44: Voicing Your Value for a Role, Raise, & More with Sonia Chowdhury

TRANSCRIPT

Mary Rechtoris: Hey, Stellar Women fans. I'm your host, Mary Rechtoris.

Mila Taylor: And I'm your co-host, Mila Taylor. Stellar Women shines a light on female leaders, making their mark in tech.

MR: Mila and I are super excited to welcome Debbie Reynolds to the Stellar Women podcast today.

MT: Hello, Debbie. Welcome.

Debbie Reynolds:Thank you so much. I am so excited to do this. I was dreaming about this. I'm like, oh, I can't wait to talk to you ladies.

MT: We are excited to have you. I didn't actually mention this in our chat before this recording. The first time that someone had mentioned your name was when I was trying to put together a mentorship program for the Relativity Academic Program that we have. You were so willing to be involved. It turned out that you couldn't come to Relativity Fest when the mentors would meet the mentees, but you still gave it your all and I always have heard such great feedback about you. So, I'm so excited to be chatting with you today.

DR:Oh, yeah, that was great. My mentee is amazing. We actually went out and had coffee and went to Lou Mitchell's or something. We had pancakes. I've kept up with him, and I think this is interesting. This is something that wouldn't happen in the pandemic phase now. Relativity Fest that year was the same year I was supposed to be in Amsterdam to speak, so I had to go to Amsterdam instead of Relativity Fest. But now, because of the pandemic, we're doing so many things virtual. I can do multiple things in a week.

MT: That's definitely the bright side, but I think I would prefer to be in Amsterdam right now.

DR:You know, I miss it quite a lot.

MT: You're the CEO of your own company, Debbie Reynolds Consulting. What's something that you've learned about yourself since starting your own company?

DR:Wow, that's a really good question. I think the thing that I learned about myself is that I get to use so many more of my skills. I get to do marketing stuff. I get to speak and teach. I consult. To me, this is great because I feel like I feel freer. I can use so many more of my skills. So to me, it's fun to mix it up a bit.

MR: Being an all-star in the cybersecurity space, there's something I'd love to know. What's riveting or interesting to you about global data privacy? What's hot right now?

DR:Everything's hot right now in data privacy. That's all I can say. Technology never stops. Technology is always going forward regardless of what we want to do. I am startled and fascinated by some new emerging technology and types of data privacy issues. We also see a rise in people being more aware of privacy issues in their own personal lives—not just business. [They care about] personal security and how that impacts them. We are seeing the evolution of how people are starting to care more about their privacy. Businesses are really getting serious, and not just because of regulations and fines. For some people, it's like eating your vegetables when your mother told you to eat your vegetables. They're like, oh, I have to do this privacy stuff. But it can actually be an advantage. You know, we're seeing Apple with their iOS 14 update and giving people visibility into their data about how it's shared. I tell people it's not a coincidence that Apple had their biggest quarter ever due to that. Privacy could be an advantage because people are savvier about how they share their information. If people feel like they can't trust you, you're not going to have those people as customers, regardless of how well you do other things.

MT: My mom, if she's listening, I love you so much, and I'm sorry. She's the most technically inept person on the planet. This morning when I was speaking to her...she and I talk via WhatsApp. She called me, and she says, "Mila, I've just read that we have to stop talking through WhatsApp because our data isn't safe." And I said, "do you know what that even means for you?" She's like, "no, I don't." If my mom is starting to talk about data privacy, that definitely means that it's a lot more widespread than I initially thought it was.

DR: I agree. I was actually surprised. I thought that the absence of people saying or showing that they care about privacy gave the idea that people didn't care. I think people didn't have a reason to speak out in some way. That situation with your mom illustrates that people are paying attention, and they do care.

MT: It's really interesting. Thanks for sharing t...