Her Story
About ZeEster
I've been in technology for over 30 years, and specifically in the AI arena focused on data and metadata for about 20 years, providing what I call the ancillary support of AI. I'm a Salesforce Hall of Famer and was one of the first 500 people to be certified in Salesforce in the world, which gave me extensive knowledge about data, structure, and architecture that naturally moved me into AI. In August 2025, I launched Matari Inc., which was born from a divine moment when I was awakened in the middle of the night on June 14th with a question that I couldn't shake. After two hours of research, I had 16 pages of typed information and Matari was born. We created the first and only AI metadata governance platform in the world, establishing an entirely new category that's becoming vital with the EU AI Act and other regulatory compliance standards. We sit between AI and every company's data source as infrastructure, and we're application agnostic and industry agnostic, serving anyone with an active AI production grade implementation or initiative around the world. Our goal is to completely launch our Matari platform, which includes three products, globally by the end of 2026. Beyond my startup, I run The Becoming Project, a nonprofit and national registered apprenticeship program that I've had for nearly 17 years, where I've trained hundreds of people mostly for free in Salesforce and STEM. The transformation I've witnessed, like helping a grandmother in Tennessee go from making $40,000 to $89,000 in her first role and now over six figures, represents the accolades I treasure most.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with ZeEster
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice would be to stay focused on what you want to achieve and to not allow anyone or anything to deter you. It is difficult to be a woman in the technology space because it is traditionally not our lane - we are a small percentage, and definitely being a Black woman in this space brings its challenges. But the best thing that you can do is to know your stuff. Knowing what I know put me in rooms that I probably would not have been in otherwise, and it's given me a way to move forward without excuse. I don't look at it as obstacles, I look at it as opportunities to move forward. Having a passion for what I do helps me overcome those no's, it helps me overcome sometimes feeling alienated and not understood in this particular arena, and some of the double standards of being a mother, or a grandmother, or a wife, and having to work in the same arenas where men may go home to a wife who's taken care of the household. My advice is to just be flat-footed. Stand flat-footed, and don't move from your passion. Do what you know that you've been gifted to do, and no one can question or steal what's demonstrated.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I'm a woman of faith, so my faith is what I lead with in all aspects of my life. Being grounded and rooted in my beliefs, my Christian beliefs, have helped me stay even when there's a rollercoaster, and helped me find the center that I need to have. The other thing is my connections and who I surround myself with. I surround myself with people who know me in the place that I'm going, who agree that I deserve to be there, who are able to support me as I move into these places that may not be as welcoming as I would like them to be. I have that support, I have that group of individuals that remind me to keep my head up, remind me that after the 50th no, the 51st is going to be great. You really need to check your connections and make sure that the people that are closest to you are people that feed you, that empower you, that uplift you, because in those times that you need it, you need those people to be close. The accolades and awards that I treasure the most are transformation - transformation in the lives of the people that God has put in my life to help.
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