Madison Schott_mixdown.mp3-from OneDrive Harpreet: [00:00:11] What's up, everybody, welcome to the artists of Data Science podcast today we've got a conversations episode where we have to hear from people who do interesting work, pursuing awesome things, adding awesome value to the world. So we get a chance to get inside their heads, see what makes them tick and walk away with a new perspective that will help us in our journey. So as you guys know, these episodes are less structured, less formal, which you normally hear on the show raw, unedited unproduced for the most part for thank you tuning in. I would love to hear what you think about these episodes, so please send me an email at the artists of Data Science Harpreet: [00:00:47] At gmail.com with their thoughts. Harpreet: [00:01:00] Our guest today is a Data engineer who is working with financial teams and product owners to automate financial reporting, to save time and streamline complex processes. She's had a wide variety of roles, ranging from work in social media to blogging to Data architecture to Data engineering. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome your guest today, Radisson shot Madison. Thank you so much for taking time in your schedule to come on the show today. Appreciate having you here. Madison: [00:01:28] It's great being here. Harpreet: [00:01:29] Yes, I met you ish through Data science dream job. I know you're a student there. I don't think you've ever actually been turning my office hours there, but I do remember seeing you posting stuff on our little community there, and I started following your LinkedIn and I was just like, Oh man, this person is awesome. She's got amazing content about things that I Harpreet: [00:01:45] Am really Harpreet: [00:01:46] Like, fascinated by, which is wellness and just living a good life and and trying to just be balanced and having some equanimity and things like that. So I really, really enjoyed the stuff that you're posting, so I'm excited to get to learn [00:02:00] more about you. Let's start with where you grew up and what it was like there. Madison: [00:02:05] So I grew up in a small suburban town outside of Philadelphia. Pretty much like what you typically think of, like a small suburban town. Not too many people. Not very much diversity. I definitely was always having the itch to go away to the city. My dad would always take me on weekend trips to New York, and I knew that's always Harpreet: [00:02:25] Where I wanted to be Madison: [00:02:26] When I grew up. Harpreet: [00:02:27] Yeah, so Philadelphia's cool man, I liked that area. I mean, there are a couple of times, though, which like the top with the big cities of Philadelphia, was not the big city. Like with the suburb year as the big city was considered New York. Madison: [00:02:40] Well, Philadelphia was always interesting to me, but I always wanted to be in New York. I didn't explore Philadelphia too Harpreet: [00:02:47] Much for me. Madison: [00:02:49] Growing up, I was always super interested in fashion and sewing. So all the good fabric stores were in the garment district in New York, but sometimes I'd make my dad take me to Philadelphia, too, but I didn't have as much of a fascination for some reason Harpreet: [00:03:03] The fashion to Data engineering. Like that's yeah, that's quite the career trajectory. So talk to us, I guess, about when you're in high school, what you thought your future would look like. Madison: [00:03:16] So I've always been super into math. I loved my math classes in college. That was always my favorite thing. I was always a perfectionist, probably too much. One point my teacher was like, This girl needs to stop getting hundreds on everything like she's way too type a and always taking like the AP classes and everything. I always loved school, loved learning, and then I also was really into cross country, ran cross country and track in high school. And then I was also super interested in sewing. So I took sewing lessons at the YMCA when I was like eight years old, and then my mom had me in those for the rest of my high school career. And it's kind [00:04:00] of it's a very interesting thing and most people don't have, like both sides of your brain where you're super creative but also love math. But sewing was actually also very technical, and I think Harpreet: [00:04:09] People don't realize that there's a lot of measurements Madison: [00:04:12] And skill that goes into that as well. Harpreet: [00:04:14] Did not even say, like even math Harpreet: [00:04:16] Is creative, Harpreet: [00:04:17] Like it requires a bit of creativity and abstract thinking to excel in math. So they both kind of I could see how they complement each other. I think that's pretty cool. You still do any type of sewing or any like fashion designing Harpreet: [00:04:28] Activities you do. Madison: [00:04:29] I love making my own clothes right now. I've been traveling so I don't have my sewing machine. But when I go back home to my parents for the summer, I'm excited to start making things again because that's Harpreet: [00:04:40] Definitely my way to Madison: [00:04:41] Decompress and really show my creative side. I love kind of like looking at different runway shows and seeing how I can make that Harpreet: [00:04:49] Myself and most of the super Madison: [00:04:51] Into sustainability. So that's a sustainable way rather than supporting, like, fast fashion industry. Harpreet: [00:04:57] Definitely. Yeah. Just make your own clothes. Yeah, that's so cool. But yeah, I think it's important to have that type of those activities that balance, like the technical nature of our work, to have something that's fun and creative to do. I wish I had like a creative activity. All I do is like just talk to people and post episodes. Madison: [00:05:14] I don't know if that's creative to again. Harpreet: [00:05:16] You know what I'm thinking about this before is because I have the opportunity to speak to people and just speak words into existence, combinations of words between two people that have never existed before. If that isn't creative, I don't know what. Yeah, exactly. I feel better about myself, though. All right. So how different is life now than what you imagined it would be? Madison: [00:05:39] So, yeah, that's an interesting question. So I feel like I always pictured myself as being very independent, living in a big city, kind of just making my own dreams happen, being financially independent. And I would say a lot of that is very true to what I have now, Harpreet: [00:05:58] Except the big city. Madison: [00:05:59] I definitely [00:06:00] didn't expect to be able to travel around from city to city, and I definitely didn't expect to be living in D.C. after college, but Harpreet: [00:06:08] Besides that, I'm pretty Madison: [00:06:10] Happy with everything and how it's turned out so far. Yeah, I feel like it's when you have a vision of what you want in the Harpreet: [00:06:16] Future and you're determined Madison: [00:06:18] To make it happen, then there's nothing really in your way. Harpreet: [00:06:21] Absolutely. Harpreet: [00:06:22] And for people who are listening, Madison was letting me know before the