Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM

About Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM

We’re Kathy Kale Nelson and Linda LaTourelle — co-hosts of Ordinarily Extraordinary: Conversations with Women in STEM. Our mission is to amplify the voices of ordinary women doing extraordinary work in science, technology, engineering, and math. We’re deeply committed to: Normalizing the presence of women in STEM by making their stories visible Building community for women who may be the only ones like them in their workplace Educating listeners about the wide variety of STEM careers — and what they actually look like Empowering growth and retention by addressing the challenges behind the leaky pipeline From early-career professionals to experienced leaders in a wide variety of STEM fields, our guests share how they got started, how they’ve grown, and what they’ve learned along the way. This podcast is a space where women in STEM can be seen, heard, and supported — because representation isn’t just powerful, it’s essential.

Publisher

Kathy Nelson

Category

science · science · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 May 2020

Latest episode

20 Feb 2026

Latest episodes

8 of 151 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   20 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT

   145. Lisa Fennell - Technical Sales in the Utility Industry

   Lisa Fennell recounts her unconventional journey through various roles to technical sales in the utility sector, discussing confidence and mentorship as a woman in a male-dominated field in this interview.

2. 

   28 Jan 2026

   144. Dr. Elizabeth Mendes (Elizabeth the Scientist); Pediatric Cancer Research; Molecular Biology.

   Host Kathy Nelson interviews Dr. Elizabeth Mendes, a postdoctoral researcher, about her work researching rhabdomyosarcoma and identifying biological targets to develop more effective treatments for pediatric cancer.

3. 

   14 Jan 2026

   143. Vinayasri Nidadavolu - Wind Engineer

   Kathy interviews Vinayasri Nidadavolu, a wind engineer at Siemens Energy, about her experiences working on offshore wind turbines and balancing her career with motherhood.

Inside a recent episode

145. Lisa Fennell - Technical Sales in the Utility Industry

Published 20 Feb 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And I've spent the last 20 years working with electric utilities and selling them technical products. I've done software training. I've done business development. And now I've been asked to to lead a sales team. And I'm enjoying it. There are days when I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm working with people with PhDs every day. I'm working with electrical engineers every day. And there's there's days where that is daunting for me. But I was smart enough to marry an electrical engineer. So it's really nice. It explains the concepts that are still foreign to me. Well, okay. So I'm I'm curious because there's so much emphasis placed on going to college right now. […]

Who has been a guest on Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Lisa Fennell
• Dr Elizabeth Mendes
• Vinayasri Nidadavolu
• Linda Rhodes
• Christine Hollis

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

23 ratings

Spotify

4.6 / 5

11 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 58 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

84

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

82

Contact Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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