Queen of Multitasking

Diva Tech Talk was happy to interview Loretta Yakima, a multi-talented tech industry veteran, currently a senior project manager under contract at ZF TRW (www.zf.com ), simultaneously working as a consultant with Chrysalis Global Consulting (http://www.chrysalisglobal.com). Loretta credits her parents, who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, for all facets of her success. “They grounded me so much,” she said.

Loretta’s love for technology dated from her Michigan public high school’s career preparation center where she enrolled in a data processing class. “It was like learning a new language,” she said, “It was new and exciting.”  There she discovered that “technology was my thing. I am so grateful! My life was, forever, changed” because of the center.  She learned how to code software in both RPG and Cobol, “two of the toughest languages” to master. With her programming proficiency, Loretta could apply advanced credits to her college degree, and was also offered a scholarship to a nearby business school, after graduation.  Loretta then matriculated to Oakland University, in Rochester, Michigan where she majored in Economics, with a minor in Management Information Systems, while she also worked fulltime.  When she was a sophomore, she worked for a small consulting company, implementing “Y2K” code changes; and as a junior was hired to work, for the next two years, in information technology for Tier One automotive supplier, Lear Corporation (www.lear.com).  Later, Loretta would go on to get her MBA from Walsh College in 2009. 

After graduating Oakland University, Loretta became a programmer/business analyst at dramatically growing Pulte Corporation (www.pulte.com), a U.S.-based home-building company. At Pulte, Loretta grew as the company did.  She developed a proficiency in ERP (enterprise resource planning) software, and then developed a wide variety of Web-based applications. In her role, she supported every operation inside the company.  “I got to understand sales, and finance, and the customer service side,” Loretta said.   It was a “wonderful way to understand the true, full operations of a company and build ‘cool’ software!”  She had the chance to develop a device-independent mobile application for construction field managers, for example, long before applications like that were being commercially sold. Loretta then evolved into a project management role, where “we didn’t just focus on IT, but we really were engrained in the process side of things.” At Pulte, as the recession hit, she worked on “how to change our business processes to become more efficient.” One noteworthy project completely changed construction processes. Internal information technology was “embraced by our business team,” said Loretta, “and we were truly partners in helping them achieve both process innovation, and IT innovation.”   She moved from information technology, a few years later, and “hopped the fence” to Pulte’s finance department where she then managed the national purchasing shared services group, a total of 65 people, who managed the administration of all labor and materials contracts for the company.

A key lesson that Loretta learned from her 15 years at Pulte was the importance of strong partnership between the information technology group and the rest of the business. “Truly understanding what was going to make the company most successful,” was a hallmark of her career there.   She benefited from strong leadership training, and particularly from training based on Franklin Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (http://www.franklincovey.com/leadership/7-habits.php), which was taught throughout the company.  

When Pulte moved to Atlanta, Georgia, Loretta chose to remain in Michigan; and spent the summer of 2015 re-evaluating her options.   In the fall, she moved to a part-time role as a solutions architect, building customer applications for Detroit-based Digerati (http://digerati.co/), a company working in process improvement, software development and technology integration for a variety of regional businesses.    From Digerati, Loretta moved over to Chrysalis Global Consulting, a company that specializes in change management and project management. Under the Chrysalis aegis, she landed her contract role at ZF TRW, a global automotive supplier. “My role is with the financial systems group.   We are figuring out how to merge all the finance systems between ZF and TRW. It’s huge, and it’s exciting and it’s fun.” Loretta is working with systems at 150 plants around the world.

Loretta would catalogue her personal strengths as:

·      Being a good listener and diagnostician

·      Being a hard worker (a quality which she attributes to her parents’ training)

·      Being empathetic (“You really have to put yourself in other people’s shoes sometimes.  Particularly in IT,” she said.)

·      Being a skilled multitasker (“I love being busy.  I love having a lot of things going on.”)

Speaking of multitasking, Loretta relies on her technology tools heavily.   “I do all my shopping online,” as one example. And she relies heavily on her spouse who shares many of her “life tasks.”   To accomplish everything well and achieve balance, Loretta said: “You must stay positive, and learn to smile,” in any situation.

