Leadership and "The Adventures of Women in Tech" with Alana Karen

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today, we are joined by an extraordinary woman, Alana Karen. Alana has spent the last 19 years at Google, she started in an online sales role, moved into a Director role at Google Fiber (later known as Access), and is currently a Director working in the Search Platforms area. Other than a few years here and there, Alana has spent the majority of her career with Google. An interesting fact about Alana is that she received her Bachelor’s Degree in History… and ended up in tech! She has also written an amazing called,</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The Adventures of Women in Tech: How We Got Here and Why We Stay.</span></em></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We cover</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">so much</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">ground in our conversation together today! We take a deep dive into Alana’s career journey at Google; the genesis and motivation behind her book,</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The Adventures of Women in Tech</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">; key lessons she has learned through being a female leader; and the lessons she has learned from other inspirational female leaders in interviewing them for her book.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alana shares her reaction to the impact of COVID on women in the workplace, her predictions on what she believes is possible for women in tech in the future, and her insights on the 2018 Google walkout that made headlines. She also offers some incredibly invaluable advice and key takeaways around stepping up as a female leader, quieting the voice inside your head that tells you you can’t, and how to build a support system around you.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Key Takeaways:</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[:50] About today’s episode!</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[1:45] Welcoming Alana Karen to the podcast.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[1:54] How Alana and I first m