The first lie you believe early in your career is that everyone else knows what they’re doing.

Ben Buckley didn’t. Trained as a biochemist, he walked away from medicine, pushed into technology without the “right” background and took risks that made sense only if you cared more about learning than comfort.

What he figured out early is what most people learn late: uncertainty comes with the work, not incompetence.

In the latest episode of "Rookies to Rockstars," Amanda Ziadeh talks with the GDIT vice president and general manager about building a career by chasing opportunity instead of titles and why progress usually feels messy while it’s happening.

Ben has spent over 16 years at the company, rising from engineer to leading some of GDIT's largest and most complex programs across defense and the intelligence community. He kept choosing roles that stretched him, even when staying put would have been easier.

The conversation keeps coming back to judgment: knowing when to ask questions, when to take a risk and when to slow down long enough to learn from a mistake.

This episode also covers: 

• Nobody has it figured out. Buckley assumed early that everyone else was ahead of him. They weren’t.
• Your degree doesn’t decide your ceiling. Analytical thinking transferred across fields even when job titles changed.
• Risk is the cost of progress. Growth requires it, especially when you push ideas others aren’t ready for.
• Mistakes create experience. Success teaches less. The value comes from stopping long enough to understand what went wrong.
• Proactivity compounds. Asking questions, doing the work and taking initiative separates early leaders from everyone else.

Ben also pushes back on the idea that today’s early-career professionals need to unlearn something. In his experience, many are already ahead: technically sharp, confident and capable of building real things that matter.

Tune in for an honest conversation about risk, learning on the job and how leadership in GovCon is built over time.

Few CIOs can say their careers grew in two worlds at once. For John Pisano, building an IT career while serving in the Army Reserve shaped a leadership style rooted in structure, resilience and a drive to solve hard problems with purpose.

That dual path started early. John’s curiosity for technology pushed him to take apart computers long before he studied IT, and his service taught him discipline and adaptability that carried into every role that followed. Over nearly three decades in uniform and 25 years in industry, he built a career by stepping into unfamiliar work, asking bold questions and learning how the business side of technology really works.

On this week’s Rookies to Rockstars, Amanda Ziadeh sits down with John, CIO of ASRC Federal, to talk about navigating uncertainty, building trust, handling imposter syndrome and redefining success around legacy and collective impact rather than titles.

Today, John leads IT for a major federal contractor, but getting there meant taking risks, embracing lateral moves and leaning on mentors who pushed him to see beyond the next job.

John also talked about:

• How the Army Reserve shaped how he leads and makes decisions
• The business lessons he had to learn by stepping into unfamiliar roles
• Why adaptability became his most important professional skill
• The challenge that taught him simplicity often wins in technology
• The purpose-driven mindset that guided every major career transition

Listen to a grounded, purpose-driven conversation on curiosity, service and what it takes to grow from a hands-on technologist into a leader who shapes teams and missions in federal IT.

Garry Schwartz didn’t begin his career in a boardroom, or even at an intern's desk, for that matter. He joined the military just in time to spend his 18th birthday at boot camp as a kid seeking structure and a purpose beyond himself. Turned out, it was exactly what Garry needed. After serving 21 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Garry left with a passion for mission, children and a wife to support and a deep understanding of the defense world. That's when he transitioned to industry.

His path wasn’t linear, but it was intentional: follow the mission, make yourself invaluable and keep learning. "Don't worry about failure. Don't worry about not knowing enough and don't worry about looking weak," Garry said.

On this week’s “Rookies to Rockstars,” Amanda Ziadeh sits down with Garry Schwartz, chief operating officer of HII Mission Technologies, to talk about long-game leadership, turning obstacles into opportunities, learning from mistakes and building a career at the intersection of service, mission and innovation.

Today, Garry works with the executive team to drive performance of Mission Technologies’ business portfolio for customers. But getting there meant being bold, proving himself to leadership and trusting a lateral move to eventually lead to bigger and better opportunities. 

We also talked about:

• The mindset shift that helped him transition to industry
• The emotional reality of leaving the military
• Why he now makes himself available to help other transitioning veterans 
• The power of lateral moves
• The hiring mistake he still thinks about
• His advice to those who think their moment has passed: redefine success — because “it’s never too late” if you stay flexible, and
• How industry can better support both early-career professionals and transitioning service members.

Tune in for an honest, mission-driven conversation about service, ownership and the mindset that turns rookies into leaders in GovCon.

David Guffey's trajectory wasn't necessarily thought out. In fact, he mostly searched "for that next opportunity." Once an Airman, guardsman and reservist, what began as a way to serve and see the world in the U.S. Air Force turned into a lifelong journey of learning, leadership and innovation.

On this week’s "Rookies to Rockstars," Amanda Ziadeh is joined by David Guffey, director of U.S. Special Operations Command and Intelligence Community Accounts at Intel Corp., to talk about how adaptability, military and commercial experience, and relationships shaped his path from Airman to industry leader supporting national security missions.

Today, David helps drive cutting-edge technology solutions for some of the nation’s most critical defense and intelligence partners — bridging the gap between commercial innovation and battlefield needs. Yet his path to this work started years earlier, when he left the Air Force and found himself sitting across from program managers and engineers, realizing he had to learn how to speak both languages. That lesson stuck. It taught him that success in defense tech isn’t just about hardware or code; it’s about connecting missions, people and possibilities.

We also talked about:

• The experiences that shaped his perspective on leadership and communication
• His three career principles: don’t expect entitlement, take risks and always be on time
• The culture shift from transitioning from military to industry 
• Building trust across military, government and industry teams
• Why you should "never believe that success is guaranteed"
• The importance of building career relationships over time and maintaining them 
• A risk he took early on that did not pay off, 
• And the challenge of breaking old habits (like relying on military acronyms) and finding a shared language at Intel

Tune in for a conversation about growth, service, overcoming failures, and the evolving intersection of defense and technology.

