Podcasts by Beyond the Blue Badge
Beyond the Blue Badge - by the Microsoft Alumni Network
Microsoft Stories that Inform and Inspire
This podcast features alumni who are leaders in business, careers and philanthropy as they talk about lessons learned, overcoming obstacles, finding their bliss and thriving post-Microsoft.
Further podcasts by Microsoft Alumni Network
Podcast on the topic Technologie
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Intentional service with Steve Guggenheimer from 2023-11-01T16:11
The path to board service starts with planning, networking
When Steve Guggenheimer left Microsoft as a corporate vice president in 2020 after...
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Corporate investing with Adam Coccari from 2023-10-18T18:41
Corporate investing with Adam Coccari
Advice for startups eyeing corporate venture capital
Adam Coccari leads Intuit Ventures. Before that, he was on the ear...
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Global Opportunities with Eriko Asai from 2023-10-05T00:51
Embracing change leads to great growth, success
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Michael Rawding talks with Eriko Asai, co-founder of Trinity Indo-Pacific Partners. Before s...
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Growth by Choice with Haresh Khoobchandani from 2023-09-06T19:28
Insights on embracing change in a dynamic world
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Michael Rawding interviews Haresh Khoobchandani, a former Microsoft leader who is now a vic...
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Leadership Lessons with Jeff Raikes - Part 3 Philanthropy, Entrepreneurship and baseball from 2023-08-16T20:39
Leadership Lessons with Jeff Raikes — Part 2 Identifying and acting on opportunities from 2023-08-09T17:38
Leadership Lessons with Jeff Raikes — Part 1 Early learnings from early Microsoft from 2023-08-02T14:43
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Rich Kaplan talks with former Microsoft executive Jeff Raikes, who shares his journey before, during a... Listen
Evangelizing technology with Robert Scoble from 2023-07-20T00:08
Providing unvarnished insights about innovation throughout history
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Dee Dee Walsh talks with Robert Scoble, a well-known technology evangelist...
Not taking ‘No’ for an answer with Nicola Hodson from 2023-07-05T19:52
Hallucinating the future with Rahul Sood from 2023-06-07T20:44
Artificial intelligence and the art of the possible
If you’re into AI and what’s possible, this latest episode of Beyond the Blue Badge will have you leaning in. Host T.A. McCann talks to...
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Transitioning from global to local with Rajiv Kaul from 2023-05-17T19:00
Putting people before tech with Julie Larson-Green from 2023-04-19T19:00
Advice to entrepreneurs with Soma from 2023-04-05T20:45
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Lessons in leadership with Steve Vamos from 2023-03-16T01:00
Putting humanity at the heart of every decision
Steve Vamos’ impressive 40-year resume includes leadership positions at Apple, IBM, Microsoft and most recently five years as CEO of New Ze...
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Be bold with Nickie Smith from 2023-03-01T22:27
Chasing innovation with Francis deSouza from 2022-11-02T18:16
Investing in world-changing ideas
Francis deSouza is CEO of Illumina, a biotech company working to improve health by unlocking the power of the genome. The Microsoft alumnus is well...
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Saving the ocean with Kimberly Mathisen from 2022-10-19T21:35
Kimberly Mathisen was recently the GM of Microsoft Norway. Today, she’s following her passion as the CEO of HUB Ocean, a nonprof... Listen
Preserving history with Tom Ikeda from 2022-10-05T16:00
Sharing stories for generations to come
For 26 years, Tom Ikeda has been using digital storytelling to preserve history at Densho, a nonprofit organization that he co-founded in 199...
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Adaptive leadership with Neil Holloway from 2022-09-22T18:11:46
How to become a differentiator in your career
Before joining Seattle startup Skytap in 2017, Neil Holloway spent nearly his entire career at Microsoft. During those 26 years, he held vari...
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Activate allyship with Gavriella Schuster from 2022-09-07T19:45:49
Discover the framework to achieve gender equity
Allies are essential for creating change and achieving gender equity. Gavriella Schuster is working to teach more ...
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Unlocking startup success with Robert Wahbe from 2022-08-17T19:41:09
Creating new industry categories, trials and tribulations and advice for desired outcomes
Robert Wahbe co-founded Seattle-based Highspot, a company that defined a new market categor...
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Unlocking opportunity with Mohit Bhende from 2022-08-03T16:00:30
Smart interviewing to level up on representation
Mohit “Mo” Bhende is determined to bring more diversity into engineering roles. After six years at Microsoft, Mo co-founded Seattle-...
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Investing in innovation with Bindi Karia from 2022-07-20T17:09:30
Mentorship matters with Alonda Williams from 2022-07-06T19:44:41
Using corporate experiences to fuel the nonprofit sector and change lives
Microsoft alumni have the opportunity to use their unique experiences to supercharge change in the nonprofi...
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Leadership evolution with Joe Levy from 2022-06-22T16:25:23
Finding the right balance for a remote workforce
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Partnership principles with Adam Warby from 2022-06-08T16:35:01
How to cultivate and maintain rich partnerships
In 2000, tech giants Microsoft and Accenture came together to found Avanade. The founding partnership has evolved into a global leade...
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Creating great company culture with Anoop Gupta from 2022-05-18T16:37:20
Building a company culture where both your people and business thrive
Company culture can make or break a business. Growing that culture can be difficult, but it can also be the key...
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Diversifying the pipeline with Cody Horton from 2022-05-04T17:50:58
How to win the pursuit of diverse talent
A diverse workforce is key to a healthy, vibrant, successful and innovative organization, yet many companies claim they can...
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Sustainable finance with Richard Peers from 2022-04-20T17:21:08
With the climate crisis looming, more people are examining how they invest their money and what impact that has on the planet — both good and bad. Sustainable investing that benefits all stakeho...
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Intentional environmentalism with Kathleen Hebert from 2022-04-06T18:19:06
How to start saving the planet for generations to come
Climate change is at the forefront of our world’s issues, and it’s going to t...
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Better together with Susan Koehler from 2022-03-16T19:19:09
Pursuing social impact at work and tapping connections to spark greater change.
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, Microsoft Alumni Ne...
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Embracing discomfort with John Mangelaars from 2022-03-02T16:00:05
Leadership in turbulent times, navigating a complex industry and taking care of employees and customers Listen
Creating Convoy with Dan Lewis from 2022-02-23T16:36:48
Dissecting diversity data with Allie Attenwoode from 2022-02-02T21:45:59
Allie Attenwoode loves data. As a diversity data guru, she’s on a mission to empower others to utilize diversity data to inspire change at their companies. Allie joined Microsoft right after colleg...
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Startup secrets with Eugenio Pace from 2021-10-06T19:00
Replay: Trish Millines Dziko from 2021-09-22T20:41:51
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Building upstream change with Ross Hunter from 2021-09-08T16:45:33
Becoming a game-changer with Ed Fries from 2021-08-25T21:33:57
Ed Fries created his first video game when he was only in high school. He landed a job at Microsoft in 1986 and helped develop Word and Excel before running the games group. Ed was crucial in Micro...
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Advocating for disability inclusion with Mylene Padolina from 2021-08-11T17:22:18
Mylene Padolina spent a decade at Microsoft helping shape diversity and inclusion initiatives, primarily surrounding disability inclusion and youth. Now, she’s a consultant through MPadolina & A...
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Breaking barriers with Daniela Braga from 2021-07-29T16:40:19
Daniela Braga is founder and CEO at DefinedCrowd, a fast-growing Seattle startup that that’s working to make artificial intelligence smarter. Daniela worked at Microsoft f...
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Building community bridges with Chris King from 2021-07-07T16:00
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Driving impact with former Xbox VP J Allard from 2021-06-23T18:54:32
J Allard spent 19 years at Microsoft. Leading teams ranging from 20 to 3,000, J helped develop multiple businesses, brands, and initiatives at the company, including Xbox. He was an early advoc...
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Empowering the underestimated with Jose Pinero from 2021-06-09T21:47:57
In this episode of our Beyond the Blue Badge podcast, host Eddie Pate sits down with his former Microsoft colleague, Jose Pinero. Jose spent 19 years at Microsoft in multiple sectors from entert...
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Ending poverty through entrepreneurship with Dianne Calvi from 2021-05-19T20:00
Dianne Calvi is president and CEO of Village Enterprise, a nonprofit working in sub–Saharan Africa that aims to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship and innovation. Dianne worked across mu...
