Breaking the Tech Ceiling

I know 5 other Michelle Kims. This particular Michelle Kim is a Co-Founder and VP of Marketing at Pantastic, and this month’s guest on Breaking the Tech Ceiling!One impetus for this podcast was to help me see potential options for my own career journey. I thought it fitting to end season 1 featuring another Michelle Kim, an executive with GTM expertise in the tech industry. Michelle has had an impressive track record in the SaaS space for over 20 years now holding Director, Head of, and VP roles at a variety of companies including Mashery, Heroku, Okta (where she led global demand gen efforts through IPO!), and Amplitude. She then went on to become a Partner leading the go to market practice at Cloudery before co-founding Pantastic, acting as VP of Marketing and Go To Market.Turns out that we have many shared experiences and a passion for #mentorship. Michelle has been a mentor at First Round Capital, Torch, Women in Revenue, and How Women Lead. We talk about mentorship; hope for a more diverse and inclusive culture - which is looking positive, especially with Gen Z and Gen Alpha.We talk about how Todd McKinnon, CEO of Okta called her back 3 YEARS after her initial interview. I’m so glad that we were connected via Women in Revenue and had a chance to meet up live for some boba 🧋If you’re interested in learning about Michelle’s journey, please take a listen!If you have questions or comments, you can email me at Michelle@breakingthetechceiling.com. This will be the last episode of Season 1. You can find all 10 episodes on Spotify, Apple, or at www.breakingthetechceiling.com. Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!

I definitely laughed the most with my most recent Breaking the Tech Ceiling guest Jacki Leahy, Fractional RevOps Advisor and Founder of the RevOps consultancy, Activate the Magic. In this month’s episode, Jacki shares how Pavillion’s Rising Executives program inspired her to make the ask for a VP title, how she went from fired to hired in 7 days, and our shared passion for supporting every woman to be the leading lady of her career. See below for some of the resources Jackimentions in the interview:Activate the Magic - RevOps ConsultancyWizard of Ops - RevOps CommunityPavilion - Community for Go To Market Executives and AssociatesJacco Van Der KooijDISC assessment  If you have questions or comments, you can email me at Michelle@breakingthetechceiling.com. If you’re interested in joining me on my journey,  please follow and download episodes the first Tuesday of every month on Spotify, Apple, or at www.breakingthetechceiling.com.Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!

Have you ever had a workquake? Ejieme Eromosele, GM for the EMEA business at Quiq and founder of Success in Black, shares her experience in this month’s episode of Breaking the Tech Ceiling.The resources below are a testament to our extremely illuminating discussion. I was particularly intrigued by what the then President of @The NY Times @Tom Thomson said to her, what she learned about doing business in #China, and how as an experiment 🧪 she volunteered herself personally to take on a renewals and expansion quota while the CSMs under her purview continued to be measured on delivering value to #customers.By proactively taking on more #revenue responsibility, I can see how her executive team would see Ejieme as someone to trust and promote. In our interview, Ejieme also shares her journey in #angelinvesting and a few organizations to research if you are interested in supporting #diversity in #venturecapital.See below for some of the resources Ejieme mentions in the interview: Mark Thomson (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/29/business/cnn-mark-thompson.html)Lola Bakare, CMO Advisor & Inclusive Marketing Strategist and author of “Responsible Marketing”Ejieme's Customer Success mentor from Google Dutta Satadip 🚀🤝⚖️Mary Russell at https://www.stockoptioncounsel.com/ Ten Percent Happier podcast with Dan HarrisMichaela Coel from Chewing Gum (tv series)TALEA Beer Co. started by Tara HankinsonNYU Stern School of BusinessFirst Round Capital's Angel Track - https://angeltrack.firstround.com/Golden Seeds, an investment firm dedicated to pursuing market returns through the empowerment of women entrepreneurs and the people who invest in themLevel, a powerful multiracial community of women tackling the racial wealth gap by investing in Black women (https://www.linkedin.com/company/letslevel/about/)BLCK VC empowers and supports Black investors, while increasing diversity in venture capitalBlack Venture Institute, an intensive, curriculum-based program, as well as continuing education, to give established Black operators the education, experience, and connections they need to become angel and venture investors (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13914547/)If you have questions or comments, you can email me at Michelle@breakingthetechceiling.com. If you’re interested in joining me on my journey,  please follow and download episodes the first Tuesday of every month on Spotify, Apple, or at www.breakingthetechceiling.com. Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!

If you don’t know Ran Xiao, she is a real strat & ops bada** 😎 And she just happens to be this month’s guest on Breaking the Tech Ceiling!Ran has been at several high-growth companies during critical junctures (Salesforce, Slack, Zendesk, Carta). In this episode, she shares the 3 things you need to keep in mind to thrive in pressure cooker environments and how the Easter bunny 🐰 fits into her career story. She is currently taking a career pause break and is now open to connecting about leadership or advisory opportunities.  If you’re searching for someone like Ran to be in your corner, then 🏃🏼, don’t 🚶🏻Thanks, Ran for being a role model for me at Zendesk and beyond.Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!

Hayal Koc is this month’s guest on Breaking the Tech Ceiling! She's currently the Regional Vice President of High Tech Sales at Salesforce.Hayal’s background is impressive (ibanking, management consulting, Founder). She shares how to overcome the perception that you’re not ready for a senior leadership role, tactics for internal networking, and what to follow instead of your passion.If you have questions or comments, you can email me at Michelle@breakingthetechceiling.com. If you’re interested in joining me on my journey,  please follow and download episodes the first Tuesday of every month on Spotify, Apple, or at www.breakingthetechceiling.com.Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!

