Big Data, Big Creativity at Southwest Airlines

Mining Your Own Business Podcast

In the ever-evolving world of data science, creativity is key to problem-solving. In this episode Mary Stimson, Big Data Analyst at Southwest Airlines, shares her journey into data science and how creativity has come into play in her role. Tune in as host Evan Wimpey chats with Mary about the importance of adaptability and innovation in data science, and how these elements play a role in creating solutions.

Key Takeaways
🔹The role of big data at Southwest Airlines and how it’s being used to effectively evaluate constantly emerging data points
🔹How AI and ML are helping Southwest Airlines optimize operations and address complex challenges
🔹The importance of understanding the needs of key stakeholders to create data-driven solutions
🔹How creativity in data science plays a significant role in solving problems
Quotes
💬 “Data science is solving new problems. And when it comes to solving new problems, there has to be a willingness to create new solutions, new ideas.”
💬 “Big data means that there's always a frontier of unknowns—a frontier of that infinite growth that can be discovered. I think that’s also what’s fun about big data.”
💬 “I always say that data science should provide information and not answers to people. So I love what I get to do because it allows that intuition to interact with what the computers are telling us.”
Featured in This Episode
Mary Stimson, Big Data Analyst, Southwest Airlines
Mary Stimson is a Big Data Analyst and UI/UX developer at Southwest Airlines. She graduated from Texas A&M in 2019 as a Business Honors and Accounting major. Today Mary works on the Enterprise Data Science Center at Southwest Airlines, where she problem-solves in an internal business consulting role, performing analytics for the financial planning and analytics department and building interactive web tools to bring data insight to human decisions. Mary works with such tools as SQL, Python, ReactJS, HTML, Tableau, Alteryx, and Collibra. As a lifelong learner, Mary is also a part-time student at Dallas Theological Seminary, pursuing her masters in Christian Studies. Mary currently holds one pending utility patent regarding an animal computing interface.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mary-stimson-693912145/
Evan Wimpey, Director of Analytics Strategy, Elder Research
Company website: elderresearch.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/evan-wimpey
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:36 Mary’s background and her journey to the role of big data analyst and UI/UX developer at Southwest Airlines
02:13 Developing models using human intuition - Mary's transition from business analyst to data science role and involvement in metadata management.
03:30 Discussion on the types of users and departments Mary's team collaborates with at Southwest.
05:59 The diverse knowledge sets within Mary's team and the value of different backgrounds.
09:46 Creativity and its role in data science
13:56 How Mary’s team at Southwest Airlines invests time on project work and personal growth
16:37 Further defining what big data means and Mary’s role as an analyst
19:14 AI and ML implementation at Southwest
22:06 Discussing data-driven ideas for the future
25:03 Sharing ways to continue the conversation on data science

Find more show notes, transcripts, & more episodes at:
https://www.elderresearch.com/resource/podcasts/