Glass Breakers Café with Cindy (English)

AJ Yawn, Founder of ByteChek on Glass Breakers Café with Cindy Montgenie

AJ Yawn is the founder and CEO of ByteChek, a Miami-based venture-backed cybersecurity startup. AJ is a seasoned cyber security professional with over a decade of senior information security and compliance experience.
AJ advises startups on cloud security, serves as a Cloud Compliance speaker and instructor for the SANS Institute, and is a Founding Board member of the National Association of Black Compliance and Risk Management professions.
Before Bytechek, AJ served as a senior member of an international cybersecurity consulting firm. AJ also spent over five years on active duty in the United States Army, earning the rank of Captain, serving in a senior information security capacity both in deployed and stateside environments.
In this week episode,  AJ shares with us his wisdom and insights on:
Timestamps:
0:00: Podcast intro
1:18 - On the journey that led him to become one of the few black founder in the cybersecurity space
3:38 - 3 keys that help him keep going in the midst of challenges and have access to room that few have access to
8:47 - Why culture is his top priority and how he is building a unique culture at ByteChek around 4 core values
16:47 - How he is contributing to close the diversity gap in the cybersecurity field and his advice for minorities who want to break into this field
22:38 - 2 trends in cyber security that business owners and consumers should keep an eye on
25:04 - His secret super power and much more
 
Enjoy!

Ronald Brisé, Senior Business Executive; Former Florida State Representative on Glass Breakers Café

Ronald Brisé leverages a wealth of experience in governmental, legislative, political and business arenas to represent the interests of clients. He currently chairs Gunster’s Government Affairs & Lobbying practice. Ronald has more than 20 years of experience in telecom, energy, and utilities.
As a thought leader in telecom, he has testified before the U.S. Senate on telecom issues, and served as a board member of Universal Service Administrative Company. Ronald served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 – 2010. He served as Democratic Whip and Vice-Chair of the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators. In 2010, Ronald was tapped to serve on the Florida Public Service Commission serving multiple terms including a term as Chairperson.
 
Ronald is passionate about bringing together different people and interests to accomplish a common goal.
In this week episode, Ronald Brisé shares with us his wisdom and insights on:
• His current role and responsibilities at Gunster, a law firm with a 100-year-old history in Florida
• The 4 leadership muscles that helped him build a rich career in education, in the private sector and in politics
• How he owned his space, made his voice heard in powerful rooms (even in the White House)
• How he is contributing to open the doors for diverse talent to create a better future for all
• 3 disruptive technologies that the government could leverage to be more effective
• The secret superpower he would like to possess and so much more
 
Enjoy!

Ep 14. Marah Edelen, Director at HP, on Glass Breakers Café with Cindy

Marah Edelen is best known as a top-notch coach when it comes to influencing teams to grow their business with innovative approaches, build personal brand for career development, and how to host a work culture of positivity and gratitude.
Marah is the Executive Director at HP Inc. for US Print and Supplies Inside Sales team in Rio Rancho, NM. Marah is responsible for a $1B yearly Print business and leading a world class inside sales team.
Prior to joining HP, Marah worked in the Investment and Banking Industry for six years in Arizona and California as a top performing banker and advisor at Wells Fargo/Wachovia Bank.
In this week episode, Marah shares with us her wisdom and insights on:
Her current role and responsibilities
How she stumbled into tech without any previous tech experience
Her mindset shifts and winning career playbook to fast track her success
The role failure played in helping her getting a highly coveted director position
The leadership muscles that helped lead her team through the painful last 2 years
How she and her team are riding the wave of digital selling
The superpower she wishes she could have and much more
 
Enjoy!
 
 
 

Director WW Category Mgt at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Rose Fasanelli on Glass Breakers Cafe

Rose Fasanelli has been with Hewlett Packard Enterprise for over 29 years, starting her career in HP Brazil. Rose has held IT and business leadership positions.
Rose is now leading the WW Category Mgmt, a talented team of professional leaders, focusing on enabling a high-performance Services Portfolio readiness and guidelines’ compliant salesorganization focusing on customer value-outcomes while growing HPE’ share of wallet, with a
holistic view of solutions, differentiators, policies & procedures and driving value-outcomes aligned with HPE strategies pivoting aaS.
Rose holds a master’s degree in Information Technology and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics applied to Computer Science. She is certified in Black Belt Six Sigma and PMP, also has a patent pending process for Predictive analytics model on customer behaviour for decision-making.
 
In this week episode, Rose shares with us her wisdom and insights on:
Her rich career journey from her beginnings at 16 years old in the finance industry in Brazil be today a global leader in major tech company
Her career development advice if you want to build your dream career
How she is contributing in making the tech industry more diverse
The keys and challenges to lead a global team
The 3 critical skills she is looking for when hiring a new member
What she will do with a 25h hour day and so much more
Enjoy!

Founder of The Black Professionals Network and Venture Miami Opportunity Director, Kenasha Paul on Glass Breakers Café with Cindy

Kenasha Paul is the Founder and CEO of the Black Professionals Network (BPN), the fastest growing degree-to-industry professional pathway organization with the mission to advance careers, power up businesses, and build up social capital for black professionals. Her work is centered on connecting like-minded black professionals together and sourcing career opportunities from public and private companies with a passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
As of December 2021, she was named by Mayor Francis Suarez as Director of the Venture Miami Opportunity Program, housed at FIU’s Office of Engagement as part of the novel partnership between City of Miami and Florida International University. She serves as a critical connector, alongside the Venture Miami team, by connecting women entrepreneurs of color with investors, venture capitalists, and resources in #MiamiTech.
 