Heidi Kobylski didn’t start out in tech or business. She started out helping women rebuild their lives in transitional housing in Baltimore. The work was meaningful, but it also revealed something else: She wanted to create impact in a different way.

On this week’s "Rookies to Rockstars," Amanda Ziadeh and Camille Tuutti sit down with Heidi Kobylski, U.S. federal civilian leader at Microsoft, to talk about risk, reinvention and how she built her career one leap at a time.

Today, Heidi leads AI and cloud transformation across federal agencies. But getting there meant detours, missed deadlines and a few defining moments like earning her MBA at night while raising twins, one with special needs.

We also talked about:

• The $18K job that taught her empathy and grit
• The government bid she missed by three minutes—and how it changed her perspective
• Learning to play the long game instead of chasing perfection
• Using data (and courage) to negotiate pay and close the gap
• Why “remote only” can limit early-career growth
• And the surprising way she finds balance: racing cars

Tune in for a  grounded, candid conversation about risk, resilience and redefining success in federal tech.

Amy Foy didn’t wait for someone to hand her a career plan.

Fresh out of college, she joined a leadership program that promised structure and direction. But when it ended, she realized no one was going to chart the next step. If she wanted a career, she’d have to build it herself.

Today, Amy is vice president for contracts and supply chain at Nightwing, leading complex transformation efforts across defense and intelligence missions. Along the way, she’s learned that success isn’t about titles or speed but about owning your path, asking for help when you need it and knowing when to step back.

In this episode of "Rookies to Rockstars," Amy chats about:

• Why your career is your responsibility — and no one else’s
• The mindset that helps you survive high-stakes work and still have a life
• What the next generation needs to unlearn about communication and mentorship
• How she’s redefining ambition after 20 years in the business

It’s a conversation about drive, perspective and the lessons you only learn when you stop trying to do it all yourself.

Don’t believe everything you see on TV. Courtrooms aren’t stages for finger-pointing theatrics — and if you try that in real life, you’ll probably get tossed out.

On this week’s "Rookies to Rockstars," Amanda Ziadeh and Camille Tuutti sit down with Jim Rittinger, general counsel and corporate secretary at Empower AI.

Jim spent a decade grinding 3,000 billable hours a year at a top litigation firm before becoming one of the youngest general counsels Ross Perot ever hired. Along the way, he:

• Learned to unlearn “default aggressive” litigation habits when moving in-house
• Faced imposter syndrome at 36 running legal for a billion-dollar company
• Made mistakes (like winning a battle but losing a working relationship) that taught him the value of diplomacy
• Realized the best lawyers aren’t just advocates—they’re problem solvers

And yes, he even admits there’s something to admire about Saul Goodman’s creativity.

Tune in to hear Jim’s candid lessons on surviving 100-hour weeks, navigating corporate culture shifts, and redefining success as a lawyer in GovCon.

Quit the safety net.

Andrzej Gorski walked away from a stable job to become employee one at a brand-new startup — no contracts or guarantees.

That leap taught him the mindset he still has today: Fail fast, fail often, and keep moving.

Now, he’s senior vice president of electronic systems at Two Six Technologies, running one of the company’s fastest-growing units. His leadership style is simple: protect your people, communicate clearly, and never stop reinventing how teams work.

In this episode of "Rookies to Rockstars," Andrzej shares why:

• Overanalyzing slows you down in tech
• In-person conversations beat Zoom every time
• The best leaders create more of themselves so their teams can scale

Hear how startup chaos shaped a GovCon leader.

What happens when a finance analyst bets on himself and pivots into business development leadership?

In this episode of "Rookies to Rockstars," Amanda Ziadeh and Camille Tuutti sit down with John Hart, executive vice president and chief growth officer at Agile Defense, to find out.

John shares how flexibility became his secret weapon as he moved from crunching numbers to driving capture and growth strategies for major government contractors. He opens up about the risks that reshaped his career, the mentors who guided him and the mistakes that sharpened his leadership edge.

From “trust but verify” lessons to the importance of self-propelled drive in BD roles, John offers candid insights you won’t hear anywhere else. He also tackles hot topics for the next generation — hybrid work, networking anxiety and why every interaction matters. Hear his tips for college students and early professionals on how to build presence, confidence and connections long before graduation. Learn why lateral moves can be powerful stepping stones and how to know when it’s time to move on — or stay and grow. And yes, John even reveals his most cringe-worthy early-career mistake and what it taught him about attention to detail.

If you’re curious about carving a resilient, upward-moving path in GovCon or any high-stakes field, this episode is your playbook.

Michael Polmar didn’t plan on GovCon. He started as a chemistry major who loved science, broke more than a little lab glassware, and thought research was his future. Four years in, he swapped experiments for programs — and discovered he liked leading people and solving business problems even more. That pivot launched a 30-year career across defense and intel, building and running growth engines for some of the industry’s biggest names. Michael has learned what few will say out loud: growth is the hardest job in the company. The budget may be huge, but everyone’s fighting — and partnering — for the same dollars.

Now chief growth officer at Tyto Athene, Michael leads teams across the full federal acquisition lifecycle. Strategist, dealmaker, coach, fixer — sometimes all in one day. In this episode of Rookies to Rockstars, Michael gets real about risks that didn’t always pay off, the power of networking and mentors, and why technical chops plus business savvy is the ultimate edge. He also shares the one mindset the next generation needs to let go of if they want to lead. If you’ve ever wondered how to survive — and thrive — in the high-stakes world of BD, Michael's story is your blueprint.