Loretta’s three main leadership lessons for other women and girls are:

·      Don’t be afraid.  Try technology out. “It’s not rocket science; don’t be afraid of it.”

·      Know yourself and what is uniquely important to you, personally.  “Think about, truly, what drives you, and is rewarding to you.”

·      Learn how to network.  “It is so important to find role models, and other people to bounce ideas off.”

Loretta also has a vision for her next, big personal mission.   She would like to be involved with a company or an educational institution that “has enough financial backing to get started with students early on. I think back to the high school technology program in which I was involved.  I would love to build more programs like that, because I think it’s so important --- especially for girls.” Loretta said. “We know we have a problem, especially here in Michigan with finding students, going into technology.”  She is currently uncertain of the granular details of this upcoming mission but feels that “there is something like that in my future.”

Please feel free to contact Loretta Yakima at her personal email address: rettayakima@gmail.com.   Her Twitter handle is @lyakima. 

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Ep 42: Kim Kaminski: More Powerful Than What Scares You

Diva Tech Talk was honored to speak with Kimberly Kaminski, Vice President of Global Marketing for rapidly-growing TMaxSoft, a 20-year old worldwide software innovator focused on infrastructure and data modernization to support digital business.  Kim’s rich technology marketing career spans both Fortune 500 companies and emergent technology innovators. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, TMaxSoft (www.tmaxsoft.com) offers enterprise CIOs solutions to empower and modernize their IT infrastructures, and dynamically drive competitive advantage.  With over 800 employees in 20 strategic centers around the globe (and plans to move into more throughout 2017) the company is a leader in relational database management systems for virtual data centers, legacy re-hosting solutions for mainframes, service-oriented architecture to enhance IT environments, and web application server software, among other offerings.

Like some of our other Divas, at one point Kim considered becoming a doctor, but graduated Northern Illinois University, instead, as a journalism major with an emphasis on advertising. She began her fascinating journey, right out of college, as a writer/producer for a post-operative medical products manufacturer. “The job was perfect for me because it allowed me to pursue my love of science, while also perfecting the craft of writing and learning marketing,” she said. “I have a very strong foundation as a writer, which has served me well throughout my career.  My early start as a journalist and the ability to ask questions, and have that curiosity, has helped me connect with developers, and ask those really tough questions that marketing uses to create value propositions that get customers to buy.”   

Having “cut her teeth” in marketing, Kim moved into the advertising business for several years including a stint in the tech practice for J. Walter Thompson (https://www.jwt.com/)), the 4th largest ad agency in the world.  From JWT, she migrated to semiconductor powerhouse Texas Instruments (www.ti.com), working at their headquarters in Dallas, Texas as marketing communications manager. “It was at TI where my marketing career took off,” Kim said.  “I was working for some really great leaders who were doing Six Sigma and other progressive things across all their businesses.”  Kim was then recruited to work at software company, Novadigm (later acquired by Hewlett Packard: www.hp.com ) and “I have been in the software industry ever since!”   

From Novadigm, Kim moved to CA Technologies (www.ca.com), then the 5th largest enterprise software company in the world. “It was an exciting time to join CA, because we were going through the rebranding of the company from Computer Associates to CA. That was a great project to be a part of.  The company was trying to move from being a very technical company to being a customer-facing, market-driven company.”   Kim spent 11 years at CA, evolving into progressively greater leadership roles.  “I was fortunate to be in all facets of marketing,” she said, “from MARCOM to product marketing/product management and then field marketing.” Eventually Kim was promoted to Vice President of Field Marketing within CA’s Northern Division sales organization.  Then Kim leaped to a smaller company, Avocent (acquired by Emerson Electric - http://www.emerson.com/en-us ) in Huntsville, Alabama, as Director of Global Field Marketing, where she worked for 2.5 years. “My legacy of understanding data infrastructure and moving progressively through companies that focus on that has taken me on a path that has served me well,” she said.  Recruited as Vice President, Marketing for privately-held Vision Solutions for 2 years (https://www.visionsolutions.com/)  she then led their global marketing team.   Her first worldwide leadership job, this was also a “great opportunity to work in private equity where marketing is held much more accountable to articulate how to drive value for the company.   As a marketing leader, learning to do that is valuable.”   After Vision Solutions, Kim worked for Infogix (http://www.infogix.com/) in global marketing leadership for another 2 years, before moving to her current role at TMaxSoft.

Kim is having fun in her current job.  “My personal mission is to grow the marketing discipline, grow the team” at TMaxSoft, she said. “We’re working to create, within the company, a culture of customer-focused marketing.”  One of TMaxSoft’s value propositions is to provide very high return on investment by “unshackling legacy solutions from the mainframe,” and helping customers effectively deploy and use cloud-based and mobile digital methods of application delivery. “We’re talking to people at all levels in IT. We’re talking to CIOs because they’re looking for cost savings, and efficiency --- doing more with less. We’re talking to the users of our potential solutions because they’re the ‘influencers’; they need to know the technology works, that it’s easy to use, and not going to be a training burden.”   Kim sees this as both “the challenge and the opportunity for our sales teams. And for marketing, it provides us with an opportunity to really help the sales team sell at all those levels.”

Kim shared that one thing she has had to realize, along the way, is that “the only real inhibitor to my success was me. We all have to get to a point where we discover, and come to believe in, our own authenticity.”   She had the chance to work with a coach at the Master of Business Leadership Program (http://masterbusinessleadership.com/) which focuses on helping leaders find their unique value and capitalize on that. “That was pivotal for me to realize that no one was standing in my way, except for me.”  One of Kim’s favorite current quotes is “You are a lot more powerful than that which scares you.”  

To achieve her success, Kim believes three key personal characteristics have been essential for her: patience, tenacity, and a sense of humor.  Particularly as she has undertaken a global role, “there are language issues, geographical boundaries, and lot of work taking place over phone conference calls and Webex.”   She stressed “it takes a lot of patience, diplomacy, tact, and tenacity to go around and through roadblocks that inevitably pop up in business.   When you’re leading a team, it’s the leader’s responsibility to help the team navigate those roadblocks, to make their jobs fun and easy.” Kim also relies on her sense of humor to “break the ice, lighten the moments, when things get tense. The ability to laugh and try to find the positive aspects of a situation are really important.”

For Kim, being a woman in the tech field has affected her “in both positive and not-so-positive ways.”   She shared a story from her early career where a male manager told her that he felt that women should be exclusively at home, raising kids. “Instead of reacting negatively, I decided to just do a great job, and prove him wrong. And I ended up becoming one of his most trusted employees!” Kim is relieved that the business world is a lot different today but she said “I do think there is still some degree of negative things like ‘ageism.’ However, I think it is all about how you react to that. For me, personally, I refuse to feed into those notions.   I don’t hide my age, as an example.”   Kim also is thrilled that she has had the chance to mentor younger women. “This has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my career,” she said. To her, “it’s important for every woman not to measure themselves against another woman. You must find what works for you.  That can take many different forms throughout your career.”

Kim has cogent advice for other women aspiring to lead, particularly technology marketing leaders:

• Stay humble and be willing to learn from everyone. “It is really important to keep that sense of humility and open mindedness,” especially as it applies to learning from younger colleagues.

• Continue to study hard. “Learn how to talk the language of development,” and additionally “speak the language of business.”  Kim emphasizes that bridging technology and the needs of the business is an essential job for marketing.

• And remember that “marketing has the responsibility to be the headlights of the business; really going out there, shining the light on the markets and the customers” to show where the business needs to go.

One precept Kim tries to live by is “everything in moderation.”  She advises to keep things simple. “Find the little things that all add up.  Make a little bit of time, every day, for yourself to sit and reflect.” Kim is a registered yoga instructor, and finds that it “brings a lot of calm and peace” to her life, in general.

Finally, for Kim, “my faith is my anchor in my work, and in my life. We are called to love one another, and this applies to all facets of my life, including working relationships. Although there are all different cultures in the world, we are all more alike than we are different, and that is awesome.”  To sum it up, Kim says: “I approach everything with a spirit of kindness, loving what I do, and loving the people I am with.”

Please feel free to contact Kimberly Kaminski at her personal email kakaminski2952@gmail.com.  Her Twitter handle is @kkaminski2952.

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Ep 41: Dr. Denise Mahoney: Building the Future Diverse Workforce

Diva Tech Talk was thrilled to chat with Dr. Denise Mahoney, the Pre-Apprentice Liaison for the Kent County Technical Career Center, situated in the Kent County, Mi., Intermediate School District. Her current work is funded by a U.S. Department of Labor grant obtained by Grand Rapids Community College in partnership with Macomb Community College to increase the number of technology-oriented apprentices in West Michigan. Denise is focused on identifying and fostering technical opportunities and educational paths for 11 th and 12 th graders, poising them for successful life missions.

“Companies should keep their eyes open to the apprenticeship model,” Denise said. “It is just another way to get qualified employees into the workforce.” Our discussion with her ranged from college affordability to the paucity of jobs available to traditional college graduates to mentorship to the usefulness of practical, employer-driven apprenticeships, and everything in between!

Denise found programming early in her academic life, since Fortran and Cobol were part of her initial undergraduate curriculum at the University of South Dakota. Originally aimed at a business career, Denise worked for a financial company serving the Kodak Corporation, but was quickly drawn into another love: teaching. So, moving to

Michigan, she went back to Western Michigan University to get her teacher’s certificate in business subjects, with an additional certification in occupational education for grades 7 through 12. She then moved over to Michigan State University for her Master’s in Education Leadership. She primarily taught business courses including Microsoft applications, and then migrated into teaching IT courses. Denise ultimately obtained her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at New Mexico State University, and her dissertation concentrated on issues of gender diversity in technology. She described her personal evolution as “not super-exciting but fairly typical of people who moved into IT from other areas.”

Denise truly enjoys working at a high school career tech center that has served over 2300 students, to date. “Our students come to us, and they learn core content (like math and English) through their technical classes. And then we are passionate about teaching them ‘employability skills’ like teamwork, problem-solving, resume-writing -- anything to do with getting a job. So, we are heavily into whatever the next step is for students, whether they are going to college, going to a tech school, or going out into the workforce.”

70% of Denise’s students are placed as apprentices in information technology roles, while the other 30% are situated in manufacturing environments and/or mechatronics. The benefits for her students include the ability to “earn while they learn;” the opportunity to test their fitness for a specific technical career; the chance to test a company’s culture; the option to attain a recognized credential; and the ability to gain a career mentor, with “real life” experience. The companies who participate in the program increase access to a talented, expanded workforce and the chance to “try before they buy” in terms of potential job candidates. Denise is overjoyed that the companies involved in the program are routinely surprised at how prepared her student apprentices are. “Our students are well-positioned to do great things,” she enthusiastically stated. As Denise sees it, it is a “Win/Win” solution for both sides.

Leading the program has also increased Denise’s knowledge of the “real world” economic needs of major employers particularly in terms of technology skills necessary today, and in the future. Denise offered key advice for students.

“Learn everything you can,” she exclaimed. “We are training you for jobs that don’t even exist,” today. For her doctorate, Denise gathered data, in a phenomenological approach, about women in technology fields, and the factors that influence them to choose technology careers. She found five key themes. Per her dissertation on women in technology:

• Were influenced by others including parents, teachers, friends, boyfriends etc.;
• Had a supportive network, comprised of people who encouraged them;
• Mentored others, and were automatically turning around to give back to their profession(s);
• Had technological aptitudes, despite “myths” and preconceptions that women are not as technically proficient as men; and
• Had well-developed communication skills, that helped them succeed.

