(Originally published on August 25, 2020 by Microsoft 365 Insider Engagement Team)
As part of our new Insider Spotlight series, we are introducing you to MVPs, creators, and tech leaders who love the Office Insider program.
Leila Gharani
She's a Microsoft MVP with 15+ years of experience implementing and training users on Management Information Systems of different sizes and nature. Leila Gharani's scope ranges from smaller systems to Excel, Oracle Hyperion Financial Management, and SAP BW applications.
She helps more than 140,000 students worldwide advance their Excel skills and accelerate their careers via her popular YouTube channel and her online courses. Gharani also provides customized Excel dashboard seminars, enhanced visualization techniques, and advanced Excel seminars to large corporations and teaches at the University of Applied Sciences in Upper Austria
We recently caught up with Gharani to discuss her career in tech and what she thinks of the Office Insider program.
Leila Gharani
Tell us about why you love the Office Insider program.
I get to test new features and tell my audience about it on my YouTube channel and my blog. Sharing these with the community and getting their feedback and enthusiastic comments make me very happy.
What is something you've created because of the Officer Insider program?
The new dynamic array formulas in Excel were a life changer! I think you can tell from this video how excited I was when I heard about these. Creating interactive dashboards became practically effortless! The new XLOOKUP function is also one of my go-to functions for any type of lookup situation.
I also became a big fan of PowerPoint slide zoom and the enhanced Morph features. With Slide zoom, you keep your audience engaged as you effortlessly switch to a specific section of your presentation. This gives you the ability to change the order of your presentation based on your audience's interaction. The morph feature provides the presentation with an even more professional touch. Especially when the new "Morph between shapes" feature was added. I think my audience also became a fan of this feature as the video has over 1 million views!
Leila Gharani
Tell us about your journey in tech.
I have a master's in economics from the University of Toronto in Canada. I first wanted to be a Journalist, though, so I had applied to various universities for that, but somehow just before starting, I decided I better go into economics.
When I started studying economics, I realized the most fun parts were the statistics and econometrics lectures. I didn't like writing papers, but I enjoyed working with numbers and anything that required logical thinking.
After my studies, I worked for a non-profit organization in Ottawa, doing research on living standards, productivity, and economic well-being in Canada. After a year, I decided to move back to Vienna, Austria (I lived there before my studies). I started to work as an in-house consultant for a large paper company. I got to create management information systems in Excel to enable waste tracking and reporting. That was when I started to get good in Excel and create VBA tools.
I then worked for about 12 years on SAP and Oracle projects, rolling out new financial and reporting systems. Excel was my daily tool for report creation and reconciling numbers and even creating mapping tools with VBA to translate data from one system to another.
During this time, I really enjoyed training people on the systems we implemented. I realized I wanted to spend more time teaching, so I started my own company. Once I discovered the power of online training, there was no going back.
What is one word that best describes how you work?
Determined. When I set a long-term goal for a new project, I give my all until it's done.
What movies or books or other forms of art inspire you the most?
These days I'm mostly reading business books and books about entrepreneurship. I'm fascinated by successful entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and their achievements. It inspires me to push my boundaries in my own small world.
I also enjoy watching movies both for a good story but also for the technical quality. Before I started creating videos, I never really thought about what goes into it. Now that I understand a little bit, I absolutely admire good storytelling, smooth editing, or smart music choices in a movie. It motivates me to also try out new things in my work.
Which superhero character do you connect with in real life?
I'm not too much into superheroes, but I'd probably pick Wonder Woman if I had to choose. Not just because she is a powerful, strong-willed character but because she represents a successful, independent woman.
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