>> Narrator: From around the globe, it's theCUBE, with digital coverage of Women Transforming Technology, (bright upbeat music) brought to you by VMware. >> Hi, this is Lisa Martin, covering the Fifth Annual, Women Transforming Technology, VMware's wonderful event. First year though, that WT2 is digital. So I'm coming to you remotely. Not from Palo Alto, but from my home in San Jose. I'm very please to welcome the VP of Diversity and Inclusion from VMware, Shanis Windland. Shanis, welcome to theCUBE. >> Thank you, it's great to be here. >> WT2 is one of my favorite events. I have had the opportunity to go live and cover it for theCUBE the last couple of years, and it is truly one of those events where you walk in and it's sort of that beautiful quiet outdoors in the Palo Alto campus. >> Mm-hmm. >> But you feel this very large sense of community and it's so positive, but it's overwhelming in how genuine it is. >> Mm-hmm. >> I can't imagine how challenging it was to have to make the decision, not too long ago to have to convert that to digital. But I can also imagine that that community that VMware has built with WT2 was a big facilitator of getting women everywhere to go, "Absolutely. "No matter where I am, I want to be here." Tell me a little bit about that quick pivot and what some of the things were that pleasantly surprised you about the event the other day. >> Yeah, so I think we were watching obviously the news and we decided probably a little bit earlier than other conferences did make the move to virtual so that we could really spend the time to really plan it and make it special. So I'm so pleased with how the event turned out. As you know, it's usually a smaller event of 500, 550 women in-person. And this year, we were able to have over 5,000 attendees, which is fantastic. And I still felt this amazing energy from the conference. You know, the chat was going and people were super positive and cheering each other on, and giving each other advice, and talking about what the speakers were talking about and it was an incredible experience. I was so surprised and energized by my experience at the conference. So happy I was able to attend. >> 5,000 is remarkable. I'm sure that blew your expectations. >> Yeah. >> Totally. >> But it's also, you know, we're living in this very different time where everything is disrupted, and it's hard to engage. The number of your speakers that I have spoken to about this event have all talked about how interactive every session was with hundreds of women >> Mm-hmm. >> who logged in to each session. And that is... I think that speaks to the community and the reputation that WT2 has built over the last five years. But tell me a little bit about how this pivot happened. So the theme, We Rise, very poignant and so important in this very uncertain climate that we're in. Talk to me about the importance and the development of that theme which really helped create some energy from everybody being all over the world. >> Yeah, I mean, we talked about the theme a long time ago and developed it, you know, with a collection of companies, the consortium that we worked on in planning the conference. And it is so relevant to what's happening right now, the experience of, not only women, but people everywhere feeling isolated and the need for connection and the need to feel like you can still succeed and win at work. And it was just so amazing. And one of my favorite pieces was when Laura Dern was actually quoting the Maya Angelou poem about rising. It was so incredibly powerful and just really wrapped up the day in an amazing way with that theme. And I know, I personally walked away feeling energized and feeling like, "Yes, we can do this, "we can continue to rise regardless of the situation." >> So tell me, you are the VP of Diversity and Inclusion. What are some of the changes that you're... Or the evolution of that role, even in the last two months of this pandemic, knowing that every single person from Pat Gelsinger, all the way down, and everybody across the globe, is really emotionally challenged right now, as well as potentially, you know, impacted financially. >> Yeah, I think it's just been super important to talk about empathy and leadership and supporting our employees. And I think it's truly given leaders and managers and employees a totally different perspective on what that means right now, and at VMware where I've felt so much empathy from our leadership and so much empathy from our managers, and just in terms of understanding employee experience, this isn't normal working-with-from-home for anybody. This is working from home, not having help, dealing with homeschooling, still trying to succeed at work, and a variety of other things that people have. Sick family members, worried about the world and work. And I think it's just really, really important for leaders to continue to check in and connect with their employees. >> Empathy is so important, and I'm glad that you mentioned that, because when we talked to the C-suite or executives, I was talking to some of the other speakers earlier this morning who helped develop women to be in leadership positions. And instead of asking, you know, "What are some of the characteristics that you can identify "if this person is on the C-suite path?" I always want to understand what are the hard and soft skills. And I never liked the word, soft. I really should >> Mm-hmm. >> (mumbles) that up because empathy is one of those. But it's something now that I think is not only is important, it's also contagious. So if you see that from a leader, I think that the impact to productivity can be huge. >> Mm-hmm, no, that's so true. And I think that employees, regardless of their working environment still really want to succeed at work. They still want to feel like they can have a career and move forward, and they still want to support their companies in succeeding. And it's so important that they feel like regardless of their personal situation, they can do that and can contribute. >> So one of the things that I saw Laura Dern mention in her closing keynote was about, you know, you don't have to stay in your swim lane. And when I was looking at your background, I thought you're a CFO and a financial exec. Tell me about your pivot or evolution into diversity and inclusion. >> Yeah, it was a surprising turn for me as well. You know, I spent my entire career doing finance, but coming to VMware, it was really, for me, an opportunity to participate in building the company where I wanted to continue to work. And I really took my business background in building companies and building cultures and applying it to this role. I think diversity and inclusion succeeds when it's really felt by every single employee every single day. And in a global company like VMware, the only way that works is if each and every employee and manager embrace that. So they look around and they see people like them succeeding and they feel like they can have the best career possible at VMware. And when I approach this role, that's how I think about applying it to VMware. >> Tell me about the culture at VMware before this hit. And how has it evolved in just the last eight weeks, knowing, well, knowing there's a lot of uncertainty and probably assuming, "We're going to be working "from home for a while"? What is that overall spirit of the company? >> Yeah, so VMware was