When Amazon Web Services experienced an outage this week, a glitch in Virginia took down apps and sites around the world, from Alexa to Delta Airlines. In this solo episode, Kirin breaks down what really happened with AWS, why the cloud matters more than ever, and how one line of code can basically make the whole internet pause.

She explains what AWS actually does, describing it as Amazon renting out secure “digital real estate” to the world’s biggest companies, and unpacks how a small DNS error at Amazon’s main data center in Virginia temporarily disrupted daily life worldwide.

Kirin also gets into the bigger picture: our growing dependence on the cloud, what resilience really means in tech, and how these hiccups are quietly shaping a smarter, more secure internet as we move into the post-quantum era.

In the lifestyle segment, she shares a fall travel recap from D.C. and Montreal, plus the Zara long waxed trench coat with corduroy cuffs that officially became her workwear MVP. Also on rotation: the Victoria Beckham Netflix soundtrack that’s on repeat while she works, and of course, a quick celebration for the Toronto Blue Jays as they head to the World Series.

Sources:

• What caused Amazon’s AWS outage, and why did so many major apps go offline?
• AWS Outage: What To Know As Amazon Says Cloud Service Is Back To Normal
• AWS outage: Are we relying too much on US big tech?

Lifestyle Segment Mentions

• Zara Long Waxed Trench Coat with Corduroy Cuffs
• VB Soundtrack

Fresh off the press...NVIDIA just announced the DGX Spark today, October 15, a desk-side AI supercomputer that’s making high-performance computing personal. After this update, we switch gears to fashion tech with Julia Dietmar, CEO and co-founder of OpenWardrobe.co, who’s using AI to reimagine how we shop, style, and sustain what we wear.

After two decades leading product at Yahoo, Walmart, and Vue.ai, Julia saw the overproduction and waste behind the fashion industry, and built OpenWardrobe to give power back to the consumer. She shares how the platform evolved from a simple digital closet to an AI-driven ecosystem that recognizes your clothes, tracks cost-per-wear, estimates resale value, and even connects you to stylists and repair services. We also dive into Style Blueprint, her color-analysis tool, and Lola AI (“lots of lovely algorithms”), the recommendation engine teaching us why certain tones and silhouettes make us feel our best.

In the lifestyle segment, Julia shares her go-to confidence formula: structured silhouettes and the behavioral psychology book she swears by for anyone building something from the ground up.

Show Notes:

• Guest: Julia Dietmar, CEO & Co-Founder of OpenWardrobe.co
• Favorite Book: Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini
• Follow: @openwardrobeofficial

That’s a wrap on Season One! Over the last 12 weeks, we’ve gone from breaking down data science in plain English, to exploring AI’s fingerprints on fashion and family businesses, to talking blockchain and vaccine delivery, and even how to keep showing up if you’re navigating grief in the middle of a tech career.

This highlight reel pulls together some of my favorite moments with guests who made us laugh, think, and reimagine what “tech and lifestyle” can really look like.

We’ll be back on October 15 with Season Two: new guests, big ideas, and the same mix of sharp insights with a sprinkle of lifestyle.

The creator economy is no longer niche, it’s projected to hit $480 billion by 2027. In this episode, we break down how creators are transforming tech, media, and business: from Hailey Bieber’s $1B Rhode acquisition to the rise of micro-influencers who convert trust into sales. We’ll also look at global momentum, from India’s booming creator market to Africa’s $5B digital content economy and Japan’s AI-powered avatars.

We’ll cover how creators earn and how many are evolving into full-scale companies, like Prime Hydration and Chamberlain Coffee, that now rival legacy brands.

Finally, in the lifestyle segment, I share what I'm doing to feel my best for the fall: listening to Roxie Nafousi’s Manifest, building a vision board, and trying microneedling for the first time.

Sources:

Goldman Sachs: The creator economy could approach half a trillion dollars by 2027

Andreessen Horowitz: The Creator Stack

a16z Podcast: The Creator Economy — NFTs and Beyond

Andreessen Horowitz: A Decade in the Creator Economy

eMarketer: Influencer marketing set to surpass $13 billion by 2027

Forbes: How the creator economy is reshaping modern marketing

Columbia Business School: TikTok ban and Meta ad prices

CNBC: India’s creator economy is booming as influencers start businesses (Aug 2025)

North Africa Post: African content creators drive $5B digital economy

Tatler Asia: The rise of Asian AI influencers

BBC News: Hailey Bieber’s Rhode sold to e.l.f. Beauty for $1B

Episode 10 is here! We’re celebrating hitting double digits with a quick and lively top 10 summer tech rundown for 2025.

From neuromorphic chips inspired by the brain to quantum computing breakthroughs, smarter wearables, green tech, and smarter smart homes, we cover the biggest trends reshaping your daily life. Plus, stick around for the lifestyle segment with my fave picks for eye patches (the chic kind, not pirate), weighted vests, quick workouts, indoor plants, and pastel workwear vibes. Perfect for your walk, drive, or quick break.

