In this episode our host Sabrina Laut and guest Chandni Panchal discuss how to approach our own mental health and how working together can help remove the stigma of opening up about it. Chandni, a CSAP alum, is part of the UK&I Developer Advocacy team at Cisco focusing on all cool things programmability! Listen as Sabrina and Chandni talk more about achieving balance between work and personal life, the importance of checking in with yourself regularly, and why as an Early-in-Career, it’s more than ok to set boundaries for yourself and know when to say no!

Ever wonder why you feel burnt out after a day of video meetings?

In this episode, we focus on how early-in-career and facilitators can prevent virtual training burnout while ensuring the effectiveness of virtual training. Our guest Michael Harabedian has been at Cisco for 21 years and is a respected veteran trainer at CSAP (Cisco Sales Associates Program). Our host Enrico Giulini and Michael discuss how to deal with virtual training fatigue during, between, and after video meetings. Listen to the podcast to find out why and get tips on how to deal with it!

This episode touches on several topics: the power of failure, cultural adaptability and international travel. Steve Cramer, one of our legendary CSAP facilitators and CSAP alumnus, is no stranger to failure. It’s about what you do when, not if you fail. In his great story telling fashion, Steve shares too many anecdotes to list but we’ll entice you with a famous movie quote that’s mentioned in the conversation: ‘If we can keep the earth in the window then we’ll be fine!

Story telling is an art. No wait. It’s a science. Throw in some psychology, mix in some Harry Potter and find that common red thread behind every good story. Sen Chandaka, SE Senior Manager and CSAP Alum, is a natural storyteller, a skill he has honed through years of reading, listening and just practicing telling stories. He shows us how to successfully use storytelling in our technology world, planting that seed of truth with his listeners, understanding what makes them tick and compelling them to take action! As usual, Domi asks incisive questions, leaving no stone unturned in uncovering what makes a good story and a great storyteller.

From being named Person of Impact by Cisco’s ECN (Early in Career Network) to winning an award for writing a mythical fiction book to hosting major events such as Woman of Cisco and the GVSE (Global Virtual Sales & Engineering) all hands in APJC, Jennifer Seo truly is a Cisco Rockstar. She’s fearless and seizes opportunities as they come her way. She recently graduated from the Cisco Sales Associates Program in FY20 as an ASR and shares how she takes advantage of moments that matter, connects with peers, engages with leaders all the while just doing what she loves to do! Marcus, our host, as always, brings it on with his dry humor and fun.

Listen to this insightful conversation between our host Cyrille and Sherman Wilkins, a 2008 CSAP alum. Sherman draws parallels between coming into CSAP during the global financial crisis and our FY20 and FY21 cohort coming in during the COVID-19 pandemic. He delves into many aspects of CSAP, his career journey, his personal life and just gives some great career advice. As usual, Cyrille brings his own wisdom and reflection as an Early in Career navigating through these times.

Tune into this episode with Domi talking to Kathleen Schauer, an Account Manager for Microsoft. Kathleen started her career as an ASE (Associate System Engineer). After a couple of years working on the Verizon Channel team, she went on to become an IT director for a small nonprofit. Finding herself in her customers' shoes was eye opening and made abundantly clear what matters most to customers. Coming back to Cisco as an AM, Kathleen strives to be responsive, be persistent, be curious, listen and understand that a customer 'not now' sometimes just means 'not yet'!

In this episode, Fabio talks to our host Cyrille about his journey starting off as an associate and the path that led him back to CSAP as a manager. There are too many pearls of wisdom to mention so we'll leave you with this one quote: "If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough".

In this first episode of our second season, our host Marcus Isaksen talks to Neil Truncik, a CSAP alum who is passionate about mindfulness and teaches it. Neil gives sound advice on being more mindful, keeping your mind healthy and the services Cisco offers to support. Although the conversation was recorded before the outbreak, it's still very relevant, perhaps more so now with social distancing becoming the norm and many of us struggling to take care of our mental health.

The best analogy Elisabetta Seggioli (Italian ASE) and Jay Ham (Korean ASE) can give is that taking driving lessons and actually driving are two very different things! That’s how they describe transitioning from learning during the training bootcamp to doing during their on the job experience as Associate Systems Engineers. Elisabetta stresses the importance of not only creating several support networks but also knowing who to ask for help and when. Jay remembers how loud and warm it was in the first data center he ever visited. Nobody prepared him for that in class! Both give advice on how to establish a strong customer relationship virtually and how to prepare for your field trips. They talk about their shadowing experience and how they finally understood the power of a unified account team in front of the customer.