"How did they get that awesome IT job?" Mike Smith interviews fascinating IT professionals, holding high profile positions, with cool companies. You’ll hear these ITsmiths recount the trials that nearly broke their spirit, the "aha" moments, and the memories of mentors they’ll never forget. Prepare to be inspired!
Dennis Keane's inspiring story of how his thirst for learning led him to make a daring suggestion to his boss, which paved the way to his current position of VP and CIO of Red Wing Shoes. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
Mike Madden went from digging holes at a construction job to becoming a top IT executive for Cardno, one of the largest environmental development companies in the world. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
Are you doing the same job now, that you knew you wanted to do when you were 18? I know I’m not. I wanted to be a doctor, and well... I’m not a doctor. Dennis Leber had the same problem. As you’ll hear, Dennis didn’t find his true career calling until he was in his mid-thirties. Now, he’s the CISO for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and absolutely lives Cyber Security. For more information visit Https://www.aerocominc.com
Have you ever told someone: “I’m only hard on you because I know you have the potential to do great things.” If you ask Doug Saunders, he’d tell you to keep it up. Whether it was his Grandfather, the owner of the company, or his mentor, Doug had many people in his life who were very hard on him… and he thinks it’s been a big reason why he’s become a successful IT leader. He was also an NHL official and once coached with the current Manager of the New York Yankees, Aaron Boone. https://www.aerocominc.com
Have you ever been interviewing for a job, and had the person across the table give you some strong, constructive criticism about your qualifications? Well, that happened to Tom Sweet, very early in his career. Tom is now the VP of Cloud Services for GM Financial, but that criticism was so profound that he still remembers it today, and uses it to help him mentor people on his team. Here’s Tom’s story… and just a quick item to point out: Tom’s opinion’s are his own and not those of his employer, GM Financial. For more info visit https://www.aerocominc.com
Way back in 1993, Vishal Gupta was a young, extremely talented computer scientist, who actually created one of the first search engines, that used Artificial Intelligence. The only problem was that he didn’t know the potential of it, and walked away from his invention. As you’ll hear, that missed opportunity awakened Vishal to the importance of having knowledge in more areas than just science and technology. He was inspired to learn more about business and people, and that “aha” moment has lead to an extremely successful career in IT. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com
A while back, I sat down with Ryan Johnson, who at the time was the head of IT for Keap, a fantastic CRM and marketing automation software company. Since that time, Ryan has continued his career climb and is now the VP of Operations for Keap. We first published this episode back in January, but I think it’s worth revisiting. I especially love how his humility and honesty have played a key role in his career success. Here’s Ryan’s story. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com
As you’ll hear, Ron Herardian, Senior Director of Technology at Capgemini, and long time IT startup veteran, learned, at a young age, to be comfortable with change. And being comfortable with change (and loving computers), were good traits to have if you lived in Silicon Valley in the late 80’s and you were trying to get your first job out of college. Sorry in advance if you hear a few garbled audio glitches. We had a small audio issue on this recording. For more info visit http://www.aerocominc.com
As a CISO, you have to be the strategic leader of Information Security with your organization... that’ so obvious. But what isn’t obvious is that in order to lead effectively, you have to work well with the other C-levels within your company and also the board of directors. That last part, in particular, is the number one thing Nikk Gilbert, long-time global CISO, and current CISO for Cherokee Nation Businesses, attributes to his success. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com
Jeff Brandt got his first CIO role at a law firm, around 25 years ago. So, that would make him probably around retirement age, with kids that have families of their own, etc. ... right? Well, not quite. See, he was only around 30 years old when he got that first CIO role. Crazy, right? For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com
Imagine getting straight A's...Having one of the highest GPA's in school...Getting tons of accolades for your academics...;and then your parents tell you "good job, but you're not that smart. You need a more challenging school." That's the kind of upbringing Angela had. Two loving parents who knew their daughter and also weren't afraid to push her, and teach her about the real world. Angela Williams is the Director II of Enterprise Information Security for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and she has an inspiring story of how she combined a great upbringing and a curious mind to climb the IT ladder. All this, and she never even thought about becoming an IT professional until she was in college. It's a great story.
