Life at AT&T

Sean Pohl lives on the web. But it’s not the web many of us ever want to frequent. Sean spends time on the “dark web.” This is the area of cyberspace where you’ll find dangerous people – that seek to steal and sell credit card numbers, medical records and sensitive business information for profit. Sean is a Certified Ethical Hacker – a hacker who uses his online savvy for good. In this episode of the Life@AT&T podcast Sean explains how ethical hackers help keep our network and our customers a step ahead of cyber criminals.

Over the past two years, you have heard some compelling stories from the Life@AT&T podcast. From unique employee profiles to emotional hero stories, our podcast has shed light on the people that make AT&T a great place to work. And as our business grows, so will the Life@AT&T podcast. Get ready to hear more about our game-changing innovation, more stories from our frontline employees and more about what it means to win in a new world. More people, more stories and more perspective – all from the Life@AT&T. Enjoy this look back at some of the most memorable moments from our podcast.

Taylor Swift is, by very definition, a game changer. Her multi-genre style, the creativity in her lyrics and the special relationship she has with her fans have all transformed the music industry. Swift’s most dedicated fans (also known as “Swifties”) feel like they have an intimate bond with the star – and that’s not by coincidence. It’s the basis for her popularity and the crux of AT&T’s partnership with the star and her mega-loyal following. Those partnerships result in exclusive content from the artists and unique and unforgettable experiences for the artists’ fans – experiences that deepen their connection with both the star and our products and services. In this episode of the Life@AT&T, Karyn Spencer, VP of AT&T’s “Hello Lab” team takes us behind the scenes and describes how our celebrity partnerships are developed and how fanning the flames of fandom helps AT&T build brand love.

Winning the Whitacre Award, AT&T’s highest award, is an emotional experience – this year, perhaps more so than ever. This year, we honored 32 Whitacre Award winners. That’s the largest number of winners we’ve ever had. These winners went to heroic lengths to provide service – or avert disaster – during the difficult days following one of the several natural disasters we experienced in 2017. In this episode, some of this year’s winners tell us incredible and emotional stories of the actions that led to them winning this year’s award.

Three months after Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, our teams are making progress reconnecting our network there. The ability to bring connectivity back to Puerto Rico is a credit to the commitment and hard work of hundreds of employees who who were dispatched there – and the more than 1,800 employees who live and work on the island. They strategize, innovate and persevere through incredible obstacles – both on job sites and at home. In this episode of the Life at AT&T podcast, we talk to Insider writer Chris Morgan, who traveled to Puerto Rico to report on the conditions there – for our employees, their families and our crews who are reconnecting our network. Listen to Life at AT&T – Hurricane Maria: First-hand from the Frontlines

As the fury of Hurricane Irma churned toward Florida, Cristy Swink and Robert Suarez faced the task of not only protecting our network, but our people from a direct hit. Cristy Swink, VP and General Manager – Florida and Robert Suarez, Director of Network Services – South Florida, knew they had to act quickly to prepare. And given their history with hurricanes, both knew that preparing their people was their top priority. For Swink, hurricanes are deeply personal. The mention of the word takes her thoughts and emotions back to 2004, when her family’s home took a direct hit from Hurricane Ivan. Swink and Suarez paint a vivid picture of the Hurricane Irma – with the full force of fierce winds, torrential rain and incredible outpouring of compassion that came with it.

In this episode of the "Life at AT&T" podcast, we focus on what it really means to be customer-focused. From the language we use, to the relationships we forge, to the solutions we provide – what does it mean to be fully committed to Our Promise to put customers first in everything we do? Justin Gadde invites us into his new entertainment-focused store in Newport Beach, California. As we tour his new digs, Justin reminds of the importance of staying connected, staying engaged and staying passionate about our customers.

The best entertainment and communications experiences in the world are created on the best network. It’s as simple as that. So, if our network goes down, the key is constant monitoring and quick restoration. That’s why we have employees who monitor our network 24/7. Employees like Vinny Lewonka. Vinny’s a shift manager at our Global Technology Operations Center (GTOC) in Bedminster. He manages a team of 10-15 incident managers, depending on the shift. “You want to restore customer service as quickly as possible, right? So the faster you get in front of it, theoretically, the faster you can fix it,” said Vinny. On the latest Life at AT&T podcast, hear what goes in to making sure you have service all day, every day.