She sees the female technologist’s success paragon as collaborative and creative. Roles rewarding those traits are what women in her study needed, and she believes that is what the field should offer them. Many of the employers with whom Denise works tell her that what they want in employees are not just the technical skills but the “soft skills”: teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving, and the predilection to help and collaborate with others.

Denise stressed that “IT is a great career for women.” It offers flexibility, the ability to be “hands-on” if that is what you desire, and strong opportunities for leadership. “You just have to figure out where your niche is,” Denise said.

Please feel free to contact Dr. Denise Mahoney at: denisemahoney@kentisd.org.

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Ep 40: Logicalis: Celebrating Girls (and Women) in Technology

Diva Tech Talk was honored to be onsite at one of the largest Midwestern offices for Logicalis U.S., during its recent GIRLS IN TECHNOLOGY DAY. Logicalis (www.us.logicalis.com) is an international information technology solutions and managed services provider that designs, builds and supports enterprise technology solutions for customers throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia Pacific.  The day included the CEO of Logicalis U.S., other Logicalis executives, executives from Logicalis customers, an executive from CISCO’s Meraki division, CISCO staff members, high school teachers, and MCWT (Michigan Council of Technology) members ---- who all volunteered their time to part of the agenda.  Volunteers found that they gained as much from helping at the event, as the girls who were hosted.

During the full day, Logicalis entertained 56 high school and early college girls, offering tailored discussions of practical topics related to succeeding in a technology career. Horizon-broadening sessions covered topics as diverse as: uncovering what you are good at, communicating with confidence, the wide variety of career options in the technology field, how to use social media to build your personal brand, how to ace a job interview, and how to write an excellent resume.  The day included a tour of the Logicalis offices, highlighting the latest technology the company uses to enhance employee productivity, and featured “hands on” interactive sessions, as well as affording the participants the opportunity to get professional headshots done, throughout the morning and afternoon.

Logicalis supports an internal group dedicated to fostering the missions of its own women employees.  Two of the veteran leaders of that group (Logicalis Vice Presidents, Renae Johnson and Julie Spiller) were in the cohort interviewed during this podcast.  WOMEN OF LOGICALIS has introduced a variety of programs to inspire and help its women employees.   Julie mentioned their “Empower Hours,” a bimonthly phone session, to serve Logicalis women throughout the U.S., featuring topics and speakers of unique interest.  Both Renae and Julie are enthusiastic proponents of community service and mentoring (including spontaneous “mentor moments”), and feel that they receive as much as they contribute when participating in those activities.

Ghazal Asif, Director of Global Channels of Cisco Meraki, was a key participant in the day. The older sister of three younger female siblings, Ghazal was enthusiastic about having the chance to be one of the main keynote speakers since “the idea of women having equal opportunity is very near and dear to my heart.” She spoke eloquently about the need to be fearless in the face of any setback, or any opportunity.  “We get so scared,” she said. “We are scared someone is going to say ‘no’ to us; we’re scared to raise our hand; we’re scared to negotiate. If we can just learn to harness that fear, and realize that feeling is natural.  We’re human beings, we are wired to be scared.  But go and do it anyway. More women would progress within their careers, if there wasn’t a fear that was holding them back.”  

Ghazal is passionate about her role in leading the WOMEN OF MERAKI effort in her own company, and contributing to events, like this day, to encourage girls/women. “If we look at the data and the stats, it is sad to see that over the last couple of decades, we haven’t made much progress” in diversity building, she said. “Yet, as of today, there’s more awareness, more research on why diversity and inclusion is so good for companies. In every industry, across every function, women are under-represented. More women should step forward so that in 10 or 20 years from now, we can look back and say ‘we made a difference and we changed some of those stats’ for the next generation, and generations to come.”  Ghazal also discussed how she works on building diversity in the teams that she personally leads. “Every single person has biases,” she said. “I try and make sure that I am very aware of any self-conscious biases that I might have. And I encourage other leaders, particularly hiring managers, to do the same thing.”   Ghazal additionally exhorts other technology -oriented women to “let young girls know how rewarding of a career technology is!”  

Finally, Vince DeLuca, CEO of Logicalis, took time to present to this audience because “these young ladies are our future.”  DeLuca was encouraged by his interactions with the girls and women.  “Knowing that they have interest in technology is really important,” he said.  “I also think that overall diversity in the field is wildly important to our (Logicalis) success. When we have a male-dominated organization, with just male leaders, we don’t enough of a flow of ideas.”   DeLuca spoke about other initiatives that Logicalis is implementing to address the gender gap.  “We have a full-fledged diversity program that we kicked off recently,” he said.  “We’ve brought in outside consultants to help us really understand what that framework should look like. We firmly believe that having more women leaders in our organization will really help us.”

“We have a formal mentoring program when people come into Logicalis, and it’s not meant to be just a ‘one time’ thing” DeLuca shared. He points to his own career having been strongly assisted by having a mentor. “Having that individual be there for you is ultra-important to your success.”   Encouraging a variety of mentors, DeLuca also said “You can never have enough input.” DeLuca really enjoyed his event participation.  “To see the amount of interest, the general attention of these young ladies is really rewarding.  The benefit that I get out of this would be seeing every one of these folks succeed in their own passion.  I may not get to see that individually, but as a group I think they will do that; and that, to me, is the best reward that I could ever get.”

DeLuca waxed philosophical about how the overall education of our youth can be helped by everyone in their environment. “We live in such an interesting world right now.  I think, as a society, we need to do a better job educating everyone about what’s happening out there,” he said.  “There should be ways to educate people who are not in technology-centric, urban areas.   That should be a foundational element.  Then, as you do with your own children, you work with them, day in and day out, making sure they have a platform for success. It does start at home. From a technology perspective, we need to make sure that the moms are just as equipped to understand what’s happening out there. And then, I think we need some programmatics in the school system. There’s a bit of a foundation that is ‘real world’ that needs to be applied in the classroom.”  DeLuca sees some key tech trends that can help with this.  “Collaboration has to be near the top,” he said. “There’s so many ways to connect vast amounts of resource groups or information.”   DeLuca is proud that community-building is part of the Logicalis culture. “Giving back to the communities we serve is a core value, across all our offices,” he said. “It’s so important to us, not just to reap the benefit of what we are trying to do with our customers, but making an impact into the community."

Learn more about Logicalis: www.us.logicalis.com/

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Ep 39: Janet Tyler: When to slow down and when to accelerate

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Janet Tyler, Chief Operating Officer, at Red Level Networks (www.redlevelnetworks.com) a Microsoft partner company. As a child, Janet admits that while she was drawn to math and science, she “was not particularly good at math and science.” But her early tech interest was fostered by her father who encouraged her, consistently, to explore it. “That carried me in through college” where Janet earned an MBA in Organizational Development at Eastern Michigan University, and says that her computer interest was a continuous underlying theme for her. “I had a unique ability that was recognized early in my academic career to talk about the true transformative power of technology,” she said. From then onward, Janet recognized that she was and would always be “an early adopter” of tech solutions.

After getting her master’s degree, Janet’s first job was at New Horizons (www.newhorizons.com)where she initially trained customers on emergent applications (like Microsoft DOS). “I really loved teaching. I had something to offer the workforce, struggling with DOS, WordPerfect, all the Microsoft suite. At the time, a graphic user interface was brand new!” Janet traveled extensively, training end-users on relatively new applications, and then moved into a New Horizons marketing and operations management role. “I got to take my love of technology and share that with the masses!” After 4.5 years at New Horizons, Janet moved to the Franco Public Relations Group. “The common thread in my career,” Janet said, “has always been Microsoft. (www.microsoft.com ).” Bill Gates (founder and then CEO of Microsoft) had been instrumental in making a $1 million grant to the Detroit Public Library system and Franco saw the resulting opportunity to build a fledgling PR practice around technology. Janet was hired to lead that technology practice. Some of her Franco accounts included Microsoft, Omnicom, T-Mobile, Supply Solutions Inc. and various tech startups. This new challenge taught Janet invaluable lessons about growing and building teams.