show that she's actually doing this cool thing where she is bouncing around to different cities, staying at Airbnbs, I presume. Harpreet: [00:06:32] Yep. Harpreet: [00:06:33] Just because taking advantage of like the Harpreet: [00:06:35] Remote nature of the world we are in Harpreet: [00:06:37] Right now, right? Exactly. That's really cool, man. So I know you told me already, but talk to us a little bit about where you've bounced around to. Madison: [00:06:45] So start it off quarantined at my parents house in Pennsylvania, that didn't last very long. It's definitely interesting living with your parents after living by yourself for so long. And then we went to Denver, Colorado, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Tucson, Arizona, Phenix, Arizona, and now I'm in Austin, Texas, Harpreet: [00:07:06] And just road tripping the entire way. Madison: [00:07:08] Yep. Nice. Luckily, I have a boyfriend that likes to drive, so I haven't really driven any of it at all. He kind of just drove for three days straight. Harpreet: [00:07:17] So sounds like my kind of dude I'd love to drive. Harpreet: [00:07:21] Yeah. Harpreet: [00:07:21] So how did you get interested and involved in Data engineering? Madison: [00:07:25] So I was Harpreet: [00:07:26] Actually interning Madison: [00:07:28] At a fashion company, a sustainable fashion company, doing social media, Harpreet: [00:07:33] And Madison: [00:07:33] That was a really fun internship. But I didn't feel very challenged, and I wanted something Harpreet: [00:07:39] Where I was Madison: [00:07:39] Really learning and just feeling like solving difficult problems, essentially. So I actually started talking to the tech person there, and she was telling me about data science, so I decided to look more into it, and I decided that that was something I was really interested in. At this point. I was a junior in college, so it was kind of too late for me to [00:08:00] change my major. I was a mathematical finance and marketing major. So luckily, I still have that math experience that a lot of companies still look for, and I started taking advantage of being so close to New York City, and I started going to hackathons like free workshops, Harpreet: [00:08:17] Different Madison: [00:08:17] Events that tech companies in the area would Harpreet: [00:08:20] Put on and just really Madison: [00:08:21] Exposing myself to that network of engineers Harpreet: [00:08:25] And just learning and Madison: [00:08:27] Teaching myself. Harpreet: [00:08:27] Essentially, mathematical finance is really, really interesting. I had to study that topic when I was taking actuarial exams instead of doing like bonds and options pricings and like black formulae and all that crazy stuff. Man, that stuff is really, really interesting. Madison: [00:08:43] Yeah, it was definitely interesting. I think in a lot of my classes, it was all like the typical finance girls that just loved, like doing stocks and wanted to be on Wall Street. And then it was me who was just really good at math, and it was kind of interesting to see the difference between us, and I pretty much always blew them out of the water and grades because of my math skills. Harpreet: [00:09:07] And now people like us are going to be automating those donk Spiros jobs, right? Madison: [00:09:12] Yeah, exactly. Harpreet: [00:09:14] Algorithmic trading, definitely. So where do you see Data Engineering headed in like the next two to five years? Madison: [00:09:20] Well, that's a good question. So I feel like Data engineering is still so broad, like even within the company that I work for, there's Data engineers doing so many different things, like one person could be working on a DWS while someone else is like Harpreet: [00:09:36] Writing quantum Madison: [00:09:37] And SQL workflows. So I guess it really depends like what kind of data engineers you're talking about, but I think Harpreet: [00:09:45] Like just speed Madison: [00:09:46] And optimizing and automating is going to be the future. Everyone's getting more data, so it's figuring out a way to store it and make it faster and automate everything. Harpreet: [00:09:57] The interesting point you made there about, like what type [00:10:00] of data engineer you are because data science itself is like broad umbrella category, because when you say, Oh, I'm a data scientist like that can meet any number of things, at Harpreet: [00:10:08] Least to me. Harpreet: [00:10:09] So when you think about the types of data engineers like, what are the different types like, are there like cloud Data engineer, big data engineer, like, where do you see those delineations being made Madison: [00:10:20] So I can speak from my own personal experience? So I've had two different roles within my current company. One was the DevOps role, and I was just really automating like our U.S. infrastructure, which Harpreet: [00:10:33] You wouldn't really think. That's typically a Data engineer. Madison: [00:10:35] But I mean, I guess because you're working on hosting all the different code and optimizing it Harpreet: [00:10:42] And then my Madison: [00:10:44] Past role Harpreet: [00:10:45] That I just transitioned Madison: [00:10:46] Into a new role. But I'm writing I was writing like quantum and SQL workflows and doing like DVT modeling, which is completely different from infrastructure, Harpreet: [00:10:58] Sort of things I've never heard of. Quantitative modeling. Madison: [00:11:01] Don't have any more analytics, which is interesting, so there's even kind of like an overlap between analytics and data engineering. Harpreet: [00:11:10] Yeah, that's a huge, huge field. So what do you think? I mean, given that it's a huge field and you know, like we talked about, there's different types of roles, even within this umbrella. What do you think based on your career trajectory, what aspiring Data engineers could do now to help prepare themselves Harpreet: [00:11:30] For the future? Madison: [00:11:31] So I think the technology within Data engineering is still changing super fast. So just staying on top of technologies, finding blogs that you really like to read, Harpreet: [00:11:43] Newsletters that keep you up to Madison: [00:11:44] Date. I think in school, they really don't teach you any of the up to date technologies that companies are actually using. So if you can find a way to figure out what companies are looking for before you're applying to jobs, you can just like going [00:12:00] through LinkedIn and looking at job descriptions Harpreet: [00:12:02] Like the Data engineering Madison: [00:12:04] Job descriptions are all so different. So just looking at technologies of companies that you'd want to work for and trying to teach yourself, that would be super helpful. Harpreet: [00:12:14] What are some blogs or newsletter that you currently are following or subscribe to? Madison: [00:12:20] So I love towards data science on Medium. I've written for them and they just have awesome articles in general. I really like Gary's guide, which is kind of like an events newsletter. It's specific to New York City, but right now all the events are virtual. So I've gone to a lot of them, those events, and you can just