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Using data to save lives with Terry Myerson from 2021-05-05T20:00
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host T.A. McCann talks with his former Microsoft colleague, Terry Myerson. Terry is the CEO of Truveta, a new health tech startup...
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Reflecting on Xbox with Robbie Bach from 2021-04-21T20:00
In this episode of our Beyond the Blue Badge podcast, host Rich Kaplan sits down with alum Robbie Bach — former Xbox chief and president of entertainment and devices. As the 20th anniversary of ...
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Giving forward with Charles Stevens from 2021-04-07T20:00
Creating access for all with Njideka Harry from 2021-03-04T21:00
Microsoft alum Njideka Harry is founder and executive board member at Youth for Technology Foundation. Njideka is a social entrepreneur that experienced the “Digital Canyo...
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Entrepreneurship in China with Kai-Fu Lee from 2021-02-17T17:39:26
Dr, Kai-Fu Lee helped establish Microsoft China and Microsoft Research China before moving on to do the same for Google. He now is the CEO of Sinovation Ventures and he’s invested in more than 3...
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Disrupting from the inside with Orlando Ayala from 2021-02-03T20:01
Orlando Ayala retired from Microsoft in 2016 after 25 years in a number of leadership roles, including overseeing 40,000 people in 115 subsidiaries around the world to wor...
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Bridging the gender digital divide with S. Revi Sterling from 2021-01-21T20:21:28
Microsoft alum S. Revi Sterling heads the U.S. Agency for International Development Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative’s WomenConnect Challenge. What tha...
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Mentoring for results with Jon Browning from 2021-01-06T20:01
When Jon Browning looks back at his 24-years at Microsoft, he thinks about the mentors who helped him along his career path from first installing telephones fresh out of college to eventually be...
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Wrangling a unicorn with Manny Medina (Pt. 2) from 2020-12-16T19:09:54
Building and managing a fast-growing company with more than $1B valuation
Outreach.io is one the rare "unicorn" startups with more than $1B in valuation, ...
Wrangling a unicorn with Manny Medina from 2020-12-09T23:55:13
Outreach.io is one of the fastest-growing tech companies with a valuation of more than $1.33 billion. Microsoft alum Manny Medina is at the helm. Manny talks with T.A. McC...
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Just the facts with Steve Ballmer from 2020-11-24T14:00
Steve Ballmer has always been a numbers guy. When he left Microsoft, he started to dig into our nation’s numbers to get a better picture of where his philanthropic dollars...
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Service beyond country with Sean Kelley from 2020-11-11T16:34:03
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Eddie Pate talks with Sean Kelley, a veteran of the U.S. Navy and veterans' advocate while in his roles at Microsoft, Starbucks, and Amazon. On thi...
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Becoming a great ally with Terri Cole from 2020-10-28T17:00
Beyond the Blue Badge host Paul Shoemaker speaks with fellow Microsoft alum Terri Cole on National Philanthropy Day about her work with Social Venture Partners and United ...
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Words matter with Textio Co-founder Kieran Snyder from 2020-10-14T18:46:33
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host T.A. McCann talks with Kieran Snyder. Kieran was at Microsoft for more than nine years managing several UX groups. She got her start at Microsoft w...
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Women in Tech with JoAnne Kennedy from 2020-09-30T13:00
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Rich Kaplan talks with JoAnne Kennedy. JoAnne was one of a handful of female engineers at Microsoft in the early days. When she left the company, s...
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Brewing Up Intentional Diversity with Rodney Hines from 2020-09-16T19:00
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Eddie Pate talks with Rodney Hines about his amazing career at Microsoft and Starbucks before taking a “coffee break” to start his own business, Me...
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Developing True Grit with Shannon Huffman Polson from 2020-09-02T16:01
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Lora Poepping talks with Shannon Huffman Polson about her amazing journey that took, well… a lot of grit. She grew up in Alaska, became the younges...
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Eliminating inequity through education with Reggie Brown from 2020-08-19T16:43:44
Microsoft alum Reggie Brown talks with Beyond the Blue Badge host Paul Shoemaker about his passion for education, and particularly about his involvement with two organizations – Rainier Scholars...
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Founder to Financier with Kai Bond from 2020-08-05T16:01
Kai Bond was a serial entrepreneur before he became a venture capitalist. Before that, he was a program manager working with the MSN Mobile team at Microsoft. Now the partner at New York-based C...
