cottontales' podcast

Dean Tolson, formerly of the Seattle Super Sonics, won fame and fortune while all the while he had a secret that would destroy what had earned through his basketball career.  

Dr. Rouson is a software scientist specializing in upgrading legacy codes to modern standards and practices. Dr. Rouson believes that writing better code leads to better outcomes.  

Dr. Edward Blakely, the recovery czar, environmentalist and author of 22 books.  His latest book, My Storm, lessons on rebuilding New Orleans after hurricane Katrina.

Solari came to Silicon Valley and brought career consulting to the industry.  Solari calls it Down-To-Earth, Authentic Employment & Career Consulting. 

Vice Mayor Charles “Chappie” Jones represents City Council District 1, the region of West San José that borders the cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Santa Clara and Saratoga. Jones was born in Sacramento and moved to San José in the 1990s. Before he joined the council, Jones worked in the private sector, where he held sales management positions with Apple and AT&T, was an executive manager with Cornerstone Consulting and Technology, and owned a technology service business. 

  William Scott the Chief of police for the City and County of San Francisco.  Chief Scott has brought his 27 years of experience to the bay to lead the police force of this progressive northern California city. 

ST Saffold worked tirelessly to help students to realize their potential and rise above their station in life.  Quietly, behind the scene, S T made a positive impact on every student he encountered. 

Andre Chapman, CEO of Unity Care left the high tech world to give a helping hand to those young people transitioning out of foster care.  Providing housing, educational opportunities and hope. Improving the lives of foster youth throughout Northern California.

Andre Chapman the CEO of Unity Care is giving foster children the future they deserve as they age out of the foster care system. Through his efforts young people are provided housing, educational opportunities and hope.

The Chakra Doctor, aka Rev Rand Dunbar recognized as a yoga teacher, a minister to the spirit, and a man of new ideas.  

John Hill came from humble beginnings to become one of the corporate leaders in Silicon Valley and the County of Los Angeles, as Director of Affirmative Action in numerous companies.  

Gloria Young, former city official in Palo Alto and San Francisco. Gloria excelled at every level as she was promoted up the managerial, winning her city, state, national and global recognition for her management techniques.  She has traveled thoroughout the world working in corporations training management teams. .

Milt Winfrey a former Materials Manager at IBM and entrepeneur based in Silicon Valley. Milt has traveled the globe working for IBM and for a startup manufacturing company later purchased by Sea Gate. His work ethic and willingness to learn afforded him a front line view of the workings of manufacturing in the US and the far east.

Janice is the host and executive producer of Janice Edwards TV: Bay Area Vista produced through her production company Edwards Unlimited and airing on CreaTV.

Scotts technical epertise as a liaison between universities and emerging industries in Silicon Valley, directing funds and technical advise to startups and scientific developers through contract negotiations, marketing and industry research.

Mr John Hall a retired executive of DuPont, one of the first African Americans hired by Dupont as a salesman. His first sales assignment was in Portland Ore. He overcame sundown laws and racial prejudice in the northwest. John became a favorite with the Dupont customers while opening doors for others.

Mr. Sylvester Mack, formerly a sales engineer who headed up a leverage buy out that landed him a company to run. Mr. Mack shares his entrepreneurial experience in Silicon Valley. Sometimes I have to convince my interviewees that they are part of the history of Silicon Valley.

Wilbur Jackson, a retired IBM Executive worked his way to the top at IBM. In his retirement he continues to pay it forward helping young people become interested in STEM.

Clennita Justice presently working as a program manager for Google excelled in mathematics and technology. As a software engineer in Silicon Valley her career has gone from UC Berkeley, to Lucas Films and Google.

June Fleming is the first African American woman to become a city manager in California.  Mrs. Fleming's is responsible for extending Sand HIll Road into Palo Alto and universal internet services to name a few of her improvements to the commumity known as the heart of Silicon Valley.

Raina Parks, Mechanical Engineering Manager at Lockheed Martin, gives us a look into her busy eclectic life.  Engineer, Opera Singer and parent of two sons this young lady stays busy and involved.  She and her musical husband work together to maintain a lifestyle that includes all their interest.  

Tony Robinson began his career as a CPA and controller in corporations.  He left corporate and became a financial advisor, creating a consulting company to give guidance to individuals seeking advice about their personal finances.  Toni also published a book for parents entitled the "Children's Book of Knowledge a guide for teaching wisdom to children".

Judith Robinson shares her work in the financial world as she rises through the ranks of financial officers working in savings and loans and accepts the position of Comptroller of the Currency investigating the business practices of Banks and Savings and loans.