learn about what different companies are doing. And it's a great networking opportunity. I like NY Use Data Science newsletter. Post like a lot of research, which is really cool. There's one by James Clear Atomic, the author of Atomic Habits. I love his newsletter. That's my favorite. That's not specific to data science, but I just think that's a great motivation motivational newsletter for helping you reach your goals. Harpreet: [00:13:06] Yeah, definitely like great resources, and our audiences can appreciate that. Have some good resources for blogs and newsletters, and it's good that you mentioned your writing and then your interest in personal development and self-growth type of stuff, because definitely want to get into that because you've got some awesome blog posts as well. But before we get into that, just a couple more questions here about your thoughts on Data engineering. Specifically, what are your thoughts about data engineering becoming the new sexiest job of the century? Madison: [00:13:36] Yeah, I don't know about. I think there's a lot of work that goes into it, and I don't know if I would call that work sexy necessarily kind of same with data science. Like on the surface, it seems really cool, but you don't realize all the nitty gritty that goes into it and even just Harpreet: [00:13:55] The manual work that there still Madison: [00:13:57] Is, it still has a far way to go. Harpreet: [00:13:59] And I [00:14:00] know, like I'm Madison: [00:14:01] Still manually Harpreet: [00:14:02] Entering, like registering Madison: [00:14:03] Data in our Harpreet: [00:14:04] One lake every day. Madison: [00:14:06] And I guess that's definitely not sexy. Harpreet: [00:14:10] Yeah. So you've had roles Harpreet: [00:14:11] As both a data architect and a data engineer, and that's like something that I can't really. It's hard for me to understand the difference between the two because I don't really understand the roles that well, so open. Maybe you can help me understand like what's the difference between a data architect Harpreet: [00:14:25] And and a data Harpreet: [00:14:26] Engineer? Madison: [00:14:28] So when I was doing data architecture work, it was more so modeling the data. So kind of designing the database is almost like primary keys to each Harpreet: [00:14:39] Table and how each table Madison: [00:14:41] Relates to one another. It wasn't Harpreet: [00:14:42] Necessarily like looking Madison: [00:14:44] Back on it. I don't know. The company that I did that for was also like way like years behind in technology compared to the company I work for now, so I'm not sure if every company does it that way. But for me, when I was doing data architecture, there wasn't really much like coding or technical skills, really. It was just kind of learning about how a database works and how different relationships and columns in the database relate to one another. Harpreet: [00:15:11] Awesome. Thank you for helping me understand that things a little bit more clear in my mind now. So let's talk about how to thrive during lockdown and the pandemic. You had this wonderful article written about how to thrive in quarantine, what to do, play, read, watch and cook. So let's talk about this. How are you thriving so far in the quarantine? Madison: [00:15:34] So I've honestly been having a great time this last few months. I personally love being in my own space and being able to dictate my own schedule and have all my own resources around me as compared to an office like just some simple things that I've noticed. Being able to cook my own meals at home has made such a difference and when I want to eat rather than. A set [00:16:00] lunch period in the office, or just like heating up food, it's harder to eat healthier meals when you're in an office. And also the snacks that they would have in the office just weren't healthy at all and even the catering, and it's just very tempting to eat bad food. You would think that companies would have that more figured out to give you snacks that feel you throughout the workday. And then another thing I've noticed is just like the lighting at home compared to being in an office like the fluorescent lights. They just were never good for Harpreet: [00:16:34] Me and being able to work in them and just, I don't know, Madison: [00:16:38] There's just something about being in your own environment. I've been able to work out during my lunch breaks, which has been really fun, and I've found a trainer that I really enjoy that has an awesome community. So that's been a big Harpreet: [00:16:50] Plus and being able Madison: [00:16:52] To get better sleep has Harpreet: [00:16:53] Also been super Madison: [00:16:54] Important. Harpreet: [00:16:55] Yeah, I definitely love working from home as well, just because, like my office is so spacious, it's so much freakin space as opposed to like in the office, just like cubicle. I feel like really constricted, like I can't even like stretch fully. It's yeah, it's not comfortable. Harpreet: [00:17:09] So speaking about this trainer at Harpreet: [00:17:12] The nice community, like, is this all done virtually? Madison: [00:17:14] Yep. So she does virtual live classes and her classes are all weightlifting classes, which that's something that I kind of just started taking up at the beginning of quarantine. So I've built out of my dumbbell collection at home now, and I don't think I ever want to work out in a gym again. I really enjoyed it. So nice. Harpreet: [00:17:37] And you write a lot about healthy eating, and you got a bunch of awesome recipes on your website as well talks about how you got interested in that. Madison: [00:17:47] So in high school, I've always been someone that's interested in health and fitness. I mentioned that I ran cross country and track, but in high school I Harpreet: [00:17:56] Was just constantly Madison: [00:17:58] Sick after eating pretty much [00:18:00] anything. At least that's how it felt, and I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and my doctor just didn't really have any answers for me. She did not know how to make me feel better. She kind of just gave me medicine and told me to take that and everything would be fine. And that was fine for a little bit, but I really wasn't getting any better. Harpreet: [00:18:18] So I kind of took my health Madison: [00:18:20] Into my own hands like this, just the feeling of not being able to go to a restaurant or hang out with friends because you're just feeling sick all the time or you're just laying in bed, curled up in a ball, it's a terrible feeling. So that's kind of when I started doing my own research and looking into different diets and different wellness plans, and I actually came upon veganism first, and I decided that that was my solution. I'd cut out Harpreet: [00:18:46] All meat and then Madison: [00:18:48] Things got better for like a little bit, and then I was just constantly tired. Like when I was a Data architecture intern, someone would literally be talking to me and I would fall asleep as they were talking to me. Like my eyes would shut and I was convinced that I had narcolepsy because I was like, This makes no sense. Like, I'm a super driven