Microsoft Archives - Don't Stop Us Now

Making the Leap from Corporate to Startup – Maya…

July 12, 2022July 13, 2022
by Claire

We’re back from our much needed holiday and super excited about our guest this week. She’s a technology veteran who’s just made the leap, after a long career with big global tech brands, to run a climate tech startup in Singapore.

Maya Hari spent over 15 years in the digital media, mobile and e-commerce industries, working in the US and in Asia Pacific with companies such as Google, Samsung and Microsoft. She also led Twitter’s operations in Asia Pacific.

Now she’s taken up the reins as CEO of a startup called Terrascope with a mandate to scale the young venture. She’s had three months in her new role and is excited about how it fits both her professional and her personal purpose.

You can tell Maya is a deep thinker and we love how she talks about:

How she made the decision to leave big corporates to join a startup
How she assesses when it’s right to make a career transition
What she learnt from her most challenging career experience,
And we just loved a habit of hers that she calls ‘Serendipity Reading’.

So without further ado, enjoy this conversation with the strategic and thoughtful Maya Hari.

Useful Links

Maya on LinkedIn

Terrascope website

Interview

Sonika Manandhar – & Her Fintech Changing Lives in…

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021
by Claire

Our latest episode takes you on a journey all the way to Kathmandu in Nepal.

We speak with Sonika Manandhar, a Nepalese entrepreneur and former senior software developer for Microsoft, who’s now a fintech founder committed to improving the lives of women small business owners in Nepal.

Sonika is co-founder and CTO of Aeloi Technologies, an innovative social enterprise and fintech that uses digital tokens to facilitate affordable loans to Nepali small businesses that are working in a sustainable and climate-friendly fashion. Think things such as electric mini buses and sustainable agriculture.

She also happens to be one of Nepal’s highest flyers, almost literally, as she was selected to participate in International Space training at the Korean AeroSpace Research Institute.

Not only that. Sonika was named a National Geographic Explorer for 2020, a UN Young Champion of the Earth in 2019, and she attended Singularity University where exponential thinking is cultivated.

In this episode you’ll hear:

How Sonika is going about creating change when her customers have low literacy levels
Her advice for introverts
How her use of digital tokens is helping to build trust between financiers and female-run businesses; and
Her inspiring advice for women who want to start their own business.

So come on this journey with us and enjoy this episode with the purposeful and pioneering Sonika Manandhar.

Useful Links

Sonika on LinkedIn

Sonika on Instagram

Aeloi Technologies Website

Singularity University

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – What Great Ideas Need

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021
by Claire

This week’s Future Proof mini episode is all about what it takes to get a big idea signed off.

We’re excited to share very wise advice from senior Microsoft exec, Mitra Azizirad, who heads up their AI and Innovation division. Mitra speaks about what you should do when that fantastic idea or innovation you have gets knocked back. (Hands up who knows that feeling!)

Mitra is someone who’s had plenty of practise selling-in new ideas and approaches, and one of her top pieces of advice from our conversation was all about how you should react to being told “no” when you pitch an idea in a big corporate.

It’s important advice and we’re excited to revisit this with you here. Enjoy!

Useful Links

Mitra’s Full Interview with us – Mitra Azizirad – How Resilience and Persistence Can Make All The Difference

Mitra on LinkedIn – see her speeches here too! Well worth a watch!

Microsoft Innovation – Mitra’s team

Microsoft AI – also Mitra’s team

Mcirosoft’s AI Business School – Free Course

Interview

Adina Jacobs – Win-Win Relationships

May 11, 2021June 1, 2021
by Claire

This week’s episode features one of the most unassuming and humble entrepreneurs we’ve met.

Adina Jacobs is the Co-Founder of an international technology accessories company called STM Goods that basically created a whole new category of product when it launched it 23 years ago. (Think really functional and yet not boring laptop backpacks and bags, ipad and tablet covers, chargers, and a whole host of other accessories.)

Adina’s success as a young entrepreneur is testament to the power of building win-win relationships; whether it’s with manufacturers or retail clients. It was thanks to great relationships with Apple resellers that led to her products landing coveted space in Apple’s own destination retail stores when they launched.

And not only does Adina work with Apple but STM are also key suppliers of Microsoft accessories as well, plus many other brands.

