About Me

I'm Dasani Madipalli (she/her). I'm currently a Program Manager at Microsoft and I've previously interned at Google and Khan Academy as a software engineer. I'm also a career coach, artist, doodler, writer, blogger and as professional of a day dreamer as someone can be. But if I had to sum it all up in on word I'm a creative problem solver! I love building, creating and learning.
 
At any given time you'll find me scheming with ideas, bouncing about, trying and learning new things and doodling along the way. I also have the sweetest little doggo Ziggy who  just brings so much joy into my world and hopefully yours too! Reach out and say hello - I'd love to connect.
 

My Story

My family and I have uprooted our lives and moved across the globe more often than I can keep track of. I grew up going to Telugu medium school in a bustling little town in India, public schools in Texas,  and my longest stint was at a tiny unique Indian boarding school Rishi Valley that carved out it's own little pocket of the world. 
 
My mom and I moved to America for the last time, with 2 suitcases of clothes and after I finished high school in 2015. I moved to Cleveland and finished my bachelor's at Case Western Reserve University where I graduated suma cum laude with a 4.0 GPA. I majored in Computer Science and minored in math and philosophy. During the course of my college career I had always had two-part time jobs and interned at Google, Microsoft and Khan Academy. I now live in Seattle where I work as a Program Manager at Microsoft. Take a look at my LinkedIn to learn more about my career path!
 
I've move around a lot and the best way I know how to connect to the culture and people around me by building community through giving back. In recent years I've found myself doing this with my virtual community as well and how I started Dasani Decoded.
 
There's more to see, more to explore, people to meet and I'm excited to see where life will take me!

About Dasani Decoded

Apart from caffeine my biggest joy is seeing others succeed. I'm my best self when I'm helping someone else be there best. It's why I started blogging, coaching and everything else I do. I started Dasani Decoded to bring you value, be your cheerleader and see you become the best version of yourself!
 
In 2019 I was in my last semester of undergrad. I began to reflect on my college career. I had so many incredible experiences. Before I started university - I didn’t have a network, I was the first in my family to study in America and I had to pay my way through most of my undergrad. I didn’t even plan on studying Computer Science. Somehow I still managed to succeed and break into top tech.

A large reason for this is because I was privy to the right information at the right time and I was lucky to meet some incredible people who helped me along the way. I wanted more people to have access to the information I realized through networking, LOTS of trial and error, hard work and a sprinkle of luck.
 
I always made time to mentor people, answer questions and give back as much as I could. However there was never enough time in the day to meet with everyone who reached out to me and the unread pile in my inbox kept increasing. Giving back is important to me - it’s how I build community and I truly believe that we rise as we lift those around us.
 
In my last year I was also looking for an outlet for my more creative interests - drawing and writing! So in order to scale the lessons I’ve learnt along the way, as well as to satisfy my creative urges I decided to start Dasani Decoded. It began as a blog and grew into something so much more! I’ve met so many incredible people, seen students who didn’t believe in themselves reach their dreams, and so much more!

FAQs

How can I break into top tech?

First I'd ask yourself - why you care about getting into top tech so much. The company brand doesn't matter as much as what you're really doing day to day. I always encourage my clients and others to ask themselves why it's important to them to work at a big company. Once you figure that out you'll probably realize that you want something else - stability, money status or something else altogether. If you're having trouble working through this we can work through this in a coaching session. You can also read about my journey into top tech in my blog.

How does career coaching work?

I'll work closely with you to understand your dreams and goals. We will develop a plan of action and get you to where you want to be. You can find a more detailed explanation of what we'll do on my webpage on career coaching.

What do you use to draw your doodles?

For digital illustrations I use procreate and draw on the iPad. Occasionally I also edit these on canva.com. I also draw on paper and use a variety of sketch pens and markers to make these.

Can you review my resume?

Yes - I can do this if you book time with me as a part of a coaching session. You can book time on my calendly. You might also find my article about resume reviews insightful.

