Career Downloads

He had no IT background, no plan, and was living in a tree house between jobs. Then one interview sent him somewhere he never expected. Chris Day grew up in Silicon Valley, bounced through pizza shops, Chili's, and bartending gigs, and graduated UC Santa Cruz with a self-designed degree in communication, sociology, and psychology. He had no roadmap for what came next. What happened next was an int...

He broke the family computer in 8th grade trying to teach himself DOS. The repair shop he took it to hired him for the summer. That is how Jesse Taylor's career in technology began. Jesse Taylor is the Senior Manager of Cloud and Systems Engineering at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His path to that role spans Apple retail, college newspaper IT, media companies, a hotel property that declare...

What do you do when healthcare is your calling but the patient side is not your path? Rachel Papka figured that out the long way. She started at a hospital as a PBX phone operator. Worked through ER registration, landed in radiology, and was asked to become a super user when the hospital adopted its first electronic medical record. There were no certifications for healthcare technology at that tim...

Episode Information Show NotesWhat does it look like to build a tech career when no one hands you anything? Jordan McConnell ran network operations at Langley Air Force Base with a top-secret clearance, supporting 100,000 people across 15 bases. When he left active duty, the civilian job market didn’t care about any of that. So he took help desk calls getting yelled at, rebuilt from the bottom, an...

Episode Information Show NotesAt age seven, Juan Mazo told his family he would bring his mom’s family to America one day. By 26, he had done it. His mom hasn’t paid rent since 2015. And then he fell into depression. Juan built a tech career that most people would call a success from PC repair out of his aunt’s restaurant in Connecticut to hedge fund IT support in New York, to running the IT depart...

Episode Information Show NotesKim Snyder graduated with three degrees in accounting, MIS, and entrepreneurship. Companies had no idea what to do with her. They weren’t ready for someone who wanted to do all three. So she built the career herself. Over the next 30+ years, Kim went from QA engineer to tech consultant to finance consultant to business owner, coach, and speaker. Her path wasn’t linear...

Episode Information Show NotesWhat do you do when you get laid off at the biggest project management conference in the world? You work the room, go home, and build your own company. Parmjit Kaur did not set out to be a project manager. She wanted to be a Bollywood actress, then a doctor, then a teacher, then a radio host. What she became was one of the more interesting career stories you will hear...

Episode Information Show NotesHe has spent 30 years in tech sales. He has almost never gone through a formal interview. Every major opportunity in Rodney Detrick’s career came from a relationship he had already built. Not a resume. Not an online application. Someone who knew him, trusted him, and opened a door. This episode is about how that happens – and what else Rodney has learned in three deca...

Episode Information Show NotesThe people you least expect are watching your career. Rhonda Lemke built nearly 30 years in technology on that truth. Her career started at Arthur Anderson, where she worked as a secretary and executive assistant. A mentor asked her at 19 to quit her job, move in with her, and go to college. That moment set everything in motion. From there, Rhonda worked her way throu...

Episode Inforrmation Show NotesWhat does it take to walk away from a 20-year career in hospitality and start over in tech at 38 with no degree, no certifications, and no hard skills? For Michael Steffen, it started with a jiu-jitsu training partner telling him he was miserable and handing him a Security+ study guide. He passed. He volunteered at DEF CON for three years. He’s now in targeted accoun...

Episode Information Show NotesHis father got tired of him playing video games. So he threw a book at him. Thirty years later, Dennis Moriarity is Chief Information Officer at Link Technologies in Las Vegas, and the book his dad threw “Learn C in 24 Hours” started everything. Dennis grew up in LA and wanted to be a police officer. He applied to the LA Sheriff’s Department at 18 and didn’t get in. H...

Episode Information Show Notes Bri Haralson wanted to be a chef. Sixteen years later she’s the Director of SLED at Cribl, one of the most connected people in the Southwest public sector tech community, and about to step into her next leadership role. Nobody mapped this out. That’s kind of the point. Bri grew up in Arizona, one of the rare native Arizonans. She started college for culinary studies...

