Engineer Your Career
WEST Diversity & Inclusion, LLC
5.0from 2 ratings
- 18
- Episodes
- 2
- Ratings
- Weekly
- Cadence
- 2024
- First episode
About Engineer Your Career
A podcast aimed at helping women technologists navigate and succeed in their careers. Brought to you by WEST, a learning community that empowers women technologists through mentorship. Through this podcast, we’ll explore the different paths leaders have taken to grow their tech leadership, develop their influence, and gain insights from top women leaders in the field. Hosted by Karen Ko and Heidi Williams.
- Publisher
- WEST Diversity & Inclusion, LLC
- Category
- business
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 25 Mar 2024
- Latest episode
- 4 Jun 2026
Latest episodes
18 episodes in the feed.
4 Jun 2026
Curious Technologist: Path to Fractional CTO with Boomie Odumade
Boomie Odumade is a fractional CTO, a career coach, and an instructor. She’s a senior engineering leader with more than 20 years of experience across startups, nonprofits, and large enterprises, including Accenture, NPR, and Capital One. Boomie is also a board member for two nonprofits focused on advancing women and girls in STEM and is an experienced speaker. In this episode, we discuss: Why she decided to pivot from full-time to fractional roles The best questions to ask in an interview to assess company culture The advice she’d give her younger self Networking tips for introverts Resources mentioned in this episode: Boomie’s AdaMarie post on self-advocacy: https://weareadamarie.com/blog/self-advocacy-starter-guide-for-early-career-professionals Where to find Boomie Odumade: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/odumade/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/odumade/) TechBees: https://techbees.me/ (https://techbees.me/) Brought to you by WEST: https://www.joinwest.org (https://bitli.pro/2bDEb_53b6f3a0) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEa_662eb4ea) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEc_bc8b3472)
23 Apr 2026
Startup Journeys with Ei-Nyung Choi
Ei-Nyung Choi is an engineering leader, fractional CTO, technical advisor, and speaker. A full-stack engineer with more than 20 years of experience spanning mobile, web, and gaming, Ei-Nyung is passionate about mentoring founders and women in tech. In this episode, we discuss: The importance of being willing to learn and make mistakes Slowing down to help those behind you vs running at full speed The advice Ei-Nyung gives every startup founder What to consider when raising a seed round Where to find Ei-Nyung Choi: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/einyungchoi/ Brought to you by WEST: https://www.joinwest.org (https://bitli.pro/2bDEb_53b6f3a0) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEa_662eb4ea) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEc_bc8b3472)
26 Mar 2026
Taking Leaps of Faith with Lauren Stoller
Lauren Stoller, VP of Data and Analytics at Brigit, is an experienced Data Product Manager known for full product lifecycle success, from ideation to iteration. A big-picture thinker, she uses analytics for competitive advantage and empowers teams to solve problems creatively. She has broad industry experience across retail, e-commerce, finance, semiconductors, and early-stage start-ups. Lauren holds an MBA in Strategic Management from The Wharton School. Earlier in her career, she worked in both law and finance before discovering her passion and skill for data and analytics. In this episode, we discuss: How Lauren went from law to finance to tech The best way to leverage networking and career interviews Her unconventional leadership style The advice she’d give her younger self Resources mentioned in this episode: Radical Candor by Kim Scott: https://www.radicalcandor.com/ (https://www.radicalcandor.com/) Where to find Lauren Stoller: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenstoller/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenstoller/) Brought to you by WEST: https://www.joinwest.org (https://bitli.pro/2bDEb_53b6f3a0) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEa_662eb4ea) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEc_bc8b3472)
19 Jun 2025
Leading with Authenticity and Pivoting with Purpose with Jumoke K. Dada
Host Heidi Williams interviews Jumoke K. Dada, a technology leader, about leading with authenticity, building community, and making pivotal career decisions, highlighting the importance of self-care.
8 Apr 2025
Mindful Engineering with Po Linn Chia
Po Linn (Fo) Chia is a Principal Software Engineer at Mindbody/Classpass, working primarily in the intersection of backend and DevOps. She graduated university with a degree in Japanese history, but pivoted to doing a coding bootcamp and the rest is history. In this episode we discuss: Fo’s journey from Humanities major to Staff Engineer The importance of mentorship and having a good manager Handling stress and mental health in the workplace The best way to build new skills Advice she’d give her younger self Where to find Po Linn (Fo) Chia: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiapl/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiapl/) Brought to you by WEST: https://www.joinwest.org (https://bitli.pro/2bDEb_53b6f3a0) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEa_662eb4ea) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEc_bc8b3472)
11 Feb 2025
Tech for Good with Josie Daw
Josie Daw is a British full-stack developer and app developer actively contributing to South Korea's tech scene. She leverages technology to build impactful projects and especially loves to work on projects, whether as a developer or organizer, to create social impact. In this episode we discuss: Josie’s unconventional path to becoming a full-stack developer How she gives back to the community through coding workshops and hackathons Her passion for encouraging more people to feel comfortable with coding Her current open-source project and how you can get involved Advice she’d give her younger self Resources mentioned: Josie’s open-source project on GitHub:https://github.com/JosDaw (https://github.com/JosDaw) Where to find Josie Daw: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josiedaw/ Brought to you by WEST: https://www.joinwest.org (https://bitli.pro/2bDEb_53b6f3a0) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEa_662eb4ea) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEc_bc8b3472)
8 Jan 2025
Navigating the Current Tech Job Market with Remy Schor
Remy Schor is the talent recruiter at Voxel51. With two decades of talent acquisition experience, both in agencies and as an internal recruiter, Remy brings extensive knowledge of what recruiters are looking for and what job seekers should expect from a good recruiter. In this episode we discuss: Practical advice on how to stand out among thousands of other applicants Remy’s journey to her current role How to optimize your resume How to handle salary negotiations Remy’s take on interviewing “for practice” when you’re not looking for a new job Resources mentioned: Remy’s 2022 talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNjHP-6gtCw Where to find Remy Schor: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/remyschor/ Brought to you by WEST: https://www.joinwest.org (https://bitli.pro/2bDEb_53b6f3a0) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEa_662eb4ea) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEc_bc8b3472)
3 Dec 2024
The Art of Architectural Leadership with Tina Wright
Tina Wright, Area Tech Lead at Grammarly, shares her expertise on architectural leadership, generalist technical leadership, and service leadership style to unlock team success.
29 Oct 2024
Coaching for Growth with Diana Stepner
Diana Stepner is a Product and Leadership Coach. With over 15 years of international product leadership experience, Diana has led numerous teams at companies such as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Kayak, Pearson, and more. In this episode we discuss: How she went from aspiring fish-store owner with a Marine Biology degree to Product Manager in tech How the industry has evolved over the past two decades How ensuring all stakeholders feel heard can make a project run a bit smoother The advice she gives to clients who are facing burnout The role of AI in product management Resources mentioned: Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value by Teresa Torres https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Discovery-Habits-Discover-Products/dp/1736633309 (https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Discovery-Habits-Discover-Products/dp/1736633309) Where to find Diana Stepner: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianas/ Brought to you by WEST: https://www.joinwest.org (https://bitli.pro/2bDEb_53b6f3a0) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEa_662eb4ea) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEc_bc8b3472)
1 Aug 2024
Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset with Shama (Keskar) Butala
Shama Keskar is a CTO, Founder, and mentor with experience leading engineering teams at Amazon, Google, and LinkedIn. Her background in nuclear physics and education gives her a unique perspective and a keen interest in exploring the power and potential of big data and analytics. In this episode we discuss: Shama's principles of leadership How to turn a "work/life balance" break into a benefit for your career Lessons learned during her journey as a cofounder Determining which side hustles are worth pursuing Learning from a failed startup experience Strategies for scaling Additional Resources: Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI (https://bitli.pro/2bDE4_6ab088d2) - McKinsey & Company Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs (https://bitli.pro/2bDE5_1c6fb06d) - John Doerr The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change (https://bitli.pro/2bDE6_10365bd6) - Camille Fournier Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future (https://bitli.pro/2bDE7_ed94eb9e) - Peter Thiel Oneday - EIR program (https://bitli.pro/2bDE8_2dba0941) Where to find Shama Keskar: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamakeskar (https://bitli.pro/2bDE9_251018b6) Brought to you by WEST: https://www.joinwest.org (https://bitli.pro/2bDEb_53b6f3a0) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEa_662eb4ea) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26 (https://bitli.pro/2bDEc_bc8b3472)
18 Jul 2024
Always be Uncomfortable featuring Taz Minadakis
Taz Minadakis is a Director of Engineering at YouTube with more than 15 years of professional experience building quality products and 10+ years of experience building high-performing teams at Google, Uber, and Microsoft. She led a development team building a touch-first browsing experience for Windows 8 and Surface SDK at Microsoft when touch screens were still an emerging technology. Taz is passionate about community building and professional development initiatives for women in tech and spearheaded early women's ERGs at Yelp and Uber. Please note this episode includes discussion of pregnancy loss. In this episode we discuss: Taz's career pivots and how she leveraged her connections to find new opportunities Building zero-to-one products and growing teams from scratch The importance of allowing yourself to be uncomfortable and curious Good stress vs bad stress Networking advice for introverts Additional Resources: StrengthsFinder (Rebranded as CliftonStrengths): https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/252137/home.aspx (https://bitli.pro/2bPcF_c0ae2881) Where to find Taz Minadakis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tazneemiandevil (https://bitli.pro/2bPcG_3846e29c) Brought to you by WEST https://www.joinwest.org (https://bitli.pro/2bPcI_edd531bc) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1 (https://bitli.pro/2bPcH_7e6dc445) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26 (https://bitli.pro/2bPcJ_0bd0d418)
8 Jun 2024
The Power of Connective Leadership with Natasha Vinnik
Natasha Vinnik is a Senior Engineering Lead for Gmail Client Foundations at Google. With over 20 years in engineering, Natasha has also led engineering teams at Box and Yahoo! She holds three patents in cloud-based technology. In this episode, we discuss: Natasha’s journey from an immigrant who couldn’t afford university to an engineering leader with a master’s degree Staying technical as a manager and keeping up with technology trends How starting a family changed how she approaches work Inheriting teams vs building teams from scratch How she manages complex projects The value of being curious, trying new things Mentorship vs sponsorship Additional Resources: “Unlocking Us” (https://brenebrown.com/podcast-show/unlocking-us/) Podcast from Brené Brown “The Awesome Human Podcast” (https://www.awesomehumanpodcast.com/) from Nataly Kogan Where to find Natasha Vinnik: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinar-ozlen-25980a95/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/nvinnik/ Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1/) Website: https://www.joinwest.org/ (https://www.joinwest.org/) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26/)
21 May 2024
Thriving as an Engineering Manager with Pinar Ozlen
Pinar Ozlen is an Engineering Manager at Airbnb based in Paris, France. Before Airbnb, she served as an Engineering Manager at Whatsapp, and worked on Google Maps and Search as an engineer with Google. In this episode, we discuss: How she gained visibility in large organizations Her transition from "What am I building" to "Who am I working with" Defining a leadership style that's complementary to your personality Tips for overcoming imposter syndrome The importance of setting boundaries and saying "No" Where to find Pinar Ozlen: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinar-ozlen-25980a95/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinar-ozlen-25980a95/) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1/) Website: https://www.joinwest.org/ (https://www.joinwest.org/) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26/)
3 May 2024
Becoming a Fearless Leader with Smita Ojha
Smita Ojha is the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Mindtickle, a market leader in enterprise sales software. Over the last two decades, Smita has led engineering teams at some of the largest tech companies - Microsoft, Meta, and Google. In this episode, we discuss: How to say yes to new opportunities outside of your comfort zone The importance of developing a diverse skillset to become a well-rounded leader Adopting a fearless approach by identifying the excitement in challenges The key differences between leading engineering at a large company vs. a startup Leveraging sponsorship from unexpected places: team members, peers, and leadership How to build psychological safety on teams Where to find Smita Ojha: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitao/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/smitao/) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1/) Website: https://www.joinwest.org/ (https://www.joinwest.org/) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26/)
26 Apr 2024
Embracing Risk to Grow Your Impact with Tamar Bercovici
Tamar Bercovici is the VP of Engineering at Box where she leads the Core Platform team in scaling the foundational platform for the Box Content Cloud. In her 13 years at Box, she scaled the cloud content management and file-sharing service to handle millions of queries per second searching hundreds of billions of records. Named one of Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech 2018, Tamar also ranked #1 on Okta and Business Insider's Tech Up and Comers list 2019. She holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Technion Israel Institute of Technology and a technology patent for updating data in cloud computing systems. In this episode we discuss: The scope and responsibilities expected from a manager to a vice president The pros & cons of having a long history at one company How to create space for new voices on a team and influence team culture The parallels between managing and parenting Leading ambiguous, complex projects and managing risk How to be ready for opportunities when they arise Additional Resources: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (https://www.tablegroup.com/product/dysfunctions/) By Patrick Lencioni Where to find Tamar Bercovici: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamarbercovici/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamarbercovici/) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1/) Website: https://www.joinwest.org/ (https://www.joinwest.org/) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26/)
23 Apr 2024
Decoding the Path to Staff Engineer with AJ Oxendine
A. J. Oxendine (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirahoxendine/) is the Tech Lead and Staff Software Engineer for the Home Feed product at Pinterest. She enjoys the creative process of building new things, figuring out how they work, and how she can make them better. This passion has led her to study music composition, art, graphic design. and now, software engineering. In this episode, we discuss: AJ's nontraditional path from design to engineering Thoughts on IC vs management Skills and mindset shifts from Senior to Staff Engineer Tips on gaining visibility for your work Expanding and refining your brand as your role evolves Thoughts on navigating diversity, intersectionality, and tech Maintaining mentoring relationships Additional Resources: Pinterest Apprenticeship Programs (https://www.pinterestcareers.com/en/early-career/apprenticeship-development-programs/) Where to find A.J. Oxendine: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirahoxendine/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirahoxendine/) Where to find Karen Ko: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26/)
1 Apr 2024
The Journey to Principal Engineer with Joy Ebertz
Joy Ebertz is a Principal Software Engineer, prolific blogger, avid ultrarunner, and an advocate for increasing the number of women and minorities in Computer Science. At Split, Joy establishes technical direction for their backend team. Prior to Split, she worked at Box. At both Split and Box, Joy lead efforts around splitting monoliths into microservices, revamping authentication and authorization frameworks, creating REST API standards, audit logging and more. In addition to designing software and writing code, Joy shares her learnings through her blog (https://medium.com/@jkebertz) (which has 2.7k followers on Medium), and is often invited to speak at conferences such as LeadDev and WWCode. In her free time, she does a lot of traveling, reading, and running ridiculously long distances (mostly on trails). In this episode, we discuss: How different size companies played a factor in Joy's career journey The value of understanding your workstyle and motivations Why she left people management The power of written and spoken communication What most people get wrong about influencing others Networking tips for introverts Additional Resources: There and Back Again: Why I Entered & Left Management (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nhBW2p3w-8) - Presentation by Joy Ebertz Why It's So Hard to Become a Staff Engineer (https://code.likeagirl.io/why-its-so-hard-to-become-a-staff-engineer-c4b94864a373) - Medium blog post by Joy Ebertz Where to find Joy Ebertz: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyebertz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyebertz/) Medium: https://jkebertz.medium.com/ (https://jkebertz.medium.com/) Where to find Heidi Williams: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1/) Website: https://www.joinwest.org/ (https://www.joinwest.org/)
25 Mar 2024
Trailer Episode
Welcome to the trailer episode of Engineer Your Career, brought to you by WEST, a learning community that empowers women technologists through mentorship. Through this podcast, we’ll explore the different paths leaders have taken to grow their tech leadership, develop their influence, and gain insights from top women leaders in the field. Hosted by Karen Ko and Heidi Williams.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
- Apple Podcasts (US)
- 5.0 / 5
- 1 ratings
- Spotify
- 5.0 / 5
- 1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 25 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
- Quality
- 26
- Social presence
- 0
- YouTube
- 0
- Engagement
- 60
Contact Engineer Your Career
- Guest appearances
- Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Engineer Your Career?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show
Podcast research with Pod Engine