How should I prep for my tech interview? Can you give me a mock interview?

You can read my tips on prepping for resumes in my article about acing your tech interview! You can get a mock interview by booking a session with me. You can book time on my calendly.

What does a PM do? Describe your job for me.

I describe this in detail in my blog about about the most common questions I get about being a new grad PM. It's a vague job description so I completely understand the confusion.

Can you get me a job at Microsoft?

The short answer - no. I'm not a hiring manager or a recruiter. If you're interested in applying for a job at Microsoft please check jobs.microsoft.com for available positions. The long answer - we can work through your career goals through career coaching.

Features

The following is a list of featured articles and speaking engagements I've done.I love speaking at events and engaging with an audience. I get the most excited about speaking with students and under represented communities. I'll make a fun and insightful speaker/panelist at your next event and always take time to connect with my audience

Highlights & Adventures

Starting at CWRU

I started university at Case Western Reserve Univresity - it was a whirlwind. We just moved to the US and I had no idea what to expect but was ready for an adventure!

Being a RA

Being a Resident Assistant was my first student job! I learnt so much and I loved helping all my residents through their first year in college

Boys & Girls Club

I started my very first after school program in the Boys and Girls club at cleveland. I taught students how to code and it was the start of building a community in Cleveland

Interning @ Google

Google was my very first internship. I did the Engineering Practicum I couldn't believe I landed it. I learnt so much about the tech industry. Most importantly Iearnt that success was more than working at top tech!
Here's how I landed it

Studying in Guatemala

I had the incredible opportunity to study abroad in Guatemala for two weeks. We studied social work and visited non-profits across the country and learn about different schools and education systems. I got to practice my Spanish too!

Interning @ Microsoft

I was a program management intern at Microsoft and worked on the Power BI Customer Success team. This was my first experience with program management and it eventually helped me decide to work as a PM full-time.

GWC @ CWRU

After 3 years of hard work we finally launched a girls who code chapted at my university. It took a lot of continuous effort but we did it. In my final semester we got to see 14 high school girls graduate through the GWC program and learn to code. The club continued after I graduated too!

Intern @ Khan Academy

As someone who loves tech and education working at Khan Academy was a dream come true. I was the first person from my university to work there. I worked as a software engineer. I developed a new login authentication model for the website. Here's me on the official website!

Google WTM Scholar

I received the Google Women Techmaker Scholarship in 2018. I was 1 of 20 women to be selected across North America. It is an incredible honor and the community I developed here has influenced and impacted my life and career more than I could have imagined.

Dasani Decoded

After so much trepidation I finally launched Dasani Decoded. I wrote my first blog post on LinkedIn and it started the beginning of lots of doodling and an incredible community. I've seen so many people realize their dreams and have made some wonderful friends. Here's my website!

Graduating

After working 2 part-time jobs to pay for college for 4 hard long years I graduated suma cum laude from CWRU with a 4.0. I majored in Computer Science and minored in math and philosophy. I loved my time there and met some incredible people. Read my interview with CWRU to learn more

Drivers License

Driving was one of my biggest fears - so getting my license was an incredible accomplishment for me. I never thought I'd be able to do it. After failing the test once I finally passed. Now I drive all the time and have gone on many roadtrips - and have come a long way since facing my fears.

1st Day @ Microsoft

Microsoft is my first full-time job! I'm a program manager for the Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management product and get to work on new exciting features every day. Read my article to learn more about my job and what I do

Adopting Ziggy

Ziggy is a beagle mutt we adopted from Seattle Humane. He's such a sweet heart and has brought so much joy into my life. He's always wiggling about and makes sure I go on walks every day.

1st - IATA Hackathon

I worked with the non-profit Live Baby Live and we build a solution for wheel chair tracking for airlines at the IATA Hackathon. We won the first prize for the best wheel chair tracking solution for corporations