Our next guest on MENtors that Make a Difference is Tom Foster, the Director of Sales at The Receptionist, the company behind your swift check-in experiences. Started in 2013, The Receptionist paved the way as the first-ever visitor management company. They are now in over 4k+ locations and 36 countries worldwide.

Today we talk about Tom's career journey and how business culture helped guide him to where he is today. We also talk about the significant impact women have had on The Receptionist and how they have impacted the tech industry as a whole. Finally, to further explore this impact, we discuss the qualities male allies can attain to help their female counterparts grow their careers.

You can learn more about The Receptionist here: https://thereceptionist.com/

Thank you for listening; we hope Tom's story helps inspire others to seek or grow their tech career.

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Join Jennifer Didier and Danica Bunnett as they discuss the operations of Bluon. Danica will share how her childhood experiences have helped to find her passion and use it to build Bluon to it's current status in the marketplace.

Danica Bunnett Bio:

As Bluon’s Chief Operating Officer, Danica manages the day-to-day operations of Bluon, a rapidly growing technology company in the HVAC space that has grown from 30 people to 130 in just over a year. As is typical in a company of Bluon’s size, Danica directly oversees several critical teams while working hand in glove with managers on several others. Danica is a true hands-on manager and player coach, who utilizes her unique skill set to manage a diverse group of technicians, professionals and software engineers with equal skill, grace and authority. Danica has been with Bluon from the virtual beginning and has been instrumental in its growth as well as its one-of-a-kind culture. In many ways, Bluon is a direct reflection of Danica and her unworldly work ethic, unmatched enthusiasm, seemingly always positive attitude and direct style of communication. She is a graduate of Stanford University with a Bachelors in Product Design Mechanical Engineering. She was also the co-president of Stanford Women in Design (SWID) and believes in bridging Silicon Valley's high-tech innovation with the HVAC world.

Career Update:

Danica pulls from her background in human-centered design and engineering to help grow and scale Bluon. She brings a fresh perspective and unmatched enthusiasm to improve the execution and operational capabilities across the business. Danica is a graduate of Stanford University with a Bachelor’s in Product Design. As a Lake Tahoe native with deep connection to the outdoors, Danica has always had a strong interest in sustainable technologies and improving the world through innovation.

Danica has recently join Chief Member. You can connect with her on LinkedIN.

Jennifer Didier sits down with co-founder of Kumospace Brett Martin. Listen to their conversation about the changes that are available in the digital workspace. (Virtual Office)

Brett Martin Bio:

I am an entrepreneur, angel investor, pragmatist, and optimist. Having spent most of my career in the startup trenches, I now focus on supporting other entrepreneurs as Managing Partner of a small seed-stage venture fund: Charge Ventures. Charge is a NYC-based pre-seed/seed stage venture fund. We invest 200-500k at the earliest stages of company formation and then help founders take things from 0 to 1. When not working directly with startups, I spread the startup gospel as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. My teaching focuses on product strategy and entrepreneurial finance but also have a few war stories to tell, having co-founded Switch, a mobile job discovery application, and Sonar, a location-based social network. I began my career on Wall Street as an equity research associate. In my spare time, I've been fortunate enough to write for Harvard Business review, launch a little website called Vice, found a rock band, and sail thousands of miles on a 30ft sailboat.

• brett1211

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Join Jennifer Didier and she speaks to Nimia Amaya. They will discuss the importance of education and the need to have confidence, even it it takes you in a different direction than you thought.

Bio for Nimia Amaya:

Nimia Amaya is the Demand Generation Director at Younium. A digital media and marketing professional with expertise in the North American and Latin American markets. She holds a BA in Broadcast Media from the University of North Texas and has worked with brands such as Univision Communications, Verizon, Levi’s, Macy’s, and Cedar Fair Entertainment. She resides in Dallas, TX with her 9-year-old daughter.

Update on Nimia Amaya:

As an award-winning bilingual marketing and demand generation leader with over 10 years of experience in B2B SaaS, I’ve led marketing efforts for global tech companies based in Sweden, France, and the U.S., specializing in demand generation across the North American and Latin American markets. In my roles, I’ve developed strategies from the ground up, driven revenue growth, and managed multi-million dollar budgets. I’ve also led cross-functional teams with staff in the U.S., Mexico, France, and Sweden, giving me a deep understanding of how to execute high-impact campaigns across geographies. My experience in high-growth startups allows me to adapt quickly, and my data-driven, customer-centric approach ensures that the strategies I implement deliver results aligned with both business and market needs.

She currently works at Triple Whale as a Lifecycle Marketing Manager.

Today Jennifer Didier is joined by Shannon Reedy from TeraKeet. Shannon shares her journey from school up the ladder to help put in better practices for TeraKeet employees. These practices have helped TeraKeet to embrace Women in Technology and assist in bringing them work-life balance.

More on Shannon Reedy:

Shannon Reedy

Chief Revenue Officer

Shannon Reedy is the Chief Revenue Officer at Terakeet, the Fortune 500's preferred owned asset optimization (OAO) partner for strengthening brand and consumer connections online. With a demonstrated history of leadership, data analysis, and results-driven business development, Shannon has helped Terakeet, as well as its global customers, achieve breakthrough performances. As CRO, Shannon guides Terakeet’s company growth and revenue-generating processes, including sales, marketing, and client success strategies, which have collectively driven 66% more revenue under her leadership.

Join Jennifer Didier and Amy Beckley with a very frank conversation about fertility and some of her personal experiences with the currently available options. Amy got tired of the process and decided to take actions into her own hands.

Bio for Amy Beckley:

Many of our listeners are silently struggling with infertility. From mixed messaging in media to fear of failure, people often struggle to find the right path forward in their fertility journey. Amy Beckley is Founder and CEO of Proov. She went through the exact same challenges and has used her experience to craft an accessible solution. For Amy and many others, the key to becoming pregnant was deceptively simple: learning about hormones, their individual functions, and how to keep them balanced. This knowledge completely changed Amy’s approach to fertility - ultimately resulting in the birth of her second child!

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Jennifer Didier and Stephanie Shreve have a great conversation about the ELITE group that finds ways to empower other Women and the next generation of women to join the world of technology.

A little more about Stephanie Shreve:

Stephanie Shreve currently is the Chief Marketing Officer at PowerChord, Inc. She is a software and digital marketing executive with 20+ years experience leading high performing teams to support global brands and strategic partners. With a track-record of performance, her goal is to build strong relationships with customers to create solutions that drive business results. She embraces opportunities presented by emerging technologies to reach new markets and grow business.

Join Jennifer Didier as she interviews President of Cask NX, Stacey Fournier-Thibodaux. They will be discussing the many facets of AI, including how it is and will continue to affect culture.

Bio:

Stacey Fournier-Thibodaux serves as the President of Cask NX, a leading ServiceNow consulting and implementation partner. Under her leadership, Cask NX drives transformative initiatives for clients leveraging ServiceNow to automate and reshape their business processes, elevate technology strategies, and foster innovative workplace cultures. With over 20 years of experience, she has delivered innovative solutions and operational excellence for Fortune 200 companies while championing strategic growth and customer success. A passionate advocate for women in tech, Stacey is dedicated to empowering the next generation of leaders to thrive in the evolving landscape of the AI era.