Get Involved in AI Now and Develop Your Mental Discipline with Noelle LaCharite

Phil's guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Noelle LaCharite. She is an advocate for women in technology, and passionate about mindful Leadership, work-life harmony and helping people achieve more through the use of AI.   She has spent many years as a trainer, solutions architect and evangelist for IBM, RedHat, EMC, Amazon and Microsoft.  Noelle has delivered keynotes, workshops and conferences around the world.      In this episode, Phil and Noelle LaCharite discuss the opportunities AI offers and how to embrace the technology so you can take advantage of them. As well as why every developer needs to get involved in AI, as soon as possible.   She also explains how she has used mindfulness and other mental exercises to improve her focus and she shares several other productivity tips. Phil and Noelle also talk about how to recognise and tap into your natural strengths to find your ideal place within the IT industry.     KEY TAKEAWAYS: (3.26) TOP CAREER TIP Build good mental discipline. Over the years, using various methods, Noelle has trained herself to stay truly focused on one thing. As a result, she has become far more productive.   In the podcast, Noelle explains some of the things she has done to develop laser-like focus. A level of focus that enables her to stay present and calm, even when working on stressful projects that move along at a crazy pace.   (5.00) WORST CAREER MOMENT At one point in her career, Noelle was pushed out of a company that she knew she was serving well. But, the leadership were not fans of her.   They could not sack her because of her productivity or work. Instead, they just spoke to her colleagues about her in a negative way. In time, this very subtle drip-drip assault on her reputation had an effect and Noelle ended up having to leave.   (6.52) CAREER HIGHLIGHT Not so long ago, Noelle appeared on NBC as a representative of Microsoft. She was asked to speak about a project she worked on with data scientists from MIT and curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.   During the interview, she was also able to speak about AI and the role it is playing in improving accessibility. A subject Noelle is particularly passionate about because her son has Down syndrome.   (8.30) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T The endless opportunities IT offers and the fact that it is getting easier and easier to achieve remarkable things is something that Noelle finds exciting. For example, in under a year, Noelle went from knowing nothing about natural-language or AI to building skills on Amazon and Alexa. Some of which became the most popular in the world.   Right now, the opportunities in the AI field are endless. There is no barrier to entry. So, anyone can get involved.   (10.09) THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – As a single parent, Noelle needed a job that paid well. A career in IT was an excellent way to earn the money she needed to look after her family. What's the best career advice you received? – A friend gave her the highly personalised advice, to avoid the politics of a company. To know who her friends were and stay close to them while growing her career. What's the worst career advice you received? – Sit down and be quiet. For Noelle personally, that was very bad advice. What would you do if you started your career now? – Noelle would work to leverage her natural skills while developing her career. Working with your strengths makes it much easier to progress quickly. What are your current career objectives? – Right now, Noelle is exploring Mindful Management and how she can put it to use. What's your number one non-technical skill? – Being a good storyteller. In the podcast, Noelle explains how she has been able to use that skill to become a better conference speaker. How do you keep your own career energized? – In the podcast, how she taps into books to keep her coding skills fresh becomes better informed than many others and uses Github to showcase what she has learned. CHANGED What do you do away from technology? – Noelle owns a 17-acre farm in the mountains. She finds that farming enables her to mentally and physically disconnect from technology.   (18.42) FINAL CAREER TIP Right now, AI is like cloud computing was 10 years ago. We know that every business is going to start using AI, at some point. So, now is the time to get involved in the AI field. When you do you will be in far better shape career-wise. Both now and moving forward.   BEST MOMENTS (3.48) – Noelle - "Train yourself to be able to truly focus on one thing at a time." (8.41) – Noelle - "In the IT industry, with the right focus, you can achieve a huge amount very quickly." (9.04) – Noelle - "Right now, anyone can enter the IT field. They just need desire, aptitude and passion." (16.13) – Noelle - "Read the tech books you buy from cover to cover. Then freshen up your skills by writing the code you learned." (19.02) – Noelle - "Get involved in AI now. Soon, every business will be using it. So, everyone needs some AI knowledge."   ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organisations to design, develop and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.   CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/philtechcareer LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Facebook: https://facebook.com/philtechcareer Instagram: https://instagram.com/philtechcareer Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact   Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer   ABOUT THE GUEST – Noelle LaCharite Noelle LaCharite is an advocate for women in technology, and passionate about mindful Leadership, work-life harmony and helping people achieve more through the use of AI.   She has spent many years as a trainer, solutions architect and evangelist for IBM, RedHat, EMC, Amazon and Microsoft.  Noelle has delivered keynotes, workshops and conferences around the world.     CONTACT THE GUEST – Noelle LaCharite Noelle LaCharite  can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoelleLaCharite LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noellelacharite Website: http://aileadershipinstitute.com/