Kara Reeves thinks of her job like a unicorn. A few years ago, she didn’t even think it existed. And when she found out about it, she didn’t think it could possibly be as good as it is. Kara works on the WorkSmart team in Technology Development. “We help teams learn how to use the collaboration tools that we have within the company to make better, more productive use of time for their teams and for themselves,” Kara said. So, how did she get this dream job? She spent about a decade in the retail organization, and then decided she wanted to make a pivot. A big, cross-company pivot.

“Our family members are not terrorists,” said Susie Hammond, in an interview with two of our producers of original content. The producers are Josh Turnbow and Robert Dvoran. The original content is “American Standoff,” which premieres May 4 on the AUDIENCE Network at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Josh and Robert started producing this documentary in 2015. “American Standoff” follows the story of Susie and her family, who are ranchers in Oregon. Their 20-year fight with government agencies led to their controversial trial and conviction on an anti-terrorism charge. It’s a story that made national news headlines. On the latest episode of the Life at AT&T podcast, find out what went into producing “American Standoff,” including exclusive, behind-the-scenes interviews with Josh and Bobby.

On a cool September Saturday morning in Dallas, hundreds of employees and their family members gathered at a local hotel to give back. They came to package meals for Stop Hunger Now, a non-profit with the goal of ending world hunger. It was for the annual Day of Service, during the 2016 ERG Conference. Jamika Doakes spent the better part of 2016 planning the Day of Service, in her last role as the Southwest Regional Lead for the Community Engagement team. Our Community Engagement team helps provide opportunities for employees to engage through various causes: volunteerism, mentoring and giving. Hear what went in to planning the record-setting event in this month’s Life at AT&T podcast, as we recognize National Volunteer month in the U.S.

#14 Thank you for calling AT&T by Life at AT&T

If you go to some place or event labeled as “AT&T,” our Corporate Sponsorship team had a hand in making that name happen. On this month’s episode of the Life at AT&T podcast, I got special access to AT&T Stadium to talk to Deborah Buentello about our sponsorship of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. We talked on game day, just before kickoff. On this month’s podcast, you’ll hear what goes in to getting to kickoff – a point Deborah describes as “a really proud moment.”

It starts with a dish farm and ends with a satellite signal to your home. On the latest Life at AT&T podcast, I took a tour of our DIRECTV set-top box testing lab. That’s one of the locations where hundreds of AT&T employees work hard to make sure customers of our premium, satellite-based DIRECTV service get what they’re paying for. Listen in to take a tour of the testing lab with Tim Leung, who leads a team of software testers, and Steve Lin, who leads a team of hardware testers.

We deliver 99% worry-free signal reliability with our premium, satellite-based DIRECTV service. That means customers are getting a TV service they can depend on. So, how can we guarantee that? I recently stopped by one of our broadcast centers, the Los Angeles Broadcast Center (LABC), to hear from some of the employees who help make that signal reliability possible for our satellite-based DIRECTV premium service. In this month’s Life at AT&T podcast, listen in as Jomel De Leon and John Gaitan take us on tours of their respective areas of the LABC.

DIRECTV NOW is our new over-the-top streaming entertainment product, and it will soon be out in the market. Simply put, customers will be able to use DIRECTV NOW to watch live and on-demand content on many of their devices – TV, smartphone, tablet, etc. – anywhere with an internet connection. Earlier this year, DIRECTV NOW was just a good idea. That’s when our user experience teams get to work. In this month’s Life at AT&T podcast, you’ll get to hear how important customer input is in designing our new entertainment products. Danielle Hammond is one of our customer testers and Bethany Fenton leads the design team behind our new DIRECTV products.

It’s election time in America! It’s time to pick our nation’s top leaders. Don’t worry, I haven’t decided to take a turn and start talking politics. Instead, I’m using the election as a timely hook to talk to some of our leaders. Some of our female leaders, to be precise. In this month’s episode, we went coast to coast to interview three women with “Vice President” in their titles, including: • Caroline Leach – VP, Customer Experience and Marketing Analytics • Eliska Paratore – VP, Human Resources • Joan Marsh – SVP, Federal Regulatory Hear what it’s like to rise to a leadership role at AT&T as a woman, and their advice for young women looking to do the same.

Since it’s back-to-school time, for this month’s Life at AT&T podcast, I’m taking you inside a classroom. Listeners will get to experience a boot camp for new hires in the Technology Development Program (TDP). Follow along as Logan Klein from AT&T Technology Development hosts a gamified training on Agile. His job is to teach teams across the company how to use Agile, a development methodology that a lot of our IT teams now use. He also explains why, for him, TDP “was a completely positive experience.” Listen to the show now below or wherever you listen to podcasts. Find it by searching for “Life at AT&T” on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app.