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Envisioning Windows 95 (Pt. 2) with Brad Silverberg from 2020-07-22T21:21:38
Brad Silverberg was named P.C. Magazine’s Person of the Year in 1995 for his leadership on Windows 95. In part two of this two-part episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, the former SVP of Windows sh...
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Envisioning Windows 95 (Pt. 1) with Brad Silverberg from 2020-07-08T17:00
Brad Silverberg was named P.C. Magazine’s Person of the Year in 1995 for his leadership on Windows 95. In Part 1 of this two-part episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, the former SVP of Windows shar...
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Culture is everything! Using transparency and data to create a new era of company culture with Glassdoor Chairman Robert Hohman from 2020-06-24T17:00
Beyond the Blue Badge podcast host Lora Poepping talks with fellow Microsoft alum and Glassdoor Chairman Robert Hohman about building companies on the foundation of transparency, how the innovat...
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Why youth empowerment is crucial with Ravi Venkatesan from 2020-06-10T17:00
Beyond the Blue Badge podcast host Paul Shoemaker talks with fellow Microsoft alum Ravi Venkatesan. Ravi has spent three decades leading organizations in the private, public and social sectors, ...
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Fundraising in a time of COVID-19 from 2020-05-27T19:00
Beyond the Blue Badge podcast host T.A. McCann talks with fellow Microsoft alum and Silicon Valley Bank’s Head of Startup Banking Claire Lee about fundraising during a pandemic. During this unce...
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Marketing Windows 95 from 2020-05-13T18:00
Brad Chase was part of the leadership team behind the Windows 95 launch, flipping Microsoft’s marketing strategy on its head and helping create buzz and consumer demand for software that changed...
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Environment + Activism from 2020-04-15T18:00
In this Beyond the Blue Badge episode, host Paul Shoemaker speaks with fellow Microsoft alum Jabe Blumenthal. During his days at Microsoft, Jabe designed the first version of Excel and was the c...
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Starting up your startup from 2020-04-08T19:05:13
Building Windows 95 from 2020-03-18T20:00
Host Rich Kaplan celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of Windows 95 by talking with the men and women instrumental in shipping the software that changed the world. In Season 3, Episode ...
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Season 2 Clips Part 2 from 2020-03-05T01:47:25
Here's a quick look back at some highlights of season 2 of Beyond the Blue Badge.
Chaitra Vedullapalli
Kathy Alexion
Tricia Raikes
Trish Millines Dziko
Claire Boni...
Season 2 Clips from 2020-02-11T00:23:23
Here's a quick look back at some highlights of season 2 of Beyond the Blue Badge.
For more of these episodes and others, go to Listen
Jim Allchin from 2019-12-18T18:00
In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Rich Kaplan talks with Jim Allchin. Jim joined Microsoft in 1990. He’s a prolific computer programmer and engineer, creating many of Microsoft’s to...
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Terry Smith from 2019-12-12T18:00
In this special bonus episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Becky Monk chats with Microsoft Alumni Network’s UK Chapter Edinburgh Lead Terry Smith. Terry split his 22 years at Microsoft between...
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Tricia Raikes from 2019-11-27T18:00
In this of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Rich Kaplan visits Tricia Raikes on the shores of Seattle’s Lake Union at the headquarters for North Forty and The Raikes Foundation. Tricia shares why she...
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Meet Microsoft Alumni Network's 2019 AlumniHEROs from 2019-10-30T17:00
In this episode, we talk with five individuals who took to heart the ethos of giving that is infused into Microsoft’s culture and they incorporated that everyday into their lives Beyond the Blue...
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Nancy McSharry Jensen from 2019-10-23T17:00
In Episode 7 of Beyond the Blue Badge’s second season, host Lora Poepping talks with Microsoft alumna Nancy McSharry Jensen about overcoming the challenges of returning to the workforce. Like ma...
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Tony Mestres from 2019-10-09T17:00
In Episode 6 of Beyond the Blue Badge’s second season, host Paul Shoemaker talks with Microsoft alumnus Tony Mestres about the “moment of truth” that society is facing regarding social inequitie...