Mr. Gyamfi and his partners have created a website that will make event planning more efficient for groups of any size.

Caretha Coleman co-founder of Coleman Consulting, is a leader and visionary with a purposeful drive to better the lives and careers of people of color at all levels of Corporations and non profit organizations. 

Ms Debra Watkins has dedicated her life to the improvement the methods for teaching children of color in the public schools. Developing ways to afford children a pathway to success. She authored a book "Thought Held Hostage, A Black Teachers Journey of Unlocking Young Minds".

Janie Jensen is a former IBM Human Resources manager turned  professional real estate stager.  She works closely with home owners and real estate sales staging  houses to ensure they will sale.

DevOps engineer is an IT professional who works with software developers, system operators and admins, IT operations staff and others to oversee and/or facilitate code releases or deployments on a CI/CD basis.

DevOps engineer is an IT professional who works with software developers, system operators and admins, IT operations staff and others to oversee and/or facilitate code releases or deployments on a CI/CD basis.

Mr. Raymond Newsome retired Engineer for Shell Oil. Ray's Unique journey from his high school drafting class to Senior engineer for one of the largest oil companies in the world is one that would probably never happen today.

Cassandra Durkin is a musical phenom that toured the world singing and playing in 5 star hotels and luxury liners.  Cassandra honors us with the  story of her life in the world of music.  

Maynard Holliday is a senior engineer working in Robotics and Artificial intelligence.  Since this interview Maynard has joined the Biden-Harris administration to work in the Pentagon as the Director of Research and Engineering for Modernization. 

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From a learning disability and a fortuitous meeting with Bill Graham Brian Miller has traveled the world and enjoyed a unique vantage point working with some of the most talented people in the world.  Brian has developed  an eclectic approach to learning that suits those young people who  have a learning disabilities using laser scanners.  

Wes Hendrix an entrepreneur and  producer on http://www.blaxradio.com.  blax radio and also a QA Engineer in the gaming industry.  Wes graduated from San Jose State University that gave birth to the first internet streaming radio station and one of the first black websites.  His career began on local radio stations kpix and kgo radio.  

 Dr. Grace Carroll Phd. has been a teacher, researcher and mentor to many successful African Americans that attended Stanford University, University of California Berkeley and Howard University.  She encouraged, informed and counseled African Americans to achieve success

John Spears a retired Jack of all trades. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay area, during the days of hippies and rampant drug use, he was faced with some difficult life choices along the way.  

Joyce Gordon, owner and founder of the Joyce Gordon Gallery has operated in downtown Oakland, California for 18 years.

  The Good brothers were there before San Jose State University became known for its'  track stars dubbed  “Speed City” but their legacy lived on as an example to all the athletes that followed the Good Brothers.

Mrs. Patricia Nero, retired from her post as Pharmacy Director for San Mateo County Hospital, the county Jail and six clinics. Patricia ran a tight ship despite the lack of funds or employees.

As the Associate Professor of Science Education Dr. Brown is training educators to teach science in the most efficient and appropriate way.  Dr. Brown is a researcher that gets to the heart of learning. Dr. Brown believes that If you can do phycological damage then you should also be able to engage in  phycological  empowerment.

Rachel Wong is a Marine Scientist working in social media marketing at the Monterey  Bay aquarium in Monterey, California.  She talks with us about her life and her aspirations in the field of ecology and marine science.  Rachael covers a range of subjects regarding science and personal growth.  

Joe Hargrove the former newscaster for the bay area radio station KDIA during some troubling times, talks to me about his life and career changes.  

Gary Stafford Investigations Progressor:  Mr. Gary Stafford an Investigations Progressor at Abbott Diabetes Care, has worked for 20 years at Abbott Labs.  During his career Gary has filed and was granted over 40 patents for his engineering excellence.

Meet Dawn Brown a young woman involved in coaching and advocating for those in the mental health community.  She works with the Santa Clara County Chapter of the national alliance  on mental illness.    She has started a nonprofit organization  Leaders  Tomorrow that provides mental health professionals targeted for people of color.

Theresa Isaac Thomas Former Group Human Resources Director at Abbott Diabetes Cares  in Alameda California.  Theresa has lived in many places and learned several languages before returning to the states to work in Silicon Valley.  Theresa has held upper management positions in corporations throughout Silicon Valley.  

Brian Reaves Chief Diversity Officer for Dell Computer talks with me about his entrepreneurial experiences and his climb up the corporate ladder. 

Meet Taylor Baloney CEO and founder of Find My Everything Inc. a GPS powered device for commercial and domestic use.