The Geek Within

This week's guest is Mary O'Connor. She is a Program Management Office Coordinator at Agile Defense and a 2021 graduate of the ACT-IAC Associates leadership development program. Listen as she talks about growing up locally in the DC area, staying here for school, and her journey to a career in the technology area.   I was the government chair for the Associates 2021, which is how Mary and I m...

This week's guest is Jeremiah Akinbohun. He is a Technical Specialist at Dev Technology Group and a 2021 graduate of the ACT-IAC Associates leadership development program. Listen as he talks about how he works to support those who are interested and trying to get into a career as a software developer.   I was the government chair for the Associates 2021, which is how Jeremiah and I met. We ha...

This week's guest is Jessica Alfaro. She is a Managing Director of Technology Solutions at Acuity, Inc. and a 2021 graduate of the ACT-IAC Voyagers leadership development program. Listen as she talks about how she is a native of DC with parents from Honduras and had a challenging journey to the success she has today. Jessica and I met through networking events with ACT-IAC and her participation in...

This week's guest is David Patrick. He a Subject Matter Expert at DSA working in the SharePoint space. He is an adjunct professor and volunteer with several amazing organizations and is well known as a speaker and trainer in the Microsoft community. Listen as he talks about being a local to the DC area and the early exposure to technology at camps that was his inspiration for getting into an IT ca...

This week's guest is Rob Lerner. He is the Vice President of Sales for Cloud at Databank Ltd and an entrepreneur who is always looking for his next venture. Listen as he talks about how his family started in the Soviet Union and that immigrating to America was like hitting the lottery, and how that has influenced his career.   Rob and I met when he was in a relationship with my sister that br...

This week's guest is Mike Rice. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of CornerStone IT. Mike is also the author of "In Pursuit Business Development Life Cycle: The Framework". Listen as he talks about how his interest in technology and experimentation drove him to systems engineering and set him on the course of his career.   Mike and I met while volunteering with the ACT-IAC Emer...

This week's guest is Kelly Morrison. She is the Director of TBM Strategy and Engagement within the Digital Transformation & Management Service Line at Grant Thornton Public Sector. Listen as she talks about how she is a Michigan girl and how that attitude continues to be a driving force in her career.   Kelly and I met when she was a vice-chair for the ACT-IAC Partners Program in 2018 and...

This week's guest is Alec Longarzo. He is the Director of Business Development at Dcode. Listen as he talks about how growing up in a military family encouraged him to move around a bit himself before settling in DC for the opportunities it provides.   Alec and I met while helping facilitate the ACT-IAC Associates 2021 leadership development program and I have enjoyed getting to know him via...

This week's guest is Cayhan Movaghari. He is a Digital Transformation Executive at Appian and he is on the board at AFCEA Bethesda Emerging Leaders.  Listen as he talks about his career journey and his passion project as a DJ and music creator.  Cayhan and I have interacted at a number of local networking events (shoutout to NXNE government). He is a focused individual with an engaging w...

This week's guest is Scott Brewster, he is an Office 365 Subject Matter Expert at Leidos and a Community Organizer for the DC SharePoint User Group. Listen as he talks about his career starting in the Army and then transitioning to support government agencies in the DC area.    I have attended a number of monthly meetings for the user group he helps organize and have gotten to know Scott...

This week's guest is Jillian Stiegmann, she is in Business Development and Operations at Ambit Group. Listen as she talks about being a Virginia native and having an accelerated education so that she was in the workforce early.   Jillian and I met when she participated in the ACT-IAC Associates 2021 leadership development program. You can immediately tell that she has a powerful sense of who...

This week's guest is Ray McCollum, DACS Policy Branch Chief at the National Science Foundation. Listen as he talks about being the one to do a lot of firsts for his family - https://youtu.be/YYlf0ERCBEE More ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/podcasts

Join me for a conversation with JoRob as he shares about how he got started in the music industry and the decisions that led to him starting his own set of companies for creation and management.     You can engage JoRob here:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/jorob/ https://twitter.com/jorobismusic https://jorobismusic.com/ http://www.jorobproductions.com/  Other ways to liste...

Join me for a conversation with Mark as he shares about the typical start he had via help desk and web development, and how that moved into SCRUM, which led to him launching his own company.   You can engage Mark here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wavle/   Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep53

Join me for a conversation with Susan as she shares how she went to school with a specific goal of getting into consulting with degree mix between phycology and information systems. She is huge in the information management space, so I really hope you enjoy learning more about her journey.   You can engage Susan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanhanley/ https://twitter.com/susanhanley&nb...

Join me for a conversation with David as he shares his journey started in the UK, learning valuable lessons about business, and then transitioned to the US and what that looked like.  You can engage David here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgcassidy/   Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep51

Join me for a conversation with Joy as she shares how she started in the finance industry, moved to help desk work, and slowly was pulled into the SharePoint world and we are better for it!   You can engage Joy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-apple-49b18316/ https://twitter.com/JoyOfSharePoint  Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep50

Join me for a conversation with David as he talks about how he ended up in IT consulting. This interview was fun as David had to move locations multiple times throughout our conversation, but his persistence mirrors his work ethic and determination in what he does.   You can engage David here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddhernandez/   Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep49

Join me for a conversation with Becca as she talks about being a linguist stuck in DC without a job during COVID, which led her to a role that has brought her into the technology industry.   You can engage Becca here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beccakandersen/   Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep48

Join me for a conversation with Tracy as she talks about how hard work will help you overcome obstacles and make you successful, and some training never hurt!   You can engage Tracy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-van-der-schyff-6470a543/ https://twitter.com/tracyvds https://tracyvanderschyff.com/the-guid-stuff/   Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep47

Join me for a conversation with Elijah as he talks about starting his career studying bioengineering and unexpectedly took a turn into Health IT and how it can make a difference.   You can engage Elijah here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elijah-biggs-984b6972/  Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep46

Join me for a conversation with Shak as she talks about her journey moving around the country and getting into government consulting following a non-traditional path.   You can engage Shak here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shakira-mccants-5891aa47/  Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep45

Join me for a conversation with Nica as she talks about graduating high school at 15 and going straight to college for nursing before switching to computer science.   You can engage Nica here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nica-de-leos-425a485a/   Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep44

Join me for a conversation with Fred as he shares his journey from France, his involvement in research, and how he has a passion for leveraging technology to make things better for everyone.   You can engage Fred here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredericdevaulx/  Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep43

Join me for a conversation with Tony as he shares how he started as a full-time musician and leveraged down time to learn about policy and economics which started his journey into data analysis and AI.   You can engage Tony here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonmcg/ https://twitter.com/tonmcg https://emdata.ai/  Other ways to listen: https://tgwlink.net/ep42