Cassandra Cardases

I've been in my field for about 8 to 10 years now. I started by studying mathematics and statistics, but I actually took a detour into another passion before coming back because I grew really bored - I loved problem solving and doing work that mattered. I'd always been really good at mathematics, but statistics opened a whole new world where you could apply mathematics to solve real-life problems in a more tangible way. When I moved to the United States, the Nashville community was using different software than what I had been trained in, so I pivoted by doing bootcamps to update my technology skills and be more relevant for the current market. My ultimate goal was to move back into data science, which is basically glorified statistics, but during my data analytics spend, I fell so in love with the field because it allowed me to use both my left and right brain - I could code and do problem solving on the back end, but then come in with a lot of creativity and produce reports that were well-polished, professional-looking, and very intuitive to use. My entire life, I've been very against anything that is boring or difficult to understand or overwhelming, so what I really try to do is figure out what is the lowest common denominator - who is the person who is least likely to understand this, and let me build something that even they would understand. That's how I got into data storytelling, which is really where my career kicked off. While working at a Big Four accounting firm, I led community practice meetings where we would teach different skill sets to other data analysts, and it was then that I had to figure out how do I do the thing I do naturally and train other people to do it. I developed my data storytelling training there, and it was so well received that I eventually got asked by some of the partners to come do the annual tax training. I trained 200 tax professionals in data storytelling and data visualization best practices, and once that was complete, it was voted the most impactful and memorable session of the event. After that, I just wanted to share more and more. Now I speak at two to three events a year - some are conferences, some are meetups - but my favorite, and typically everyone's favorite topic, is data storytelling. In it, I teach people how we're all innate storytellers - every day when you get home from work, you're telling your friend, your partner, your spouse stories about your day, and you don't have to get trained to do it. I tell people to take that innate skill you were born with as a human being and apply it in your workplace to make things easy to understand and also engaging and fun. I give examples of some of the most boring topics and teach people how to apply simple principles to craft a story around that, creating an emotional connection through storytelling. That's how I've jumped around in my career - through people hearing me doing my data storytelling talks or seeing the results in the reports I build, and then wanting me to come over to their firm or company and help them set up the standards for reporting. I'm very grateful that I've brought together my coding, my mathematics, my creativity, and public speaking, which have been things I've been passionate about and loved since I was literally a little girl.