Blossoming Technologist

What are the parallels between UX design and Mesoamerican culture? What's it like to switch from graphic design to UX design?

Learn from Itzy Ramirez, a New York City-based user experience designer with more than 10 years of design experience. She's worked in content marketing and publishing and has seen how user experience principles can be applied to graphic design. Itzy is also deeply connected to the culture of her ancestors in Mesoamerica, which inspires much of the art she creates.

We discuss switching from graphic design to user experience design and how the two are different. Itzy talks about how her appreciation for Mesoamerican culture has made her a better designer and the parallels between her culture and design.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• General Assembly UX Design Immersive: generalassemb.ly/education/user-experience-design-immersive
• Antropologist Dr. Dori Tunstall, Twitter: @dori_danthro
• Semillas Collective Instagram: @semillas_collective

Connect with Itzy:

Design Instagram: @itzy_designs
• Personal Instagram: @itzyra
• Shop: society6.com/itzybitsydesign

Follow Blossoming Technologist:

• Instagram @blossoming_tech
• Twitter @blossoming_tech
• LinkedIn /blossoming-technologist

Connect with Marisa:

• Twitter @marisahoenig
• LinkedIn /marisahoenig

Credits:

• Podcast Production by Marisa Hoenig
• Social Media Marketing & Episode Cover Art by Lucy Zheng
• Podcast Logo by Kendal Goodell @goodelldesigns

Aubrey Terrazas is an 18-year hospitality professional, Master Sommelier candidate, and co-founder of Palate Club, a digital wine service that uses machine learning to fit the user’s unique taste of wine. Based out of France, Aubrey uses her experience of tasting 100s of wines every year to identify over 200 wine traits, the core data for Palate Club's machine learning algorithm. Aubrey's ideas and disruption to the classic “wine club” model positioned her as one of America’s top sommeliers and wine entrepreneurs.

In this episode, we discuss the wine industry, giving background on how to become a Sommelier, Aubrey's experience in wine, and why blind taste-testing is such an important part of Palate Club. We also talk about how Palate Club utilizes machine learning, technologies being used in the wine industry (like blockchain!), and parallels between the wine and tech industries.

Make sure to enter our giveaway for a gift certificate for a blind tasting kit ($59 value): forms.gle/RS6h7bxrMsF2DHCd7

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Palate Club Giveaway: forms.gle/RS6h7bxrMsF2DHCd7
• Court of Master Sommeliers: mastersommeliers.org
• Famille Perrin Wines: m.familleperrin.com/12PCF6YRJ7
• Chateau Ste. Michelle Wines: ste-michelle.com

Follow Palate Club:

• Website: palateclub.com
• Instagram:@palate_club

Connect with Aubrey:

• Linkedin: /aubrey-terrazas
• Instagram: @aubreypopsbottles
• Twitter: @aubrey_terrazas

Follow Blossoming Technologist:

• Instagram @blossoming_tech
• Twitter @blossoming_tech
• LinkedIn /blossoming-technologist

Connect with Marisa:

• Twitter @marisahoenig
• LinkedIn /marisahoenig

Credits:

• Podcast Production by Marisa Hoenig
• Social Media Marketing & Episode Cover Art by Lucy Zheng
• Podcast Logo by Kendal Goodell @goodelldesigns

How do you get an internship at a top tech company? Once you secure the internship, how do you make the most of that experience?

Meet Alexandra Foote, a product manager at Microsoft and career coach helping students secure internships. During her time studying computer science at Georgia Tech, Alexandra interned at Google, Microsoft, and Bank of America. With her internship experience, she began coaching hundreds of students to land job offers at top tech companies. Now, she continues to coach students through her course "Tech Internship Toolkit" and free masterclass "How to Land an Internship at a Top Tech Company."

In this episode, we dive into how to get internships and why they're so important. We talk about common mistakes students make, how to make the most of your internship experience, and how to prepare for technical interviews.

Mentioned in This Episode:

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What does a career in security look like? Why is security crucial for everyone to understand? Meet Sara Diaz, the Information Security Lead for ThoughtWorks North America. After starting her career as a quality analyst, she moved into information security and has been at ThoughtWorks for 5 years. Sara is passionate about making security accessible and easy-to-understand; you shouldn't need to be an expert to protect your digital life.

In our conversation, we talk all things security: what it means, different career paths, what a day-to-day looks like, resources, skills, and more.

Mentioned in This Episode:

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How do you find a mentor to help with specific skills? How do you make the most of that relationship?

Learn from Alex Berry, a Portland-based Technical Program Manager within Intel’s Global Supply Chain and the Founder of Chocolate Milk Diplomacy, a social business that empowers underserved and marginalized communities with career development support. Alex's story is built from the many mentors and mentees he's had since studying industrial engineering at Georgia Tech to his job today. We talk about how he makes the most of these relationships and continues to value the stories of the people around him. We also discuss what technical program management is and how his company, CMD, helps people figure out their paths.

Connect with Alex:

LinkedIn: /alexberrycmd

Follow Chocolate Milk Diplomacy:

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