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Welcome to "The Spotlight Series – Don’t Just Survive, Thrive”. Season 1 was launched to help people through the pandemic by talking to a variety of experts about topics such as psychology, finance and health. Season 2 focused on more work related issues including HR, marketing and leadership. Now it is time for Season 3! Season 3 is centred on the IT industry, specifically tech startups. There are also Career Spotlights from senior IT people revealing the secrets to their impressive career trajectories.Your host is Nicola Steel, founder of JJP Talent Solutions, an Australian IT recruitment company. For over 20 years, she has helped tech startups and innovative SMEs to attract, recruit and retain technical talent.
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That’s a wrap for Season 3 of “The Spotlight Series – Don’t Just Survive, Thrive” podcast for 2021. Here are podcast mashup highlights from this year talking to startup founders and senior tech leaders. ⭐Maree Beare, Founder of Wanngi (and more recently Clinials) talking about disrupting health tech and her purpose behind Wanngi (0:33- 2:58) ⭐Tony Ryan, Education Futurist, talking about the future of work and if there is a 50% chance that we live in a computer simulation (3:...
In this episode of AI for Good, Nicola Steel speaks with Dr Joan Palmiter Bajorek, Innovation Evangelist, Founder of Clarity AI, and author of Your AI Roadmap. Joan brings her deep expertise in conversational AI, career development, and personalised data-driven tech to this human-focused conversation. Joan shares how her love for languages and linguistics sparked her passion for conversational AI and led her to roles in academia, tech, and entrepreneurship. Together, Nicola and Joan explore t...
Welcome to the first podcast episode of Season 7 which is all about AI for Good! In this season, we’re exploring how AI is shaping industries, driving innovation, and making a positive impact on the world. To kick things off, Nicola Steel speaks with Stijn Hendrikse, a seasoned SaaS entrepreneur, investor, and author, about the transformative power of AI in the software industry and how startups can leverage AI for growth. Stijn shares insights from his extensive career, from his early days a...
In this episode, Nicola Steel speaks with Mark D. Nicholls, CEO of Information Professionals Group and a seasoned expert in digital transformation and cybersecurity with over 30 years of experience. Mark has been instrumental in helping organisations grow through technology, and he shares his journey and insights on navigating today’s complex tech landscape. Nicola and Mark discuss how businesses can align digital transformation with their overarching strategy to address real challenges, rath...
In this episode of Insights from Ladies Leading Tech, Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solutions and Nicola Steel Career Coaching, speaks with Shamila Gopalan, a passionate advocate for empowering women and a dynamic leader with over 25 years experience across three continents. Shamila is the founder of HerWit, a platform dedicated to helping female entrepreneurs scale their businesses, and the Chief Commercial Officer at SisterWorks, a not-for-profit organisation that supports migrant and...
Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solutions and Nicola Steel Career Coaching, speaks with Denver Naidoo, CTO and Founder of Zeligate, an AI workforce provider with a mission to empower teams through AI. Denver shares his inspiring journey in tech, from the early days of computing to pioneering Zeligate, which offers AI-powered assistants to handle routine tasks like phone calls, video interviews, and customer interactions, freeing employees to focus on more meaningful work. Nicola and Denve...
Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solutions and Nicola Steel Career Coaching, talks to Susan Toft, Founder of The Laundry Lady and winner of Founder of the Year at the Women in Digital Awards 2024. In this episode of Ladies Leading Tech, Susan shares her incredible journey of starting The Laundry Lady after her corporate role was made redundant in 2012. What started as a solo business has now scaled into a thriving operation with over 300 contractors across Australia and New Zealand. Nicola...
In the latest episode of "The Spotlight Series - Don't Just Survive, Thrive" in the "Ladies Leading Tech" segment, Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solutions, speaks with Shailvi Wakhlu, a dynamic and experienced tech leader known for her expertise in data science and analytics. With a career spanning influential roles at companies like Salesforce, Shailvi shares her fascinating journey from an individual contributor to a leadership role in tech. She talks about how she intentionally navig...
In this episode, Nicola Steel, Founding Director of JJP Talent Solutions, talks to Ceri Jury, Founder of Advancer and a seasoned HR leader with over 20 years of experience in workforce development and leadership transformation. Ceri takes us through her career journey, starting from pivotal HR roles in government and Queensland Health to her bold leap into the world of AI-driven innovation with Advancer.ai - Australia’s first AI-powered HR platform. Ceri shares the vision behind Advancer, whi...