Episode Information Show Note Ever wonder how someone goes from desktop support to protecting a professional sports team’s entire digital infrastructure? Andrew Ferrall’s career path shows that there’s no single route to landing your dream job in technology. As IT Security Architect for a professional sports organization, Andrew protects one of the most recognized franchises in professional sports...

Episode Information Show Notes Sometimes the career you’re meant for finds you through the most unexpected path. Art Green III, Senior IT Workforce Programs Instructor at Tech Impact, joins Career Downloads to share his journey from college athlete to tech instructor helping disadvantaged students launch IT careers. His story is a masterclass in resilience, adaptability, and finding fulfillment th...

Episode Information Show Notes Mike Green didn’t start out planning a career in technology. As a passionate art student in small-town New York, he faced a tough decision: pursue a field he loved with uncertain job security, or pivot to the growing computer industry. He chose computers, and 25+ years later, he’s never looked back. Today, Mike manages the Digital Services Division for Clark County,...

Episode Information Show Notes The Week That Changed Everything Ray Freeman’s tech career includes a chapter most people would rather forget. After the 2008 financial crisis, Ray lost his job, his wife lost hers, and their six-bedroom Houston house became a financial prison. Eventually, Ray spent a week sleeping in his car while working contract IT jobs. Today, Ray is President and Chief Strategy...

Episode Information Show Notes What happens when a drummer who played for 10,000 people realizes the music business won’t pay the bills? Rebekah Panepinto shares her unconventional journey from Nashville musician to successful Account Executive, proving that your next career move might come from the least expected place. This conversation goes deep on how relationships trump resumes, why being vis...

Episode Information Show Notes Breaking into a major tech company requires more than submitting applications online. Chelsey Bonilla shares how strategic networking, intentional preparation, and genuine curiosity helped her land an account executive role at Gartner, despite not having a traditional technical background. Guest Background:Chelsey Bonilla is an Account Executive at Gartner, one of th...

Episode Information Show Notes What happens when you stop planning your career and start asking better questions? Ruben Sarino didn’t set out to co-found an AI security company. The path from military kid bouncing between six countries to RiskHorizon AI co-founder included selling car parts, packaging California honey, working Apple retail, cold calling at CrowdStrike, and several stops in between...

Episode Information Show NotesSometimes the best careers are the ones you never planned. Aakin Patel went to school for geology. He spent years studying plate tectonics and doing computational modeling. The plan was academia. But grad school revealed something important. The academic life he imagined wasn’t the reality he wanted. So he pivoted. He took his Unix skills from graduate research and la...

Episode Information Show NotesFrom Age 7 to MSP Owner: Simon Robert’s IT Journey Simon Robert’s IT career started earlier than most, at just 7 years old, he was already fixing computers his father brought home. Now, as President of Novbox in Las Vegas, Simon runs a managed service provider that helps businesses stay secure and operational. In this episode, Simon shares the honest reality of runnin...

Episode Information Show NotesTechnical skills land you the job. People skills determine everything that comes next. Yvette Durazo brings conflict resolution expertise to Silicon Valley tech companies. As a professional mediator and coach, she helps technical professionals navigate the transition into leadership roles. She teaches at universities and works with companies to build conflict intellig...

Episode Information Show Notes What happens when you combine curiosity, willingness to take chances, and genuine interest in people? You get Bob Leek’s career story – a journey from a small town in North Carolina to becoming CIO of Clark County, Nevada. Bob didn’t start with a master plan. He got an accounting degree, landed in retail finance, and complained about IT systems so much they moved him...

Episode Information Show Notes Episode Summary: Vika Nevmyvakova’s career path looks nothing like she planned. She arrived in the US from Ukraine at 20 with law school dreams. No resources to make it happen. No network. No connections. She took whatever jobs paid bills. Call centers. Customer service. The work most people see as stepping stones, she turned into skill-building. That’s where she dis...

Episode Information Show Notes Jazmin Diaz’s career story dismantles the myth that you need perfect credentials to succeed in technology. Her path from middle school administrative assistant to Chief of Staff at a cybersecurity company demonstrates how curiosity, authenticity, and strategic relationship-building can accelerate professional growth. Episode Highlights: Jazmin shares her unique backg...