Flash Forward is a show about possible (and not so possible) future scenarios. What would the warranty on a sex robot look like? How would diplomacy work if we couldn’t lie? Could there ever be a fecal transplant black market? (Complicated, it wouldn’t, and yes, respectively, in case you’re curious.) Hosted and produced by award winning science journalist Rose Eveleth, each episode combines audio drama and journalism to go deep on potential tomorrows, and uncovers what those futures might re ...
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Content provided by Kathy Nelson. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Kathy Nelson or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
Similar to Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
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Thanks for visiting The Cell Phone Junkie! I will be taking the time each week to discuss my favorite topic, cell phones. Any feedback is appreciated and welcome. You can email me at: questions (AT) thecellphonejunkie (DOT) com or call: 206-203-3734 Thanks and welcome!
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134. Lawanda Parnell – A Technology Career Across Generations
Manage episode 508153664 series 2811073
Content provided by Kathy Nelson. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Kathy Nelson or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
In this episode of Ordinarily Extraordinary – Conversations with Women in STEM, Kathy and Linda sit down with Lawanda Parnell, a retired technology and utility leader whose career began at IBM in the early 1980s and spanned decades of innovation and leadership.
Lawanda shares her journey from studying business administration with a strong math and computer science foundation at the University of Florida, to becoming one of the few Black women in tech during her era, to leading large-scale projects in the utility industry.
She reflects on:
- Transitioning from IBM into the utility sector and the challenges of large-scale software implementations.
- How her love of math, particularly calculus, shaped her career path.
- The importance of mentors and sponsors, including those who encouraged her to pursue a master’s degree.
- Building strong, diverse teams and the value of hiring people smarter than yourself.
- Overcoming the fear of public speaking as an introverted techie.
- Her perspective on management versus technical career paths and advice for navigating that choice.
- Why utilities need to do a better job of marketing themselves to the next generation of STEM professionals.
The conversation also dives into listener advice questions, covering:
- Should you move into management if you love technical work?
- What to do if your company offers to pay for grad school in a field you don’t love.
Lawanda’s story is one of resilience, lifelong learning, and the joy of finding passion in work while paving the way for future generations.
About Lawanda:
Lawanda Parnell is a retired technology and utility leader whose career began at IBM and later spanned leadership roles in the energy sector, including CPS Energy and Pedernales Electric Cooperative. With a background in business and computer science, she combined her love of math and technology with strong project management skills to lead large-scale IT transformations and mentor future STEM professionals.
Want to ask a question for our new advice segment?
- Leave us a voicemail through our website www.ordinarily-extraordinary.com
- Or email: [email protected]
Music by Kay Paulus
Follow Kay on Instagram @kaypaulus8
135 episodes
Share
Manage episode 508153664 series 2811073
Content provided by Kathy Nelson. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Kathy Nelson or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
In this episode of Ordinarily Extraordinary – Conversations with Women in STEM, Kathy and Linda sit down with Lawanda Parnell, a retired technology and utility leader whose career began at IBM in the early 1980s and spanned decades of innovation and leadership.
Lawanda shares her journey from studying business administration with a strong math and computer science foundation at the University of Florida, to becoming one of the few Black women in tech during her era, to leading large-scale projects in the utility industry.
She reflects on:
- Transitioning from IBM into the utility sector and the challenges of large-scale software implementations.
- How her love of math, particularly calculus, shaped her career path.
- The importance of mentors and sponsors, including those who encouraged her to pursue a master’s degree.
- Building strong, diverse teams and the value of hiring people smarter than yourself.
- Overcoming the fear of public speaking as an introverted techie.
- Her perspective on management versus technical career paths and advice for navigating that choice.
- Why utilities need to do a better job of marketing themselves to the next generation of STEM professionals.
The conversation also dives into listener advice questions, covering:
- Should you move into management if you love technical work?
- What to do if your company offers to pay for grad school in a field you don’t love.
Lawanda’s story is one of resilience, lifelong learning, and the joy of finding passion in work while paving the way for future generations.
About Lawanda:
Lawanda Parnell is a retired technology and utility leader whose career began at IBM and later spanned leadership roles in the energy sector, including CPS Energy and Pedernales Electric Cooperative. With a background in business and computer science, she combined her love of math and technology with strong project management skills to lead large-scale IT transformations and mentor future STEM professionals.
Want to ask a question for our new advice segment?
- Leave us a voicemail through our website www.ordinarily-extraordinary.com
- Or email: [email protected]
Music by Kay Paulus
Follow Kay on Instagram @kaypaulus8
135 episodes
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Similar to Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
Flash Forward is a show about possible (and not so possible) future scenarios. What would the warranty on a sex robot look like? How would diplomacy work if we couldn’t lie? Could there ever be a fecal transplant black market? (Complicated, it wouldn’t, and yes, respectively, in case you’re curious.) Hosted and produced by award winning science journalist Rose Eveleth, each episode combines audio drama and journalism to go deep on potential tomorrows, and uncovers what those futures might re ...
…
continue reading
DNA science. Artificial intelligence. Smartphones and 3D printers. Science and technology have transformed the world we live in. But how did we get here? It wasn’t by accident. Well, sometimes it was. It was also the result of hard work, teamwork, and competition. And incredibly surprising moments. Hosted by bestselling author Steven Johnson (“How We Got To Now”), American Innovations uses immersive scenes to tell the stories of the scientists, engineers, and ordinary people behind the great ...
…
continue reading
Whether the topic is popcorn or particle physics, you can count on BrainStuff to explore -- and explain -- the everyday science in the world around us.
…
continue reading
1
The Ticket: Discover the Future of Customer Service, Support, and Experience, with Intercom
Intercom
1k475
On The Ticket, you'll hear Intercom's Customer Support team in conversation with the customer service leaders, renowned customer experience thinkers, and influential authors who are shaping the field of customer support. Follow The Ticket to get the weekly episodes and sign up for our twice-monthly newsletter bursting with all the insights, trends, tips, and assets your team needs to embrace the future of customer service. https://www.intercom.com/blog/newsletter 🏠 www.intercom.com
…
continue reading
Hanselminutes is Fresh Air for Developers. A weekly commute-time podcast that promotes fresh technology and fresh voices. Talk and Tech for Developers, Life-long Learners, and Technologists.
…
continue reading
Thanks for visiting The Cell Phone Junkie! I will be taking the time each week to discuss my favorite topic, cell phones. Any feedback is appreciated and welcome. You can email me at: questions (AT) thecellphonejunkie (DOT) com or call: 206-203-3734 Thanks and welcome!
…
continue reading
The surprising connections in science and technology that give you the Big Picture. Astronomer Seth Shostak and science journalist Molly Bentley are joined each week by leading researchers, techies, and journalists to provide a smart and humorous take on science. Our regular "Skeptic Check" episodes cast a critical eye on pseudoscience.
…
continue reading
We humans could have a bright future ahead of us that lasts billions of years. But we have to survive the next 200 years first. Join Josh Clark of Stuff You Should Know for a 10-episode deep dive that explores the future of humanity and finds dangers we have never encountered before lurking just ahead. And if we humans are alone in the universe, if we don't survive intelligent life dies out with us too.
…
continue reading
Tim Harford and the More or Less team try to make sense of the statistics which surround us. From BBC Radio 4
…
continue reading
Come dive into one of the curiously delightful conversations overheard at National Geographic’s headquarters, as we follow explorers, photographers, and scientists to the edges of our big, weird, beautiful world. Hosted by Peter Gwin and Amy Briggs.
…
continue reading
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Go offline with the Player FM app!
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