Julia Kim is this month’s guest on Breaking the Tech Ceiling!It’s not everyday you meet a RevOps leader with a degree in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins and a Masters in Computer Science from Harvard. Listen in to hear how she made a career pivot from Solutions Architect to VP of Revenue Operations who’s now seen 4 successful exits and somehow finds time to be an adjunct instructor at Columbia University teaching machine learning, python, and writing to blockchains.We talk about Tiara Syndrome, why it’s imperative to be our own advocates, and given all of her commitments above, Julia’s daily wind down routine. Thanks, Julia for spending time to share your story and career advice for women aspiring to be VPs in tech roles.Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!

How did Emily Critchfield make the leap from Senior Director of Sales Operations at Zendesk  to VP of Sales Operations at Samsara? In this month’s episode of Breaking The Tech Ceiling, she shares how your REPUTATION, your network, and your references matter even more as you ascend to high stakes executive roles. If you are curious about how Emily got the role (spoiler alert: even VPs have to handle case studies and showcase their technical skills!) and how to signal interest in following executives you admire, then this episode is worth a listen.Emily is one of the 2 Asian American female Senior Directors that I mentioned in the trailer episode of Breaking The Tech Ceiling. Navigating tech as an Asian American woman has its own challenges and I love how Emily shares how she’s learned to manage high pressure situations. One huge takeaway from our conversation: Don’t underestimate how much people want to help you – especially female leaders. Thanks, Emily for paying it forward and lifting as you climb!Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!

Anjali Jameson, SVP of Product Management at One Medical (acquired by Amazon), is this month’s guest on Breaking the Tech Ceiling. Tune in to learn from this seasoned health tech leader about schedule scanning, the experience that was pivotal in turning her from a Manager into a leader, and how she got her name to stand out on the list of applicants for the VP of Product Management at One Medical.I admire Anjali for her ability to see the forest beyond the trees. While she acknowledges that mentorship is important, she shares how at this juncture in her career, she can make a wider impact by ensuring the leaders on her team are considering diversity as they hire, in the meetings that they have, and speaking up when they don’t see it. Because promoting diversity – not just in gender, but across other areas such as age, race, and range of experience – leads to better products, experiences, and – in healthcare – better patient care.If you have questions or comments, you can email me at Michelle@breakingthetechceiling.com. If you’re interested in joining me on my journey,  please follow and download episodes the first Tuesday of every month on Spotify, Apple, or at www.breakingthetechceiling.com.Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!

Breaking The Tech Ceiling's second guest is Marie Brunet, a semiconductor engineer turned Go-To-Market leader. She's been at the forefront of virtual reality and AI, not only building Uniphore's video AI unit as the Global VP of Sales, but was also instrumental in establishing the Facebook Reality Labs business at Meta as Head of Global Commercial Sales. Tune in to hear her secrets for how to make sure your achievements are recognized, her advice to bada** women, and how she went from hesitant to confident with the ability now to speak in front of hundreds without blinking an eye.  Having Marie as a guest is extremely meaningful to me. Her personal background gives her a unique perspective that is much needed in Executive circles. At one point during the interview, she mentions how there are not many stats available for Asian / Asian American women in Sales leadership roles. If you are considering the next step in your career, I'm sure you'll come away from this episode with some good, practical learnings.See below for some of the resources we discussed in the interview:Women in Revenue - Free community for Women in Revenue Colan Sewell <- https://www.linkedin.com/in/colansewell/Sales Enablement Innovation podcast episode - “Don’t forget that sales is about people”, with Marie Brunet, UniphoreMichael O’brien If you have questions or comments, you can email me at Michelle@breakingthetechceiling.com. If you’re interested in joining me on my journey,  please follow and download episodes the first Tuesday of every month on Spotify, Apple, or at www.breakingthetechceiling.com. Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!

The first episode of Breaking the Tech Ceiling is now live, featuring Jen Igartua! We discuss her chronotype, how she went from Marketing Automation Consultant at Bluewolf to CEO of GoNimbly (a Revenue Operations firm), and how generalists make the best executives.“There’s enough room for all of us, if we make the space.”  ⬅️ Jen’s statement encapsulates why I started this podcast. So many of us are conditioned to operate in a scarcity mindset when the reality is that we can make space and opportunities for each other. I hope this episode will encourage women to be courageous in their careers and for allies, mentors, and sponsors to continue investing in the next generation of leaders.See below for some of the resources Jen mentions in the interview:Sunsama - Digital plannerCaveday.org - Company that teaches productivity and focus (their ethos: how to have a good relationship with work)Book - How to be a Boss by Justin Kerr (for earlier career professionals)Craig Rosenberg, Revops LeaderBook - Managing the Professional Services Firm by David H. Maister (for those running a consulting firm)altMBA with Seth GodinSystems Thinking by The Donella Meadows InstituteIf you have questions or comments, you can email me at Michelle@breakingthetechceiling.com. If you’re interested in joining me on my journey,  please follow and download episodes the first Tuesday of every month on Spotify, Apple, or at www.breakingthetechceiling.com. Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!

Welcome to Breaking the Tech Ceiling –  I’m your host Michelle Kim, and in this podcast, I interview VP and C-level women who are disrupting preconceptions about what Tech Executives look and sound like. In the trailer episode, I share what this podcast is about, who I am, and why this project is important to me. My primary goal is to inspire women to be courageous in their careers and continue breaking the tech ceiling.If you have questions or comments, you can email me at Michelle@breakingthetechceiling.com. If you’re interested in joining me on my journey,  please follow and download episodes the first Tuesday of every month on Spotify, Apple, or at www.breakingthetechceiling.com. Thanks for listening and remember - Be courageous in your career!