Chartbeat Blog

Happy International Women’s Day!

  • Kristine Suh

    • (Yes, we know we’re a day late – yesterday was a day without women, after all.)

    Yesterday and every day, we salute the women of Chartbeat and beyond. First, let’s highlight a few organizations that promote women in journalism. Supporting women in media is increasingly important, and we salute you for all the work you do:

    Now, we’re shining the spotlight on some of the Chartladies: who they are, how they kick ass every day, and who they look up to. We couldn’t do it without you!

     

    Terri Walter, Chief Marketing Officer

    A woman I look up to: I had the good fortune of meeting Shelley Zalis in the course of my career and she has been a huge inspiration to me. Shelley was formerly the CEO of a research company in the advertising industry and she was one of the few CEOs I knew who was not only smart and visionary in her field, but who was also not afraid to embrace her feminine side. Armed with ground-breaking insights and leadership qualities while also donning Christian Louboutin’s and a smile, Shelly showed me that you can fiercely competitive, smart and insightful and beautiful–all at the same time and without compromise. Shelly has since founded the Girls’ Lounge and the Female Quotient and is fully dedicated to helping women around the world grow and succeed.  Her belief in girlfriend power – the idea that women can provide friendship and support to each other to lift us all – has changed how I interact with others and has given me a great source of strength and inspiration.

    My favorite moment (so far) of 2017: When our thought leadership around how consumers self-select the news they read was covered on page 3 of The New York Times. This was a huge PR and visibility win for the company, but more than that, it helped us all realize internally how powerful our data really is.

     

    Erin Isenberg, Head of Customer Support

    A woman I look up to: I know it’s a cliche, but my mom and my grandmothers are who I look up to. They are all strong smart women who worked incredibly hard to build the life they wanted for themselves and for their family. I wouldn’t be able to have the career that I do if it were not for them.

    Best part about being in the Chartladies crew: Women at Chartbeat are so supportive of each other. Working in tech as a woman is not always easy and it’s beyond important to have such a helpful group of women to turn to.

    Best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten: “Say it out loud.” In other words, know what you want and don’t be afraid to bring it up again and again.

     

    Jill Nicholson, Head of Product Education

    Favorite project I’ve worked on at Chartbeat: Showing off the rebuilt Heads Up Display to Chartbeat users. As a former homepage manager, I really feel that the product makes life better for working journalists. There are so many concrete ways you can use the information in the Heads Up Display to actually make a better experience for your readers and to show of your great journalism. Those trainings made me excited about storytelling and page curation. To be honest, it also made me miss the newsroom a lot. But I get to travel to so many newsrooms on behalf of Chartbeat that I still get my breaking news fix.

    Best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten: Everyone needs an editor. Doesn’t matter what you’re working on or creating. Doesn’t matter if it’s something you do professionally or a skill you’re just starting to learn. You always get a better result when you run it by a person you trust. A new perspective and fresh set of eyes are always worth the time.

    What I’m listening to these days: Though I’ve already read the books a few times, I’m listening to the audio version of Red Rising. It’s interesting to hear how they interpret the different accents for the different characters.

     

    Sonya Song, Data Scientist

    A woman I look up to: Lee Miller has been my inspiration and we’ll be soon celebrating her 110th birthday anniversary. She took many roles in her life, admirable or not, a pursued model, an original surrealistic photographer, a persistent war correspondent, an alcoholic aged woman, a depressed wife, a gourmet cook… After her death, her only son wisely named the biography of her “The Lives of Lee Miller.”

    Best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten: Steve Wildman, my academic advisor, always asked me, is this what you really want to do; is it your own choice? He also stressed many times that a job is something you spend one third of your life doing and you better enjoy it. My take of his advice is that happiness is the best guidance and drive of a fulfilled life and I won’t allow myself to be distracted from it.

    The best book I’ve read recently: I’ve been reading Edward Bernays’s Crystalizing Public Opinion published in the 1920’s. He talked extensively about how news media could shape public opinions, or fail to do so in other occasions. Surprisingly, he thought more about the audience and their responses than journalists did and do after a century, who communicate sometimes as if there were a fourth wall between themselves and their audience. Having experienced and studied censorship and propaganda, I’m now learning from Bernays how crowd psychology plays a role in shaping or manipulating people’s minds.

     

    Nele Mayer, Sales Development Representative

    What I’m listening to these days: I have been listening to “The Daily” with Michael Barbaro by the New York Times every morning. I think it is insightful, to the point and has the perfect length for my trip downtown from the Upper East Side. Michael Barbaro managed to make me more excited about my morning commute than my commute home, which is quite the accomplishment. However, I must admit I am a morning person by nature, so he does not get full credit.

    An interesting fact about me: I wrote an undergraduate thesis at NYU called “The Nazi Nude” on the female nude in Nazi painting, sexual politics and an array of other disturbing things that were going on at the time. I am currently working on publishing the thesis as a book because, to quote my advisor, “the world needs to see this.” – “Meaningful stories thrive wherever they may live.”

    Best part about being in the Chartladies crew: The support, the love, the intellectual stimulation, the mentorship, the friendship, the creativity, wit and talent of my fellow Chartladies. These are just a few things. The list goes on. Have I mentioned the wine?

     

    Krista Hoffman, Global Director of Customer Success

    The best book I’ve read recently: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson – it’s hilarious and inspiring all in one. I would recommend this to just about anyone.

    Favorite female journalist: Nora Ephron. Her writing is so clever and she’s done it all – columnist, humorist, screenwriter, and director. I’ve read all of her books (and obviously seen all of her movies) and I love how she would put it all out there and never apologize for it.

    An interesting fact about me: When I was in college, I was desperate to travel the world (but lacked the funds to do so), so I got a job at The Cheesecake Factory and financed trips over the various winter/summer breaks to Australia, New Zealand, Italy, England, France, Spain, Malta, and Egypt. I can still name (most) of the thirty cheesecakes…

     

    Jeiran Jahani, Senior Data Scientist

    My favorite moment (so far) of 2017: That Saturday night when Judges Ann Donnelly and Leonie Brinkema iced that executive order which was in effect banning travelers from 7 countries entering the U.S. Superpower women!

    Favorite female journalist: Robin Wright because she is smart, well traveled, truthful and thorough and doesn’t give a damn whether people like her reporting or not – and has risen to the top of the ladder despite the fact that many don’t like her!

    If I could have one superpower…: Well, humor is a superpower and I have a good bit of that. More never hurts though!