Our discussion today covers everything from what it's like to move to SF with nothing and forge a career, why we should be "bangin' in the fundamentals" when it comes to IT, inclusion, and being an ally not just to our LGBTQ+ friends, but all of our coworkers.

Tori shares some epic stories about coming up, people who made a difference and their unique story of being able to be openly non-binary at work.

We also have a blast and geek out and everything you'd expect from an episode of IT After Hours, so share this pod with 5 friends this week and let's get the word out!

Tori's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toripaulman/
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Learn more about Ben and the Pod:

• Subscribe and Rate us on iTunes!!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/it-after-hours/id1566762084
• Learn about QSTAC: https://www.qstac.com/
• Read Ben's Book, Badass IT Support: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/
• Connect on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benbrennan/

The music for the intro and outro comes from my favorite band of all time, Steamroller from Austin, TX. Thanks everyone for listening, and see you next time at IT After Hours!

Ben's Links:
QSTAC: https://www.ITXM.com
Ben's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/

Dueling Interviews!! Jeff turned the tables and insisted that he get to interview me as well for the pod, so this is the first ever dueling interviews episode of IT After Hours. 

Jeff Rumburg is co-founder and Managing Partner of MetricNet, LLC. He was awarded the Ron Muns Lifetime Achievement Award by HDI for his contributions to the IT Service and Support industry. He has authored a best-selling book on Benchmarking and has published more than 100 whitepapers on IT Support Best Practices. He has also been retained as a service and support expert by more than half of the FORTUNE 1000, including such well-known companies as American Express, Intel, General Motors, IBM, and USAA.

More importantly, he's a great human and I love talking to him. This conversation goes all over the place and it gets better and better so stay till the end!

If you like what you hear, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss the next episode, and if you can, leave a review and a rating on apple podcasts as it really helps us spread the word! 

• Find out more about MetricNet: https://www.metricnet.com

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Learn more about Ben and the Pod:

• Subscribe and Rate us on iTunes!!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/it-after-hours/id1566762084
• Learn about QSTAC: https://www.qstac.com/
• Read Ben's Book, Badass IT Support: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/
• Connect on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benbrennan/

The music for the intro and outro comes from my favorite band of all time, Steamroller from Austin, TX. Thanks guys and thanks everyone for listening, see you next time at IT After Hours!

Ben's Links:
QSTAC: https://www.ITXM.com
Ben's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/

Today's episode part TWO of our chat with Maddie Blumenthal. Besides being one of my favorite humans on the planet, Maddie is QSTAC's new VP of Customer Success and a force of nature when it comes to building teams that understand and deliver for customers.

In part two, Maddie digs into her unique POV of IT from a CS perspective and what she's learned her first couple of months in this new role helping IT leaders be successful. 

If you like what you hear, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss the next episode, and if you can, leave a review and a rating on apple podcasts as it really helps us spread the word! Here's where you can find Maddie B online: 

• Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-blumenthal-10a39a2a
• QSTAC: QSTAC.com/Demo

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Learn more about Ben and the Pod:

• Subscribe and Rate us on iTunes!!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/it-after-hours/id1566762084
• Learn about QSTAC: https://www.qstac.com/
• Read Ben's Book, Badass IT Support: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/
• Connect on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benbrennan/

Ben's Links:
QSTAC: https://www.ITXM.com
Ben's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/

Today's episode part one of our chat with Maddie Blumenthal, a chat that had so much goodness we had to break it up into two parts!

Maddie is QSTAC's new VP of Customer Success and a force of nature when it comes to building teams that understand and deliver for customers.

In part one Maddie and Ben tell stories of their early days in San Francisco, working their way up the ladder professionally and talk about why Customer Success and IT are so similar. 

If you like what you hear, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss part 2 and if you can, leave a review and a rating on apple podcasts as it really helps us spread the word! Here's where you can find Maddie B online: 

• Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-blumenthal-10a39a2a
• QSTAC: QSTAC.com/Demo

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Learn more about Ben and the Pod:

• Subscribe and Rate us on iTunes!!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/it-after-hours/id1566762084
• Learn about QSTAC: https://www.qstac.com/
• Read Ben's Book, Badass IT Support: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/
• Connect on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benbrennan/

Ben's Links:
QSTAC: https://www.ITXM.com
Ben's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/

Today's episode is part two of our chat with Roy Atkinson, a conversation that had so many nuggets of wisdom we had to break it up into multiple parts!

If you don't know Roy, he is a bonafide legend in the IT service and support community, having been honored with more industry awards and accolades than is humanly possible to count. He's on every IT industry influencer list, he's been featured in the Economist and numerous other publications, BUT that's not why he's here!

Roy was chosen as our inaugural guest because he is an insanely interesting human, and an amazing thought leader in the IT space. From Philosophy, Psychology, his days in the music business and more, Roy has a ton of life experience that he brings, along with a big dose of common sense. 

This episode is part two of our conversation, all about experience, and how we use that word wrong a lot, and what experience really means, with pro tips on how to measure it. 

If you want to find out more about Roy, below are some links. I highly recommend reaching out and getting to know Roy, whether you hire him through Clifton Butterfield or just fan boy it out like me and read everything he writes. He's very literally a living legend and just a fun dude to learn from and know. 

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/royatkinson/
• Clifton Butterfield, LLC: https://cliftonbutterfield.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoyAtkinson/

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Learn more about Ben and the Pod:

• Subscribe and Rate us on iTunes!!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/it-after-hours/id1566762084
• Learn about QSTAC: https://www.qstac.com/
• Read Ben's Book, Badass IT Support: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/
• Connect on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benbrennan/

Ben's Links:
QSTAC: https://www.ITXM.com
Ben's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/

Welcome to THE FIRST EPISODE of IT After Hours. Today's episode part one of our chat with Roy Atkinson, a chat that had so many nuggets of wisdom we had to break it up into multiple parts!

Roy is a bonafide legend in the services and support community, having been honored with more industry awards and accolades than is humanly possible to count. He's on every IT industry influencer list, he's been featured in the Economist and numerous other publications, BUT that's not why he's here!

Roy was chosen as our inaugural guest because he is an insanely interesting human, and an amazing thought leader in the IT space. From Philosophy, Psychology, his days in the music business and more, Roy has a ton of life experience that he brings, along with a big dose of common sense. 

This episode is part one of our conversation, and we cover a Lot

If you know about Roy already, you're going to see sides of him you never knew before. If you want to find out more about Roy, below are some links. I highly recommend reaching out and getting to know Roy, whether you hire him through Clifton Butterfield or just fan boy it out like me and read everything he writes. He's very literally a living legend and just a fun dude to learn from and know. 

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/royatkinson/
• Clifton Butterfield, LLC: https://cliftonbutterfield.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoyAtkinson/

__________

Learn more about Ben and the Pod:

• Subscribe and Rate us on iTunes!!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/it-after-hours/id1566762084
• Learn about QSTAC: https://www.qstac.com/
• Read Ben's Book, Badass IT Support: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/
• Connect on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benbrennan/

Ben's Links:
QSTAC: https://www.ITXM.com
Ben's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/

It's all happening, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss these unforgettable conversations. 

In this teaser episode, there are no guests, just our humble host Ben letting you know what the pod is about. 

With 5 episodes already in the can, we can tell you it was worth the wait, you're gonna love them. Subscribe now and get ready for the kind of authentic, compelling, inspiring conversations with amazing people you can only get here, at IT After Hours. 

Ben's Links:
QSTAC: https://www.ITXM.com
Ben's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Badass-Support-Ben-Brennan/dp/1544510276/