On Episode 15 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, after a small Summer break, our hosts are joined by Sharon Weaver who is a Microsoft Regional Director, Microsoft Certified Trainer, Process Improvement, and Productivity Expert.

Sharon is the founder and CEO of Smarter consulting and speaks to our hosts about being a leader within the Kansas area by running the Kansas City O365 User Group. Sharon shares her journey from coding as a hobby when growing up to working in medicine then falling back into IT! We also find out what the role of a Microsoft Regional Director is!

Sharon will be hosting a session at Commsverse on the 15th September, where you can watch her session “All Roads Lead to Teams! Working with Tasks by Planner and To Do” at 17:20pm GMT.

Sharon’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sharoneweaver
Sharon’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonweaver/
Microsoft Women In Tech: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9053874/
Andrew’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thewatchernode
Microsoft Spotlight Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight
Jon’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonjarvis

I am excited to announce that the Microsoft Spotlight Podcast will be at the South Coast Summit on the 16th of October in Southampton, UK. Myself and Jon are looking forward to presenting a roundtable discussion with 3 of our previous guests along with Helen Walker.

You can still grab tickets for this event over at https://www.southcoastsummit.com/

Roundtable – Microsoft Spotlight Podcast – Women In Teams Discussion Panel

Saturday 4:00 PM · 40 min · Ageas Media Centre

Speakers – Andrew Moran, Jon Jarvis, Sara Fennah, Zoe Wilson, Sophie Dimelow, Helen Walker

The Microsoft Spotlight Podcast highlights the importance of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion within the Microsoft Community.

This session will talk with a number of high profile Women In Teams Community about their journey into the world of IT and how “us” as a community can engage more women to get involved.

This will provide insight into the challenges our panel has faced and how they manage to carve out a successful career in IT, the goals that they have set for themselves and how we can get women in technical or non-technical roles throughout the industry.

On episode 13th of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, our hosts are joined by Jese Navaranjan who is a Microsoft MVP working at Avanade. Graduating university after completing a maths degree, Jese talks to our hosts about her journey from being a Business Analyst to becoming an MVP.

Jese talks about her passion for presenting in user groups and her desire to become a mentor for women in the IT community.

Jese’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeseNav2
Jese’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/Jese-Navaranjan
Microsoft Women In Tech: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9053874/
Andrew’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thewatchernode
Microsoft Spotlight Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight
Jon’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonjarvis

Sara Fennah is our guest on episode 12 of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast! Sara is a freelance Microsoft Certified Trainer having been certified for 14 years!

Sara talks to our hosts about her career progression starting as a teacher at a secondary school to delivering Microsoft 365 courses. Both of our hosts had plenty of questions about the MCT program and it’s community. Sara has a unique style of delivering her courses where our host Jon believes she is one of the best MCTs in the industry!

Sara’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sfennah
Sara’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarafennah/
Microsoft Women In Tech: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9053874/
Andrew’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thewatchernode
Microsoft Spotlight Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight
Jon’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonjarvis

Episode 11 with Anne Michels has now been published. Anne works as the Director of Product Marketing for Microsoft Teams. She passionately speaks about her job at Microsoft, her love for Microsoft Teams, and how it has positively helped the world in a time of crisis.

Recording this during her maternity leave, Anne talks about her she got into her role at Microsoft and her experiences from speaking at big conferences such as Microsoft Ignite. Anne is also passionate about her work/life balance as a working Mum and how she is navigating a working life as a mother of two.

You can also reach out to Anne on our LinkedIn Group – Microsoft Women In Tech: https://lnkd.in/dy42TYZ where Anne has volunteered to help mentor those within the group.

Anne’s Twitter: https://lnkd.in/dFbGGa9
Anne’s LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/duNQXrt

Regards
The Author – Blogabout.Cloud

Andrew and Jon welcome Layla Porter aka LaylaCodesIT to the 10th episode of the Microsoft Spotlight Podcast. Laya works as a Developer Advocate for VMware Tanzu and is a Microsoft MVP and GitHub Star! Layla speaks to our hosts about her journey into IT and her rise in just over 5 years in the industry. Layla talks about her work as a content creator on Twitch, dealing with trolls, and her role as a .NET Developer Advocate.

Layla’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaylaCodesIt
Layla’s Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/laylacodesit
Layla’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/layla-porter/
Microsoft Tech Community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/
Andrew’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thewatchernode
Microsoft Spotlight Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight
Jon’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonjarvis

Listen to us on;
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAlwyX2vyn0pmQ6CRnu0siA
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6XFgTlvbs4HholpigMPtZe
Google Podcast: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy80YTJkNDE5Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==
Anchor.FM: https://anchor.fm/msftspotlight
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/microsoft-spotlight-podcast-1786419

Following us on;
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/msftspotlight
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msftspotlight/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight

On episode 9 of the Microsoft Spotlight we welcomed Anna Chu who is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft! Australian native Anna is based out of Seattle currently and works predominately in the Microsoft Tech Community, working on the launch to what it is today.

Anna talks to our hosts about starting at Microsoft as a graduate 15 years ago and her experiences of not only being female but a female with a diverse background. Anna also gives some great advice on how to win competitions for a fully paid wedding!

Anna Chu’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/_achu
Anna Chu’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annachu08/
Microsoft Tech Community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/
Andrew’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thewatchernode
Microsoft Spotlight Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight
Jon’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonjarvis

Listen to us on;
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAlwyX2vyn0pmQ6CRnu0siA
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6XFgTlvbs4HholpigMPtZe
Google Podcast: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy80YTJkNDE5Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==
Anchor.FM: https://anchor.fm/msftspotlight
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/microsoft-spotlight-podcast-1786419

Following us on;
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/msftspotlight
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msftspotlight/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight

Regards
The Author – Blogabout.Cloud

On the 8th episode of the Microsoft Spotlight Podcast, we are joined by the one and only Karuana Gatimu the Principal Program Manager for the Customer Advocacy group for Teams. She is one of the most recognizable faces within Microsoft having hosted several Microsoft lead events including MSIgnite and many other community-driven events.

Karuana takes time out of her busy schedule to share her journey having been a theatre-trained dancer to working as a GM for a large Professional Services organization before working for Microsoft and developing solutions for Satya Nadella office.

Karuana’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Karuana
Karuana’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karuanagatimu/
Andrew’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thewatchernode
Microsoft Spotlight Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight
Jon’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonjarvis

Listen to us on;
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAlwyX2vyn0pmQ6CRnu0siA
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6XFgTlvbs4HholpigMPtZe
Google Podcast: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy80YTJkNDE5Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==
Anchor.FM: https://anchor.fm/msftspotlight
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/microsoft-spotlight-podcast-1786419

Following us on;
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/msftspotlight
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msftspotlight/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight

The Author – Blogabout.Cloud

In this episode of the Microsoft Spotlight podcast, Kathi Kellenberger talks to our hosts about the journey from working in pharmaceuticals to pursuing a new career in IT. Being our first active MVP on the podcast, Kathi talks about how she became an MVP and maintained the award for 11 years. Kathi has done it all in her career; an MVP, a developer, a DBA, consultant, trainer, author, and now an editor!

Kathi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/auntkathi
Kathi’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathikellenberger/
Andrew’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thewatchernode
Microsoft Spotlight Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight
Jon’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonjarvis

Listen to us on;
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAlwyX2vyn0pmQ6CRnu0siA
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6XFgTlvbs4HholpigMPtZe
Google Podcast: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy80YTJkNDE5Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==
Anchor.FM: https://anchor.fm/msftspotlight
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/microsoft-spotlight-podcast-1786419

Following us on;
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/msftspotlight
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/msftspotlight/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/msftspotlight

The Author – Blogabout.Cloud