Episode 122: The Evolution of Data Visualization, Scaling Data Culture, and The Future of Data Transformation with Gabi Steele

Show Notes

• (01:33) Gabi shared her professional interests growing up - from painting and drawing to graphic design.
• (04:44) Gabi touched on her entrance to the field of data visualization.
• (06:30) Gabi described her graduate school experience studying Data Visualization at Parsons School of Design.
• (08:50) Gabi talked about the benefits of teaching data visualization classes later in her career.
• (12:30) Gabi recalled working as a Data Visualization specialist at The Washington Post.
• (14:50) Gabi gave her perspective on the evolution of data journalism.
• (18:29) Gabi talked about her experience co-founding Raw Haus, a creative community bringing together emerging talent in design, technology, and entrepreneurship.
• (21:20) Gabi emphasized the magic of community gatherings.
• (23:51) Gabi reflected on her time at WeWork as a senior data visualization engineer to design and build graphics, dashboards, and tools that tell stories using data.
• (28:02) Gabi walked through the evolution of the Data Cult initiative - which she co-created with Leah Weiss.
• (31:44) Gabi recalled her decision to leave WeWork in early 2020 and start Data Culture - a data engineering and visualization consultancy focused on helping organizations build data capabilities, implement modern infrastructure and create lasting data culture.
• (36:31) Gabi unpacked Data Culture's well-defined blueprint for each client engagement.
• (39:21) Gabi explained how Data Culture leveraged tools in the modern data stack for its consulting services.
• (40:42) Gabi brought up Data Culture's Studio - which offers data storytelling and visualization services to mission-aligned organizations.
• (42:50) Gabi reviewed her experience working with Kode with Klossy to empower young scholars to solve important issues using data science.
• (46:13) Gabi shared her perspective on how companies can scale their respective data cultures.
• (49:52) Gabi shared the story behind the founding of Preql.
• (52:59) Gabi touched on the process of working with design partners for Preql.
• (56:42) Gabi shared valuable hiring lessons to attract the right people at Data Culture and Preql.
• (58:10) Gabi provided her perspective on building a diverse team.
• (01:00:57) Gabi shared fundraising advice to data founders who are seeking the right investors for their startups.
• (01:03:34) Closing segment.

Gabi's Contact Info

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Preql's Resources

• Website | Twitter | LinkedIn
• Introducing Preql: The Future of Data Transformation (April 2022)

Mentioned Resources

People

1. Umi Syam (Graphics and Multimedia Editor at the New York Times)
2. Giorgia Lupi (Information Designer and Partner at Pentagram)
3. Susie Lu (Senior Data Visualization Engineer at Netflix)

Book

• Invisible Women: Exploring Data Bias in a World Designed for Men (by Caroline Criado Perez)

Notes

My conversation with Gabi was recorded back in August 2022. Since then, Preql has officially launched and currently supports strategy and operations teams at B2B and vertical SaaS companies!

About the show

Datacast features long-form, in-depth conversations with practitioners and researchers in the data community to walk through their professional journeys and unpack the lessons learned along the way. I invite guests coming from a wide range of career paths — from scientists and analysts to founders and investors — to analyze the case for using data in the real world and extract their mental models (“the WHY and the HOW”) behind their pursuits. Hopefully, these conversations can serve as val