Adina is also Co-Founder of Mentor Walks in Australia, a not-for-profit expanding all around the country with its ‘walk and talk’ model. We had her Co-Founder, Bobbi Mahlab, on the show some months back.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How a creative use for a padded postal envelope 23 years ago was the genesis of a new product category, and an internationally successful business
How Adina thinks, and goes about, building win win relationships
How STM has succeeded getting things successfully manufactured in China and elsewhere in the past two decades; and
How to set yourself up for success with your Co-Founder.

So sit back, relax and enjoy this episode with the humble and high achieving Adina Jacobs.

Useful Links

Adina on LinkedIn

STM website

MentorWalks website

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – The Magic of Yes

October 13, 2020October 13, 2020
by Claire

Brought to you by Microsoft’s The New Next

This week’s mini, Future Proof Me episode features some insightful advice about saying “Yes” to the unknown, even when it really scares you.

We hear from fashion entrepreneur Caroline Issa, the CEO of the Tank group which includes the revered global fashion and culture magazine, Tank Magazine.

We loved Caroline’s openness to embrace unexpected and unfamiliar opportunities. It seems so relevant in this time of COVID when nearly all of us are navigating the unfamiliar on an almost daily basis!

Her willingness to embrace doing things she hasn’t done before, even when she’s not sure she knows how to be successful with them, has worked so well for her. It’s as if she channels the magic of saying “yes” and it’s really paid off.

Hear her advice on how she copes when she’s not sure whether she can rise to the challenge or not….

Useful Links

Link to full ‘Don’t Stop Us Now!’ episode with Caroline Issa

Caroline on Instagram

Caroline on Linkedin

Tank Magazine on Instagram

Tank Magazine website

Book: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway – by Susan Jeffries

Interview

Mitra Azizirad – How Resilience and Persistence Can Make…

June 16, 2020June 17, 2020
by Claire

This week’s episode features a trailblazing woman in tech who’s had an extraordinary 28 year career at Microsoft.

Mitra Azizirad is Corporate Vice President of AI and Innovation Marketing at Microsoft based in Seattle.

As you’ll discover, Mitra’s heard it all, including a senior Defence executive telling her he had shoes older than she was! This indomitable woman has also got used to hearing plenty of ‘No’s’ at work but has repeatedly found ways to prove the naysayers wrong.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How it’s almost an accident Mitra got into tech in the first place, given she studied and wanted to work in International Relations
What it was like being Chief of Staff to the CEO of Microsoft and why she turned the job down several times in the first place
Why she’s never taken anyone’s advice
And the secrets of innovation she’s learnt from working on the cutting edge of technology.

We spoke with Mitra in Seattle during the coronavirus shutdown but before the Black Lives Matter protests.

Without further ado enjoy this episode with the forward thinking and very persistent Mitra Azizirad.

Links of interest

Mitra on LinkedIn – see her speeches here too! Well worth a look!

Microsoft Innovation – Mitra’s team

Microsoft AI – also Mitra’s team

Microsoft’s AI Business School – Free Course

Interview

Que Dallara – Unlocks What It Takes to Be…

January 15, 2020
by Claire

From extreme disadvantage in her childhood, Honeywell Connected Enterprise (HCE) President and CEO, Que Dallara, has been driven all her life to ensure she and her family are far from the memories she has of begging for rice as a child refugee.

We’re in awe of what Que has so thoughtfully achieved over the years taking her from supporting her family and herself through school and uni, to reach the highest echelons of corporate America.

Que grew up in Australia and worked there for McKinsey and numerous corporates before moving to the US almost 20 years ago via an MBA at Insead. She worked in senior roles for Microsoft, TE Connectivity and now is running HCE for Honeywell. Que is leading the industrial giant’s transformative push into software sales and the Internet of Things.

Alongside all of this, she’s also the mum of three kids!

We urge you not to miss this episode which shares not only Que’s incredible life story but also some of the finest career advice you’re likely to hear.

In this episode you’ll learn:

What impact Que’s dramatic and dangerous escape from Vietnam has had on her life
How having to pay for her education and support her family, saw her running a successful business by the age of 16!
The one key thing Que realised she (and others) need to develop to keep progressing in their careers
How she goes about leading a major innovation play within a huge conglomerate.

Enjoy this episode with the humble, yet ever so impressive, Que Dallara.

Useful Links

Que’s LinkedIn

Honeywell – click on Honeywell Forge to see Que’s Division

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