individual. I want to do well, I want to succeed. I care what these people are telling me. They're helping me with my career. This just doesn't make any sense. And I was also just getting super bloated all the time. Just feel like I was nine months pregnant, which is an awful feeling. Madison: [00:19:24] So that's kind of when Madison: [00:19:25] I started to do more research and I actually started dating my current boyfriend, and he was also super into health and wellness. So it definitely helps to have significant other that's also has the same values as you. And he was also like a pescatarian at the time, but then he started doing his own research and found grass-fed meats and kind of the importance of eating these animals that are well raised. And he was telling me like, This is really going to help solve all your problems like meat gives you so much energy. Harpreet: [00:19:57] And I Madison: [00:19:57] Finally was just feeling so defeated that [00:20:00] I eat meat again, and it seems like most of my Harpreet: [00:20:03] Problems just went away overnight. Madison: [00:20:05] So I'm a Harpreet: [00:20:06] Big advocate of Madison: [00:20:08] Not being a vegan Harpreet: [00:20:10] And eating meat, but meat that's sourced Madison: [00:20:14] Very well. I was actually just at a regenerative agriculture ranch this past weekend, which was really cool. So eating meat, that's one hundred percent grass fed from your local farmers or one hundred percent pasture raised. And that's something that has changed my health dramatically. Harpreet: [00:20:31] What kind of a farm? Madison: [00:20:33] Regenerative agriculture? Yeah. So I definitely try and educate a lot of people about this because Harpreet: [00:20:39] It's the one source, in Madison: [00:20:41] My opinion, that can actually help save the environment. So people say that veganism helps save the environment, Harpreet: [00:20:47] But you're not really actually reversing Madison: [00:20:50] Any of the damage to the Earth. So with regenerative agriculture, you're not letting the soil get super depleted. You're actually using an. Models to help regenerate the soil and help the soil get back its nutrients and you rotate them around the land and it helps that the land that they were Harpreet: [00:21:08] On grow back Madison: [00:21:10] And actually helps sequester carbon from the environment. Harpreet: [00:21:13] Awesome. Yeah. I'm reminded of like these farms that I would pass by on Interstate five, driving from California to Sacramento to Los Angeles and would pass by some of these farms where they were not regenerative farms, but they were just, you see the animals and they're just locked up in horrible conditions, right? Madison: [00:21:30] Oh yeah, that's the worst. Yeah. So not encourage anyone to eat that type of meat. Yeah. Harpreet: [00:21:35] Yeah, actually, don't eat any meat at all. So there's something interesting Harpreet: [00:21:40] That I read when I was coming Harpreet: [00:21:41] Across your blog. Like I mentioned, I don't eat meat just because it makes my stomach hurt. Madison: [00:21:47] I'm not a fan of it. And that's something really important that I think a lot of people in the wellness community don't talk about is that one diet doesn't fit everyone you want to eat. What makes you feel good? Don't eat a diet just because someone else is saying [00:22:00] that that the best for the environment or best for your health, like listen to your own body. It's so important. Harpreet: [00:22:06] Yeah, I think that's definitely important for like anything just like not having to take any one prescription, but then experiment and see what works for you like even with me in this personal development self-growth type of journey. It started out with me just taking like prescriptions from people like, Oh, Robyn, Starmer said, I should do this, so I do this. And I would do it for a while, but then I'd stop. But I slowly began to realize that, OK, I should just take the elements of all these teachings, all these learnings that I'm being exposed to and then cobble them together Harpreet: [00:22:37] Into like my own. Harpreet: [00:22:39] That works for me, and that's been that's been very helpful for me. How about you? Like, you're also all about personal growth and things like that? How has your journey been? How have you been able to kind of propel yourself on this trajectory of personal growth? Madison: [00:22:54] So I've always loved learning and reading, so I think I discovered a lot of the Harpreet: [00:23:00] Habits and just ways of Madison: [00:23:01] Successful people through Harpreet: [00:23:03] That. And I've always Madison: [00:23:04] Been super interested in entrepreneurship, so it's always great to hear the advice of those people. I guess a few things that have personally helped me a lot is sleep. I was definitely so sleep deprived throughout high school and college, and good sleep really makes a huge difference. Even just like I have red light bulbs in my bedroom Harpreet: [00:23:25] Or blue light blocking Madison: [00:23:26] Glasses. And I wear a woop now, which is like a fitness tracker, and it tracks how well your sleep is so you can kind of optimize at each night. Harpreet: [00:23:34] And yeah, one thing that a lot of Madison: [00:23:37] Successful people say is waking up early. You mentioned Robin Sharma like the five am club. I definitely did that for a little bit, but I've never been a morning person and I think it's really important Harpreet: [00:23:48] To honor that. Madison: [00:23:50] You need to do what's best for your own body. And just because like 70 percent of entrepreneurs are waking up early at 5:00 a.m., that doesn't mean you [00:24:00] also have to do that to be successful. Harpreet: [00:24:02] Yeah, chronobiology is the thing. Have you heard of this book by Daniel Pink called When Harpreet: [00:24:07] She's Just the scientific Madison: [00:24:09] Of it? What's that about? Harpreet: [00:24:10] It's all about timing, and it's the scientific secrets of optimal timing or whatever like that. But he talks a lot about this concept of chronobiology that that are larks. Wake up early in the morning and there's owls who actually stay up late at night and then there's people in the middle. But it's phenomenal. Yeah, definitely encourage you checking it out if you get an opportunity to. Yeah, so about that waking up early thing, do you like for a very, very long time? I'd go to bed at like 10:00 or wake up at four so six hours of sleep every night, and I thought that was all I needed. And it wasn't until like middle of February that it's like I hit by a ton of bricks. I just physically unable to wake up at four a.m. anymore. And so recently, I've been waking up at like Harpreet: [00:24:55] Five thirty, Harpreet: [00:24:57] Almost six a.m. But instead of getting six hours of sleep and get like a full seven and a half eight hours of sleep, it's done wonders for my mood because I was dude like I had headaches all day, every day. I think it was that compounded lack of sleep for so long. Madison: [00:25:10] Couple that I think about all the productive hours you're missing by having headache. It's like, is it really