Insights from a Chief Data Officer

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My journey to starting this blog has been a fusion of curiosity, learning, and change.

I started out as a mathematician because well ... I love algorithms. That led me to study something called econometrics, which is like using math and data to understand how people and the economy behave. For example, I learned how government spending might help private companies innovate (i.e. macroeconomics), or how rewards and penalties (like carrots and sticks) can influence the choices people make (i.e. microeconomics).

After studying Economics in graduate school at UCLA, I began working as a software engineer in the early 1990s. My first job was to write computer programs that helped manage investments by predicting derivative prices and how financial trades would perform. After about five years of that, I became a product manager at Oracle, where I helped guide the creation of financial software. Back then, I worked with a team spread out across different locations, which was rare at the time but is now common. At Oracle, I learned how to plan and execute projects so that everything got done on time and with backup plans in case things didn’t go as expected.

Using what I learned from engineering and management, I became a director at a startup. Like many startups, it didn’t last long because it was bought out, but the experience inspired me to start my own business. In 1999, I co-founded a web design company with two friends. Our first big client was K-Swiss, a shoe and clothing company. We built their first online store, which could track inventory in their warehouses in real time. Running this company taught me a lot about handling cash flow, billing clients, hiring the right people, becoming a manager and working well with teammates.

I'm returning to the workforce after a few years of taking a break to raise my family. Now that my three children (an older daughter and twin sons) are all in university, I'm excited to share my experiences re-entering the field and the challenges and rewards of being a working parent.

The famous Harvard Business Review article in 2012 declaring "Data Science: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century" sparked a surge in interest in using data to build business solutions. But data science has a long history! I would argue that econometrics, which uses techniques like least squares regression (invented by Gauss in 1809!), is an early form of data science. (See more on least squares here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_squares) but I digress.

The point is, I've been passionate about data science since my university days. After my career break, I spent four years refreshing my skills in data science, Python, and R through online courses while working as a data engineer learning more about scalability, hot backups, hot swaps, moving data around and making things work in a data warehouse. Did I mention that I was also on-call while raising twin baby boys? Yup, I did that.

I landed my first job as a bona fide data scientist and steadily progressed to senior data scientist and eventually head of data science. I've always left positions on good terms and maintained connections with former colleagues – that's the power of networking! One of these connections proved pivotal. At a previous company (an ad tech firm), I built a strong rapport with the head of product. When he moved to a new company, he remembered our successful collaboration and recommended me for the Chief Data Officer role – which is how I became CDO!

Every step of my journey has taught me something new, and now I use those lessons to share ideas and stories on this blog. My goal is to connect the dots between math, technology, and entrepreneurship in a way that can help others find their own path.