Trisha Walsh, is a global IT leader who has succeeded with some of the world’s biggest brands and coolest companies. She is currently the Director of IT for Yelp… a company with over 6,000 employees and year after year, one of the most popular smartphone apps around. Prior to Yelp, Trisha was the Director of IT for Gap, Inc. and also worked at Bank of America for 16 years, where she worked her way up to a lofty leadership role in the IT department. But the road to her successful career in IT hasn’t been easy for Trisha. In childhood, she experienced some very hard circumstances and tragedy, which really affected her in her early career. These tough times did some serious damage that eventually lead her to a turning point in her life… which ironically, was also the start of her IT career. Here is Trisha’s amazing story. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com
After we all just watched the NASA launch of the SpaceX rocket in May of this year… when you think of one of the coolest places to work, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has to be one of them, right? Today’s guest, Jim Rinaldi, not only got to work there… but was the CIO for 14 years. But that’s not all… Before working at JPL, Jim was the CIO for both the FDA and the IRS, and was a Senior Vice President at Marriott. But before all that, Jim was just a normal kid, raised by a single mom in Birmingham, Alabama. Here’s Jim’s story. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com
If you’re looking for a good story of an IT professional who worked their way up through the IT department, and eventually became a c-level executive, this is a great episode. Michael McGovern is currently the SVP, CTO and CISO for Metro Credit Union... a position he’s held for the last seven years. And as you’ll hear, he moved his way up through picking companies with great culture and awesome internal networking...and he also turned some of his greatest hardships(like getting laid-off twice), into insight...that he used to become a leader and mentor to the people reporting to him. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com
If you haven't heard the original Tyson Lutz episode, here it is for your enjoyment. Tyson Lutz created a breakthrough product for an ISP that eventually helped him land the position of Vice President of Infrastructure Engineering at Salesforce. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
Ever wonder if you chose the right profession? Wes Williams did. Today, Wes is the Vice President and CIO at Mental Health Center of Denver, a $100M organization, with 850 employees and 35 locations. But back in 2005, while working as a psychologist, Wes decided to make a difficult career change, tossing aside 17 years of schooling and hard work… which eventually lead him to the IT department, and the career he has today. Take a listen to his inspiring story. For more info visit: https://www.aerocominc.com
Have you ever wondered if you should work less, and spend more time on the things that really matter? But what will that do to your livelihood? Are you willing to pay the price? Jon Santee faced this decision, and decided to slow down, but he doesn’t regret it for a minute. He has still had enormous success. Today, only in his mid-forties, he’s the Vice President of IT for Hayes Locums, and has become a very skilled leader. Jon has learned many tricks of the trade… which he was kind enough to share, in this interview at 7:00 AM Pacific Time, on Good Friday, during the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some people work hard because they enjoy the journey. Some people work hard because they like the result. Paul Edmisten likes the result. He likes to win. It’s been a key element in his success as an IT professional. That drive to win has also put Paul into a lot of learning moments. Like taking a pivotal job from Disney that taught him how to think transformationally. As you can hear, Paul has a great story of his journey in life and IT, with a lot of good take-aways, that we can all benefit from. https://www.aerocominc.com/
Boris Kogan is the VP of Infrastructure Operations for Fisher Investments, a global Financial Management company with over 2,000 employees, & over $100 Billion in Firm assets under management. His climb in IT is centered around hard work, that started with growing up in the USSR, & watching his dad (illegally), work a second job, & dodge KGB agents in order to make enough money for his family. He’s also had some really great mentors that taught him skills that he still uses. https://www.aerocominc.com
Jason Berryhill, CIO of OmniTRAX, has had an extraordinary amount of success in a relatively shortamount of time. He’s only in his mid-forties, yet he’s already been the CIO of two mid-size companies. But the road hasn’t always been easy, and it all started with having a little bit of disruption in his life at an early age. At some point, however, he started to learn the value of taking calculated risks... which are a big reason he attributes to his fast success in his IT career. I think you’ll enjoy hearing his story. For more information visit https://www.Aerocominc.com
Have you ever not received the promotion you wanted? You took it pretty hard, right? You were probably even a little angry. What did you do about it? Well that happened to Christopher Davis, and it upset him. But he made a decision to learn from the situation and turn it into something positive. That, along with a few other cool stories, made it a really fun interview about his IT Leadership journey. He’s currently the interim CIO at Southern Veterinary Partners and he’s a wealth of knowledge on leading teams. To learn more visit https://www.aerocominc.com
