Getting laid off can either shrink your world or force it open. When we sit down with Yogashri Pradhan, she walks us through how she’s navigated the reality of a cyclical oil and gas industry and why she chose entrepreneurship anyway, building Iron Lady Energy Advisors and taking on fractional leadership roles that keep her close to real operational problems and real outcomes.
We talk about what it actually means to “choose your hard” and how discipline, grief, and career reinvention can exist in the same season of life. Yogashri shares how she thinks about staying marketable, why internships and hands-on experience matter so much in engineering, and how continuous learning becomes a professional safety net. Along the way we connect the dots between industrial automation, field operations, and knowledge management, including how teams can capture hard-won field context so it doesn’t disappear during shift handovers or retirements.
Then we nerd out in the best way: Yogashri’s Petro Papers podcast and her mission to demystify technical papers by interviewing the authors and elevating technical voices. We also touch on applied AI realities, the growing energy demand tied to modern computing, and her upcoming quantum computing symposium at Rice University, plus her book Fueling Impact on building a brand and credibility in oil and gas.
If you’re looking for practical career development advice, mentorship insights, and a clear view of how technical curiosity can turn into leverage, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave us a review with the biggest “choose your hard” moment you’ve faced.
Support the show (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2053051/support)
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🎙 About Automation Ladies
Automation Ladies is an industrial automation podcast spotlighting the engineers, integrators, innovators, and leaders shaping the future of manufacturing.
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🎤 Want to be a guest on the show?
https://www.automationladies.io/guests/intake/
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👩🏭 Connect with the Hosts
Nikki Gonzales: https://linkedin.com/in/nikki-gonzales
Courtney Fernandez: https://linkedin.com/in/courtneydfernandez
Ali G: https://linkedin.com/in/alicia-gilpin-ali-g-process-controls-engineering
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🎟 The Automation Ladies Community Conference: https://otscada.com
Learn more about the hosts’ industrial automation conference OT SCADA CON attended by 100+ automation professionals, engineers, integrators, and technology leaders for hands-on learning, real-world case studies, and meaningful industry connections.
🎬 Credits
Produced by: Veronica Espinoza
Music by: Sam Janes
P.S. - Help our podcast grow with a 5-star podcast review (https://www.podpage.com/automation-ladies/reviews/new/) if you love us!
