In this episode, we talk to tech leader and author, Debra Christmas.  She talks to us about her amazing new book and shares a behind the scenes look at women in tech.  We explore being intentional in business, in leadership and in life.  Debra chooses to live from a place of joy – that’s what immediately connected us.  Her description of what intentional living means to her is very powerful. She is an inspiration and a force.  I hope you love this interview.

Key Takeaways:

(00:50)            Debra’s Bio

(02:00)            About Debra’s new book, Please Stay: How Women in Tech Survive and Thrive

(06:48)            The challenges for women in tech

(10:52)            What keeps women in tech

(11:30)            About Debra’s upbringing and how it influenced her

(12:50)            About women using their voices

(14:30)            Various topics in the book

(15:30)            Key takeaways from the book

(16:15)            Finding your voice and using your voice

(18:05)            “honey, could you get me a coffee” story

(20:00)            How you can find your voice

(25:26)            How Debra would like to see things change

(26:18)            Male response to the book and this conversation

(33:08)            What it means to intentional

(40:16)            How Debra lives with joy

(42:14)            About Debra’s mom’s passing and how she moved through it

(47:54)            Debra’s final words of inspiration – celebrating who we are      

Mentioned in This Episode:

Please Stay:  How Women in Tech Survive & Thrive

More About This Guest:

Debra Christmas is a seasoned leader in the high-tech field. In her 40 plus year career she has led IT organizations in driving change and transformation through engaged, diverse and high-performance teams around the world. She is a Senior Executive Partner at Gartner and recently co-authored the book, Please Stay: How Women in Tech Survive and Thrive.  She is a dynamic leader and widely recognized for her many contributions to leadership, mentorship, diversity coaching and the list goes on.  I met Debra a few years ago through a mentorship group for entrepreneurs and it may not surprise you that our common denominator is choosing to live in the world from a place of joy.

Website:         www.womenintechtribe.com

LinkedIn:         Debra Christmas

Facebook:       Debra Christmas