Episode 79: Stephanie Lashley, VP Messaging at Bandwidth

"I have never once walked into a room and thought — I wonder if I belong here. And I want every woman in this industry to feel exactly the same way!" — Stephanie Lashley, VP Messaging Strategic Alliances & Infrastructure at Bandwidth, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal

From a mother who came home and talked about telecom at the dinner table…

to a young girl who grew up fascinated by the industry…

to someone who has spent over two decades helping shape how the world messages —

Stephanie's story is one of roots, reinvention, and remarkable impact!

In this episode of Humans of Telecom, Stephanie opens up about:

📱 Working on RCS back in 2012 — over a decade before the world caught up — and what it feels like to finally see it come to fruition

📈 Joining Bandwidth when messaging was barely a side project — and helping build it into a full-blown AI-powered RCS platform over seven years

🏠 Her lifelong love for interior design — from repainting walls on a whim to refinishing hardwood floors with nothing but determination and YouTube

🦋 A little garden that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds — because some of the best recharging happens close to the earth

🗺️ Visiting all 50 US states — with just three left to go — and a travelogue that the world is waiting to read

🧬 98% Sicilian DNA, ancestry traced back to the 14th century, and a salt mine in Trapani named after her family

✍️ A book written in the fifth grade that won recognition at the Young Authors Convention — the first chapter of a lifelong love for writing

👩‍👩‍👧 And the Women in Messaging initiative — born as a dinner for five, now growing to 50 and beyond — because every woman deserves a seat at the table

From Kansas City to Palermo to the global messaging stage —

Stephanie is proof that when you lead with inclusion, show up with empathy, and never stop creating, the industry takes notice!

🎧 Listen now on your favorite podcast platform, and follow Humans of Telecom for more extraordinary voices shaping the industry and inspiring the human spirit!