In this episode of Make Yourself @ Work, Matt Tverberg sits down with Casey Flores, Manager, Global Workplace at Cribl, the AI platform for Telemetry that helps IT and security teams manage, route, and analyze massive volumes of machine data. Casey has spent about five years in facilities and building operations, building out offices in San Francisco, and now helping Cribl expand globally.

He shares how his team builds programming that earns the office visit, why he stopped obsessing over headcount, and how Cribl layers badge data with Envoy's presence integrations to get near-perfect occupancy accuracy. Some key lessons from the conversation include: occupancy is a number, but it can't be the only one, the best programming ideas come from the people who choose to show up, and every office needs its own playbook.

This episode is a must-listen for workplace and facilities leaders at remote-first or hybrid companies, employee experience professionals, and anyone rethinking how to measure the value of an office.

—

Quotes

"I'm a big believer that if we as a workplace team are managing a remote-first company, occupancy is a number, but it cannot be the only one."

“ The thing that I realized is just people do have a desire to come into the office when there's good programming to bring them in.”

“ I really had to take my playbook, throw it out, and say, "Okay, what is best for Cribl?" Not for what I think Cribl should be, but for what the employees actually want.”

—

Timestamps

(01:03) What Cribl does

(01:59) From bakery counter to workplace ops

(04:34) Running a remote-first workplace

(06:05) Programming that earns the visit

(09:04) Closing the feedback loop

(11:29) Why occupancy can't be the only metric

(16:44) What an intentional in-person day looks like

(22:54) How Cribl handles booking desks

(28:16) The data leadership actually cares about

(32:14) Getting near-perfect presence data with Envoy

(41:21) Advice for leaders stuck defending occupancy

(42:58) How Casey Makes Himself @ Work

—

Links 

Connect with the guest and host on LinkedIn!

Learn more about Envoy

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Make Yourself @ Work, Matt Tverberg sits down with Julian Douglas, Director of Workplace Operations and Real Estate at Ripple, the enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions company. Julian leads workplace strategy and real estate across Ripple's 19 global offices, a career that started in the mailroom and worked its way up through facilities management.

Julian shares what it takes to run a workplace at a fast-scaling global company, where offices around the world need to feel unmistakably like Ripple while still reflecting their local cultures.

He dives into how his team builds that consistency across borders, how they use data and feedback to keep spaces working as the company evolves, and why hospitality instincts are what he hires for. Some key lessons from the conversation include: a global portfolio stays cohesive through intentional design, feedback is everywhere if you keep your ears open, and flexible spaces are the best protection against a fast-changing company.

This episode is essential listening for workplace and facilities leaders, corporate real estate professionals, and anyone running operations across a growing office portfolio.

—

Quotes

“ There's a right way, there's a wrong way, then there's a Ripple way. We really stand by that. So when you walk into our offices, you might see some quirky stuff… but for us, it works. And that's literally how you become a market disruptor.”

"One thing I tell my team is it shouldn't feel like you're walking into a different office. It's Ripple, right? We want local flavor, of course, but there's those key elements that in the back of your mind a general person may not pick up on, but they're design intents that you'll walk by and make you feel like you're in a Ripple office."

“There's a phrase that is out now, being comfortable being uncomfortable. We definitely have to be in that mindset and understand that any project or thing that you're working on may switch, especially when you're in a fast-paced environment, and that's okay."

—

Timestamps

(00:44) Julian's path from the mailroom to director

(03:50) What Ripple actually does

(06:52) Keeping 19 global offices consistent

(12:47) Lessons from moving Ripple's headquarters

(18:29) Why every build schedule needs a buffer

(21:08) Physical security at a crypto company

(24:16) The thankless job and finding validation

(26:58) Ripple's 10-day hybrid policy

(32:18) Where AI shows up in workplace ops

(40:42) Building trust: the Singapore gold standard

(46:15) Advice for early-career workplace pros

(48:58) How Julian Makes Himself @ Work

—

Links 

Connect with the guest and host on LinkedIn!

Learn more about Envoy

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Make Yourself @ Work, Matt Tverberg sits down with Delia Midamba, Director of Physical Security at Saronic, an Austin-based defense technology company building autonomous vessels for the U.S. Navy. Before Saronic, Delia built and led security programs at Splunk, Cloudflare, and Cohesity, and started her career as a Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. State Department.

Delia shares what it's really like to build a security program from scratch at a company where the stakes are national defense. That means navigating trade compliance, multi-site consistency, and protecting technology that real lives may one day depend on.

