Ep26 Staying Optimistic with Melissa Brown, Global FP&A, AWS

"See the silver lining, even in difficult situations." - Melissa Brown, Global FP&A, AWSHowdy friends, today we talked with our good friend and three year Amazon vet Melissa Brown!  We discussed  her lessons learned in finance, on career progression, and the importance of having a healthy outlook.  We also talked about great books and how her passion for French literature led to a career finance , naturally :) Enjoy!Melissa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-brown-90b53335/ --CONTACT THE SHOW:Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcastLinkedIn Group |  https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13919730/Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/Email | [email protected] (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunkenSubscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe —Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’.  You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos

"Win the day...but understand what your limitations are." - Keith Klein, AWS Real Estate, Managing Principal, AmericasHowdy friends. This a great episode with our pal and 9-year Amazon veteran, Keith Klein. We dive into some great tactics for having success as an individual, how he sets his team up for success, and the importance of keeping family first.  We also get into golf, off-roading, and who he'd like to have lunch with. Enjoy!Keith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-klein-620b4613/--CONTACT THE SHOW:Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcastLinkedIn Group |  https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13919730/Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/Email | [email protected] (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunkenSubscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe —Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’.  You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos

“Ask yourself what makes you happy.” - Van Tran, Amazon Treasury, Capital MarketsHello folks. Today we bring you a show with our our good buddy Van Tran, Treasury Manager, Capital Markets here at Amazon and with it, our first look inside the Treasury space.We’ve had the pleasure of getting to work with Van and her team on some recent projects and today we got a chance to step back to discuss her background: growing up in Hanoi, Vietnam, comic books, attending undergrad in Maine, infrastructure finance, business school at Upenn, and her path all the way to Amazon Treasury.Van and Sid also connect on their shared passion - what else, Real Estate investing! This was a lot of fun and thanks Van for coming on!Van on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vancamtran/ --CONTACT THE SHOW:Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcastLinkedIn Group |  https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13919730/Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/Email | [email protected] (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunkenSubscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe —Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’.  You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos

“All you ca do day-to-day is control the things that are within your power.” - Alex Solomon, MBA Intern,  Columbia,  AWS InfrastructureHappy new year!We’re kicking off the 2021 season with an interview we recorded at the end of last summer with Alex Solomon. He was an MBA intern on our team.First off, it turns out that Alex and Charlie hail from the same neck of the woods (Long Island), so we spent some quality time digging into the culture ;) (bagels, North Fork wineries, Montauk, Billy Joel and the importance of saying ‘ON Long Island’ versus ‘IN Long Island’).Our time was 100% virtual last summer but we all agreed that it not only worked, but we also had a blast working together. Alex shares his journey to Columbia Business School and how he got into the summer program at Amazon as well as what helped him land the opportunity. He also shares what he’s learned about working at Amazon in AWS and having a successful intern experience.Thanks Alex for coming on and we’ll (finally) see you in Seattle after graduation!Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-solomon-cpa-61396662/ --CONTACT THE SHOW:Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcastLinkedIn Group |  https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13919730/Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/Email | [email protected] (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunkenSubscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe —Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’.  You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos

“It’s good to round yourself out but double down on your super powers.” - Joe Minarik, Director,  AWS Data Center SupplyJoin The FG Podcast LinkedIn Group! https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13919730/First things, first, Joe holds the Finance Guys  land speed record for guests at 180mph. Yikes.We’re back this week, this time with the fearless leader of our Business team and AWS veteran, Joe Minarik, Director, AWS Data Center Supply..This episode is where the rubber meets the road, where the cloud meets the dirt. The data center growth strategy of every AWS region on the planet resides within Joe’s 120+ person team. He brings us some cool stories from the early days at AWS going all the way back to 2005 when it was just an internal product for Amazon, to the launch of Asia Pacific, up to the present day. We also talk about what it takes to be successful at AWS, why it’s important to focus on your strengths, boating, race car driving, and making things better.Joe shares his wealth of experience in the cloud computing space and his great approach to simply wanting to make things better. Instant classic.Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jominarik/ --CONTACT THE SHOW:Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcastInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/Email | [email protected] (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunkenSubscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe —Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’.  You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos

“Try to identify top goals, personally and professionally and work at them in a way that’s meaningful to you. Don’t drive towards output metrics…focus on what you can control and the other things will play out.” - Raj Uparkar, Sr. Manager, DC Capacity, AWSJoin The Finance Guys Podcast Group on LinkedIn :)  https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13919730/Whoa there peeps! It’s been awhile but we’re back, finally publishing a new episode we recorded over the summer and today we bring you our good buddy, Raj Uparkar, Senior Manager in AWS Data Center Capacity.Raj’s roles have gravitated towards the highly analytical side. We talked to him about many things including what it takes to be successful (in the long term) at Amazon and what he looks for in new candidates. We also talk about the act of pursuing goals and striving for meaning in the process.Raj has a great perspective for anybody thinking about their career in tech, no matter where you are on the journey. It’s great to be back and we’re psyched to finally get Raj’s wisdom out into the ether! Please enjoy!Raj on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajuparkar/ --CONTACT THE SHOW:Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcastInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/Email | [email protected] (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunkenSubscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe —Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’.  You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos

“Ask yourself what’s the worst case thing that could happen…it gives you perspective…don’t take things too seriously…be grateful” - Shruti Shah, Sr. Finance Manager, AWS Real EstateHello there peeps. Today we bring you an episode with our friend and long time (9-year) Amazonian, Shruti Shah. Shruti is a Senior Finance Manager in AWS supporting the Data Center Real Estate team.Today we  talk to Shruti about her Amazon origin story, some great thoughts on work-life harmony AND…our mutual love of heist movies! Yes! Finally!!We had a great chat and can’t wait to share! Please enjoyShruti on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shruti-shah-b942b24/ --CONTACT THE SHOW:Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcastInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/Email | [email protected] (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunkenSubscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe —Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’. You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos

“Appreciate spending time with friends and family…make sure you like what you are doing…and be happy.” - Mariana Emsenhuber, Finance Leadership Program, AWSHey folks. In this episode we bring you our first virtual guest - our friend and teammate Mariana Emsenhuber. Mariana is a Senior Financial Analyst on our team providing financial support for existing region data center expansion strategy.We get to talk to Mariana about  growing up in Brazil, her experience joining the Amazon MBA finance rotation program out of business school, and we also chat about some extracurricular interests from astrophysics to the Kardashians!This was a really fun opportunity to step back and talk more deeply with one of our own and hear some of Mariana’s words of encouragement related to this experience we are all going through being separated from one another.It was a great show, please enjoy!Mariana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariana-emsenhuber-b4bb8934/ --CONTACT THE SHOW:Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcastInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/Email | [email protected] (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunkenSubscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe —Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’.  You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going…we’ll get over it…and we’ll be stronger” - Sid“There’s always an opportunity that comes out of change.” - CharlieThe Finance Guys are back!Whatsup our peeps. We’ve been missing you all since this social distancing began but now that we’ve acclimated to our new routines we are itching to bring you fresh episodes again.In this shorter episode Sid and I reflect on what it’s been like so far. what’s worked well and what’s been challenging, and we share some words of encouragement that have inspired us. More episodes with new guests are coming! Stay tuned and stay safe everybody. --CONTACT THE SHOW:Website | https://www.charleskunken.com/podcastInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/financeguyspodcast/Email | [email protected] (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc)Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunkenSubscribe to the newsletter: https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe —Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Rose Colored’.  You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos

*Special Episode* The Plaza Of Truth (TPOT) Episode 1“It doesn’t matter who you are or how much money you make…maybe you’re driving a Ferrari home and I’m driving a Honda Accord but we’re at the same table, eating the same food…We’re all on the same level.”The Plaza of Truth (TPOT) podcast is a new longer-form version of the 1 minute daily TV show from Instagram #ThePlazaOfTruth, @cbkunk It's a project I’ve been thinking about for awhile now, and got jump started by the current situation going on with Corona. The show is about finding the stories within the turning points of life and this episode specifically is about our friends in the restaurant business during this time of crisis. Given the current situation it seemed timely.In this first episode I talk to my good friend Phil Buttacavoli, a buddy of mine since middle school and a twenty year veteran of the restaurant biz about how the Corona virus is impacting the industry in New York City.This is an important message we wanted to get out about a different industry that is heavily impacted, and one that we are all connected to in one way or another. We talked about how it affects workers, what people can do, and why you should go follow his new Instagram account for his alter ego, @giovanni_bellafonte which brings raw and hilarious stories about life in the biz (you really should follow it, guaranteed laughs).https://www.instagram.com/giovanni_bellafonte/Thanks for tuning into the The Plaza of Truth and checking out this important inaugural episode of the project. There will be plenty more 'Finance Guys In Tech' episodes coming as well as more episodes of 'The Plaza Of Truth'.  --CONTACT THE SHOW:https://www.charleskunken.com | https://www.instagram.com/cbkunk | https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunken Email us [email protected]  (Hit us up! Questions, comments, requests for guests, etc) | Or subscribe to the Friday newsletter | https://www.charleskunken.com/subscribe —Theme music by Good Baby. ‘Trouble’.  You can peep the full music video here: https://www.goodbaby.band/musicvideos