worth waking up an hour earlier to deal with that all day? Harpreet: [00:25:19] Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Harpreet: [00:25:21] So Madison, why is almond milk not as healthy as I think it is? And this is coming from somebody? This is like I. I absolutely love almond milk. And recently my wife made me switch to oat milk. Madison: [00:25:32] Ok, so with oat milk, make sure you're getting organic oat milk. That's that. I talk about a lot. And just like with milks in general, the added gums and like natural flavors and chemicals that they add to them can be really inflammatory. So for me personally, I was given after I transition to me, I was feeling a lot better, but I still noticed that I would have my morning coffee and I'd be immediately bloated after this makes no sense. I've barely even eaten any. Thing today, and then I [00:26:00] kind of looked more into almonds and nut milks, and it just turns out that Harpreet: [00:26:05] There's so many, I guess Madison: [00:26:07] So it's actually almond flour that's worse than the almond milk. But I have found that because there's just so many almonds packed into a little bit of flour. But the almond milk was just bloating. Me too. Like, nuts have a lot of fat, and a lot of them make it six in them so they can bloat you if you're super sensitive to them. Harpreet: [00:26:26] So just that soup, that Madison: [00:26:28] Little change of switching to one hundred percent grass fed half and half in the morning has like completely eliminated any bloating in the morning. Harpreet: [00:26:37] Yeah, definitely. Try some some of this grass-fed half and half like I prefer my coffee black, but I came across a post of yours recently that said that that might not actually be the best way to have coffee, especially if you do sort of like early in the morning before an empty stomach. What was that all? Madison: [00:26:54] Yeah. So there's actually a study that came out recently about how black coffee on an empty stomach affects your hormones. So it's more so for women than for men, but it can cause Harpreet: [00:27:06] Dramatic cortisol Madison: [00:27:07] Spike if you don't have any food in your system. I still drink my coffee with collagen and creamer, so it's a little bit better. I just I'm never really hungry in the morning, so I can't wait until like afternoon to drink my coffee, but that's just something to be aware of. Harpreet: [00:27:23] It looks like a carafe of coffee every morning, like a giant giant French press of coffee. I love this. Madison: [00:27:30] Yeah, I look forward to my morning coffee as the first thing I do when I wake up. So yes. Harpreet: [00:27:35] Same here. It's like literally the first thing I do is boil the water and make that coffee. Harpreet: [00:27:41] So talk to me about. So there's another Harpreet: [00:27:43] Thing that that I've seen you post a lot about, which I was like, Oh man, it's awesome to see and you've been really getting into stoicism. So how have you been implementing this into your daily routine? Madison: [00:27:54] Yeah. So I love reading the daily, stoic book every morning, so it has [00:28:00] like a little prompt and that kind of just puts me in a good headspace, gets me thinking about just being mindful for the day. I think that's the biggest thing. And then I also really like the podcast. If I don't have the book on me or if I'm walking out with my dog, I'll just play that. And it's like a nice little three minutes gives you something to think about for your day. And I think the most important thing with me for stoicism is just learning to not be reactive to things and thinking about things, either before you say them or do them. And it just it really makes your relationship with other people a lot better. Harpreet: [00:28:35] Yeah, something I've definitely been interested in the last almost like a year and a half, two years almost. I was reading this book was my introduction to it. I do my own kind of version of daily stoic in the morning. So I got this book, the practicing stoic. So what I'll do is I'll open this book and just divide it into chapters that deal with the different stoic virtues and then Harpreet: [00:28:57] Pull out a quote, transcribe Harpreet: [00:28:58] The quote, reflect on it, and then write my Harpreet: [00:29:01] Interpretation of that. So do that Harpreet: [00:29:04] As part of my morning routine morning ritual. Got my fancy new book? Got it right. So what's your book to? You have this one, or, you Madison: [00:29:13] Know, I'll have to check it out. Definitely the book. So yeah, Harpreet: [00:29:17] This book and the book by Donald Robertson How to think like a Roman Emperor. Probably two of my favorite books that are strictly about stoicism. I know Ryan Holiday's got amazing books as well, but that these are definitely too two of my favorite ones. So what is your Harpreet: [00:29:32] Morning routine like? Madison: [00:29:34] So right now, I usually wake up around 7:00. I like waking up without an alarm. I don't like having my phone in the bedroom at all, and I realize that when the alarm goes off, I just like instantly kind of stress. And that's not how I want to Harpreet: [00:29:49] Spend my Madison: [00:29:50] Morning or my boyfriend will wake me up. He gets up at four a.m.. Not not happening with me, but once I get up, we've been taking the dog [00:30:00] for a walk by the river here. So I kind of just don't look at my phone the first two hours and get ready for the day. Head outside. Do you like a nice hour long nature walk with the dog and just talking to my boyfriend? And then we come home and usually I'll do like gratitude journal. Read the daily stoic. And then I also have a journal where I write down everything that happens the previous day. So it kind of helps me remember Harpreet: [00:30:26] What I'm actually doing Madison: [00:30:27] With my years because it's easy to forget, even just like what you did two days ago. And then I have my coffee. Of course, I always have black coffee with some percent grass fed, half and half and a scoop of collagen. And then I usually start my workday. Harpreet: [00:30:45] That's like, add up like an awesome, awesome way to start your day. I remember there was four, actually for very, very long time, my career until just recently, maybe a couple of years ago, I would wake up super early, as I usually do. And. Just get ready and go straight to work and just start working, and it would be before the sun's up like I'd be in the office by like Harpreet: [00:31:05] Six, thirty seven Harpreet: [00:31:06] A.m. the first one there and I just started working and the days just felt like so, so long. And then I started to reclaim my morning for myself, which involved waking up a little bit earlier. But since I've done that, just like I feel much more tranquil throughout the day. So, yeah, we agree. For me, I just do a lot of writing in the morning. The first, like 30 Harpreet: [00:31:27] 40 minutes of waking up Harpreet: [00:31:29] Is writing sort of like the artist weight journal. I'm not sure if you've heard of that, but it's three three pages free hand of whatever just is coming to your mind. And then I'll do