In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, host Heather VanCura interviews Eileen He about continuous learning and developing new skills quickly. Eileen shares her experience learning about machine learning and artificial intelligence. Listen to hear about how she approached learning and applied it in her career. Season 7 is about sharing the experiences of technical professionals and building on the interviews from the recently published book 'Developer Career Masterplan', starting with a story that links to Chapter 1 of the book! Links: StatQuest - a Statistics related YouTube Channel.   I used that to complement my learning when I was taking statistics courses. They covered some popular machine learning algorithms, in an approachable, understandable way. Recently they started to cover popular topics like GenerativeAI / transformer models.  https://www.youtube.com/@statquest 3-blue-1-brown - also really good at explaining, visualizing conceptshttps://www.youtube.com/@3blue1brown Stanford Online machine learning courses - there are many of them.  Here are a few courses.  You can search and find more on YouTube.Andew Ng Machine Learning:https://youtu.be/jGwO_UgTS7I?si=Xfnj1Gy-BZ31L8k1Other courses / professsors:Meta learning:https://youtu.be/bkVCAk9Nsss?si=yYpzRFky7YgL3D77Reinforcement Learning:https://youtu.be/FgzM3zpZ55o?si=n0ypiPA1byypJo1ZMachine Learning with Graphshttps://youtu.be/JAB_plj2rbA?si=pua8Aptk1Zh-jYC5I also recommend Andrew Ng's "Machine Learning Specialization" courses on YouTubehttps://youtu.be/vStJoetOxJg?si=4_mJkN2xoBJjdKIr Biography: Eileen He is a Software Development Vice President at Oracle.  She has a track record of successfully leading diverse projects spanning on-premise software, cloud infrastructure and services, and cutting-edge machine learning systems.  Eileen is a passionate advocate for women in tech.  She actively volunteers and contributes her time to empowering initiatives like Oracle Women's Leadership, anitab.org/Grace Hopper Conference, and Technovation.org.  She holds a master's degree in computer science from Indiana University, Blooming and an MBA from the Wharton School.

Season 6 (episodes 36-40) is hosted by Heather VanCura. These episodes are all about achieving and sharing personal accomplishments. Hear from a range of professionals about how they accomplished their goals of becoming a leader, writing a book, completing marathons around the world or completing challenging mountain summits in Africa. Learn how this benefits your career when you complete these exciting challenges.

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, host Heather VanCura interviews Debasmita Dey about her summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania. If you don't know it, it is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest single free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: 5,895 m (19,341 ft) above sea level and about 4,900 m (16,100 ft) above its plateau base! Deb graciously agreed to do some 'heavy duty bragging' with Heather to share her experience and how her lessons from it can be applied in our careers. Listen to hear about her amazing journey and her leadership insights. Season 6 is all about sharing stories of personal accomplishments and Deb has an inspiring story to share! Biography: Debasmita is a technology sales and strategy professional who has managed global projects of cross-functional teams and served customers across Europe, Middle East and India. She leads with empathy and believes in giving back to society and the planet through her volunteering work. Debasmita is also an ardent solo backpacker, a long-distance runner, a high-altitude trekker, and a travel blogger. Connect with her instagram account at 'deydebs' or on her blog . The name of the travel marketplace through which Deb booked the trek: Much Better Adventures Active Adventure Holidays | Much Better Adventures. The name of the Tanzanian trekking company which operated the trek: Trek2Kili, Tanzania Kilimanjaro Treks & Safari Specialist).

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, host Heather VanCura interviews Arun Gupta about his career journey to Vice President. Heather and Arun have been friends and colleagues for many years, and share many experiences together and separately in their technical careers. Listen to hear about their technical leadership insights. Season 6 is all about sharing stories of personal accomplishments and Arun has an inspiring story to share about his path and experiences. Bio: Arun Gupta is vice president and general manager of Open Ecosystem Initiatives at Intel Corporation. He is an open source strategist, advocate, and practitioner for over two decades. He has taken companies such as Apple, Amazon, and Sun Microsystems through systemic changes to embrace open source principles, contribute and collaborate effectively. As an elected chair of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) Governing Board, Arun works with CNCF leadership and member companies to grow cloud native ecosystem. He also participates in the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) and Linux Foundation Governing Boards. He has delivered technical talks in 45+ countries, authored multiple books, and is a Docker Captain, Java Champion, and Java User Group leader. He also founded the Devoxx4Kids chapter in the U.S. and continues to promote technology education among children

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, host Heather VanCura interviews Jennifer Marie Pelfini about her career story and recent book. Heather and Jenn have been friends and colleagues for many years, so this is a fun episode! Season 6 is all about sharing stories of personal accomplishments and Jennifer has an inspiring story to share. She talks about her journey and tips on making bold moves, career transitions and overcoming limiting beliefs, starting her own company and becoming a best selling author. You can order the book, The Impact of One Voice, Volume II as an ebook now on ⁠Amazon⁠ . Biography: Jennifer Marie Pelfini was born and raised in northeast Ohio and is the oldest of five children. She has a bachelor of science degree from Eastern Michigan University and a master’s degree in business administration from Arizona State University, WP Carey School of Business. After relocating to California during the height of the dot.com era, she spent the majority of her corporate career in marketing, supporting high-tech companies. When she became pregnant at the age of forty-seven, she took the path of motherhood and became a full-time stay at home mom for three years. After this reset, she transformed how she viewed her life and career. Now she engages with marketing projects and businesses that fuel her passion to make an impact. She hopes to inspire young girls and women in business to be who they desire to be, not who they are told they should be. As a marketing professional, her work focuses on messaging, branding, communications, and strategy. She lives in Reno, Nevada, with her husband, Michael, and daughter, Audriana. Jennifer is active in the local business community and her church diocese. She and her family enjoy all the blessings the Sierra region has to offer. She loves to cook and create, whether she is experimenting with a new dish to share or crafting a story. She enjoys travel and has been to many countries and cities in her corporate and personal life, but now she enjoys travel most when vacationing with her family. You can find Jenn on LinkedIn or her website, Jenn Marie Living

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠⁠, host Heather VanCura and her guest and co-author, Bruno Souza, share about their achievement of publishing a book. Bruno shares about the process of writing a book and Heather discusses with him how the book creates a new category in the careers genre combining knowledge and career insights from industry experts in the technical careers space. Season 6 is all about sharing stories of personal accomplishments and Bruno and Heather have an inspiring story to share about becoming published authors. Listen to learn how you can start achieving your dream of writing a book and how we did it. We are excited to share about our book, “Developer Career Masterplan” ! Bruno Souza and I wanted to write a book that shared the stories and knowledge we have gained over the last two decades helping developers grow their careers.  You can order as an ebook or in paperback format on Amazon . Biography: For more than 20+ years, Bruno Souza helps developers to share their knowledge using presentations and blogs, so they can help their communities, inspire their audiences and grow in their careers. Bruno is a developer and entrepreneur. An international speaker, Bruno has presented worldwide to audiences of all sizes. He is a JavaOne Rockstar Speaker, a The Developer's Conference Rockstar Speaker, a Java Champion and an Oracle Developer Champion. Bruno runs the https://code4.life initiative, where you can get more information about how to improve your career as a software developer. Heather VanCura is a Vice President at Oracle, leading the Java Community Process (JCP) program and MySQL Community Outreach team. With 20+ years of experience at Oracle and Sun Microsystems, she actively engages with the developer community as an international speaker, event organizer, and mentor. She has visited six continents and over fifty countries meeting developers and helping them to engage in standards-related and open source projects. Heather is passionate about promoting diversity in technology and volunteers with organizations like Women Who Code and IEEE Women in Engineering. Her extensive involvement includes serving on the boards of Dress for Success and FIRST LEGO League NorCal. Heather's dedication to empowering developers and advocating for diversity makes her a respected leader in the industry.

Season 5 (episodes 30-35) is hosted by Heather VanCura. These episodes are all about varying pathways to promotion. Hear from a diverse range of professionals from career coach, executives, developer advocate, voice over actor, and more as they share their unique journey to fulfilling careers.

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠, Melissa Kullander shares her achievement of running a marathon on the North Pole (90 degree North) with host Heather VanCura. Melissa talks about how she started a passionate journey to run a marathon on all seven continents, plus the North Pole! Season 6 is all about sharing stories of personal accomplishments and Melissa has an inspiring story to share. Listen to learn how you can start achieving your dreams at any age and apply Melissa's tip for completing a marathon to anything in your life or career. You can't help but be impressed, amazed and inspired by this episode. Also check out her ⁠TV interview ⁠and her official results from the ⁠North Pole,⁠ Biography Melissa’s passion for running and a love of travel and adventure has been the fuel for her desire to stretch the boundaries of her personal and professional abilities.  She simply states she loves to “Work Hard & Play Hard” to live to the fullest. Although she didn’t start running until her late 30’s, this native Arizona girl quickly went from local 5K fun runs to completing 49 marathons all over the world. She completed a Marathon on all 7 continents including, Comrades, the 56-mile Ultra Marathon in South Africa and, of course, Antarctica. She trained for 2 weeks at a running camp in Iten, Kenya, which is the home of many marathon world record holders. Melissa is recognized as an Iridium member of the Marathon Maniacs for completing 4 marathons in 23 days. She was also an Open Team rower with the Bair Island Aquatic Center in the San Francisco Bay area. Now at age 53, after 4 years of delays, Melissa has set her sights on completing her 50th marathon at the North Pole. She will have also achieved the “Grand Slam” (7 continents; & the North Pole). On the professional side, she is the VP of Finance at Workday overseeing the financial planning & analysis team that is responsible for the decision support for the company’s Product; Technology organization. She has B.S. degree in Finance from Arizona State University and an MBA from “Thunderbird”, the #1 International School of Business in the U.S.  Over her career in finance, she has enjoyed working and engaging with people all over the world including managing global teams from places like India, Poland, Malaysia, and the UK.  In fact, she has been completely around the world 3 times on 3 separate trips. She credits her ability to work and travel effectively to running and exercising on the road.  Any extra time she gets on these trips, you would undoubtedly see her out for a run.  When there is a conflict with her “work hard/play hard” motto, Melissa's high energy level and dedication will muscle out a solution.  A fond memory of one such situation had her running for 3 hours on the “Dreadmill” in order to keep on track with her training plan.

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Nichole Scott shares her career path from the technology space to voice over artist with host Heather VanCura. Nicole is a talented voice over professional who worked with Heather for many years at Sun Microsystems and Oracle - listen to the story Nichole shares about how she took a leap and created her journey from working in a traditional role, to the freedom and flexibility of being a successful voice over artist. Season 5 is all about sharing stories of pathways to promotion and Nichole has an inspiring story to share. Listen to learn how to chart your unique path to success and career satisfaction. Biography Nichole Scott is an American female voice over artist specializing is eLearning, corporate explainer videos, TV, radio, and online commercials as well as character work for video games and animation. Prior to becoming a voice over artist, Nichole had a 20+ year career in marketing working for Oracle and Sun Microsystems, but had a lingering lifelong passion for voice acting and decided to chart a new path. Nichole utilizes the skills she’s honed throughout her life and approaches each voice over project with perspicacity and determination to bring every script to life.  What people have said about working with Nichole:  “Nichole's performance in recording a voiceover for our project was nothing short of exceptional. Her meticulous attention to detail and skillful execution brought an unparalleled level of professionalism to the final product. With her exceptional vocal range and ability to convey emotions effectively, Nichole added a captivating dimension to the project that resonated with our audience. We are truly grateful for her outstanding contribution, which significantly elevated the overall quality of our work.”  “Big Nichole Scott fan! Entering broken record territory - she delivers sweet reads, reacts quickly, and records cleanly. Really happy we're working together - having a reliable voice over artist is a major stress reliever. Thanks again!”  “Nichole nailed it the first time. Great personality in the read and delivered ahead of deadline! Will use her again. If you need a professional VO she's is one to consider! I know we will use her again!”  “Nichole is very professional and great to work with. Nichole worked with us on product promotion videos for a Saas service. I highly recommend Nichole's services. Thank you again Nichole.” “I’ve been using Nichole for 4 years now. She’s timely, professional, and talented, and she’s never been short of stellar.”  “We need more people like Nichole! High quality, lightning-fast delivery, and nailed it first try with no revisions required. Thanks, Nichole!” Website Linkedin: Nichole Scott - Voice Over Artist - Freelance, voice over artist Instagram: @nivs333  Fiverr link

In this episode of ⁠⁠⁠⁠BragTalks⁠⁠⁠⁠, Carmen Delgado shares her career path to the technology space with host Heather VanCura. Carmen is a member of the Java developer community and she shares how her journey from working in a traditional financial role, to a fintech role, to technical developer community management. Season 5 is all about sharing stories of pathways to promotion and Carmen has an inspiring story to share. Listen to learn how to chart your unique path to success and career satisfaction. Biography Carmen Delgado joined Eclipse Foundation as Adoptium Community Manager in October 2022 and is responsible for helping the Eclipse Adoptium working group members achieve their goals and objectives and being the bridge between their procedures and Eclipse Foundation processes and Staff. Carmen has a project, operations, and financial management background in SMEs, non-profits, and start-ups from different industries: healthcare, Pharma, Fintech, and Tech. She also volunteers as a group manager and mentor at Step4ward, a mentoring program in Spain for women starting in the tech world.