In this episode of The Spotlight Series - Don’t Just Survive, Thrive, Nicola Steel chats with Mike Nedelko, a seasoned product executive with over 20 years of experience. Mike’s career journey is unique - starting in Germany, where his family built and sold sailboats, to creating a golf event business that funded his university education. After living and working in China, he helped launch a new business unit at Cyberlink before moving on to work with global companies like Microsoft, G...
Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solutions, sits down with James Hallahan, Founder of Subscribr. Subscribr is a user-friendly platform designed to help people consolidate and manage all their subscriptions in one place. James shares his journey from selling real estate on the Mornington Peninsula to launching a tech startup aimed at tackling a common financial problem. Highlights from the Episode: From Real Estate to Tech Startup: James discusses his career shift from selling houses ...
Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solutions, sits down with Andrew Pedley, co-founder of Carbonaught, a pioneering company dedicated to delivering scalable carbon removal solutions and enhancing food security worldwide. Andrew brings a wealth of experience from his extensive corporate career in financial markets within investment banks and heavy industry to his innovative approach in the environmental tech space. Andrew shares the compelling journey that led him to start Carbonaught, driven...
In this episode, Nicola Steel, Founding Director of JJP Talent Solutions, talks with Kent Bolton, the Chief Technology Officer at Foodini, who brings two decades of experience from both corporate and startup environments. Kent shares his fascinating career journey, highlighting his initial role as an analyst programmer, moving through various positions in tech sales, and even running his own company. His path led him back to the tech space as a business sales project manager before taking on ...
In this episode, Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solutions talks to Jonathan Milgate, Chief Technology Officer at Camplify. Jonathan is a seasoned tech leader with an impressive career spanning 20 years in various roles and industries. With a background in Software & Systems Development, Jonathan has worked with startups, multinationals and government. His passion for agile software delivery from a technical and cultural perspective has shaped his leadership style and approach ...
In this episode, Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solutions, talks to Alex Ferguson, a visionary tech leader and entrepreneur with extensive experience in AI, startups and leadership. Alex has an impressive track record in driving innovation and building successful tech teams. Alex describes his diverse background, including an engineering degree in Aerospace, a degree in Chinese from the University of Queensland, and a Master’s degree from Taiwan. He provides unique insights from o...
In this episode, Nicola Steel speaks to Dawid Naude who is Co-Founder of Pathfindr.ai, an AI innovation studio. Dawid shares his journey from a tech-curious kid to a leader in AI and innovation. He began his career with a 5-year stint as an Associate Director at NAB Financial Markets. Dawid's career took a pivotal turn when he joined Accenture, where he quickly transitioned to senior roles in AI, Salesforce, Cloud, Digital and the Metaverse. Inspired by colleagues who successfully launched a...
Justin Hennessy has over 20 years experience in the software industry growing several startups to successful acquisition including RedEye, Outfit.io and Neto eCommerce. He has extensive technical expertise coupled with a passion for leadership and empowering people to reach their potential. Beginning his adventure in software development back in 1997 in Adelaide, Justin quickly expanded his expertise into networking, routing, switching and data centres. Not just a technical wizard, he also e...
Dive into the vibrant world of startups with Antler Partners Mike Abbott and James McClure as they talk to Nicola Steel, Founder of JJP Talent Solutions, in this illuminating episode. With a wealth of experience spanning from founding companies to working with tech giants like Google and Uber, Mike and James share their perspectives on what draws them to startups, the highs and lows of their careers, and invaluable insights on Antler's approach and their recent Queensland launch. Discover wha...
Jonathan Gamez has over 20 years' experience in the IT and OT domains. He began his career as a software engineer and progressed through various leadership roles, including CTO at Interlate. Jony explains how he first became interested in technology when he broke the family's new PC, a problem he needed to solve before his father discovered what he had done! It took Jony over 6 months to secure his first paid role in tech. Prior to this, he did two unpaid internships at Mi...
Embark on a captivating journey with Andrew Beitz, a tech guru who has boldly navigated the ever-evolving landscape of the technology industry for three decades, and now sits with us to peel back the layers of leadership, innovation, and strategy. Andrew imparts his wisdom on how to strike that elusive balance between advancing a career and nurturing a life, all while sharing his rise from a curious software engineer to a visionary executive. This episode isn't just a trek through Andrew's ca...
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