Robots made this, mistakes and all:
[00:00:00] Chris: Hello, imposters, if you work in tech, want to work in tech, or are tech curious in any way. You'll want to listen to this. We've launched a podcast focused on the myriad ways that people can apply their passion for technology and to thereby encourage others to pursue their own tech related passions no matter what.
[00:00:29] Chris: Before we get into that, please allow us to introduce ourselves. We'll start with my incredible co-host, Zoe Rose.
[00:00:37] Zoe: Hey, I'm Zoe Rose, known on Twitter as RoseSecOps or Mastadon as RoseSec at Tech Field Day dot net. I'm a security and investigations, all the things kind of lady. I take pleasure in discovering problems and uncovering information.
[00:00:55] Zoe: Currently, I am a regional information security lead for E M E A at a large international organization. To date, I've lived and worked in four countries, but I've had fabulous opportunities speaking around the. To be honest, the number of countries I actually kind of forgot, although I still hope I'm speaking in Antarctica, I know I haven't done that yet.
[00:01:17] Zoe: I've held positions from offensive to defensive security, instant response and investigations. One tele show, even put my title as Cyber Investigator, which I think is my favorite title yet, weirdly enough I've even appeared in an internationally recognized fashion and lifestyle magazine talking about security.
[00:01:36] Zoe: But, uh, it was an interesting experience. However, throughout my entire career, I don't recall a specific time that I felt qualified as an expert or know exactly what I was doing. That meme of the dog saying, I have no idea what I'm doing, that is in essence how I feel most of the time. here, are you, Chris?
[00:01:56] Chris: Well, I'm Chris Grundmann, and I'm an imposter. I've never taken a job I was qualified for, but I have always been promoted within the first year. These days, I don't even have a real job anymore. I work for myself, which can be even more panic inducing than working for someone else. I'm a creative technologist, a pragmatic philosopher, and a bootstrapped entrepreneur.
[00:02:18] Chris: I've been working in on and around the internet for a couple decades now. Over that time, I've worked for network operators, data center operators, and a bunch of interesting and unique enterprises as. So far, I've written two books, got my name on eight patents, and given technical talks in 35 countries across five continents.
[00:02:37] Chris: I've founded several organizations, both for-profit and not-for-profit, and I volunteer heavily with organizations that I think can make a difference. And that's exactly why we created the Imposter Syndrome Network and the ISN Podcast: To make a difference. My involvement in the Imposter network is driven primarily by two beliefs.
[00:02:56] Chris: I believe that every human being, all of us, deserve to spend our days working on something interesting and challenging that plays to our unique strengths and passions. I also believe that digital infrastructure jobs are critical to our future as a global community. The big idea here is that the imposter syndrome network can support these beliefs by exposing the myriad of jobs, roles, and careers available within digital infrastructure.
[00:03:20] Chris: And by inspiring everyone with an interest in technology to pursue that passion and serve humanity by applying their strengths to support reliable and resilient digital infrastructure around the world. Zoe, why did you John up and, uh, jump in to help out with the podcast and the imposter syndrome network overall?
[00:03:40] Zoe: Yeah, I mean, yours is quite, uh, exciting and global, and mine's a little bit selfish. I have never been the most confident person in the world. I actually started my career as an IT manager very young and a very petite woman. Turns out I wasn't the most intimidating. I actually went back to college after being an IT manager simply to get a piece of paper that somebody else validated.
[00:04:04] Zoe: I knew what I was talking. Whilst I started my career as a way to protect myself, essentially I chose technology to distance myself from people. As you, if you work in technology, you probably realize your job is essentially people, so it didn't work so well. However, , um, I'm also slightly a perfectionist, and being good enough was never.
[00:04:28] Zoe: So over the years, going from IT management to owner over an M S P, offensive defensive security investigations, and of course the ever sexy instant response, I learned that maybe confidence was kinda important when you were telling people what and why things were broken. So now I focus a lot on people.
[00:04:47] Zoe: I talk about secure by design and how vital people are to this. So selfishly, this podcast has been a brilliant opportunity to learn the why and the how from other people's perspective. Delving deep into their journeys and uncovering their decisions and successes. It's like the lessons learned meeting or our knowledge share in our jobs that I love so much.
[00:05:10] Zoe: I don't understand people at all. So I spent so much time trying to figure out why the bloody hell we do what we do. And this podcast has kind of been a condensed version of that. I get to know people get to know their careers and their decisions, and I get to celebrate them, and that's really cool.
[00:05:29] Chris: Yeah, it's awesome and it's been a great ride so far.
[00:05:32] Chris: As of today, we've been doing this for about six months now. We've recorded 37 episodes of which 27 are live and available to download, listen to and share. That number will surely be larger when you're listening to. But that means we've gotten to talk to 37 amazing people who work in technology. Each and every one of them has been inspiring and fun to chat with, as, as Zoe said, and all of them have selflessly provided some of the most valuable insights and lessons they've learned along the way.
[00:06:01] Chris: I think this podcast has already become a treasure trove of information, inspiration, and entertainment, which is why I wanna share it with as many people as possible. And that kind of sums up all of my goals for the Imposter syndrome network. And for the podcast as well. I want to keep recording interesting episodes with amazing technologists, and I want to grow our audience and our community, not just for the sake of doing it.
[00:06:23] Chris: No, it's that I know that the more people who hear these podcasts and join the community conversations, the more opportunities we can open up for future generations of technology enthusiasts and profess. And the stronger we can build the digital foundations of our modern world. Does that align with you, Zoe?
[00:06:41] Chris: I mean, what are your goals going forward with this?
[00:06:44] Zoe: Yeah, no, definitely. My goal starting was learning and understanding different paths people have taken. Um, as a new mom, my career and priorities kind of shifted and I want to dive into what other things are out there, what other experiences, what other choices other people have taken, and what's next?
[00:07:03] Zoe: I also want to highlight all the bloody mistakes that I've made along the way to diagnose. Why did I feel so hard sometimes? And the added bonuses I get to talk to brilliant people and highlight their exceptional achievements, which as I said, is massively rewarding. So I think my goal when I started was seeing all the cool things, seeing all the mistakes, and my goal going forward has.
[00:07:29] Zoe: Wow. Mainly highlighting my mistakes, but also seeing all the cool things. So I'm excited to celebrate that with other people, especially for new people getting into industry or people that are maybe taking a shift in their direction to see what it is out there. So to end off, it's been brilliant speaking with the many lovely people, and I'm so thankful for all of our listen.
[00:07:54] Zoe: I'm not quite sure why people listen to me, but hopefully, at least I sound interesting.
[00:07:59] Chris: Uh, interesting to me at least. Thanks everyone for listening to us today and for tuning in every Tuesday. From now on, you are gonna tune in every Tuesday, right? We're counting on you, not just to follow and subscribe, but also to share our podcast and our community with all of your friends, your family, and colleagues.
[00:08:19] Chris: Who might benefit from hearing seasoned technology professionals tell their origin stories, just like the superheroes that they are.