The Audit Podcast – Ep 258: Bringing Audit Data to Life with Visualizations

Guest: Valerie Ann Zappia (Internal Audit Data Analytics Manager, Victoria’s Secret)
Host: Trent Russell
Date: October 7, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Trent Russell talks with Valerie Ann Zappia, the internal audit data analytics manager at Victoria’s Secret. The conversation centers around practical strategies for integrating data analytics and visualization into audit, navigating common challenges—like data quality and tool selection—and fostering analytics skills among non-specialist auditors. Valerie shares personal techniques, success stories, and actionable insights for anyone looking to elevate their audit function using data, all peppered with real-world examples and her signature humor.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Using AI Tools in Professional and Personal Life

• Professional goal-setting with Copilot:
  Valerie uses Copilot to help define her annual professional goals, leveraging the AI to build upon past objectives and make the process more dynamic.
  Quote:

  “I put my job description into Copilot and said like, what are four or five solid goals for this role?... I kind of like went back and forth with Copilot to figure out what my goals were going to be for the year. And I thought it was super helpful.” – Valerie Zappia [01:47]

• Personal life hacks with ChatGPT:
  Beyond work, Valerie uses ChatGPT for house-hunting, letting the AI analyze Zillow listings, suggest bid strategies, and review home disclosures for smart home-buying decisions.
  Quote:

  “I use ChatGPT personally. So I'll put the Zillow link into ChatGPT and say, can you do a market analysis on this house?... It took less than a minute for it to give me that information.” – Valerie Zappia [02:44]

2. Handling Data Availability and Quality Issues in Audit

• Building approachable relationships:
  Valerie finds that being approachable encourages openness in data sharing across departments.

• Requesting better data, not just fixing bad data:
  Instead of laboriously cleaning data, she asks data owners to walk through and even improve their reporting processes, resulting in cleaner data upfront.

• Learning over time:
  Earlier in her career she fixed whatever she was given; now she feels empowered to tactfully “push back” and get better quality raw information. Quote:

  “Sometimes going back to that person and saying, like, can you just walk me through how you actually pull this report?... I've gotten customized reports either created for me or had helped them create new reports to organize the data a little bit better to save me time on my end.” – Valerie Zappia [05:16]

• Video documentation for completeness & accuracy:
  The team sometimes asks data owners to record their process for data pulls, enhancing documentation and auditability. Tools like Loom and Teammate make this easy.
  Trent Russell: “Just record a video, show us how you are pulling this, and then you have the completeness and accuracy part of it documented.” [06:44]

3. Tool Selection for Data Analytics

• Reality vs. ideal world:
  Valerie values Tableau’s customization (which she used in prior roles and formal classes), but at Victoria’s Secret, tool choice is driven by cost and existing licenses—thus, Power BI is standard thanks to Microsoft packages.

• Adaptability as a skill:
  Regardless of tool, the key tasks remain: summarizing data, joining datasets, and using functions (e.g., pivot tables, VLOOKUP). Quote:

  “If I could go into every job and they could give me Tableau, I would be so happy. But that’s not how the world works.” – Valerie Zappia [09:46]

• Maintaining relevance:
  Valerie regularly attends free conferences (e.g., Tableau, Google Looker), highlighting the need for constant learning in a shifting tool landscape.

• Host’s tip:
  “Whenever I get a new tool, I go, how can I join data? How do I summarize and put stuff in a pivot table? And then I’ll just use the Internet to figure out the functions.” – Trent Russell [10:24]

4. Upskilling Audit Teams and Promoting Data Literacy

• Embedded analytics goals:
  Valerie’s team now requires every member to set a data analytics goal annually, using AI tools like Copilot or ChatGPT for support.

• Required training:
  Each auditor must complete annual CPE hours, with at least half devoted to specialized skills like analytics or IT.

