LEAD DATA SCIENCE MENTOR

Harpreet Sahota

I was born and raised in South Sacramento, California. I’m a product of one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the world, and I couldn’t be more proud of the cultural legacy that I come from.

When my data science dream job search got started I was steadily just getting rejected - it seemed like nothing I could do would ever get me respected. Most days I was stressed and sometimes I felt so pathetic - I had all the pieces to the puzzle, just no way to connect it. I was fighting through every concept, tightening up every line of code, and never resting to question if I was out of my mind. It finally came time to do it or let it die, so I put the chips on the table and told Kyle to sign me up - now I’m here, helping students along the journey and sharing my experiences in hopes of inspiring and motivating our students.

• DS Superpower: Helping people make better decisions.
• Favorite Algorithm: HDBSCAN and Random Forest
• #1 Favorite Book: It’s hard to pick a favorite book - but I can honestly say the one book that changed my life was The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. I can’t articulate the number of ways this book as affected me, the way I think, and who I am now (even if it’s only been a year since I read it).
  
  My favorite fiction books include The Alchemist by Paolo Cohelo and Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. We should all aspire to more like Santiago and the Seagull.
• Motivated By: I really enjoy working on vague problem statements and nebulous questions. I’m talking about those problems where there is no clear-cut path forward, where there is no right or wrong answer. I’m talking about those questions where you’re trying to find an accurate representation of some observed phenomenon - and you’re doing it with data.
  
  There’s more than one way to solve a problem, and I make sure I don’t fall in love with one particular solution - which means I’m always trying to find problems with my possible answer. There’s a certain joy I feel while mentally wrestling with the seemingly infinite paths towards the best possible solution - and that's what motivates me, the joy of doing data science.
• When not working you are: I am a lifelong student and always striving to improve who I am as learn and grow as a human being - and this in itself is a full-time job with no time off. When I’m not at the office you can find me at home reading a book, listening to music and reflecting, or wandering around my city looking for news experiences whether its eating at amazing local restaurants, drinking local craft beer, or on a walking tour learning about the history of things.
• Favorite movie character: Marty McFly from Back to the Future ⚡

DATA SCIENCE MENTOR

Chris Cochet

I never excelled at math or other technical subjects at school but when I discovered software engineering in my early 20s I found that I could spend hours in front of a computer and code trying to make a program work. I naturally started my career as software engineer working on telecom platforms at HP and coding in C/C++. After going back to business school, I transitioned into the world of consulting where I learned how industry operates and developed crucial business skills like stakeholder engagement. Over time I became more and more interested in building data science skills but never found enough time to make real progress so I decided to quit work and upskill for a few months.

That’s when I came across Kyle and DSDJ - the spirit and approach of the program really resonated with me, in particular: be consistent, keep learning by doing, iterate, don’t be a perfectionist and never give up. I was one of the first DSDJ students and leveraged what I learned to land a job in the field!

And now I get to be a part of this awesome team. I’m having a blast helping the students, giving back to the community as well as continuing to learn and improve.

• DS Superpower: I’m a “purple people” (purple because it is a mix of red and blue where “red” is technology and “blue” is business). I truly love to bridge business with data science and make a real impact on the organization’s bottom line
• Favorite Algorithm: Deep Q Reinforcement Learning: I have no doubt that one day we will have drones flying on Mars autonomously thanks to such algorithms. It is true machine learning
• #1 Favorite Book: The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle
• Motivated By: Constant improvement. I strive to the best I possibly can be so I can make lasting, positive impacts in domains like healthcare
• When not working you are: Cooking, hiking, watching e-sports professional gaming on Twitch
• Favorite movie character: Jack Ryan from Tom Clancy’s books 🚁

DATA SCIENCE MENTOR

Jean-Sebastien Provost

I have always been interested in understanding human behavior, and in fact, for numerous years I was a neuroscientist working in academia. I used neuro-imaging data to study the way we behave when faced with different cognitive tasks. Then I got introduced to data science via colleagues working in industry. I got excited because I realized there were so many ways to study human behavior outside of academia - ranging from customer satisfaction to interest following marketing campaigns. At that point, I had almost no knowledge of data science tools. So little by little, I learned coding, machine learning, and most importantly how you can use data science tools to answer practical business questions. 

I learned all of these skills on my free time and I got overwhelmed by the amount of things that I needed to do. That’s when I came across Kyle’s post on LinkedIn in which he was looking for driven students to start the first cohort of Data Science Dream Job! DSDJ provided me with a strong framework to learn everything in a structured way and with the proper tools to successfully get through job interviews - and now I'm a data scientist at the National Bank of Canada.

Now, I feel honored to give back to the community by being part of the DSDJ team. I can’t wait to help, teach, and support students in their journey of becoming data scientists.

• DS Superpower: Capturing the crucial information when someone is exposing a problem
• Favorite Algorithm: Random forest: It is fast, efficient, and generally gives great results while telling you more about your features
• #1 Favorite Book: It's hard to pick only one, but I have to say it's the one that started it all: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
• Motivated By: Giving others the tools necessary to enjoy their own version of success
• When not working you are: Seeking new experiences either by learning something new, reading a great book, traveling to a new area, discovering a new restaurant, or hiking. Everything is right there for us to take advantage of it, we just need to grab the opportunity and never look back
• Favorite movie character: Jason Bourne from The Bourne Identity 👊

DATA SCIENCE MENTOR

Lediona Nishani

I was born and raised in Tirana, Albania which is a beautiful European country that is also one of the oldest in the Balkans (we even claim to be older than the Greeks). I studied Telecommunication Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Tirana and immediately after I worked in academia for 5 years lecturing in prestigious Albanian universities. After completing my PhD in Machine Learning, I began searching for a career as a data scientist. However, there was not much opportunity in Albania at the time—that’s when I made the monumental, and ultimately correct, decision to immigrate to Canada; this led to the turning point in my career.

