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What does it really look like to lead with empathy in industries that reward output over openness? 

In this refreshingly honest episode, I share my personal journey from environments lacking compassion to intentionally creating micro-cultures of belonging, trust, and meaningful feedback. 

Drawing on the powerful McKinsey article, “It’s Cool to Be Kind: The Value of Empathy at Work,” I’ll break down actionable takeaways using the starburst method. 

Whether you’re an emerging leader, a tech veteran, or someone paving the way for greater representation, discover why empathy is your superpower, how you can break the “performance-over-people” cycle, and what happens when kind leadership is contagious.

Get in Touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbutler1/

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

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Is leadership just for those in corner offices? 

Not so fast. Meet a Bahamian computer scientist, Aaleyah Evans,  whose early career in cybersecurity and academia challenged every stereotype—proving that relatability, mentorship, and mistakes are the real fuel for future leaders.

Listen in for honest stories about building confidence, tackling mistakes head-on, and the power of company-led mentorship to inspire the next wave of tech talent.

If cybersecurity sounds all code and no people, this episode will flip that script—showing how soft skills, digital literacy, and a commitment to lifting others can shape the future.

Aaleyah leaves us with the ultimate challenge: “If not now, when? If not you, who?”

Connect with us:

Dawn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbutler1/

Aaleyah:

LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaleyah-s-evans/

Cybergirl IG: https://www.instagram.com/cybergirl_security

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

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What happens when your “perfect job” doesn’t fit? 

In this electrifying episode, meet a former tech pro, Jessica Cumming, who battled layoffs and glass ceilings—then flipped uncertainty into unstoppable growth.

Hear how she turned misalignment at Dell into a launchpad for transformation, chose purpose over comfort, and built a coaching career grounded in bold action and realignment.

We dive into the importance of:

• Taking time to truly reflect before transitioning careers
• Building networks and identifying transferable skills
• Considering financial runways beyond survival
• Aligning your career choices with your personal values and legacy

Expect hacks for surviving layoffs, tips for building networks that work, and a mindset shift that will empower your own career leap.

Connect with us:

Dawn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbutler1/

Jessica: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicacumming04/

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

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What does it take to pivot from a 24-year career in caregiving to a thriving path in cybersecurity? 

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with a former nanny and caregiver, Diana Sofi Rodriguez, originally from Peru, who shares her remarkable journey of reinvention. 

She opens up about how skills like patience, organization, and empathy became powerful assets for a cybersecurity career and how faith and perseverance played a central role in her growth.

From graduating top of her class in a cybersecurity bootcamp to volunteering at tech events and building authentic networking relationships, she reveals strategies anyone can apply when navigating a career transition. 

She also reflects on her immigrant experience, her strong identity rooted in her Peruvian heritage, and the influence of her mother’s resilience at 87 years old.

If you’re looking for encouragement during your career pivot or need fresh motivation for your job search, this conversation is packed with wisdom, faith-driven confidence, and practical strategies for thriving.

Connect on LinkedIn:

Sofi: linkedin.com/in/diana-sofía-rodríguez

Dawn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbutler1/

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

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What does it really take to thrive for two decades in cybersecurity—and to blaze a trail for others? 

In this episode of Bytes, Bits and Brilliance, I sit down with the powerhouse behind Cyber Thriver, Geraldine Okon, a 20-year cybersecurity pro who rose from computer operator to trusted mentor, connector, and entrepreneur.

We dive deep into her unconventional journey—spanning financial services, a forklift company, and beyond—while unpacking the real roadblocks and hidden opportunities in tech today. 

We talk about the game-changing power of networking, conference hustle strategies, and the magic of mentorship (especially for women of color). 

Plus, you’ll hear her bold vision for using Cyber Thriver to help the next generation access career-defining industry events.
Cyber Thriver: www.thecyberthriverr.com

Level up your self-advocacy, discover secrets to breaking stereotypes, and learn how a spark of giving back can turn into an industry-wide shift. 

If you’re ready for real stories, real advice, and new moves for your own career, this is your episode.

Connect on LinkedIn:

Dawn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbutler1/

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

Send a text

This 20-minute episode dives into the transformative journey of tech leadership in the age of generative AI. 

Drawing from My personal reflections and insights from the Google Cloud Generative AI Leader training, it explores how leaders can navigate uncertainty, drive innovation, and empower teams through change. 

Whether you're a CTO, product manager, or engineering lead, this episode offers practical strategies and thought-provoking perspectives to help you lead with clarity and confidence.

Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbutler1/

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

Send a text

In this episode, we dive deep into what it really takes to thrive in tech and beyond. My guest, Dana Zellers, a former tech worker turned executive coach, joins me to unpack the lessons of work-life balance, the power of boundaries, and why intentional career planning is non-negotiable. 