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Kathy Alexion from 2019-09-25T17:00
Kathy Alexion is vice president of IT and the chief information officer of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She was a senior program manager at Microsoft from 2010 to 2012. Today, she’s w...
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Steve VanRoekel from 2019-09-12T14:57:33
In Season 2, Episode 4 of Beyond the Blue Badge, podcast host Becky Monk caught up with Steve VanRoekel at his Portland, Oregon home. Steve spent 15 years at Microsoft — several of those years w...
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Jon Shirley from 2019-08-28T14:00
Microsoft former president and chief operating officer Jon Shirley talks with host Paul Shoemaker about what it was like when Microsoft was a still a startup and how he helped shape the fast-gro...
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Steve Banfield from 2019-08-28T14:00
Steve Banfield recently did what so many busy professionals wish they could do — take a sabbatical before starting the next chapter of their career. In this episode of the Beyond the Blue Badge ...
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Chaitra Vedullapalli from 2019-08-28T14:00
Chaitra Vedullapalli is co-founder and CMO of Meylah and co-founder and president of Women in Cloud. Beyond the Blue Badge host Rich Kaplan kicks of Season 2 of our podcast talking with Chaitra ...
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Season 2 Preview from 2019-08-21T17:00
Here is a preview of season 2 of Beyond the Blue Badge.
Guests include:
Jon Shirley
Steve Banfield
Chaitra Vedullapalli
... and many more!
Be s...
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Season 1 Recap from 2019-08-14T16:47:29
Here are some clips from season 1 of Beyond the Blue Badge.
Featured Guests:
Rich Barton
Trish Millines Dziko
Amy Brown
Jean Thompson
T.A. McCann
Clai...
Brad Stewart, COO North Texas Food Bank from 2019-07-17T05:00
Brad Stewart spent his entire Microsoft career at Las Colinas, Texas. Now he’s the chief operating officer of the North Texas Food Bank. In Episode 12 of Beyond the Blue Badge, Brad shares his j...
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Nicole Stansfield, head of recruiting at Vulcan Inc. from 2019-07-03T05:00
Nicole Stansfield started her career at Microsoft in 1995 as a recruiting coordinator. Since then, she’s held human resources and recruiting positions at Amazon, Washington Mutual and is now the...
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Rich Tong, venture capitalist from 2019-06-19T05:00
After more than a decade with Microsoft and years as a venture capitalist in the U.S. and China, Rich Tong is taking time for discovery and self-reflection as he identifies his next big thing. I...
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Lily Kanter, co-founder Serena&Lily and CEO, Boon Supply from 2019-06-05T05:00
Episode 9 of Beyond the Blue Badge was recorded in front of a live studio audience as part of Microsoft Alumni Network’s Alumni Connect, a business-to-business conference and mentoring event. Ho...
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Seattle Storm Dawn Trudeau and Lisa Brummel from 2019-05-22T05:00
In Episode 8 of Beyond the Blue Badge, alumnae Dawn Trudeau and Lisa Brummel talk about teaming up at the “nexus of business, sports and social justice” when they bought the Seattle Storm. They ...
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Laurie Raisys, co-owner Island Books from 2019-05-08T05:00
In Episode 7 of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Lora Poepping chats with fellow Microsoft alumna Laurie Raisys about the decision to leave her job in college recruiting to raise her children and, ev...
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Claire Bonilla, SightLife CEO from 2019-04-24T05:00
Like many Microsoft alumni, Claire Bonilla took a leap as she left the tech giant in 2015 to follow a passion and sense of purpose as she joined SightLife, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization...
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T.A. McCann, managing director of Pioneer Square Labs and serial entrepreneur from 2019-04-10T05:00
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Jean Thompson, CEO of Seattle Chocolate from 2019-03-27T18:00
In this special bonus storytelling episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, we go inside the Seattle Chocolate factory with Jean Thompson to talk about making a career transition from marketing technol...
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Amy Brown from 2019-03-13T00:41:38
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Trish Millines Dziko from 2019-03-13T00:41:07
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Rich Barton from 2019-03-13T00:39:24
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Beyond the Blue Badge - Preview from 2019-03-03T00:01:39
A preview of the Microsoft Alumni Network's podcast, Beyond the Blue Badge.
Microsoft stories that inform and inspire.
Subscribe now to be sure you don't miss an episode!