She dives into how she manages visitor compliance workflows, keeps security consistent across multiple sites, and balances a frictionless employee experience with the requirements of a regulated environment. Some key lessons from the conversation include: security works best when it enables the business rather than blocks it, consistency across sites reduces risk and creates a better employee experience, and the biggest security variable is always human behavior.

This episode is a must-listen for physical security leaders, workplace and operations professionals in regulated or defense environments, and anyone building a security program at a fast-scaling company.

—

Quotes

“The human factor adds an element of unpredictability that you always have to be able to pivot and account for. So the security teams always have to be reading people, assessing behavior, and then responding based on the signals they're getting.”

“ Framing the conversation and being flexible and understanding [that] your risk tolerance may not be their risk tolerance. And so coming to an agreement on where they want that risk tolerance to be, and then implementing based on that.”

“I think a lot of the time security is seen as a hindrance or a blocker… So if we can get to a stage where we're not seen that way, where people are comfortable coming to us for help… that's a win for me.”

—

Timestamps

(00:25) Background on Delia and Saronic

(01:31) From the State Department to defense tech

(04:36) The US shipbuilding gap and Saronic's mission

(06:51) Saronic vessels used in a real Navy rescue mission

(09:03) Working with a Navy SEAL founder

(10:27) Communicating security value to leadership

(16:09) One badge, one process: the consistency principle

(19:32) Trade compliance and visitor workflows

(26:38) Incident readiness and tabletop exercises

(30:58) What keeps a defense security leader up at night

(33:09) How Delia defines success in her role

(36:17) How Delia Makes Herself @ Work

—

Links 

Connect with the guest and host on LinkedIn!

Learn more about Envoy

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Make Yourself @ Work, Matt Tverberg sits down with Caitlin Steininger, Director of Workplace Operations (Americas) at Samsara, a connected operations cloud platform. Caitlin brings more than 14 years of experience, including senior roles at Cohesity and SteelWave, and today leads workplace strategy, real estate operations, and employee experience across a growing global footprint.

Caitlin shares what it really means to own employee experience at scale. She manages 15 locations across multiple regions and explains why the biggest challenges aren't physical, they're operational.

She dives into how Samsara uses utilization data for meal forecasting and lease planning, the real cost of disconnected systems, and how AI is already changing how her team works. Some key lessons from the conversation include: your employees are your customers, always communicate the "why" behind new tools, and if you want people to come in, give them a reason worth the commute.

This episode provides a practical guide for workplace and facilities leaders, and anyone responsible for building employee experiences that scale.

—

Quotes

“​​ We're more than just a facilities manager. We really are the chief operating officer of employee experience. When you step into a Samsara office, that employee experience, what you feel, what you see, what you engage with really is what workplace does.”

“ We spend more hours with the people that we work with than our families, and so it's really important that our office environment and creating that great employee experience is… a home away from home, where employees can be their most productive.”

“I really like to put myself in the employee's shoes and say, "Okay, an executive just came to me, or a VP just came to me, and they need me to set this up right now. What information do I need to give the workplace team so they can turn it around quickly?" And that's really where I focus.”

—

Timestamps

(00:32) Background on Caitlin and Samsara

(03:01) Defining workplace operations

(06:48) Raising the bar after Samsara's TIME100 recognition

(11:10) What strains first when companies scale

(14:14) Cultural differences across global hubs

(16:14) Hybrid in practice: building the why for in-office work

(20:46) Data blind spots and the HRIS integration gap

(24:11) Using utilization data for forecasting and planning

(31:12) Building team culture and celebrating wins

(43:01) The 80% occupancy pinch point

(51:24) How Caitlin Makes Herself @ Work

—

Links 

Connect with the guest and host on LinkedIn!

Learn more about Envoy

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Make Yourself @ Work, Matt Tverberg sits down with Julian Sera, Senior Manager of Facilities at Cytokinetics, a global biopharmaceutical company focused on muscle biology and heart disease innovation. With experience at large enterprises such as Tesla and Apple, Julian shares what it takes to scale workplace operations internationally while maintaining complex regulatory requirements.

From locking down conference rooms for regulatory response teams to collaborating on creative room naming conventions, Julian unpacks the operational details that are often overlooked when it comes to workplace management. He dives deep into how he leverages utilization data to design smarter offices, why small tweaks to airflow timing can have a massive impact on the bottom line, and why flexible design elements prevent wasted space in hybrid environments. 