Blockchain has been a hot topic for a decade, but what about its real-world impact? We're talking about its role in delivering vaccines, enabling microfinance, and making humanitarian aid more transparent.

This week's guest is Arun Maharajan, Blockchain Technology Lead at UNICEF's Office of Innovation. Joining us from Sweden, Arun is on the front lines, where his team is using blockchain to bring trust, transparency, and efficiency to complex global operations. He'll walk us through how they're tracking cold chain data for vaccines in Bangladesh and helping youth entrepreneurs in Burundi access microloans.

We'll get into the human side of blockchain, exploring its evolution from early platforms like Bitcoin to the privacy-preserving third-gen tech of today. Arun also shares what it takes to bridge cutting-edge innovation with field work in some of the world's most challenging environments.

And of course, in the lifestyle segment he'll share:

• His recent trip to Italy and playing at Rockin’1000
• How travel is his go-to for a personal reset
• His winter goal of taking a dip in a very, very cold pool

This episode isn't about hangers and ticket stubs... it's about barcoded garments, AI-inspired workflows, and a surprisingly high-tech revolution happening inside a nearly 100-year-old business.

Our guest this week is Linley McConnell, VP of Gibson’s Cleaners, an iconic Toronto family brand she’s helping reinvent with automation, sustainability, and a very chic approach to customer care.

We talk about her pivot from a career in consulting and media to leading the family business, the reality of imposter syndrome, and what it’s really like to modernize a legacy brand in an industry people rarely associate with innovation.

And of course, we end with a rapid-fire lifestyle segment on:

• Eucalyptus Equinox towels
• Capsule wardrobes
• How often you actually need to dry clean your blazer
• And the age-old debate: is folding your clothes ruining your week?

Follow Linley!

Instagram: @laundrywithlinley
TikTok: @laundrywithlinley

I couldn’t let you step into August without talking about one of the biggest (and strangely quiet?) tech drops of the year: ChatGPT’s new Agent.

In this episode, Kirin breaks down:

• The difference between generative, predictive, and agentic AI (think: past, present, future)
• How OpenAI’s Operator and Deep Research features came together to build this next-level Agent
• What “Connectors” are (they’re kind of like APIs, explained simply)

• Real security concerns, including prompt injection attacks and how OpenAI’s addressing them

As a marketer, Kirin also shares why the ChatGPT demo video is a masterclass in storytelling, and why watching polished tech demos is one of the best ways to learn how tools actually work.

And of course, the lifestyle segment:

• WFH with sunflowers 🌻 (backed by the Rutgers flower study)
• The patchperfect summer smoothie, created with help from the Agent (it tastes like Tulum)
• Kirin's favourite songs from the Olivia Dean concert and why she's great for deep work

This one’s special. Today on patchperfect, I’m joined by my friend Fran, a marketing leader, spin and pilates instructor, and one of the most quietly resilient people I know, to talk about something we rarely hear discussed in high-performance spaces: grief.

Fran lost both of her parents before turning 30, all while building a high-impact career in tech (Meta, Shopify, X…just to name a few). We talk about what it’s really like to show up to meetings, meet deadlines, and perform in fast-paced, high-achieving cultures when your personal world is quietly falling apart.

We get into:

• How grief reshapes your relationship with ambition
• Why “I see you” hits harder than “I’m sorry”
• The invisible full-time job of estate paperwork, taxes, and admin
• Nervous system regulation 101 (spoiler: no Zara lighting allowed)
• Movement as medicine, even if you were picked last in gym class

And in the lifestyle segment, we talk about the quiet rituals that help Fran reconnect with herself. 5AM mornings, intentional outfits, white noise, magnesium lotion, and why showing up to a workout class can spark more than just a sweat. Sometimes it’s the beginning of feeling like yourself again. This episode is for anyone holding it together while falling apart inside.

For anyone processing loss while trying to stay high-functioning. And for anyone looking for soft ways to feel human again.

Cybersecurity might sound like it’s all code and firewalls, but at its core, it’s deeply human. In this birthday-themed episode, I’m sharing the tech that inspired me to launch this podcast: the fast-moving, high-stakes world of cyber.

We’ll break down key terms like malware, phishing, and zero-days, explore the real roles behind the scenes, SOC analysts, threat hunters, intel teams, and incident responders, and walk through the frameworks (like NIST) that tie it all together.

Enjoy!

Sources Mentioned:

IBM Announces New AI-Powered Threat Detection and Response Services

Qantas attack reveals one phone call is all it takes to crack cybersecurity’s weakest link: humans

The Cybercrime Industry Is Projected to Hit $10.5 Trillion in 2025 – RDCSTech