On June 12, 2022, I was delighted to be the guest on Power Query Magic Podcast with host Wyn Hopkins.  

Wyn and I chatted about our paths to learning Excel and Power Query and that magic moment you realize Excel can do virtually anything. We went on to talk about the joy of solving puzzles and finding Power Query. We laughed about my reasons for starting MS Excel Toronto Meetup group and discussed its birth, growth, and value to the community.    

Other topics we talked about were:  

  • The role of Power Query in automating solutions and the challenges of clients or users who don’t realize how much Excel and Power Query can do.   
  • How curiosity is key to growing in Excel and your career.  
  • How we keep up to date with all the changes and new features.  
  • What we would like to see fixed next in Excel – my top choice is to access Power Query and Excel at the same time.  

We had fun playing Wyn’s “Just a Minute” game, where we had to talk about text transformations in Power Query without repeating words – easier said than done. Spoiler alert – I did better than expected! 

Power Query Magic - The One with Celia Alves

Wyn asked one of his standard questions about my ‘terrible presentation moment when things went horribly wrong’. My horror story had to do with a live session not going as planned when I decided to throw in something I had not prepared.  Note to self, don’t do that again! 

We closed off with the one item I would take if I was stranded on a desert island – the twist, the item must begin with M, in honour of Power Query’s M language.  My essential item is my ‘mantinha’ (you can find out what that is at the very end of the interview.) 

Thanks, Wyn, for a truly enjoyable experience!  

If can also listen to the episode here