A winding career path is not wasted time.

For Kari Schmitz, Assistant General Counsel at Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company, every unexpected turn added something she could use later.

In this special Nebraska Women in Tech Summit series of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey and co-host Dr. Jessica Olsen, Ed.D., sit down with Kari to talk about career pivots, taking risks and trusting the value of the experiences you collect along the way.

Kari’s path has taken her from university admissions and entrepreneurship to state government, law school, Hudl and now Mutual of Omaha, where she focuses primarily on technology agreements.

That winding road became the foundation for her lightning talk at the 2026 Nebraska Women in Tech Summit.

Kari shares why she wanted to be open about the choices, risks and even mistakes that shaped her career, and why she believes investing in yourself is rarely something you will regret.

The conversation also gets into what made the Summit’s lightning talks so powerful, why networking does not have to feel forced, and why you should not talk yourself out of sharing an idea because you think someone else has already said it.

Your perspective is still yours.

And sometimes the person sitting in the audience needs to hear the message exactly the way you tell it.

What does it really take to create change? Sometimes it's less about having the perfect idea and more about bringing the right people together.

In this special Nebraska Women in Tech Summit series of the TEN Podcast, LaShonna Dorsey of the Aksarben Foundation and guest co-host Dr. Jessica Olsen of Kiewit welcome Lindsay Hruby-Yardley, Innovation Consultant at Don't Panic Labs and a 2026 Nebraska Women in Tech Summit lightning talk presenter.

Lindsay brings a unique perspective to innovation, leadership, and problem-solving. After nearly 22 years of service in the Nebraska National Guard, including serving as Chief of Innovation, she transitioned into the private sector, working in software product management, startups, and innovation consulting.

She shares how being a "bridger," someone who connects people, ideas, and opportunities, has helped her drive change across organizations and industries.

Lindsay also reflects on presenting at the sold-out 2026 Nebraska Women in Tech Summit, why more women should share their expertise, and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who are ready to get things done.

One of her biggest messages? You don't have to be the person leading the charge to make a difference. Sometimes raising your hand and joining the effort is where the real impact begins.

Learn more about the Nebraska Women in Tech Summit, returning April 2, 2027: https://aksarben.org/women-in-tech-summit

AI can save time. But should it be doing the thinking for you?

For Frank Shimerdla of A&O Grant Consulting, the answer is pretty clear.

Frank has worked in grants for about 25 years. Over the past year, he has started incorporating generative AI into different parts of his work, from early drafts to prospect research.

What started as some experimentation has changed the way he approaches the grant process.

In this episode of the TEN Podcast, Frank joins LaShonna Dorsey and guest co-host Shayla Kelly of Complete Weddings + Events to talk about what AI actually looks like in his day-to-day work.

Frank describes AI as an assistant. It can help with some of the heavy lifting and more tedious parts of the process, giving him additional time to focus on the areas where his experience matters most: research, strategy, strengthening the appeal and making sure the final proposal truly represents the organization.

His advice for other grant professionals is simple:

Remain the expert. Steer the process. Use AI as an assistant.

Frank also shares why he would never take an AI-generated narrative without reviewing and editing it, and why maintaining your own voice and authorship still matters.

The conversation also looks ahead at what may happen as AI-generated writing becomes easier to recognize and how grant proposals themselves could evolve as these tools become more common.

This is a practical conversation for grant writers, nonprofit professionals, entrepreneurs and anyone trying to figure out how AI can make their work better without replacing the expertise they bring to it.