The Education Road

Social media is always a winding road In this episode of The Education Road, we chat with Belyn, Lead Senior Social Media Manager at Grafana Labs, who describes her educational and career journey as "very windy". Belyn reflects on growing up in California in an entrepreneurial immigrant family, which instilled a deep appreciation for business and problem-solving from an early age. While...

Archeology to technology In this episode of The Education Road , we chat with Rob Gnaedinger, a Principal Product Education Specialist who summarizes his learning and career path as "proactive in its reactivity". Rob reflects on his childhood dream of becoming an archaeologist, inspired by a love for Egyptian and Roman history, which led him to earn a combined Honors Bachelor's degre...

In this episode of The Education Road , we chat with Katie DeMatteis, the Director of Content and Brand at GitGuardian, who describes her educational path as both linear and nonlinear. Katie reflects on her early years balancing high academic achievement with intensive musical theater and dance training. Wanting an institution that valued her academic accomplishments rather than strictly her perfo...

A journalist's education story In this episode of The Education Road , we speak with Scott Wheeler, a national NHL reporter for The Athletic , who describes his learning journey as "never-ending". Unlike many who navigate uncertainty during their high school years, Scott knew from a very young age that he wanted to pursue sports journalism. He chose Carleton University for its strong...

Navigating a turbulent career in media with a positive outcome In this episode of The Education Road, we chat with David Alter, a sports journalist, Maple Leafs reporter, and Toronto site manager for The Hockey News, who describes his academic and career path as ongoing and never-ending. David reflects on his initial plans to pursue a career in statistics and actuarial science at Western Universit...

The most important learning is meta In this episode of The Education Road, we chat with Clinton Herget, a principal analyst at Forrester who summarizes his academic and professional journey as "meta" in the most classic sense. Clinton explains how his formal education taught him very little about what he actually does day-to-day in his career, but everything about how to think, question,...

Night School, etcetera In this episode of The Education Road, we chat with Hope Thompson, a Toronto-based screenwriter, author, and instructor who describes her unique academic and professional journey as mysterious. Hope shares how her lifelong dream of being an artist led her to a classic fine arts undergraduate degree at Mount Allison University. However, the reality of making a living in the a...

Hustle never stops! In this episode of The Education Road, we explores the wild adventure of Jaclyn Manishen, a creative professional whose career has spanned advertising, freelance producing, and business development. Jaclyn shares how her childhood ambition that was inspired by the movie Sweet November and encouraged by her grandfather that led her to pursue a career as a creative director. Her...

The Name of the Game! In this episode of The Education Road, we connect with Julian Nasielski, a level designer at Ubisoft Montreal whose career path was defined by what he describes as a "bumpy road with a couple of detours". Julian shares how his childhood passion for games, sparked by surreal and whimsical titles like Earthworm Jim and Rayman 2 , eventually transformed from a hobby in...

The Journey from Staples to Founder In this episode, we explore the career journey of Ross, co-founder and CEO of Mirage Security. Ross traces his origins from his early days as a local IT handyman and a retail associate at Staples. He emphasizes the value of retail work for anyone entering the tech field, arguing that it builds essential empathy and a first-hand understanding of the corporate str...

From being a nerd to being even a bigger nerd, a journey through Costco In this episode of The Education Road, we chat with John Ailes, an Incident Response (IR) specialist, to explore the high-stakes world of Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR). John shares his unique journey from a computer-loving kid, whose father taught him powers of two as nursery rhymes, to becoming part of the fi...

Thinking about going into sales? Listen to this podcast! In this episode of The Education Road , we sit down with Michael Shulman, whose career path is rooted in sales! Michael’s academic road began at York University, where he completed an Honours BA in Business Economics with a specialization in finance. Along the way, he discovered a strong aptitude for accounting and economics, skills that wou...

Diversified education and the non-traditional education path to career! In this episode of The Education Road , we speak with Christine Gadsby, Chief Security Advisor at BlackBerry, whose education road is, in her own words, “non-traditional and very bumpy.” Christine’s story is a powerful reminder that learning paths are unique and often not expected. Christine begins by sharing the reality of he...

