FeaturingRick Blanco, CIO, Texas Health & Human ServicesConnect w/ Rick: LinkedIn Sponsor: The TechTables Live Podcast TourJoin us for these small, intimate live podcast conversations across the U.S.July 22nd in Raleigh, North Carolina [This Friday!]September 23rd in Sacramento, CaliforniaOctober 14th in Tallahassee, FloridaShow Notes:Mission-driven recruitment: How leveraging Veterans transformed the Pandemic into the best recruitment season at HSS: 01:06- 2:34“During the Pandemic, we had a lot of people transitioning from Afghanistan/Iraq/overseas, and they needed another mission. And we provided that.” 01:49Value-added: how Veterans provided guidance, vision, and long term-minded Mission-driven talent recruitment at HHS 02:45- 6:06The evolution of Mission from the Pandemic to now: 6:07- 7:30“We probably know the difficulties and the challenges they face in providing those Direct Care services. I want them to focus on that care; I don’t want them to focus on “Wi-fi is down,” “my laptop doesn’t work,” or “I have an unstable network.” That’s our role and responsibility…and we want to make sure that we continually serve that.” 07:03How Rick’s motto “Do not turn down opportunity” drove his journey from Networking Admin to HHS CIO: 07:31 - 11:31“Do not turn down opportunities…” 08:10“I’ve got five kids. Nothing scares me.” 09:41“Keep your say-to-do ratio high; if you say you’re going to do something, do it… People remember that.” 12:37-12:53The art of crafting a good story : How to make relatable asks that get projects funded: 13:47 - 18:30Q & A:Summer on hiring Veterans: 18:49“Sometimes people during chaos want to gravitate towards the people that make them feel good and secure.” 21:30Cory: Key insights from career? 21:55Krishna: 23:30 Favorite activities to decompress?  ----------------------Want to dive deeper? Check out my episode on TechTables - https://www.techtables.com/And if you're a CIO or technology leader interested in coming on TechTables, shoot me an email at [email protected] you for supporting Levity Media LLC ❤️, a small business growing private and public sector technology communities through fun and engaging conversations with top technology leaders. Learn more about Joe Toste (me) at https://www.techtables.com/about/See what episodes I'm creating at https://www.techtables.com/ This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techtables.substack.com/subscribe