Together, we explore coaching strategies, how to handle career crossroads, and the role mentors and managers play in our growth.

We talk about giving yourself (and others) grace, why positive reinforcement matters more than you think, and how self-driven professionals can learn to recognize when it’s time to reset. 

Whether you’re climbing the ladder or navigating a pivot, this episode is packed with practical insights to help you take control of your career path and protect your energy along the way.

Get Dana's FREE Better Week Blueprint - a weekly plan for getting the right things done without working pointless hours and sacrificing your life. https://www.danazellers.com/

Connect with us:

Dana: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dzellers/

https://www.instagram.com/dana_zellers/

Dawn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbutler1/

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

Send a text

What does it really mean to thrive in tech? In this episode, I sit down with Sayantika Banik, a founder and data scientist who calls herself a “mixed bag.” From building backend systems to serving on the Django Software Foundation’s Board of Directors, her journey is anything but ordinary.

We dive into:

• The realities of burnout and the power of community support
• Why embracing your whole self—not just technical skills—matters
• Lessons in self-advocacy, resilience, and finding your authentic voice in male-dominated spaces
• Redefining success on your own terms: joy and sustainability over external expectations
• Advice she’d give her younger self about the messy, beautiful tech journey

If you’ve ever wondered how to balance ambition with authenticity—or how to build a career that sustains your joy—this conversation is for you.

✨ Listen now and be reminded that your brilliance in tech is bigger than your job title.

Find us on LinkedIn:

Saya - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sayantika-banik/

Dawn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnbutler1/

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

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In this audio overview, we're covering the intersection of:

• The Impact of Standards (ANSI's Role): Understand how voluntary consensus standards, coordinated by organizations like the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), are literally everywhere, shaping innovation, improving safety and well-being, reducing costs, and enabling global trade.
• Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE): Explore this community-developed, free-to-use list of common software and hardware weakness types that could have security ramifications, understanding their descriptive names, summaries, modes of introduction, potential mitigations, common consequences, and applicable platforms.
• OWASP Top 10 Web Application Security Risks: Learn about the most critical web application security risks, and how this data-driven yet community-informed list focuses on root cause types of CWEs rather than just symptoms.
• Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF): Discover NIST's framework for fundamental, sound, and secure software development practices, designed to reduce the number of vulnerabilities in released software and address their root cause.
•  Cybersecurity Procurement Language for Energy Delivery Systems: Unpack the critical importance of embedding cybersecurity from the design phase into procurement processes for North America's energy delivery systems.

Whether you're a developer, an IT professional, a decision-maker, or simply curious about the unseen forces that protect our digital world, this episode will equip you with insights to navigate the evolving landscape of cybersecurity.

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.

Send a text

In the final part of this series, we zoom in on mentorship, representation, and legacy. 

The panelists share what grounds them, how they support the next generation, and what they hope for the future of tech—especially for underrepresented voices. It’s the call to action we all need.

JT Taylor is a senior-level tech professional, entrepreneur, and coach with a sharp focus on DevOps, Scrum, and business development. With a career built on grit and giving back, he’s deeply passionate about helping others grow through both technical expertise and soft skills. He believes the path into tech isn’t always paved—but with the right drive and community, it’s navigable. Through volunteer work and mentorship, he shares insights on overcoming imposter syndrome, finding your voice, and prioritizing well-being as key to professional success.

• JT is the co-founder of The Black IT Academy

Adam Roberts is a tenured IT and cybersecurity practitioner currently serving as a federal Systems Administrator in Utah, with a robust background in networking and cloud technologies. A Senior Enlisted Leader in the Air Force Reserve, he is  the founder of ADR Solutions LLC, where he mentors veterans and people of color while leading government and commercial IT contracts. Passionate about education, entrepreneurship, and the power of AI, he’s committed to opening doors for the next generation—especially Black and Brown youth in the mountain West—by showing that being the “smart nerd” can be a superpower.

• Adam is founder of ADR Solutions LLC

Support the show

Hey, listeners and tech enthusiasts! 🌟 If you've been enjoying our podcast and finding value in the insights shared, we'd love your support. You can:

• Take a moment to share this podcast with someone.
• Submit the interest form if you’d like to be a guest.
• Let us know how we're doing. We’d love to hear from you.
• Leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.
• If you’re in a position to support financially, consider supporting via the Tip Jar, or Buy Me a Coffee. This podcast is a self-funded and how we give back, especially to underrepresented voices in tech and cybersecurity.

Your support keeps us going and growing. Thanks for being part of this journey and our community!

Stay connected! Sign up for the weekly newsletter, Courageous Circuits: https://tinyurl.com/wz8fepyc

Looking for mentorship? Let's talk about what you need and how I may be able to help: Mentor Moments

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are personal and not reflective of any employer.