Hear from the attendees of Women in Tech WNY, year 5
The evening before Women in Tech WNY, Gabriella McKinley set down her notes on the kitchen counter of her Buffalo apartment.
Her boyfriend sat in a chair, pretending to be the audience. She practiced the event's opening lines.
“Hello. Hello. Hello,” she read. “And welcome…”
McKinley is a program coordinator for TechBuffalo, which again hosted the annual event, which has grown into a standout local conference with more than 500 attendees this year.
She is also a classically trained actress, which makes her an excellent and sought-after moderator.
At 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, the opening crowd packed into the Seneca One auditorium. McKinley strode up to the podium, looked out and then began, her voice clear and confident.
“Hello,” she said. “Hello. Hello.”
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One of the attendees at this year's Women in Tech WNY was Kelsey Conte, an ADP district manager and the founder of a Clarence-based retail store, Emma’s Place, along with the software startup Beauty Buzz.
Beauty Buzz is a realtime communications tool for businesses in the personal wellness/beauty space to fill openings from cancellations.
Conte has been working on this idea for several years, and she is confident her platform can create a valuable source of demand.
But why, we asked her, was she doing all this on top of a good corporate career and a retail store?
First, she talked about having too much creative energy and inspiration to solely work in a corporate setting. Then she talked about the value prop of Beauty Buzz. Finally, she got to the heart of the matter.
“My daughter,” she said. “I want to show her how to create a career and a life on your terms.”
Conte was scheduled to pitch her company to Launch NY later that afternoon.
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Women in Tech WNY started with a keynote address by M&T Chief Information Officer Linda Tai, followed by a Q&A with 43North Foundation CEO Sarah Tanbakuchi-Ripa.
Just before the program began, we asked Tanbakuchi-Ripa how she was feeling about this event, which has grown from a modest gathering into a legit annual destination.
“I’m excited and inspired,” Tanbakuchi-Ripa said. “There is nothing like Women in Tech WNY.”
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Last year, Jessica Wolfe decided to vacation on the shores of Lake Erie.
Looking out at the water from Evangola State Park, the former Philadelphia resident felt something important shift.
The experienced marketing executive-turned-consultant (who works under the brand Boundless Communications) promptly moved from Philly to Eden, NY. She likes the people, the community, the mix of natural beauty and social-cultural access.
Wolfe ventured to Women in Tech eager to expand her network.
“I came here for vacation and I fell in love with the area,” she said. “People help each other out here, they support each other and that’s the kind of community I want to be a part of.”
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Tai, M&T’s CIO, styled her keynote address with anecdotes about overcoming self-doubt as she transitioned from a professional musician to a Goldman Sachs software engineer to tech leadership roles at Bank of America, Fannie Mae and ultimately, M&T.
Many of Tai’s lessons were about breaking through the idea of a perfect answer or a perfect path. Sometimes, being wrong is just the feedback necessary to know what’s right.
“Every single transition is not going to be comfortable,” she said. “In order to grow, you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”
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For a deeper dive into Tai’s outlook on Buffalo, business and banking, you can read Series B’s recent feature on her here.
Other recent profiles in Series B include:
A Q&A with Courtney Lewis Starnes, Kaleida Health chief information officer, who holds a position of deep importance at this moment of rapid technology transformation
A feature on Amy Cieslik, a OneBridge Benefits manager, who found her professional footing after attending a previous Women in Tech WNY
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One person listening to Tai’s speech was Monica Hershberger, a Cleveland resident and chief strategy officer at RoleCall, a national talent attraction agency that is bringing its annual conference to Buffalo this June.
Hershberger was scheduled to scout the city with Invest Buffalo Niagara’s Rob Leteste later that evening.
In the meantime, the approachability, access and energy of the occasion impressed Hershberger, whose work revolves around community-building and talent.
“This is something that every community could use not just to retain that talent that attends but also an attraction tool,” she said.
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Tai’s address gave way to numerous breakout panels. During one of them, FoodNerd founder and CEO Sharon Cryan talked about her transition from a fulltime attorney to an entrepreneur in the food space.
Cryan was living and working in Long Island, making healthy food for people on the side, when one day she woke up at 6 a.m. to do deliveries. She realized she could never be as happy waking up that early to do legal work,
“That’s when I realized, ‘Ok, I’m starting a company,” Cryan said.
FoodNerd recently raised $7.5M, moved into a 28,000-square-foot local factory and prepared to enter Sprouts Markets grocery stores across the U.S.
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We spoke to Emily Brody-Santos, the chief operating officer at Lexikeet Language Services, who graduated from Nardin Academy in 2000 and left for colleges and opportunities elsewhere.
Brody-Santos moved back 12 years ago, first doing language translation for the International Institute of Buffalo and now with her current remote role.
“I’ve lived in Boston, I’ve lived in Spain, and it was those experiences that really showed me what a wonderful community Buffalo is, especially when you’re raising a family,” Brody-Santos said.
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Series B checked in with the 43North crew, soft-launching a very cool initiative called Pitch Your Buffalo, where Western New Yorkers share their own stories.
The community storytelling project celebrates the people who live in and love Buffalo. I'd highly recommend checking it out and adding your own story here.
Encouraged to participate, I stepped in front of a camera, which immediately started counting down from 20. I recall saying something like ‘I’m called Dan Miner and 43North Foundation storytelling, which, I like,” then frowning for 5 consecutive seconds until the time ran out.
“Killed it,” said Tiff Dickinson, 43North’s creative director and lead of marketing ops. “20 seconds goes fast,” she said when she saw my expression.
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Amulya Reddy Datla graduated from the University at Buffalo in May with a master’s degree in data science. She scored good contract work as a software engineer for the Bank of New York Mellon, but her real break came in October.
Dalta paid close attention to the 43North accelerator as competitors for $1M investments were narrowed from hundreds of candidates to a few handfuls.
The night before the competition, she sent a cold LinkedIn message to Joel Horsford, the founder and CEO of RadEmploy. “It said, ‘Good luck tomorrow. You’re going to win.”
Rademploy already hiring in Buffalo as AI platform scales
That proactive message led to a conversation, then an application, and ultimately Datla became the company’s first hire in Buffalo.
“It’s incredible,” she said in an interview between sessions at Women in Tech. “Every day we’re building new things and tackling new challenges that come along with being a growing company.”