already having, you know, quite a number of distributed employees but still kind of an office-centric culture. And we were working on an initiative to move that faster, and our executives are calling it, Faster in to The Future, where we're really embracing this distributed working model moving forward. It's been this huge impetus to grab onto this as an opportunity to build the future of the company, to tap into new talent pools and to really embrace how and where our employees want to work and give them the choice on how and where they want to work. >> And one of the things too, I work from home a lot when I'm not traveling. So there's a balance. And I thought, "Well, I know how to work from home, "but this is a very different situation." A lot of folks I'm talking to are all acknowledging the same emotional concerns or waking up one day going, "I don't feel very motivated today." But also some of the things that I'm hearing resoundingly are everybody's in that same storm. And acknowledging that is really critical because that's also an authentic way of communicating. I'd like to know though, your thoughts about the fact that we're all, you know, using Zoom, and we have, thankfully the technologies. VMware has a lot of technology to enable remote workforce. The connection and thought, diversity of thought. What are some of your recommendations for maybe folks who aren't used to working from home? How can they express or feel the confidence to express their thoughts and their concerns or maybe ideas that they have that this pandemic is bringing up? >> Well, I'm thinking that, first of all, they have to feel like the company is actually supporting that. So you know, to your point about feeling burnt out or just not feeling like they're able to engage. VMware announced pandemic leaves for all of their employees to allow exactly that. If you need to take a break, take a break. No questions asked. And everyone's dealing with a lot of different things. So I think that's important. And then I think that managers and leaders and employees can just create the connection across the company. We've seen so many things at VMware, virtual coffees, parties. We did a sort of variety show as an all-hands and had 20,000 employees calling in to it. Just amazing ways for people to feel like they can still connect with the company and feel part of the community. But I think we also have to be empathetic to Zoom fatigue, which is great technology. But trying to be on video all the time and on can be difficult for people. And so really just staying in touch with people and being honest about where we are, I think is really important for everybody. >> So WT2 number five, first time virtual, but huge success, massive amounts of people, 5,000 or so. As you look forward, you know, we know VM world, huge event. theCUBE has been there for many years, is going to be digital this year. So we're also kind of anticipating, we're not going to have these in-person events for, who knows, maybe it's a year or more. Are you already looking out to WT2, the sixth annual knowing confidently, "We can do this virtually"? But what are your thoughts, kind of looking forward next year based on the community sense that you saw and felt the other day? >> Yeah, so I think there was so much special about the in-person event. You mentioned this at the beginning. This smaller group of women able to connect and really build that in-person community made the event so special, yet it was so incredibly successful, you know, as a virtual event. As an example, sitting and just watching Laura Dern and Kathryn Finney one-to-one essentially, was an amazing experience for me. It felt like I was there with them just having a conversation, which was so cool. And so I think we're really considering how we can continue to have that virtual community but offer that in-person experience. And you know, we haven't entirely figured that out, but it's definitely something top of mind for us. That participation, that broad community, continuing to build, that is going to be so important. >> The inclusion piece of, just struck me when you were talking about, you know, everybody. And I saw lots of comments on Twitter, everybody loved Kathryn Finney and Laura Dern. But one of the things that I find comforting in this time is doing this job from my home office in San Jose. But even watching the local newscasters or you know, the national newscasters at home, everyone is in the same storm. There is a sense of, I would say inclusion in that, that seeing, you know, a recent Oscar-winner, Laura Dern at her home just sort of, I don't want to say, levels the playing field, but it's a connection point that you probably wouldn't have had with her had things been like they were last year. >> Totally, you know? And just the opportunity to chat with her virtually and feel like, yeah, it's very, very connected because we're just right next to each other even though we really weren't. It is truly special and does make you feel and remember that everyone is in the same boat. >> So and one thing that I'm thinking about with your background being a finance expert, is that helpful to you in your role? Again, 'cause there's so much financial uncertainty right now, right? We hear all of that on the news, it's always so negative. Does that give you kind of a different basis by which to help evolve the Diversity and Inclusion program at VMware, understanding that employees have concerns about finances, they're in tough concerns about finances? Tell me a little bit about that experience that you have in this new role and how maybe in this current situation they're dovetailing together. >> Yeah, I think it's really around being metrics-driven and ensuring that we're using data to inform decisions about programs we build and how we talk to leaders and teams. But my finance background and really understanding data and numbers has helped me in this role tremendously. And I think you're right. You know, people are struggling with finances. Maybe their spouses have lost their job or their parents have lost their job. And again, it really just comes back to empathy and understanding what people are experiencing and ensuring that we open the door for them to be able to talk about it and bring that to work and be okay with it. >> And even the governor of California, Gavin Newsom has been talking for weeks about making data-driven decisions. And the tech-nerd in me just lights up right away. I'm like, "I know what that is." but it's important. But a lot of... There are folks that, if you're not in tech, don't understand that, right, because of the economic impacts and some of the toll. But having that, I guess, pragmatic side that I would say, in conjunction with that empathy, that's a pretty good winning combination. >> Yes, exactly. I am very pragmatic (laughs). >> Well, Shanis, it's been a pleasure having you on the program. Thank you so much. I'm so pleased to hear how successful the event was. I'm not at all surprised. But it's great to hear that the sense of community and the energy was there in spades in a digital environment. >> Yes, I'm so glad you were able to be there with us. Thank you so much. >> My pleasure. For Shanis, I'm Lisa Martin. And you've been watching theCUBE's coverage of the digital Women Transforming Technology event. We thank you for your time, we'll see you soon. (uplifting music)