After four years at Franco PR, Janet “hatched an idea” with the President of Franco (Lisa Vallee Smith) to “spin off a company that was dedicated solely to the needs of technology companies.” That company was Airfoil Public Relations (www.airfoilgroup.com) for which she was initially President and Chief Operating Officer. Born during the “Y2K era,” Airfoil exclusively served tech businesses. “Business was great,” Janet said. Even when the economic downturn in technology that resulted from the Y2K “bust” caused opportunities to fade, this wasn’t an issue for Airfoil. “We started the company early enough so that when that crash happened, we were already so financially disciplined that not only did we withstand that economic downturn, we really thrived in it, because we were standing out as the young, scrappy upstart.” Janet’s role at Airfoil continued to evolve and grow as the company grew. “I thrive in a COO role. I love the HR component, which is rare for someone with my background; and I love the accounting function. I am still really good at reading a balance sheet, understanding a P & L, and how to plan for budgeting,” she said. As the company grew, Janet moved to Silicon Valley, with her two young children and husband, to strengthen Airfoil’s growth. She spent 3-4 years establishing the Airfoil operation in California, before moving back to the Midwest in the middle of the 2009 recession. “At the end of the day I completed the job I had set out to do.” In 2012, Janet then became co-CEO of the company. Among Airfoil accounts were eBay, eBay Motors, Microsoft, LinkedIn, PayPal, and many others including less renowned startups from whom Janet learned a lot. She loved the culture at Airfoil. “You’re working with really smart people. The culture embraced fun, collaboration, and teamwork; and embraced learning -- - we invested in training and development.”

Eventually, Janet made the decision to leave Airfoil to join Red Level to help them pursue their “mission to provide IT consulting and services to companies throughout Michigan, predominantly, who are invested in technology and who innovate.” There for two years, as COO, Janet has been having a “great ride.” A characteristic she brings to the company is process orientation, and the discipline to maintain it. “In a way, I am the internal Chief Communications Officer,” she said, citing clearer and more regular results-sharing with the Red Level team as a milestone in architecting an enhanced corporate culture. Overseeing all operations and marketing, she has her fingers on many facets of the company.

Janet’s personal strengths as they have developed over the years, and serve her well in her new role include:

• Strong communications capability
• Process orientation/discipline to enforce processes
• Start-up insight and skills
• Project management capabilities
• Broad future view/vision, born of being an entrepreneur
• Sincere team orientation

Being a woman has not negatively affected Janet. “I have rarely looked at myself as a ‘woman’ leader,” she said. “My lens is not geared to that.” But she admits, at times, to being “a feisty, spirited competitor. If I am competing against a man, I might roll up my sleeves even a little more.” One of her personal weaknesses, along the way, has been Janet’s occasional “negative self-talk, and self-doubt.” Now, she is achieving an even greater level of peaceful, internal balance through mindfulness and meditation. “Today, I have arrived at a place where I have spent a lot of time thinking about that. I have really had to separate thought from reality. I am getting much better at that.”

Janet’s top leadership lesson for other women includes the realization of the point where you approach individual burnout. Then, she counsels, one must learn how to train/develop others, build a team and lead it to remain effective in delivering results. “This can be very difficult for people who have a high need for control.” But she recommends it highly. “Let go of that need for perfection. You’ve got to be great a multitasking.” She also recommends that you learn “when to slow down and when to speed up” both in getting things done, and in making decisions.

A crucial issue with which Janet currently grapples is finding the right tools and environment for the Red Level team (many of whom are dynamically moving into more senior roles that involve increased leadership) to stay engaged with customers, continue to do great work, but also effectively manage growing teams of other people, without sacrificing their ability to use their individual, unique talents and skills at the highest level. She would love to hear the thoughts of the Diva Tech Talk audience on this topic.

So, if you have any tips, please feel free to contact JanetTyler at jtyler@redlevelnetworks.com or through Twitter at @janet_tyler.

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