the six minute journal, which has like some elements of gratitude and setting intentions for the day and how you want to make it great. Then I do that stoic reflection I was telling you about. And then I just read read for like an hour. Madison: [00:31:51] Yeah, I need to add reading back in my morning routine. It's definitely been interesting with the time zones like in Iraq. When I was in Arizona, [00:32:00] I was waking up and having stand up at six, 6:30 in the morning, Harpreet: [00:32:05] Which Madison: [00:32:05] Was not fun and that completely got rid of my mornings there. So now that I'm more back on, like East Coast Time, I've been able to have more hours to myself. So I definitely love to read in the morning. But I think the most important thing for me is getting out in nature and just being exposed to that natural sunlight in the morning is so good for you. And just like putting your circadian rhythm on track? Harpreet: [00:32:28] Yeah. So talking about everything you're talking about is so important. And I don't feel like people in the tech space discuss this or implement much of this in their life that as they should. Why do you think that is? Madison: [00:32:41] Yeah, I don't know. I think a lot of people are just misinformed, honestly, like, there's so much information out there that's just a bunch of garbage, honestly. And people don't. I guess people don't value their health as much as they should, too, which is honestly sad, but they don't realize how everything relates. Like, I think more and more people are kind of taking control of their health, but at least with young people, I think older people are still stuck in their ways and the ideas that are etched in their minds. I know even for my parents, it's been pretty hard to kind of get rid of the concepts that they've grown up with, like fat is bad and sugar is fine as long as it's low calories. Yeah, I don't know. I guess it's just usually the type of people that the industry attracts. I honestly don't know. I think it's so important, though, because your brainpower is everything with tech and your mental health and your nutrition and fitness is just so intertwined with that. Harpreet: [00:33:43] Yeah, that kind of works together in order to have peak mental performance and to take care of not only your body, but also your actual mental health itself and make sure you're exercising that. I won't say spiritual muscle, but I guess I have no other way to to say it. Harpreet: [00:33:57] But that stuff is super, super important, Harpreet: [00:34:00] Though [00:34:00] we obviously there's a ton of technical skills that you need to be successful in any Data related roles. But what are some skills that you think that are not technical at all that people in the Data field in the tech field should cultivate to continue their success in their career? Madison: [00:34:19] So one of the first ones that comes to mind because I wrote a medium article Harpreet: [00:34:23] About it is learning how Madison: [00:34:24] To learn. Harpreet: [00:34:25] So with tech, a lot of the Madison: [00:34:27] Time you're googling things as you're Harpreet: [00:34:30] Doing them and you're Madison: [00:34:32] Discovering new ways of doing things. So it's super important to recognize how you learn best, what the most efficient way is. Do you like to read books or articles or podcasts or videos and finding the best resources to help you learn? For me personally, I can only really learn by doing things I love reading as Harpreet: [00:34:52] Well and taking what I read, Madison: [00:34:54] But I have to implement them in order for something to Harpreet: [00:34:56] Stick. Madison: [00:34:57] So recognizing that learning pattern is super important, and that's pretty much how I've taught myself everything with technology like I'm pretty much self-taught and taught on the job, so that's super important. Harpreet: [00:35:13] So learning how to learn how have you developed and cultivated that skill for yourself? Madison: [00:35:18] I think just taking in as many resources as possible and seeing what you succeed in and what you're failing in and Harpreet: [00:35:26] Just being able Madison: [00:35:27] To pivot and change that. So if you're spending all this Harpreet: [00:35:31] Time reading articles, Madison: [00:35:33] But then when you go to do it, you're not actually able to do it, then maybe you need to pivot and think just being honest with yourself is key. Harpreet: [00:35:42] So are there any resources you can share with the Harpreet: [00:35:44] Audience so that they can Harpreet: [00:35:46] Learn how to learn better? Madison: [00:35:48] So again, I love Medium. Any kind of article on towards Data science that teaches a lot for practicing skill, I really like leak code because I can Harpreet: [00:35:59] Just [00:36:00] practice it all these problems Madison: [00:36:02] Essentially, and it will tell me whether my answer is wrong or not. And then you can read the discussions and see the best way. I'm most optimized way of doing things. Any kind of YouTube video honestly, like when people walk through their own projects. Super helpful. You can, looking at people's GitHub AIs and how they build things. You can pretty much like Google anything and find your answers. Harpreet: [00:36:25] So yeah, I was expecting you to say something like Jim Quick's book Limitless or like that learning how to learn course on on course. Madison: [00:36:32] I actually haven't read that. I need to read that. I've listened to him on podcast before, but Harpreet: [00:36:36] That's the great, great book again. There's also the course on Coursera learning how to learn by Dr. Barbara Lee. I definitely recommend that as well. So you mentioned SQL. He also wrote something about Harpreet: [00:36:46] How to ace SQL interviews. Harpreet: [00:36:49] Help us out here. Madison: [00:36:50] So practice is everything. With these, I think you can read as many about many different SQL functions as you want, but if you don't practice, then you're going Harpreet: [00:36:59] To get better. So I like Madison: [00:37:00] Leak code for that just because I can constantly practice all these different problems and get real time feedback. Harpreet: [00:37:07] And it kind of keeps the functions Madison: [00:37:09] All fresh in your head. Because I find, even though I use people every day and work a lot of the times, you're just using the same functions over again. Whereas with leak code, it really pushes you to learn new ones. And I really like the discussion feature because even if you can find a solution, chances are you can also find someone else who has an even better solution and Harpreet: [00:37:29] Learn from that. And I think Madison: [00:37:30] The biggest thing with SQL interviews is Harpreet: [00:37:33] Mastering joins, aggregate Madison: [00:37:36] Functions and what was the last one sub queries. So a lot of companies will ask you to fit all your code into one query rather than using multiple ones. So that's something where you can go and leak code and see a problem using multiple queries and then Harpreet: [00:37:53] Try and refactor Madison: [00:37:54] Your code to do it in just one, which I think is a super helpful exercise Harpreet: [00:37:58] Kind of an important point [00:38:00] that you made that that first point about how in your current role, sometimes you end up just using the same functions over and over. So in order to kind of replace, not replace, but get past that phenomenon where you do the same one year of work 10 years in a row using Lee Code to push you and further your boundaries. Harpreet: [00:38:20] That's I never thought Harpreet: [00:38:21] Of it that way. That was really, really interesting. Madison: [00:38:23] Thank you for that. I wish there was more tech companies that would come out with that for different types of problems. Like, I personally hate algorithm problems because I've never taken an algorithm's class before, so I really don't like the companies interview with those. But I wish there was a way to practice more real world problems using Python or JavaScript that aren't just strictly algorithm focused. Harpreet: [00:38:48] Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I hate those algorithms question. Well, I mean, because I didn't study the computer science in school, I got a graduate degree in math and statistics, so that was like my bread and butter. This algorithm Harpreet: [00:39:00] Stuff is new to me Harpreet: [00:39:02] As well. Anyway, it's been a few years now that I've been in the field and digging into that stuff, but I still hate it. Absolutely hate it. Yeah. Like, I don't use any of it in my Data exactly. Like ever. Madison: [00:39:13] Yeah, like asked me to code something that Harpreet: [00:39:16] I Madison: [00:39:17] That you would actually be doing on the job. And that's completely different than coding, like some like hash map problem or something. Harpreet: [00:39:27] Sometimes it's going to get an interview, and just like people are asking me to do something crazy, I'm just like, Is this how you actually do work on the day to day? Like, do you do problems that involve this? Harpreet: [00:39:37] I'm just curious. Harpreet: [00:39:39] Let me interview you and find out, too. Yeah. Harpreet: [00:39:42] Anyways, I digress. Harpreet: [00:39:45] So I was wondering if I could talk Harpreet: [00:39:46] To us about your experience Harpreet: [00:39:48] Being a woman and Data and if you have any advice or words of encouragement for the women in our audience who are breaking into or currently in the Data world. Madison: [00:39:57] Yeah. So if you're looking to get into [00:40:00] Data engineering, definitely don't be discouraged. I encourage as many women as possible because we need more women on both of the teams that I've worked at. There have been no other women besides me, so that's definitely been interesting. I think I find that most people are really inclusive and good, but I've definitely worked with people that are a little bit cringe worthy Harpreet: [00:40:23] And that Madison: [00:40:24] Just talk over me or just act like I don't know what I'm doing, and that's definitely really discouraging. So you really kind of have to have your own motivation to push through sometimes. And I think it helps to get involved with women in tech groups or finding a female mentor. Super important. That's something that's helped me a lot. These last few months, I was able to find a great female mentor and just making sure that you stay involved with the women in tech community because even if you don't have another woman on your Harpreet: [00:40:54] Team, there's Madison: [00:40:55] Definitely there out there in your company. Harpreet: [00:40:58] So that's definitely Madison: [00:40:59] Important. But yeah, definitely just persevering. And if you do have a bad experience with someone, then know that not everyone is like that and that I've had great managers and I've also had poor ones, so. Harpreet: [00:41:13] So with your current mentor, like how did that dynamic form? Was it just a matter of you emailing someone like, Hey, please be my mentor? Or how did that happen? Was it organic? And how do you suggest people go about trying to find a mentor? Madison: [00:41:28] So I actually tried to join her team because I really wanted a female manager, and of course, like two weeks after I joined her team, she moved to a different role. So I just made sure to stay in touch with her because she was one of the reasons why I Harpreet: [00:41:43] Was really attracted Madison: [00:41:44] To that specific role and actually worked out well because I feel like when someone Harpreet: [00:41:49] Is not directly Madison: [00:41:51] In your org, you're actually able to be more honest and open with them. And then some other female mentors that I've gotten have been [00:42:00] through mentorship circles that were organized. So if you don't have a mentorship circle in your company, then definitely create one. A lot of people, I'm sure, are super interested, but I also think like you can just message people on LinkedIn, and if you give a genuine message about why you look up to them and why you really like to speak to them and why you want advice from them, I think most people would be glad to do it, especially with with women. Women want to support other women, for the most part. Harpreet: [00:42:30] So what can the Data community do to help foster the inclusion of women in Data science types of roles? Madison: [00:42:38] Yes, just be cognizant of like mansplaining. I feel like it's the biggest thing. Like, it's very taboo, but it really does happen. And I think a lot of men don't mean to do it, but it just kind of happens sometimes. Like, there's been points where I've been giving presentations and someone would ask me a question and like someone else, would answer it for me instead of letting me answer it, which is super frustrating. So I think it's just recognizing this kind of behavior Harpreet: [00:43:08] And stopping yourself Madison: [00:43:09] From doing it essentially. Harpreet: [00:43:11] Thank you very much for that, Madison. Appreciate that insight and got to last formal question before we jump into a real quick random round. It's one hundred years in the future. What do you want to be remembered for? Madison: [00:43:24] So I feel like I have a lot of different passions. One of the things is just passionate in general. I've always wanted to inspire people to go after their dreams, try new things and find something that they really enjoy. I think there's a lot of people in life that don't have something that they're truly passionate about, and it's either. And most of the times I just haven't discovered it. So I'm always trying to encourage the people around me to try new things, to discover something that they're passionate about, because I think that really Harpreet: [00:43:54] Gives your life purpose and meaning. Madison: [00:43:57] And then also with just health and [00:44:00] wellness, that's something that I'm again super passionate about. And if I can just Harpreet: [00:44:05] Change one Madison: [00:44:07] Person's life and how they feel and make them feel a little bit better by the advice that I'm giving, then that's completely worth it to me. Harpreet: [00:44:15] Yeah, and you definitely given some great advice and posting some awesome content on LinkedIn. I encourage everybody to follow medicine. I will link to your LinkedIn that'll be in the show notes. Let's jump into a quick random round here. When do you think the first video to hit $1 trillion views on YouTube will happen and what will it be about? Madison: [00:44:35] So what is the most views that a video currently has? Harpreet: [00:44:39] Yes. Right. Harpreet: [00:44:40] Around nine billion and it is Baby Shark. Madison: [00:44:44] Oh, wow, okay. I mean, I hate to say it like something political or when the world ends like aliens coming down or something. I kind of feel like with everything that's happening in the world in the last year, that might be a little bit closer than we think. Unfortunately, so Harpreet: [00:45:01] Most people say like cat videos or baby videos, but this world? Harpreet: [00:45:06] Yeah, that's Harpreet: [00:45:07] The interesting perspective. When do you think when do you think the world will end Madison? Madison: [00:45:12] I don't know. I mean, they say our food supply is going to be up in 60 years. Harpreet: [00:45:18] So what? Harpreet: [00:45:20] Yeah. Madison: [00:45:21] The United Nations came out with that like a few months ago. I think if we keep warming our lands the way we do right now, that we'll run out of food in 60 years. So it could be then unless people start getting into regenerative agriculture. So yeah. Harpreet: [00:45:38] That really shook my world is now. All right, that's quite scary. So in your opinion, what do most people think within the first few seconds of meeting you for the first time? Madison: [00:45:50] So I definitely have a major bitch face like resting bitch face, so probably that I'm not very friendly, but I'm definitely an introvert [00:46:00] and I definitely Harpreet: [00:46:00] Just take time to Madison: [00:46:02] Open up to people. Definitely, very shy people probably take up the wrong way. Harpreet: [00:46:07] Well, I've been smiling all throughout this video. I'm sure nobody Madison: [00:46:11] That. Yeah, not in this case, Harpreet: [00:46:13] But Harpreet: [00:46:13] Yeah, I'm like, I'm a super introvert as well. And believe it or not, I've been doing these podcasts and stuff. I still like time to myself to just chill and relax. The can definitely definitely relate to you on that end. What are you currently reading, currently reading? Madison: [00:46:30] I wrote it down because I forget the name. Burn the business plan by Carl J. Srom so I saw someone talk about this book on LinkedIn and I thought it sounded interesting. I love entrepreneurship books, so it's basically just kind of telling about Harpreet: [00:46:46] Failure and why creating a Madison: [00:46:48] Plan isn't always the best idea to start something, which I think is interesting because a lot of the times people, people that start successful things just do it without really thinking about it. And a lot of the times are the most successful people. Harpreet: [00:47:02] Check that out, said Burn the business plan. Yep. Any other recommendations along that line? Madison: [00:47:09] So I also just finished reading one that I really enjoyed. It was Jordan Peterson's new book Beyond Order. I really like his books because they're I would say they're like philosophy books almost, but also kind of self-growth just everything that he was saying. All the different rules really resonated with me. At this point in my life, I almost felt like he was writing directly to me. So that's always cool, and I'm excited to go through and read that one again, probably soon. Harpreet: [00:47:38] Nice. Jordan Peterson For whatever reason, I feel like he has like a bad rap and I don't understand why. Madison: [00:47:44] Yeah, I think people just need people to take offense to everything nowadays. It just depends how you look at his stuff. I mean, I really enjoy them. Harpreet: [00:47:53] So yeah. Are you like in general, kind of a fan of Jordan Peterson because I have a recommendation for you if you are. Yeah. [00:48:00] Kyra the Don. Have you heard of it? Hear that on. No. So what he does is he takes Harpreet: [00:48:06] Like essentially like spoken word, Harpreet: [00:48:08] Cuts it up, puts it to a beat. And so he's taken interviews with like David Goggins and made tracks out of Harpreet: [00:48:15] Those Harpreet: [00:48:16] Amazing tracks. He's done interviews, he's taking interviews with like Joe Rogan and made those into songs with Naval Ravikant and made those into songs. And he's done a bunch. You've done a bunch of work with Jordan Peterson and just turned his like spoken word into into songs. I'll give you a link if you're interested also. Madison: [00:48:35] Yeah, we actually listen to David Goggins book our entire road trip. That's what we always put on our road trip. So. Harpreet: [00:48:42] Oh dude, well, I will link you to a career. The Don and David Goggins. Their album Oh my god, it's so Harpreet: [00:48:48] Frickin good man. Madison: [00:48:50] Yeah, that sounds like right up my alley. Harpreet: [00:48:52] What are you currently listening to? Speaking of music, what do you have on repeat? Madison: [00:48:56] So Taylor Swift just came out with her new version of one of her old albums, Fearless. So I've been listening to that a lot. Harpreet: [00:49:05] Swift. I have to I guess I'll check that out, I always check out every Harpreet: [00:49:10] Song songs that people Madison: [00:49:11] Tell my teenage girl, my inner teenage girl coming out again. There you go, man. Harpreet: [00:49:17] Will pull up the random question generator here. We'll start at the first question. Ok? What is one of your favorite smells? Madison: [00:49:25] Oh, that's easy, Jasmine pet peeve. Harpreet: [00:49:30] Long meetings like this one. What's something you wish you'd figured it out sooner? Madison: [00:49:41] Well, I guess my job and what exactly I want to do with my career, I'm still kind of figuring that out and learning every time. Yeah. Harpreet: [00:49:52] Do you ever sing when you're alone? Madison: [00:49:54] What songs all the time? Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey? Those are my favorites. [00:50:00] Nice. Harpreet: [00:50:01] I the last one here. When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with? Madison: [00:50:08] Definitely math or calculating tips on the bill. That's always my job. Harpreet: [00:50:16] Madsen, thanks so much for coming out to the show. Where can people find you? How can they connect with you? Madison: [00:50:21] Yeah, thank you for having me. So I post a lot on Instagram at May Matty M A, M A D D, and then also my website, Madison. Org Madison Harpreet: [00:50:34] Shot on Madison: [00:50:35] Medium Harpreet: [00:50:35] And mass and chat Madison: [00:50:37] On LinkedIn. Harpreet: [00:50:39] Awesome. I will be sure to link to all of those right there. In the show notes he has connect with Madison. She's got awesome content, putting awesome positivity out there in the Harpreet: [00:50:48] World and you will end up being Harpreet: [00:50:50] A healthier person for it. Madison, thank you again for coming on to the show. Appreciate having you here. Madison: [00:50:55] Thank you for having me