On July 10th, I received my 10th MVP Award! 🤩 I became a Microsoft Data Platform MVP 2024-2025 in the Data Integration and Microsoft Fabric technology areas 🤓

(My puppy, Pixel, couldn’t care less. But she’s really cute! So I decided to pose with her instead of a piece of MVP swag 😁)

10 years. Ten. Years. Holy moly. I still remember the thrill and panic of receiving my first MVP Award. Back then, I felt like I didn’t really deserve an award. I saw myself as a shy nobody, definitely not a most valuable professional! But I was also proud and extremely grateful to be recognized for what I had done for my local community.

I’m no longer shy and I no longer think I’m a nobody, but I’m still extremely grateful for the recognition. I don’t take it for granted, even after 10 years. Or perhaps I should say especially not after 10 years, because a Microsoft MVP award doesn’t come for free. It takes time, energy, sometimes money, and occasionally some literal sweat and tears. (Hopefully not a lot of blood, though!)

In return, the stamp of approval from Microsoft has opened doors and opportunities I could only have dreamed of. I’ve forged a career I love, found some of my best friends, helped countless people in their daily jobs, and inspired others. Most importantly, I’ve grown so much as a person through this journey.

What’s next?

Over the past 10 years, tech and community has been my life. I’ve called myself a full-time geek, working with Microsoft tech during the day and having fun speaking, blogging, volunteering, and organizing community events focused on Microsoft tech in my free time. It’s been fun trying to explain to those outside of our community bubble that yes, I’m doing this techy thing, but no, it’s not work, but it’s technically what I work with, but it’s also my hobby, and… you get the point 😂

I’ve loved it. It’s been a helluva ride.

But you see that cute little teddy bear in the picture? Pixel? She is the most important thing in my life now. I’ve been dreaming of and longing for a pet for 15 years. It was just never the right time… until this year. Pixel has made my life so. much. better. I love her with all my heart 🥰

I’m not stepping away from the community, but maybe like… a step to the side? There are still events I won’t miss, knowledge I want to share, and people around the world I might be able to help in some way. But tech and community won’t be my entire life going forward. And I think that’s a good thing. It feels right.

See you soon, somewhere 💙

On Friday, May 5th, 2023, I will be speaking at the Data Platform WIT/DEI Mental Health and Wellness Day. This is a free, virtual, all-day event for anyone working in technology. Topics range from dealing with stress, burnout, depression or chronic pain, to working in tech as a queer or neurodiverse person.

I will be presenting a session called Stressed, Depressed, or Burned Out? The Warning Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore. This is a deeply personal session based on my own experiences from the past decade, and it’s one of the few sessions I can’t and don’t want to rehearse. It won’t be an hour of incoherent rambling (don’t worry! 😉) but it will be fairly raw and unfiltered.

You can find the schedule and full agenda on the Data Platform Women in Tech website.

Nope, I did not get a new job 😄 But! My company has officially merged with four other awesome companies into one super awesome company, and I got a promotion! I’m happy to announce that I’m now a Solutions Architect in Evidi, yay 🥳

New Employer: Evidi

We used to be Skill, AITC, Communicate, eSeven, and Pilaro. Today, we are finally Evidi, one of Norway’s largest independent consulting companies with over 300 people specialized on Microsoft technologies. Our name comes from evidence and reflects the importance of data-driven decisions.

…seriously, it couldn’t have been more perfect for me. I’m already proud to say I work in Evidi, and I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and do my part to help make Evidi the go-to partner for all things Microsoft in Norway 🤓

I’ll keep it short here, but if you want to learn more, check out these Norwegian articles:

• Slo sammen fem og sikter mot milliarden
• Nytt IT-konsern legger lista høyt: – Skal omsette for en milliard kroner
• Bytter navn: har slått sammen fem selskap og sikter mot milliardomsetning

And of course, our fancy new website: evidi.com 😁

New Role: Solutions Architect

If the new company announcement wasn’t enough… I ALSO GOT A PROMOTION! 🥳

Ok, so, this wasn’t a surprise. I started working as a Senior Consultant with a goal of getting promoted to a Solutions Architect within a year. And I did it! It was important to me to have a goal to work towards, to get the opportunity to prove my worth, and to show that I do in fact have the skills and experience necessary to call myself a Solutions Architect.

I did it, I’m proud of myself, and I look forward to new goals and challenges, yay 😊

Imagine that you are organizing an event. You have been working for months to make it the best possible experience for everyone, the big day is finally here, speakers are ready to deliver their sessions, and attendees are starting to walk through the doors. Everything is finally coming together! Then you hear that one of your attendees has a history of stalking and harassing someone who is already at your event.

What do you do?

How would you handle a sensitive and difficult situation at your event?

I want you to think about this for a minute. Be completely honest with yourself.

Would you immediately take action? Would you know exactly how to handle the situation, what to do, who to talk to? Would you approach the offender? What would you say? Would you hear them out? Ask them to leave? How would you respond if they deny everything? If they tell you that the victim is lying and trying to ruin their life? If they tell you that they are the real victim? What if they cause a scene? Do you have on-site security to ask for assistance? Would you notify the victim? What would you tell them? Where would you go for privacy? What support would you offer? How would you follow up during and after the event if they are visibly scared or upset? How would you ensure their safety inside and outside the venue? Who would be taking care of your tasks while you are handling the situation?

Would you be handling the situation at all?

Today is a very special day. It’s Monday, it’s a new week, and it’s a new month - all sorts of new beginnings. The most important new beginning, however, is that today is my first day as a Senior Consultant in the Data Management and Analytics team in Skill! Yay 🥳

Skill is a Norwegian IT consulting company with over 100 consultants working from two locations. They have teams focused on everything from cloud infrastructure to cloud productivity, from security to business applications, and from collaboration to analytics.

What do they all have in common? They all deliver solutions built on Microsoft technologies! Just like me 🤓

(And just like me, there are many people in Skill who love giving back and helping their communities! I’m honored that I can now call fellow Microsoft MVPs Jan Vidar Elven, Magnus Goksöyr, and Ulrikke Akerbæk my coworkers 🤩)

I’ve joined the Data Management and Analytics team, and will continue to focus on Azure Data and the Microsoft Data Platform. I get to dive deeper into fun things like Azure Synapse Analytics and Azure Data Factory, and I’m hoping to learn even more about Power BI and the rest of the Power Platform. Maybe I’ll even pick up a thing or two about infrastructure, networking, and security?

I’m very much looking forward to this new chapter. Great people, a supportive workplace, and exciting technologies…? I’M SO EXCITED! 😊