• Instilling analytics thinking:
  Audit procedures now include prompts asking if data analytics was considered; Valerie actively encourages her team to seek her input and try new approaches. Quote:

  “I am trying to get my team to the point where they can recognize that I can help them with something... I just need them to be able to recognize like hey, this is an opportunity... reach out.” – Valerie Zappia [12:22]

• Challenge:
  People naturally tend to repeat what worked before. Valerie is working to turn that on its head.

• Wish list from peers:
  As echoed by Trent’s conversation with another analyst, the ideal is for every auditor to spend even “two minutes” thinking about how analytics could enhance each audit.
  [14:18-15:36]

5. Aligning Analytics with Broader Business Strategy

• Securing buy-in:
  Valerie’s leadership proactively champions her work, referring her to business contacts across the organization.

• Show, don’t just tell:
  To build credibility and spark ideas, she creates demo dashboards with public data (e.g., Google Trends for Victoria’s Secret, Kaggle datasets) to show stakeholders what’s possible. Quote:

  “One thing that I did when I first started was I created some dashboards just using dummy data that I found on the internet... If you can give people tangible examples, they will be more willing to work with you.” – Valerie Zappia [17:30]

• Connecting through relatable topics:
  Valerie likes using engaging data sets—like Taylor Swift’s song stats or Google Trends search history—to teach and engage both business partners and audit teams. Quote:

  “I made a presentation on data analytics and visualization using data that I pulled from that Kaggle website on every single song that Taylor Swift has ever put out... They were able to connect to it a little bit.” [21:06]

• Host’s tip:
  Using personal interests (Trent did fantasy football data) helps make learning tools and concepts fun and sticky, and the skills transfer seamlessly to business data. [24:20]

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On pushing for better data:
  “It’s going to take me hours sometimes it’s going to take me days. But sometimes going back to that person and saying, like, can you just walk me through how you actually pull this report?” – Valerie Zappia [05:16]

• On tool pragmatism:
  “If you can do pivot table, VLOOKUP, and use the internet to figure out the function, you do that in every single tool.” – Trent Russell [10:24]

• On analytics culture:
  “I am trying to turn that on its head. I always try to go in team meetings, too, and if there's something little that I can, like, present to them... But I try for them to just remember, you know, to reach out.” – Valerie Zappia [13:38]

• On making learning fun:
  “I probably spent way too much time on it. But whenever I was giving the presentation and teaching people about all of the visualizations and things, they were able to connect to it a little bit. Because you would think at least everybody in the room, like, knew Taylor Swift, who she was, you know?” – Valerie Zappia [21:06]

Timestamps for Key Sections

• 01:47 – Valerie’s AI usage for professional goal setting
• 02:44 – ChatGPT for house hunting and personal productivity
• 05:16 – Addressing data acquisition and quality issues with stakeholders
• 07:48 – Tool selection: Tableau vs. Power BI and learning new tools
• 10:24 – Universal analytics tasks and learning approaches
• 12:22 – Upskilling and embedding analytics into the audit team
• 14:18 – Auditors’ mindset shift: thinking differently about analytics
• 17:30 – Building buy-in with other business units, creating demo dashboards
• 21:06 – Using Taylor Swift and relatable data to teach analytics/visualizations
• 24:42 – Host’s advice: Use hobby data (e.g., fantasy football) to learn tools

Closing Thoughts

Valerie wraps up with advice that bridges both career development and analytics: openly tell people about your goals. This transparency draws support and serendipitous opportunities—her own path to Victoria’s Secret came thanks to her mother remembering her childhood dream job.

“If I wouldn't have said all of those things out loud, she still remembered what my dream job was when I was 10 and how many, you know, 20 years later, she helps me by throwing that in my inbox.” – Valerie Zappia [25:46]

Takeaways

• Be proactive and approachable in data relationships—don’t just accept the status quo.
• Choose tools pragmatically, but keep your skills adaptable and up-to-date.
• Infuse analytics into everyday audit thinking, even for non-specialists.
• Use relatable, fun data to deepen understanding and engagement.
• Share your career goals—you never know who might help open a door.

For more tips and the latest in audit analytics, be sure to subscribe and check the show notes for additional resources.