Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
We’re Kathy Nelson and Linda LaTourelle — co-hosts of Ordinarily Extraordinary: Conversations with Women in STEM.
Kathy, an electrical engineer, launched the podcast in 2020 to share real, unfiltered stories of women working across STEM disciplines. Now with over 130 episodes, the mission remains the same: to amplify the voices of ordinary women doing extraordinary work in science, technology, engineering, and math.
We’re deeply committed to:
- Normalizing the presence of women in STEM by making their stories visible
- Building community for women who may be the only ones like them in their workplace
- Educating listeners about the wide variety of STEM careers — and what they actually look like
- Empowering growth and retention by addressing the challenges behind the leaky pipeline
From early-career professionals to experienced leaders, our guests share how they got started, how they’ve grown, and what they’ve learned along the way. This podcast is a space where women in STEM can be seen, heard, and supported — because representation isn’t just powerful, it’s essential.
Ordinarily Extraordinary - Conversations with women in STEM
112. Sherry Shannon - Vanstone; Serial Entrepreneur; Cryptological Mathematician; BS Mathematics
Sherry Shannon - Vanstone is a serial entrepreneur. She started her career as a cryptology mathematician in the US government, then went on to work at a start up in Silicon Valley. She then went on to co-found and found companies specializing in security and her latest company, Profound Impact, a female-founded, Canadian data analytics company that leverages AI and machine learning to provide solutions for the higher education and research sectors. She has a BS degree in Mathematics and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws.
What do we talk about in this episode?
Sherry shares her passion for promoting women in STEM and women in sports. Sherry began her career in cryptology as a code breaker over 40 years ago. She shares her experience as a woman working in this field so many years ago. She shares her experience in Silicon Valley and then working in security and encryption founding and co-foudning companies with her husband and later on on her own.
- How she brings her "why" into her work and other ventures.
- Being a code breaker for the government is indeed as cool as it sounds!
- How a university president changed her course of study and got her into mathematics - our supporters and champions are so important.
- How she met her husband - at a mathematics conference!! (There has to be an equation for that!)
- Her experience trying to get funding, her work on changing the VC world for female founders and opportunities we may all have to make change in this space.
Music used in the podcast: Higher Up, Silverman Sound Studio
You can support my podcast on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/user?u=72701887
Resources
Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics is an independent research centre in foundational theoretical physics located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. (Wikipedia)
The Emmy Noether Council works collectively with Perimeter to increase the number of women in physics and drive the philanthropic support that will advance women at critical stages of their education and careers at Perimeter and beyond. They are specifically focused on leading the growth of the Emmy Noether Emerging Talent Fund, an endowment devoted to providing support and programming for exceptional PhD students at Perimeter. (https://perimeterinstitute.ca/emmy-noether-council)
Golden Triangle Angel Networks one of Canada’s most active and longest-established angel investment clubs. (https://www.goldentriangleangelnet.ca)