In this week episode, Kenasha shares with us her wisdom and insights on:
 
The amazing story of the evolution of BPN from a summit in 2014 to an organization with multiple chapters in 2022
Her role and responsibilities as Miami Venture Opportunity Director
He biggest lessons learned building BPN from the ground up and why some cliches are really not cliches but deep truths
The 5 key skills leaders need to develop to keep growing their organization
The future of work trend she is the most excited about and that will bring more opportunities for the black talent
The 3 famous people she would love to have dinner and so much more
 
Enjoy!
 
 
 

Glass Breakers Café with Cindy featuring Dr Isi Idemudia, Technology Delivery Architect Manager at Accenture

Dr. Isi Idemudia is a Technology Delivery Architect  Manager at Accenture with over a decade of experience in Managing and designing enterprise-wide solutions. 
She holds a PhD in Technology Management and is an International Bestselling Author of “Out of Africa and into the Cloud, Girls can code too” , where she inspires young women to overcome their fears and get into technology.
In her Book, Dr.Isi shares her story of how she learnt how to code sharing one computer with 150 others and the journey to teaching over 3000 Girls how to code in Greater Atlanta Area. Isi is a mother of two beautiful daughters Ivana and Shelomi.
In this week episode, Dr Isi shares with us her wisdom and insights on:
The power of curiosity and the strength to overcome obstacles like sharing one computer with 150 students
The challenges women are facing to thrive in tech
How she is contributing to make tech more diverse and inclusive
The 3 kinds of fear we need to overcome to achieve her dreams
Strategies to stay relevant in an ever-changing world
The superpower she wishes she could have and so much more
Enjoy!

Glass Breakers Café with Cindy featuring Baldwyn English, External Affairs Manager at FPL

Baldwyn is an External Affairs Manager with Florida Power Light in Miami-Dade County. He is responsible for establishing and maintaining constructive relationships with local government, businesses, and civic leaders.
Baldwyn became familiar with the utility sector as the Chief Advisor to Commissioner Ronald Brisé at the Florida Public Service Commission
Prior to entering the public sector, Baldwyn worked as an attorney at a leading law firm in Houston, Texas.
Baldwyn earned his law degree from Texas Southern University where he graduated cum laude.
When not at work, Baldwyn continues in his leadership responsibilities as a mentor to local youth.
In this week episode, Baldwyn shares with us his wisdom and insights on:
His role and responsibilities
The power of a dream and how one conversation in an elevator can redirect your path
On how being open to the unknown and change can lead you tin building a rich career portfolio
In shaping the minds and equipping young students who come from financially challenged families in dreaming BIG
The impact of AI in the legal field and how FPL is integrated AI to be more effective
The superpower he would like to have and so much more
Enjoy!
 

Glass Breakers Café with Cindy featuring Ann McNeill, The Master Builder, CEO of MCO Construction and Service

Ann McNeill, a successful speaker, coach, author,  is the President/CEO of one of South Florida’s few African American-female owned construction companies.
MCO Construction (MCO) was founded over 40 years ago and is still one of the leading black owned firms in the State of Florida in the area of construction management and project controls. MCO construction has worked on a majority of the flagship projects in South Florida, such as The Miami Airlines Arena, The Marlins Ballpark, The Miami International Airport, and many more.
Ann McNeill's success as a speaker, coach and author stems from her ability to create a blueprint of success and accumulate the right materials to use in order to lay a firm foundation to help people build upon their strengths.
 
In this week episode,  Ann shares with us her wisdom and insights on:
 
The 5 businesses/organizations she is leading
How she turned the challenges of the lack of diversity in the construction industry into opportunities
How she overcame being homeless to become a successful businesswomen who inspires and empowers others
How she is contributing to make the construction industry more diverse
How she is staying ahead of the curve in fast-paced world
The super power she wishes and much more
 Enjoy!

Glass Breakers Café with Cindy featuring Fabio Bottallo, Senior Marketing Manager at Kingston Technology

Fabio Bottallo is a  Senior Marketing Executive with more than 25 years’ experience in global, regional, and local marketing, branding, and communications.
He is the Latin America senior strategic marketing manager for Kingston Technology where he started in 2012 in charge of  developing the HyperX Gaming brand in Brazil. His current responsibilities are focused on the growth of Kingston’s gaming line up. Previously, he worked for HP for more than 13 years as Brazil, Latin America  and global marketing senior manager.
Fabio Bottallo has a Master in International Marketing and Business
 
In this week episode, Fabio shares with us his wisdom and insights on:
 
His role and responsibilities
His learnings leading regional and global teams
Venturing into the gaming industry
The trends that will shape the gaming industry in the next decade
His strategy to stay relevant in the fast-paced tech industry
What he will do with a 25h day..and much more
Enjoy!

Glass Breakers Café with Cindy featuring MARIA FICO, Sr HR Business Partner

Maria Fico is Senior HR professional with 15+ years of experience in all HR management and administration processes within manufacturing and corporate functions, both in the US and Latin America for CPG Global Companies.
She is a skilled professional with strong knowledge of organizational design, talent strategy, change management, training & development programs, coaching and facilitation, and organizational culture & engagement.  She has a proven track record to lead talent management and employee relations on a global scale.
She has a Master of Art in Human Resources and Industrial Relations and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resources Management. She is a Senior Certified Professional from the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM).
 
In this week episode,  Maria shares with us her wisdom and insights on:
 
The key elements of her dynamic career that brought her from Venezuela to 5 different locations in the USA
How she and her husband are building thriving careers while building a thriving family and moving around the country
The trends shaping HR and the new workplace
The critical leadership mindset and skillset to thrive in the new world of work 
The super power she wishes she could have and much more
Enjoy!