It’s okay to pursue passions and don’t be afraid to chase the unknown In this episode, we sit down with Ali Crawford, a Senior Research Analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University. Ali shares her continuous and unexpected journey, taking listeners from the starting blocks of collegiate track and field to the complex world of national security and cybe...

Prepare to be disappointed! In this episode of The Education Road , we chat with Ian Kalman , founder and creative director of Bald Guy Greetings , the irreverent, hilarious, and wildly relatable greeting card company found in hundreds of stores across North America. Ian kicks things off with what he calls “a road full of questionable choices that somehow worked out,” and that phrase couldn’t sum...

How to find what doesn't feel like work! In this episode of The Education Road, we sit down with Jacob Robinson, an attorney turned sports writer for The Athletic, whose winding journey from law school to becoming a writer covering the NFL is a testament to the power of following your curiosity and doing the reps. Jacob’s story begins in Ontario, where a dual-degree business program at Brock U...

Solving the problem of isolation In this episode, we sit down with Ariella Racco, CEO and co-founder of CoLab Education, to explore her fascinating journey from teacher to edtech entrepreneur and how she’s redefining what collaboration means for educators. Ariella never planned to become a teacher. Drawn first to art and culture, she stumbled into education almost by accident. It was a backup plan...

The Education Roads: everybody has their own! In this episode of The Education Roads , we talk with David A. Wheeler, a lifelong learner, engineer, and current Director of Open Source Supply Chain Security at the Linux Foundation, who also teaches as an adjunct at George Mason University. David’s path isn’t a single straight line; it’s a series of deliberate experiments driven by curiosity, hands-...

Unconventional Paths Lead to Interesting Places In this episode of The Education Road , we sit down with Eric, whose career journey proves that a degree in history can lead just about anywhere, including into the world of AI, automation, and customer education. Eric describes his path as serendipitous , and it’s hard to disagree. From studying History and Technology Studies to becoming an AI and A...

A journey that doesn’t stop! In this episode of The Education Road , we sit down with Ash, Director of Event Marketing at VulnCheck, whose journey from English and linguistics major to cybersecurity marketing leader is full of unexpected turns and inspiring lessons. Ash shares how her parents, breaking the cultural stereotype, encouraged her to follow her passions rather than a traditional pre-med...

It’s All About Ecosystems: Dan Applequist on Open Source, Standards, and Lifelong Learning In this episode of The Education Road , we sit down with Dan Applequist, Open Source Strategist and longtime advocate for the open web. Dan shares how he nearly dropped out of university, why discovering cognitive science saved his academic journey, and the lasting lessons from courses in decision-making and...

The love of photography and film! In this episode of The Education Road , we sit down with Rob Fiocca, a Toronto-based photographer and commercial director whose career spans from the early days of darkroom film processing to high-budget ad campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands. Rob shares his journey, starting from Humber College’s Creative Photography program, and how early co-op plac...

Accidental career In this episode of The Education Road , we sit down with Susan, whose path has been anything but linear. What began as a philosophy major at McGill turned into a detour where she found herself working alongside pioneers of the early internet. That unexpected turn launched a career in technical writing, content creation, and eventually customer education! Fields that she never pla...

Optimizing for fun! In this episode of The Education Road, we sit down with Randall, whose education road is anything but traditional. After dropping out of UC Santa Cruz, Randall carved his own path through sheer curiosity, hustle, and a relentless drive to learn by doing. He shares how tinkering with DOS systems and hacking as a kid sparked his lifelong passion for programming. Early on, Randall...

How to accidentally be an academic In this episode of The Education Road, we sit down with Joe McManus, CISO at Grafana, whose circuitous educational journey led from dreams of being a professional mountain biker to becoming a cybersecurity leader and passionate educator. Joe's transition into technology happened organically during the dot-com boom when a consulting opportunity introduced him...