In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve put together a list of six female trailblazers and thought-leaders at the forefront of sound. While there are countless iconic women in the industry, today we’re celebrating the women who go the extra mile to spread the word and share the wisdom.
- Shyamala Prayaga
Shyamala is a leading expert in conversation AI, voice assistants, voice technology and conversation design. Today, she works in conversational AI at NVIDIA. Prior, Shyamala made her name in sound when working for Ford Motor Company as the Product Manager for Conversational AI. In that role, she led Ford’s Autonomous Digital Assistant innovation for voice and chatbots. Shyamala is also the founder of the Digital Assistant Academy.
- Susan Westwater
Susan Westwater is the co-founder and CEO of Pragmatic Digital where she uses voice strategy to help clients amp up their marketing and customer experiences. Throughout her time in the voice and sonic industry, Susan co-authored Voice Strategy and has presented numerous articles, ebooks, talks and workshops on the role of voice technology in marketing and business strategy.
- Jeanna Isham
Jeanna Isham, creator of 100 Sound in Marketing podcast episodes, is a sonic brander and composer. She is the owner of Dreamr Productions, which specializes in creating custom music, sonic branding, and sound identities for brands and companies. Jeanne tells companies’ stories through musical narratives, seeking to create a sincere and unique connection between clients and consumers.
- Dr. Joan Palmiter Bajorek
Joan Palmiter Bajorek, a conversational AI expert with deep research experience, is the founder and CEO of Women in Voice. WIV has become an international organization that hosts a summit, awards and pitch events for the women and diverse voice community and now operates in 15 countries.
- Jodi Krangle
Based in Canada, Jodi Krangle specializes in voiceover acting and audio branding. She has voiced national and international commercial campaigns and narrated documentaries, TV shows and corporate & explainer videos for Fortune 500 companies. She is also the host of the Audio Branding podcast which explores advertising, marketing, music and science.
- Colleen Fahey
With her deep expertise in sonic branding and marketing, our very own U.S. Marketing Director, Colleen Fahey, was a no-brainer for this list. Colleen is an expert at building brands via sound and has made a significant impact not only at Sixième Son, but on the entire sonic branding industry. Most notably her book, Audio Branding: Using Your Sound To Build Your Brand, provides a detailed roadmap for how companies can construct and evolve their brand through sound.
Photo by horst friedrichs on almay