[1:55] What’s your favourite business app?

The first thing that comes to mind is my Microsoft To Do. It’s a quick button to add whatever I need on the fly. I’m a big to-do list guy.

[3:39] What’s your preferred method of communication with colleagues?

Email, call, text—it all works. But I haven’t had a ringer on my phone for years. Still, I always try to remain accessible.

[8:06] Correct me if I’m wrong, but you have a very infrastructure-focused background, is that right?

Yeah, I kind of started as just an intern. I’m not your traditional IT person. When I grew up, we didn’t have a computer. I thought I wanted to be a movie producer, writer, or director. Then at the end of firefighting school, I decided that particular career path also wasn’t a great fit for me.

[13:34] I know you look and listen to the user’s needs and fix it how it should be done.

Part of that caveat is pleasing the right people. If I have to drop bad news, I want to do it in a way that’s easy to understand.

[19:09] If you’ve managed IT folks, you know we’re all crazy. How do you mentor and manage your staff?

The staff I’m with now are all newer to IT. They’re all green. I do weekly check-ins, give them positive feedback, and emphasize I have an open-door policy. I lead by example, even if that means digging through the work orders and sharing what I would do.

[21:04] I also saw that you actually do some coaching.

Yes. I coach my daughter’s softball team and her basketball team. I’ve also coached my son’s basketball team. I help out at my former school doing scholarship reviews. I run a local IT group and push mentoring through that, too. I’m always trying to help people and lead by example.

[26:06] Do you have any tips on documentation for keeping it up to date and sharing it with your team?

As far as documentation, it started for me in the second half of my IT career. I was going through an audit, and there was nothing in place. I started creating templates and I got feedback from the auditor. I was able to get remedial stuff in place and set reminders to update every six months.

[31:24] These days, there’s no slowing down of information. The only thing we can do is keep up, right? But sometimes things change faster than you can document.

I recently had to write a paper for class. Depending on how much you cite, you are allowed a certain degree of plagiarism. I had zero, which actually made me concerned. I thought maybe I didn’t do something right. Turns out that I actually got recognition for it. It didn’t even occur to me to use something like ChatGPT.

[34:55] How do you tackle security threats within your organization?

I try to identify different attack vectors. Auditing definitely helps with this. I always like to let the C-levels know where the latest breach was, both big and small. All we are is an IP range. If someone can get a foothold, they will keep going. It’s never targeted until it is.

[40:16] Phishing with employees is quite common still. They should be trained on security.

I went to renew my motorcycle license and the lady didn’t know what to do. She left a notebook open with all the passwords in front of me. It happens all the time.

[42:53] What’s it going to be like a few years from now in the realm of IT? With your experience in multiple areas from helpdesk to systems support and systems admin, I’m interested to hear your response.

I see a lot of young people with less training, less want, and less aptitude. It’s hard to find people who want to take the extra step. You have to be your own biggest proponent and not wish someone else will come and do it for you. People might be good at one sliver of something and think it’s enough. I’d love to see a change.