Heroes of IT

When it comes to IT, few things require better security than a bank holding our precious savings. BJ Beier started at the Guardian Savings Bank in an entry-level non-IT Position and worked his way to the top, obviously, he knows what he's doing. 

Join us to learn about running IT operations for a small-town regional bank, and what it takes to get there. Enjoy! 

Can you imagine running IT for a major Hollywood awards show? What about the leading video games event of the year? John has done both of these and way more, and is just getting started. 

Join us to hear his story of learning event IT, how to approach venues as a vendor, and what happens when the lights go out.   

Supporting IT Support is now Heroes of IT! Same great show with more guests and a new name and an amazing new logo. With our new brand, we are expanding to include more than just IT support, but other areas within IT as well, and expanding into a video show. IT is an enormous field, and we are bringing you interviews with amazing business technology leaders from across the spectrum. Enjoy!

Freda has worked at a bunch of amazing companies in Silicon Valley such as Facebook, and Bolt.

She has an interesting career starting out in Marketing of all things despite being very into computers from an early age. Surprise surprise, she discovered she didn’t like being in marketing. Like many of our guests, she switched over to IT and the rest is history. Join us to hear her story, this show was a ton of fun, and is full of great insights!

Dr. Eric Cole has a life story that sounds like it should be a movie. He starts out cutting his teeth on cybersecurity for the CIA, when he, get this, decides Cyber Offense is boring since there is always a way to break in. He goes on to become Sr VP and CTO of McAfee, Chief Scientist at Lockheed Martin and even consults on Cyber Security for Bill and Melinda Gates and family as well as many fortune 500 companies.

Join us as we discuss his amazing career, when is the right time to make a move professionally, cyber hygiene, his experience in the CIA, and of course what it's like working with Bill and Melinda Gates.

In this episode, we talk to Justin Esgar about his story into IT as usual and how he met his wife working in IT, as well as what it's like running an MSP, and what to focus on for the future. This is a long episode but a ton of fun with lots of laughs. 

Justin is a businessman IT guy, using his skills to set up one of the top Apple consultancies in NYC, and then spread out into several areas of IT services thanks to his thirst for knowing how things work and a love for awesome customer service.  

In this episode we head out to sea, following our previous episode which was up in the air, and move from Planes to Ships because IT is everywhere. 

Join us as we learn what it takes to run cables and setup wifi on what was not so long ago, the most armored ship on the planet with every room essentially an isolated Faraday cage. Permanently berthed at the Port of Las Angeles in San Pedro CA,  the USS Iowa serves as a museum that has hosted over 100,000 people to date, after an illustrious career as our Navy's flagship. From disguising cables to look authentic to installing magnetic phones for easy removal when Hollywood comes calling, Troy fascinates with his stories of overcoming these challenges and more. 

Continuing our new format of interviewing interesting people in the IT industry, our guest in this episode is the Sr Desktop Tech for Clay Lacy Aviation, one of the largest private jet charter companies in the world with over 250 million miles flown. We explore David’s journey into IT, and as usual, it is unusual. David has a great ability to blend his business knowledge with his IT skills, and run a lean IT Dept. 

Join us to learn what it means to be a Sr Desktop Technician for an aviation company, delve into our love for wings, the flying kind, and the eating kind. :-) Like many of our guests, David got his start in IT through a non-traditional route. Join us to learn about his story and how he manages IT with a small team for a large jet charter company. 

Welcome to the launch of Season two, our 20th episode, and the most fun I have ever had on a podcast episode! Introducing an updated format, interviewing amazing people from the IT Community, sharing their stories, lessons, and giving back to the community. Our first guest of Season 2 is Tanya Janca, author of her new book Alice and Bob Learn Application Security. Tanya is a superstar in the tech community, the founder of We Hack Purple, an online learning academy, and a ton of other amazing programs, an award-winning public speaker, hacker, builder, mentor, and more.

Join us to learn about Tanya’s incredible journey through tech, mentoring, what Application Security means and how she wrote about it in her new book in a way that everyone can learn it easily.

IT Should be as simple as turning on the tap and water coming out. 

Hear more about this and other amazing insights from Colin McCarthy, a global IT leader. Hear his story on how he got into IT, and where his career has taken him. Like many of us, he got his start tinkering with something his parents brought home when he was a kid. 

We discuss a newer path in IT known as SaaSOps which is the management of online applications that are rapidly taking the place of their desktop counterparts and the complexities of managing so many different applications for users all over the world. 

The Coronavirus pandemic has permanently changed the way we work, and adopting newer cloud-based applications allows us to be agile, and allow employees to get their jobs done, no matter what the world looks like. 

Enjoy and Subscribe! 

We are living in unprecedented times. Digital transformation is happening at lightspeed at many of our companies thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic and even the users most resistant to change are begging for newer systems and technologies to enable them to continue working from home.

My guest is Todd Smith, the IT Manager from Snap Inc, a well-loved tabGeeks speaker and a genius when it comes to IT Management. Join us in what might be my best episode ever, as we discuss the changing tides of technology, and how to manage the crazy situation we find ourselves in.

Enjoy and Subscribe!

Understanding your IT infrastructure is critically important. Whether it's for cybersecurity purposes, business continuity, understanding spend and budgets, or just plain being organized, a map of the tools and products your company uses and who has access has many benefits. 

Join me and Scott Lawson in learning about the multiple uses of knowing your IT Architecture, especially during these crisis times where we are making major changes on the fly. Scott is an excellent educator and a well-loved speaker at our first tabGeeks conference, and we had to have him on the podcast to discuss the importance of a properly mapped out IT Architecture, even if you are a small business. It's never too early to start. 

Enjoy and Subscribe!

Most IT Support pros at small/medium-size businesses are overworked, underpaid, and as a result, often overwhelmed. We are given projects and tasks constantly, which have to somehow balance on top of the regular everyday onslaught of our ticketing systems. Putting proper project management in place will not only help you keep track of everything you need to do, but will give you a way to measure your success to your bosses. 

Rose has had an amazing career that started by studying to be an elementary school teacher and pivoting into tech. Gotta love how most people have a crazy story getting into IT! Now she works running project management, #SaasOps, and more. Join us to learn how to run a project taking into account the different steps needed for a smooth rollout, and keep your users happy. 

Enjoy and Subscribe!

Bad managers are the #1 reason people leave companies. I am sure you have heard this before and usually, it's true. If you're a manager, and even if you're not, you are going to want to pay attention to this episode. Tami shares her secrets to developing and maintaining Happy Teams, and what you can do if you are not a manager but still want a Happy Team. 

Happier teams lead to more successful teams, and therefore spending time on your team is valuable for your company. Building legos to develop your team's vision, team trivia nights, and regular meetings all contribute to collaboration and a better work environment for your team. 

Enjoy and Subscribe!

Ok, this week's topic is a bit of a doozy. Our guest this week is Kathy Winger, a lawyer who specializes in Cybersecurity Law. We discuss how she got into focusing on tech in her legal career, and got down in the weeds of the coming privacy laws, specifically CCPA which goes into effect January 1, 2020, and has many of us trembling in our gaming chairs. Many US States have already put consumer privacy laws in place, and many more are being formulated now, so if you have not been affected by this, stay tuned as it's likely coming soon to a state near you. 

IT is usually a thankless profession. When everything is working people forget about us, and when something breaks everything is our fault. This, combined with an almost obsessive sense of duty to keep things humming day and night often leads to burnout. This podcast gets real and examines what burnout looks like, some things you can do to combat it, and why you should be on the lookout for it in yourself and others. Sonia has traveled the world delivering talks on burnout in IT and shares her experience with us here. 

Enjoy and Subscribe!

Public Speaking..... That's the third time I have mentioned it, are you sweating yet? Not many things make hardened IT Support Professionals stomachs turn, but the minute you mention public speaking... Ok ok, I'll stop, I'm sorry. 

By now you can guess what this week's podcast is about. Emily has gone from a career in cybersecurity to a career in helping others in tech convey their knowledge publically. We discuss tips and tricks to remember what you are trying to say, stay calm in front of your peers and/or bosses, and tools you can use to improve. 

Links to content discussed in the episode:

There are 4 million people in the City of Angels, home to the largest port in the western hemisphere, the first city to fully roll out 5G, and sitting on a massive fault line waiting to be all shook up at any moment. This week's guest Jeanne Holm is no stranger to big data, managing IT and teams doing social good around the world.  We talk about her path into IT, what it's like managing IT on a massive city scale, and her work helping improve the lives of LA residents through technology.

Enjoy and Subscribe! 

The time has come for IT to have not only a seat at the planning and operations table, but to shine into the incredible business partner our teams can be.  In this week's episode Jeffrey and I discuss how to get there, and what to do when you are stuck just outside the door.  It sounds a bit odd, but Jeffrey explains why every IT Department should have a mission statement and how to develop it. Most importantly, communicate. Talk to your colleagues at your company and see how you can help them. Being approachable and helpful will lead to greater things. 

Enjoy and Subscribe! 

One of the things we highlight on this show is peoples path into IT. Ty's path was to sign up for the US Navy and be trained in InfoSec. This week's episode is his story, and how he used his experience to go from knowing fairly little about IT, to defending our nation on the digital front, as well as a successful career in information security. We discuss the different types of teams that work together to keep organizations safe, tools, tips, and tricks for IT Support teams to employ, and hear some crazy awesome stories about his time in the military. 

Enjoy and Subscribe! 

Technology moves at an insane pace. Often we are left wondering what the heck a company was thinking with their latest release. This weeks guest Avi Greengart is a Tech Analyst, which means his job is basically to figure that out, and be consumer reports for the people who make and sell the hardware we love. Join us for a fascinating look both backwards and forwards into technology and what's coming next!

Enjoy and Subscribe! 

Cyber Security is a huge part of IT today, and is something that not only spends a lot of time on our minds, also tends to keep us up at night. In this week's episode we discuss empowering your company culture with a security mindset, and of course tools and techniques to keep your business secure. You don't need security in your title to do security. 

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People often forget that people skills are a huge part of our jobs in IT Support. One of the major ongoing themes of this podcast is soft skills, or as we prefer to call them, critical skills. This week's guest is former teacher and current Cloud Training Specialist Olivia Liddell tackling a difficult constant in many of our lives: The Fear of Failure. 

There are so many quotable tips in this episode! Here are a few:

• In an interview, remember that the interviewer WANTS you to succeed! 
• As a trainer you can’t be afraid to tell people I don’t know. This opens them up and lets them know it's ok for them to do it too. 
• Give yourself permission to be amazing

Listen to the podcast for the rest :-D

Enjoy and Subscribe!