ITsmiths with Mike Smith

Imagine getting straight A's...Having one of the highest GPA's in school...Getting tons of accolades for your academics...;and then your parents tell you "good job, but you're not that smart. You need a more challenging school." That's the kind of upbringing Angela had. Two loving parents who knew their daughter and also weren't afraid to push her, and teach her about the real world. Angela Williams is the Director II of Enterprise Information Security for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and she has an inspiring story of how she combined a great upbringing and a curious mind to climb the IT ladder. All this, and she never even thought about becoming an IT professional until she was in college. It's a great story.

Trisha Walsh, is a global IT leader who has succeeded with some of the world's biggest brands and coolest companies. She is currently the Director of IT for Yelp… a company with over 6,000 employees and year after year, one of the most popular smartphone apps around. Prior to Yelp, Trisha was the Director of IT for Gap, Inc. and also worked at Bank of America for 16 years, where she worked her way up to a lofty leadership role in the IT department. But the road to her successful career in IT hasn't been easy for Trisha. In childhood, she experienced some very hard circumstances and tragedy, which really affected her in her early career. These tough times did some serious damage that eventually lead her to a turning point in her life… which ironically, was also the start of her IT career. Here is Trisha's amazing story. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com

After we all just watched the NASA launch of the SpaceX rocket in May of this year… when you think of one of the coolest places to work, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has to be one of them, right? Today's guest, Jim Rinaldi, not only got to work there… but was the CIO for 14 years. But that's not all… Before working at JPL, Jim was the CIO for both the FDA and the IRS, and was a Senior Vice President at Marriott. But before all that, Jim was just a normal kid, raised by a single mom in Birmingham, Alabama. Here's Jim's story. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com

If you're looking for a good story of an IT professional who worked their way up through the IT department, and eventually became a c-level executive, this is a great episode. Michael McGovern is currently the SVP, CTO and CISO for Metro Credit Union... a position he's held for the last seven years. And as you'll hear, he moved his way up through picking companies with great culture and awesome internal networking...and he also turned some of his greatest hardships(like getting laid-off twice), into insight...that he used to become a leader and mentor to the people reporting to him. For more information visit https://www.aerocominc.com

If you haven't heard the original Tyson Lutz episode, here it is for your enjoyment. Tyson Lutz created a breakthrough product for an ISP that eventually helped him land the position of Vice President of Infrastructure Engineering at Salesforce. For more info find us online at https://www.aerocominc.com

Ever wonder if you chose the right profession? Wes Williams did. Today, Wes is the Vice President and CIO at Mental Health Center of Denver, a $100M organization, with 850 employees and 35 locations. But back in 2005, while working as a psychologist, Wes decided to make a difficult career change, tossing aside 17 years of schooling and hard work… which eventually lead him to the IT department, and the career he has today. Take a listen to his inspiring story. For more info visit: https://www.aerocominc.com

Have you ever wondered if you should work less, and spend more time on the things that really matter? But what will that do to your livelihood? Are you willing to pay the price?

Jon Santee faced this decision, and decided to slow down, but he doesn't regret it for a minute. He has still had enormous success.

Today, only in his mid-forties, he's the Vice President of IT for Hayes Locums, and has become a very skilled leader. Jon has learned many tricks of the trade… which he was kind enough to share, in this interview at 7:00 AM Pacific Time, on Good Friday, during the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some people work hard because they enjoy the journey. Some people work hard because they like the result. Paul Edmisten likes the result. He likes to win. It's been a key element in his success as an IT professional. That drive to win has also put Paul into a lot of learning moments. Like taking a pivotal job from Disney that taught him how to think transformationally. As you can hear, Paul has a great story of his journey in life and IT, with a lot of good take-aways, that we can all benefit from. https://www.aerocominc.com/

Boris Kogan is the VP of Infrastructure Operations for Fisher Investments, a global Financial Management company with over 2,000 employees, & over $100 Billion in Firm assets under management. His climb in IT is centered around hard work, that started with growing up in the USSR, & watching his dad (illegally), work a second job, & dodge KGB agents in order to make enough money for his family. He's also had some really great mentors that taught him skills that he still uses. https://www.aerocominc.com

Jason Berryhill, CIO of OmniTRAX, has had an extraordinary amount of success in a relatively shortamount of time. He's only in his mid-forties, yet he's already been the CIO of two mid-size companies. But the road hasn't always been easy, and it all started with having a little bit of disruption in his life at an early age. At some point, however, he started to learn the value of taking calculated risks... which are a big reason he attributes to his fast success in his IT career. I think you'll enjoy hearing his story. For more information visit https://www.Aerocominc.com