In Toronto, I was able to land a job at a start-up where I was able to obtain more hands-on experience with coding along with my first exposure to NLP and text analytics. However, I was looking for a full-time data science job and came across Kyle and his DSDJ program on LinkedIn. I decided to enroll and give it a chance.

When I was looking for a job, my greatest difficulty was making it to the last interview. Although my PhD helped me land several interviews, issues arose at the technical round or in the last round of the interview process. I realized that working as a data scientist and interviewing for data science positions required completely different skillsets.

The DSDJ mindset module completely turned things around for me. It changed my way of thinking and gave me the motivation to work on improving myself each day. In addition, having a blueprint on how to navigate and find my dream job was invaluable. The structure of the course, the technical modules, interviewing techniques, and negotiating tactics all helped me reach the success I have achieved in my current role as a data scientist.

• DS Superpower: Motivating people to persevere, to achieve their goals and secure their dream job. I love NLP and text mining, being able to make machines understand text and its nuances is something I find extremely fascinating.
• Favorite Algorithm: Random Forest and Support Vector Machine
• #1 Favorite Book: There are lots of books that have inspired me and changed the way I do things. One book in particular (suggested by Kyle) is Never Split the Difference, Negotiate as Your Life Depends On It. This book changed how I approached problems and interacted with people. It made me more empathetic and better understand what drives people to behave the way they do. It has been a game changer for me in both my personal life and professional career. Another one is You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay. This is a playbook on how to grow every day and have it all! It is a book that teaches you that you are in charge of your own destiny.
• Motivated By: Solving new problems that I haven’t encountered before. I love researching and learning different perspectives to create novel solutions. I love learning from research papers and implementing their prototypes to see how they work in the real world and then adapting based on the results.
• When not working you are: I love being surrounded by friends and hanging out at good restaurants and trying new cuisine. I love cooking and trying new recipes. Travelling gives me joy as I get to experience new culture and get to know different traditions. I love the sun and beaches, and the lakes in Ontario are beautiful in the summer. In my spare time I practice mindfulness and meditation. I also enjoy yoga as it helps to quiet my mind and get me centered.
• Favorite movie character: Erin Brockovich 💼

OPERATIONS MANAGER & CUSTOMER SERVICE SPECIALIST

Hazel Villaroman

I am a strong believer that educational background and previous work experience aren’t the main indicators for where one’s meant to be. These aren’t the determinants for career success.

I’ve jumped around different career fields - A LOT! And guess what Employers didn’t care, I learned so much that contributed to my work ethic and performance today… and I’m happier knowing I took my future in my hands and grabbed every opportunity that came my way.

I graduated with a BS Nursing degree and worked as a pediatric registered nurse for 4 years. I shifted to the food and beverage industry, managing 2 cafes for 2 years. Then I decided to explore digital marketing where I was given the opportunity to learn more about online job opportunities and continue my flair for team management and training. I am in pursuit for a Masters of Management degree to strengthen my leadership and decision-making ability.

Now, I am happily a part of the DSDJ team with:

1. A strong and compassionate customer relations ability from my Nursing Background

2. Strategic planning and operations management skills from my Restaurant Management experience

3. The ability to learn and adapt to new technology and analyze data from my Digital Marketing experience

I believe, every step I took in my career life was a part of the process to prepare me for my role here at DSDJ.

• Superpower: Communication and people relations
• Favorite Algorithm: *I fear managers will be replaced by algorithms* lol
• #1 Favorite Book: The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone
• Motivated By: Contributing positively to someone’s life (small or big)
• When not working you are: Spending time with my dogs, reading books,
  playing Nintendo Switch or hanging at a beach somewhere!
• Favorite Fictional Character: Kim Wexler from Better Call Saul ⚖️

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER

Christie Klinger

After 4 years studying biology in college and 3 long years of grinding through grad school, I finally earned a M.S. degree in evolutionary genomics. But there was one problem: I realized I was chasing someone else’s dream and didn’t actually want to do science. I decided I had to change my situation—and Kyle was eager to help.

Following many of the exact job search tactics outlined in the DSDJ program back in 2015, Kyle helped me break into graphic design and land my first job at a creative agency near Chicago without a design degree. And negotiate a $10,000 salary increase with a performance-based promotion after 6 months. But more than that, Kyle helped me start doing work that I truly loved (I can go +12-hours and not even realize it!).

Nothing is worse than realizing that the life you’ve chosen is actually making you miserable. That’s why I’m so excited to be able to help others change their circumstances and start their dream careers! Leveraging all of my unique experiences as a researcher, teaching assistant, and professional designer, it is my number one goal to help DSDJ students learn better and faster and get the attention they deserve from hiring managers.

• Superpower: Transforming vision into reality
• Favorite Algorithm: Christie’s Perfect French Press Coffee Algorithm
• Favorite Books: Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman & Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
• Motivated By: beautiful design and storytelling that changes lives and inspires others to dream bigger
• When not working you are: Making retro-neon tiger artwork on Instagram
• Favorite Dragon Ball Z character: Teen Trunks! I loved all the mystery behind his character—he’s the epitome of cool. 😎⚔️