Ever wonder if you should go back to school and get your degree? Michael Garner, Director of Information Security at Community Health Systems did. And that says a lot, considering he’s also a former member of the Army Special Forces. Michael went back to school and not only got his bachelor’s degree, he also got a Master’s degree in Cybersecurity from Brown University. But Michael said it was a lot more than a piece of paper and a resume builder. He said it also changed his mindset and confidence as an IT leader. Listen to his story. For more info visit https://www.aerocominc.com
Have you ever worked for multiple bosses, at the same time? When Michael Loggins, Global Vice President of IT for SMC, first took over IT in Europe, he had over 20 bosses. He also had to deal with inherent skepticism in the eyes of his direct reports in each country. Not an easy task, but what he figured out was that to succeed, it wasn’t going to be about the fancy new technology he could implement. It was going to be about authentic communication and building relationships. Luckily, that was something he valued, and was good at. Which he learned early-on, growing up in a large family. For more information visit www.Aerocominc.com
At heart, Raghu Bala is an IT professional. He started programming at the young age of 12, and has never stopped. He said he actually loves it so much, even if he wasn’t paid for it, he’d still do it for fun. Since moving to the US after high school, Raghu has held leadership positions for several companies, obtained an MBA from Wharton, and founded 4 different tech startups, including his current company, NetObjex. One of the things he says has been a big contributor to his success, is his ability to compartmentalize the different aspects of his life… which started as a child. Here’s his story. For more information visit www.Aerocominc.com
Jeff Roberts has been a CIO for mid-size companies, for 14 years, and recently started his own niche technology consulting company. That’s impressive, but something even more impressive is that during that 14-year tenure in the C-suite, Jeff has had 15… yes… 15 of his direct reports become C-level executives, themselves. So, why is he so good at mentoring future IT leaders? Well, according to Jeff, a big reason is the mentors he has been blessed with. Three of them, in particular, played a significant role, and Jeff shared the stories when he and I sat down in early March. For more information find us. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com/
Eric Rosenzweig is currently the Vice President of IT for Qdoba Restaurant corporation… a company with over 740 restaurants in the US. And Canada. In addition to Qdoba, Eric has also held a few other leadership and CIO positions, including a 15 year stint at Petco, where he was the Vice President of Information Systems. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com/
Andy Smith has excelled in many executive-level positions in IT, including Vice President positions within the IT departments of some of the World’s largest companies. In his most recent role, he was the Vice President of Global Infrastructure, Cloud, Operations and End User Services for Intercontinental Hotel Group, PLC… a 4.3 Billion dollar company with over 35,000 employees, spread across more than 100 countries. But as cool as that sounds, it’s nothing compared to the story of how he got there. Take a listen. For more information visit Aerocominc.com
Kal Majmundar tells us the story of how he used hard work, relationship building skills and some good advice from his parents to become a top IT executive for companies like Gap, Levi Strauss, Visa, and Patelco Credit Union. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com
Hear Chris Romano talk about the risks he took which led him to high level positions at companies like Nasdaq, VMware, and Dell Computers. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com
Richard Loew CIO of North America's Largest Oil refinery, MOTIVA, tells us the story of how growing up with his grandmother played a significant role in his career success. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com
Hear David Africano's exciting story on how he broke through the veils in his life to go from US paratrooper to a high level IT security professional. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
Carl Goodman tells the story of how he started his IT career as a COBOL programmer, and eventually earned an early retirement as Director of IT for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
Dennis Keane's inspiring story of how his thirst for learning led him to make a daring suggestion to his boss, which paved the way to his current position of VP and CIO of Red Wing Shoes. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
Mike Madden went from digging holes at a construction job to becoming a top IT executive for Cardno, one of the largest environmental development companies in the world. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
Ryan Johnson went from a graphic design job out of college to becoming the head of operations at Keap, one of the most innovative and fastest growing software companies in the US. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
Tyson Lutz created a breakthrough product for an ISP that eventually helped him land the position of Vice President of Infrastructure Engineering at Salesforce. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
Angela shares how she looked at her career starting at a young age and created an action plan on how to move up, eventually leading her to Director of Enterprise Information Security for Blue Cross Blue Shield. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
Joel Oleson went from student teaching to becoming a high ranking IT executive for companies like Microsoft, Konica Minolta, and Blizzard Entertainment. He also found a way for his IT career to almost completely fund his dream of traveling to every country in the world. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com
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