Data Ideas Podcast

Sonali Kumar, People Analyst, Podcast Host & LinkedIn Top Voice joins to discuss the growing field of people analytics, overcoming fear as a data professional and approaches to getting started (& benefits of) public speaking. Links & resources mentioned during the episode: Sonali Kumar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kumar-sonali/ Your Guide to Breaking into People Analytics with Sonali Kumar: https://topmate.io/sonali_kumar/1472481 The Society for People Analytics: https://societyforpeopleanalytics.org/ "Success Beyond Our Greatest Fears" Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7FctPQgfRZseMxBnq72FWZkvl9S78LMB Maven Analytics Courses & Training Platform (affiliate link): https://mavenanalytics.io/promo/spring-savings?via=sonali  

Jena Zangs, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at the University of St. Thomas joins to discuss her career journey into a senior leadership role in data. She also shares advice for new graduates entering their first data roles, networking tips and recommendations for practitioners looking to build AI ready skillsets. Jena's LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenaz/ Mrs Data Science Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrs_data_science/ Data Connect Conference, hosted by Women in Analytics & Women in Data: https://www.dataconnectconf.com/  

Data Scientist Scott DeGeet joins to discuss his career journey into data science & AI, and his advice as a data science coach. Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dscottdegeest/ Scott's "Map to Mentorship" article: https://www.correlation-one.com/blog/a-map-for-mentorship-thoughts-on-building-an-advisory-council interos.ai blog: https://www.interos.ai/blog/  

Hannah Rounds discusses her data career journey from being a practitioner within a large retail organization to being a leader in client-facing consulting. She also discusses what its like working in analytics in the CPG, manufacturing and financial industries, and gives her advice for those seeking to upskill for a role in analytics in the next 2-3 years. You can follow Hannah on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahrounds/

Avery Smith, Founder of Data Career Jumpstart, joins for a discussion on upskilling, trends in the data jobs market, personal branding tactics and more! Avery Smith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/averyjsmith/ Data Career Jumpstart: https://datacareerjumpstart.com/ Avery's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@averysmith Data Career Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1nfBfEtCmuvJkPQgR3bS5a  

Nisar Ahmed is the creator of the BizNis Intelligence YouTube channel, which contains data education content as well as episodes of The Data Nerd Podcast (also available on all major podcast platforms). Nisar is also a data analytics course instructor and practitioner. He joins to discuss his advice for getting into teaching, as well as the impact content creation can have on one's career. Nisar's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/biznisintelligence/ BizNis Intelligence / The Data Nerd Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BizNisIntelligence

Sekou Tyler joins for a discussion on how to build SQL skills in 2025, what it takes to move up in the data & analytics field and advice for those considering consulting. Sekou's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sekoutyler/ Royal Blue Analytics (Sekou's Company): https://www.royalblueanalytics.com/ SQLSekou YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SQLSekou Sekou's presentation at Tableau Conference 2025: Salesforce+ Ten-Minute Tableau: Rapid Insights from DataFam’s Best Ten Minute Tuesday Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5RB4iGVGu9xxhCaeoCunxA

Collin Smith, Director, Data School Operations at The Information Lab US & the Accessibility Tableau User Group Leader joins for a conversation. Collin's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/collinsmith106/ The Data School's website: https://www.thedataschool.com

Susan Walsh, The Classification Guru, joins to share insights on how & why to network, the importance of improving data quality and the impact of properly classifying supplier and spend data. Find Susan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanewalsh/ Check out Susan's Book "Between the Spreadsheets: Classifying and Fixing Dirty Data:" Amazon.com: Between the Spreadsheets: Classifying and Fixing Dirty Data: 9781783305032: Walsh, Susan: Books Susan's company's website, including more info on Samification: https://www.theclassificationguru.com/  

Quick walk through of why and how I (Dustin) create my weekly jobs rundown post published to LinkedIn. We will be back with another guest next week! My LinkedIn profile and posts can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinschimek/