The STEMINISTS Podcast

Think your cloud budget is “bullet proof?” Spoiler alert: It’s not! If your so-called “optimized” spend still leads to a mild panic every month (what nobody tells you about your cloud budget!), you’re part of the 94% club. Relax—you’re in good (and smart) company. 

On this lively episode of The STEMINISTS, Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams bring a special guest to the mic for a candid conversation about your cloud budget realities. Enter Tanissa Feit, CDW’s Specialized Engineer—and the person you want in your corner when you’re fighting off runaway cloud costs and waste that multiplies faster than you can say “unused test environment.” 

Tanissa gets real about those sneaky costs hiding in your budget: forgotten instances, licenses you forgot you’re still paying for, surprise bills for workloads no one’s touched in months. Turns out, roughly 30% of your cloud spend is just flat-out wasted—and it’s not all your fault! Buckle up for sharp insights into true optimization, smarter data visibility, and the genius (yes, genius) of getting engineers and finance folks to actually talk to each other. 

Faulty reserved instances? Overzealous backups? About to get walloped by another “budget surprise”? We’ve got you. This episode is your crash course in saving money without blowing up your stack. 

Hit play and never let your cloud budget embarrass you again! 

 

Transform your Cloud AND stay on budget: https://www.netapp.com/cloud-services/ 

 

Connect with us! 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanissa-feit-5a73726/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mekkacodes/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebegoh/

How does a business bounce back after a crippling ransomware attack?  In Part 2 of this gripping conversation, discover how the Port of Seattle faced the ultimate challenge: Rebuilding its entire infrastructure from the ground up. Katherine Schwarzauer, Senior Windows Server Engineer, joins hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams to share the inside story of a recovery mission that rewrote the rules. 

You’ll hear how fear turned into fuel, old playbooks went up in flames, and split-second decisions sparked bold innovation. Katherine reveals the game-changing moves—revived backup systems, ironclad security, and years of upgrades compressed into mere months. But the impact didn’t stop at tech: team dynamics shifted, alliances strengthened, and resilience became the new norm. 

Ready for the ultimate survival guide? This is a story of grit and transformation—proof that even the worst cyber nightmare can become a launchpad for building stronger, smarter, and more secure than ever before. 

If you enjoyed this episode, follow and share to help others learn how to fight back and win. 

 

Get a head start on disaster recovery: 

https://www.netapp.com/data-services/disaster-recovery/ 

 

Connect with us!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mekkacodes/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebegoh/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherineschwarzauer/

Imagine getting that call you’ve ALWAYS DREADED – Your company is under attack. Ransomware has locked down your systems and cybercriminals are demanding a ransom.  In those first frantic moments, what do you do? All those conversations about resilience and data recovery are suddenly real. 

To kick off 2026, The STEMINISTS brings you an unfiltered, firsthand account of a ransomware attack from Katherine Schwarzauer, Senior Windows Server Engineer at the Port of Seattle. She lived through the chaos:- every second, every decision, every lesson learned. She takes us deep into the forensic reality of a major cyber-attack at a major international airport. 

If you’ve ever wondered what happens after the worst-case scenario hits, this is your chance to learn from someone who’s been there. But make sure you stick around for part two of this conversation when we hear what happens next. When Katherine and her team had to rebuild nearly everything, from storage to backups to security controls and all the lessons in-between that allowed them to build back stronger.

As always, make sure you tune in weekly and to hit follow for more STEMINIST conversations. 

 

Protect your workloads: 

https://www.netapp.com/cyber-resilience/

 

Connect with us! 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebegoh/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mekkacodes/

This week on The STEMINISTS Podcast, there’s no formal episode as Phoebe and Mekka take a holiday break. Instead, they’re here to wish everyone a joyful holiday season and share a sneak peek of their 2026 kickoff episode on surviving a ransomware attack.

Happy holidays and see you in the new year!

Cut through the AI buzz and get to the real story of what’s shaping tech! In this special year-end episode of The STEMINISTS Podcast, hosts Phoebe Goh and Mekka Williams take a reflective look back at the transformative year of 2025 and cast their expert predictions for what lies ahead in 2026. 

Join us as we share highlights you might have missed in a year defined by rapid innovation and critical learnings. Mekka shares her "eye-popping" realization about the massive scale of the partner ecosystem, and Phoebe breaks down why 2025 was when we finally understood the true purpose of AI—not just as technology, but as a tool to augment human creativity. 

We dive deep into the data-centric perspective that drives our conversations, exploring the urgent need for better data management and the rising importance of security in AI pipelines. And looking forward, we’ll be tracking the rise of Edge AI, ultra-specialized models, and spotlighting data sovereignty as the next big territory where the smartest players will stake their claims. 

And ICYMI, Phoebe and Mekka share their favorite episodes. But before we get into things, a huge thank you to all our listeners and followers. Your support, shares, and feedback have fueled every episode—this show simply wouldn’t be possible without you! 

 

Connect with us! 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mekkacodes/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebegoh/