Acknowledgments

First and foremost, thank you to my partner, mentor, and friend, John O’Brien for everything—from the ideation process to taking the time to pen the foreword for this book. Without your ongoing support and constant and unyielding faith in me this project would never have been dreamed up, much less come to fruition. Thank you for always believing in me, from our earliest days to today and beyond. Your honesty and perspective have been invaluable and it’s no exaggeration to say I wouldn’t be where I am today without you. If I could put a 30 Rock meme in this section to better express my adulation for you, you know that I would! Long live Jack and Liz!

Next, my sincerest thanks to Julie Langenkamp. I have been fortunate to know you over many years on the path from editor, to peer, and to friend. Thank you for being a willing and patient voice of reason and an editor extraordinaire, and for indulging some of my sillier anecdotes in these pages without taking them under the almighty red pen. I know that unscrambling my thoughts and ironing them out into written words is no small task, and I never recognized your superior diplomacy skills until I read your comments on each and every graf in this book. Just don’t touch the dragon!

I would also like to thank the other members of my Radiant family. Natalie Whitney, for your unwavering positivity and enthusiasm, and for always keeping my wine glass—and my spirits—full. You have a knack for bringing out the good in people, even me, and even when it’s three am and we’re sitting in a hotel lobby in our housecoats. I love you for that. And, to Jason Cenamor, the unofficial fourth in the Radiant Advisors family, for always keeping it classy. You’re a bloody brilliant friend.

To my team at Morgan Kauffman: Andrea Dierna for bringing me into the Elsevier family several years ago, Steve Elliott for believing in this project, and most especially Amy Invernizzi, for leading me through the publication process with grace and patience. To Krish Krishnan, Tolga Durdu, and Dr Nathan Halko for being willing to read the embryotic first scripts of the scope of this text and giving it your thumbs up. Additionally, to Nathan, for being a data scientist up for examination, and for putting that angry Lego kitty unicorn in your slide deck at Data Summit. I still smile when I think about that.

To a select few of my spectacular peers in the data industry, for each of your unique contributions in talking, thinking, brainstorming, or motivating me along the journey from Chapters 1 to 13—perhaps though you didn’t even know it: Andrew Cardno, Richard Hackathorn, Suzanne Hoffman, Stephen Swoyer, Bob Eve, Rado Kotorov, Kim Dossey, Kerry Gilger, Craig Jordan, Frank Buytendijk, Ted Cuzzillo, David Napoli, and Robert Kosara. Over the course of this journey, I have humbly requested guidance and reviewers from those whose insights and opinions I value, and I am grateful for each of you.

To my colleagues, peers, and friends in academia—Barbara Wixom, Kelly Flores, Arron Grow, Pressley Rankin, Greg Price, Kyle Schlesinger, and Jason Brinkley—for support and guidance, and for keeping my academic integrity meter on high. To Theresa Gehrig, my APA savior. And, without fail, thanks are owed to my long-time mentor, pen pal, and most cherished of professors, Robert “Dr. Bob” Brownlow, who once told me long, long ago, “Lindy, I’m going to push you to the breaking point in your work—and then push you even harder. You’re going to hate it, but you’ll thank me later.” Do you remember that? I do. Thank you, again.

To all the various visual artists, designers, and sources of data-driven inspiration who allowed me to use samples of their work as illustrations in this text. The list is long, but a special thank you to everyone, including but not limited to Matt Brighton, Manuel Lima, Chelsea Carlson, Stefanie Posavec, Giorgia Lupi, Danny Fein, RJ Andrews, Scott Schwertly, Bill Shander, Jon Schwabish, Riccardo Scalco, and Marcin Plonka, I am privileged to know you and share your work. A special thank you to my friend, Dan Walters, who turned my doodles into drawings more than a time or two. Likewise, I am honored to have had the opportunity to interview, profile, and quote several experts in these pages, and learn from you and share your wisdom. Thank you, especially, to Deane May Zager for playing interview phone tag for no less than three months and then giving me one of the most inspiring conversations to date!

Last but certainly not least, to the people who take up the largest majority of my heart—my family. To my parents and in-laws—Mom, Dad, Paul, Dave, Korla—for not having a clue what I do for a living but being proud of me and buying this book anyway. To my sister, Lisa, for keeping my eyes big with dreams of Ted Talks. To Mike, for giving me room to write and being tolerant and supportive while I have pursued my dreams. To my brilliant, clever, and kind son, Wake. To Shon. To my purring fluff balls, Oskar and Ferrous, for keeping me company in long hours spent in my writing cave. It truly takes a village.