Devon Morris, 1st African American Certified Scrum Trainer (CST)

Kyanna:            Let's talk about it. Talk, talk, talk. Let's go deep. We all have something to share. KnolShare with Dr. Dave.

Dr. Dave:          Hey, so hello and welcome to the KnolShare with Dr. Dave Podcast. I'm Dr. Dave Cornelius, your host. My conversation today is with Devon Morris, or is it Devon.

Devon:             Devon.

Dr. Dave:          Devon Morris, an international speaker, Agile coach and trainer. What is going on with you today, man? But before I even get the answer to that question, I just want to say thank you for spending two amazing days with us during the Agile for Humanity conference. Thank you.

Devon:             No, no, no, man. You put it all together. I appreciate being able to be in the space with the doctor.

Dr. Dave:          Ah, warms my heart, warms my heart. Hey, so maybe a lot of people know about you, but why don't you fire up an elevator pitch about Devon Morris to help our audience learn more about you, man?

Devon:             Yeah. Well, the truth is there's really no elevator pitch whatsoever. I am a humble, probably nerdy kid raised on Chicago's South side. So if you think about the crucible of the south side of Chicago, that's where I was raised at. Somehow I became the first black certified scrum trainer through working with helping cultures change, making my family proud, making families that know of me or are a part of my existence proud. Regardless of the certifications or the degrees or anything like that, I am always working to make a 10 year old, 14, 16 year old, 21 year old version of myself proud of the person I am today. So hopefully the people that come before me are proud of me. I stand on their shoulders and hopefully I can make a legacy for those that are coming after me. We can get into all the accolades at another time, but I'm just your boy from around the corner. That's it.

Dr. Dave:          Man, I know the south side of Chicago. I used to work over there, at the University of Chicago. But tell me about that journey, man. Tell me about that journey of becoming the first black CST. I heard that the Scrum Alliance put some ink out on you.

Devon:             Yeah, they put some ink on me.

Dr. Dave:          What was that journey like, man? Come on, man. Come on.

Devon:             I heard someone say that ... During the actual conference, I actually heard someone say that they felt like they were pledging. That's what they said. Even though the Scrum Alliance doesn't want it to feel that way, in terms of my CST journey, it did feel like I was pledging and what we describe in terms of my fraternity, I'm a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., so greatest fraternity on a planet earth. Or, I'll say, universe. But the way we would describe it would be hard but fair. Okay? Let me explain that to you a little bit more. In terms of the application process, for me, that was easy when I applied. There wasn't anything different. Even though the process hasn't really changed very much, it was hard but fair.

I clearly remember my interview. My interview was in May of 2013 and pretty much I nailed the interview. I nailed the interview because I went in suited and booted, like my grandmother would expect, to impress my family. So I went in. Like they would say with any job interview, go in in your best dress and put your best forward. Right? But it's one of those things we're walking into that interview, and some of your listeners may feel this way, but have you ever felt that imposter syndrome? That no matter how much you've done, whatever it is you love to do,