You’ll also hear practical lessons in change management and how the team at Cytokinetics balances standardization with personalization as they expand their global footprint. Some key lessons from the conversation include: don’t assume knowledge, always communicate the “why” behind new tech, and build trust by following through on even the smallest requests.

This episode is a must-listen for facilities leaders, workplace strategists, operations executives, and anyone responsible for scaling physical environments in fast-growing, regulated industries.

—

Quotes

“No cookie-cutter approach is gonna actually work even within a company itself. Every department has different needs. And I think that kind of trend that we've seen a lot in the workplace design world is really creating different worlds, different environments for people rather than creating a cube farm.”

“If you say that you're gonna do it, just do it. Because if you don't, next time it's cold they might not reach out to you. Next time they have a bigger thing that's not just office temperature, they might not reach out to you. I think it's building off those seemingly meaningless little asks that can have a big impact.”

“If people aren’t asking us and we’re catching it ahead of time, awesome. That’s a good day. A lot of facilities, workplace, all of our operational aspects, we’re kind of like those ninjas in the background. And I think if you’re too noticed, that means you’re doing something wrong.”

—

Timestamps 

(00:32) Background on Julian and Cytokinetics

(01:47) Managing global offices and scale

(03:32) What brought Julian to the space

(05:04) Avoiding a cookie-cutter approach

(07:58) Operating in a highly regulated industry

(11:36) Underestimated aspects of facilities and operations

(13:45) The team logistics that follow global growth

(17:58) Strategic space planning leveraging data

(25:22) Empowering all types of roles across the organization

(29:27) The power of follow-through

(31:06) Looking toward the future

(36:28) How to prioritize new tools

(39:39) How Julian makes himself @ Work

—

Links 

Connect with the guest and host on LinkedIn!

Learn more about Envoy

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Make Yourself @ Work, Matt Tverberg sits down with Alan Mather, Head of Corporate Security at Tools for Humanity, the company behind the Orb, World ID, and the World App. Before joining the company, Alan spent more than two decades at NASA, where he led the Protective Services Division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. In that role, he oversaw the protection of personnel, facilities, and mission operations, and earlier in his career served as a Major in the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Branch.

Alan shares how that mission-critical mindset translates to the fast-moving world of tech, where he now protects a company whose entire product is built on trust. From planning security for high-profile launch events to navigating the blurry line between physical and cybersecurity, he unpacks what it takes to build a resilient security program at the frontier of digital identity.

He dives into the real-time accountability gap, why the secure path must also be the easiest path, and what the future of continuous, contextual identity verification looks like. Some key lessons from the conversation include: good security is invisible but not absent, planning matters more than the plan, and real vendor relationships are mission partnerships.

This episode is a must-listen for corporate security leaders, workplace technology professionals, and anyone thinking seriously about the intersection of physical security, digital identity, and organizational trust.

—

Quotes

“Any security program that is too difficult to understand, too cumbersome to implement, or too hard to manage is not going to be implemented or adopted by the stakeholders. Your employees aren't going to do it, and management isn't going to support it, and thus it's ineffective. A good security program is one that focuses on making sure that the secure path is the easiest path.”

“The best partnerships are the ones where you're not a customer or a vendor, but both sides treat each other with respect and help each other, and we become mission partners to solve problems.”

“ The best security systems are the ones people don't have to think about, really. And I say periodically, ‘I work awfully hard to make nothing happen.’ If security becomes invisible, but yet it still works, then that usually means the security system is designed well and it's integrated into the workday, into the workflow, and so it's just natural.”

—

Timestamps

(00:32) Background on Alan and Tools for Humanity

(03:10) Planning security for a high-profile product launch

(05:22) How the mission shapes the security mindset

(10:36) Lessons from NASA: recalibrating risk in tech

(12:28) Emergency preparedness and contingency planning

(16:23) Balancing security visibility with data privacy

(20:10) The "who's present" problem: Okta, Envoy, and integration gaps

(27:01) Security leaders as systems architects

(33:17) Where physical and cyber security converge

(42:16) What security teams underestimate about human behavior

(51:10) How Alan Makes Himself @ Work

—

Links 

Connect with the guest and host on LinkedIn!

Learn more about Envoy

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Modern workplaces rely on people, systems, and spaces working together. 

In each episode, Matt sits down with workplace, security, and real estate leaders who are simplifying operations, strengthening culture, and building spaces people actually get excited about.

You’ll hear real stories, hard-won lessons, and practical insights you can put to use right away.

So if you care about creating a workplace that works for everyone, you’re in the right place. 

Welcome to Make Yourself @ Work.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.