Teach the Geek Podcast - public speaking for technical professionals

Stephanie Slocum is a professional engineer and the founder of Engineers Rising. She’s the author of “She Engineers: Outsmart Bias, Unlock your Potential, and Create the Engineering Career of your Dreams.” She started her career in structural engineering and now she helps female engineers create a path to the career and life they deserve. I learned more about her transition from worker to self-employed, her book, and Engineers Rising.  Find Stephanie at https://www.engineersrising.com/

Luis Martinez is a veteran, a basketball player, an organization leadership expert, and a founder. He’s deeply entrenched in the entrepreneurship community in San Diego, as he heads diversity for San Diego Startup Week, is the head of SD’s Startup Grind chapter, and he recently started We tha Plug, an initiative to build an ecosystem for black and latino founders. I talked to him about his transition to the tech space, his hopes for the organizations he’s involved in, and how public speaking fits into all of it.  IG: @luisitothe_entrepreneur Twitter: @LuisitoBrooklyn Website: https://www.wethaplug.com/

Ayori "Selfpreneur" Selassie was a panelist at the 2018 Blacks in Tech conference. She spoke with such gravitas on the panel that I knew I wanted to interview her. After rebuffing a guidance counselor's advice to study African-American studies instead of computer science, she has embarked on quite a career in the technology space. She has worked in engineering, sales, and marketing, culminating with her current position at Salesforce leading its marketing efforts for Salesforce Einstein.  Ayori is also an entrepreneur, with a book coming out in 2020, and her other initiatives, Selfpreneur and Life Model Canvas.  Tune in to hear about how her mom was instrumental in her start with coding,  what exactly Selfpreneur means (I had no clue), and how she handles nerves before public speaking.  Some takeaways from our conversation: 1. Care about what you're talking about when public speaking 2. Speak regularly to get better 3. Gospel music can go a long way... To learn more about Ayori, you can find her at: https://www.selfpreneur.com/ainewbies http://www.lifemodelcanvas.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/randomgirl/ https://www.instagram.com/iayori/ https://twitter.com/iAyori https://www.facebook.com/iayori/

Much like one of my former guests, Andrew Kelley, Patrick Sweet is an engineer with business savvy. A bachelor’s in electrical engineering and a MBA are proof of that. I came across Patrick via another former guest, Thomas Anderson. Thomas put me on to Patrick’s website, engineeringandleadership.com, whose goals is to help engineers become the leaders they want to be.     Learn more about Pat at engineeringandleadership.com

Dr. Nehemiah Mabry is smart. He has a PhD in Structural engineering from NC State. Dr. Nehemiah Mabry is a worker. He works as a bridge design engineer. But did you know he got bars, too? He’s a STEM poet, weaving his love of STEM and poetry into distinct masterpieces. He’s also the founder of STEMedia, whose goal is to inspire underrepresented kids to consider STEM fields.    You can reach Nehemiah at nehemiah@stemedia.org

While I wasn’t able to attend his presentation, Andrew Kelley was a presenter at the inaugural Blacks in Technology conference. He was speaking on raising capital, a topic of interest to many entrepreneurs trying to grow their businesses. While he has an MBA, his bachelor’s and master’s degrees are Mechanical Engineering. How does Mechanical Engineering and raising capital come together?    You can reach Andrew at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelleyan/

As a professional coach, Kanika Tolver gets her greatest joy from helping people realize who they are and where they wish to be. She does her work as CEO of Career Rehab, LLC. She’s also a speaker, whose topics include how to make a career change into tech, how to make 6 figures in tech, and A Game-Plan for African Americans in the Tech Industry. She’s quite qualified to speak on tech, as she has a bachelor’s in computer technology and master’s in information technology.    You can reach Kanika at kanikatolver.com.   IG: @kanikatolver  Twitter: @kanikatolver  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanikatolver/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KanikaRTolver/

Dr. Tracy Fanara took her love of science from the lab to in front of the camera. In addition to being the Manager of the Environmental Health Research Program at Mote Marine Laboratory, she has been featured on shows such as Mythbusters: The Search and Xploration Awesome Planet.  Her current venture, Inspector Planet, provides environmental education to folks of all ages.   Follow her on Twitter @inspectorplanet

Jared Arms is the founder and CEO of Kylar.io, which, among other things, partners with 60 companies across the US to help reduce gun violence and promote STEM skills in the Black community.    Check him out at kylar.io

From developing characters to Developer Evangelist, Chloe Condon has made quite a transition. Once a stage actor, she now works in the tech field. Listen in as we discuss her journey.    To learn more about Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeCondon.