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Welcome everyone to the Blacks and Technology
Big Tech Talk Podcast, a show where

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we talk to black people who are
engineers, innovators, educators and venors,

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change makers and entrepreneurs doing amazing things
in the world of technology. The Big

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Tech Talk podcast is where they show
her they are stumping the divide by sharing

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their stories, experiences, ideas,
knowledge and perspective on tech with the big

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community. Welcome everybody to the Blacks
and Technology Bit Tech Talk Podcast. I'm

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your host, Gray Greenley. I'm
the founder of the Blacks and Technology Organization.

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Today we are continuing our series with
highlighting our chapter leaders and today we

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have Vara Direki on the show.
So Vera is a professional base out of

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Chicago. She currently serves as our
chapter president from the Blacks and Technology Chicago

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area. She's purshorring her bachelor's degree
in data science and mathematics and right now

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she's working as a contract analyst at
CDW where she exceales and lies in and

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managing contracts. We'll talk all about
that, and we're going to talk about

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some of her fun hobbies that that
she has as well. Uh So,

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I want to welcome back to the
show. Hey er, thank you so

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much for having me. I really
do appreciate this. Yeah, no problem,

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excited to have you on. So
let's jump right into it. Tell

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us a little bit about yourself,
kind of you know where you're from,

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uh, and and and and you
know that fun stuff. Pretty much cool.

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So born and raised in Chicago.
I live on the South Side in

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Soa Shore. Been raised, born
and raised here all my entire life,

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but I've traveled around. In regards
to education, you kind of hit the

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nail on the head. I had
gotten my associates from Eastern Gateway Community College

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just in general studies, but as
I wanted to transition into getting a degree

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in the tech space. It was
originally going to be computer engineering. But

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as I've kind of discovered like what
interests me and how I want to rewind

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myself into tech, I realized that
data science and mathematics is just a fantastic

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industry for me to just explore myself
and be able to use like numbers to

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be able to solve problems, which
really is just a big thing of what

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I like to do is just solve
problems, and I like talking about things

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in an analytical manner, So that
give particularly just about me. I have

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a wide variety of hobbies from traveling. I had to go to a lot

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of conferences or just a lot of
uh locations in general, trying different foods.

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I have like a huge funk of
pop collection. I do like sometimes

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very lightly not so much anymore.
And then I have a really big vinyl

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collection that I've been working on.
So yeah, okay, that's dope.

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Yeah, We're going to get into
into those hobbies a little bit later on.

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But let's talk about so you you
went to community college for you say,

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for general studies. So what what
what made you want to get into

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Like what was your earliest involvement with
technology? I jokingly said I was I

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didn't find tech, I was necessarily
forced in. So I'm the oldest child

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to Nigerian Nigerian immigrants, so I've
always been teaching my parents in regards to

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like how to operate their computers,
Excel Windows, anything of that matter.

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So it just it has been a
natural thing for me. I would also

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say I was a troublemaker and ended
up breaking a lot of things, so

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I loved how things are made,
so I would just go back and tinker

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and like mess around in regards to
things, and from there it's just fostrated

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and has grown since then. In
high school, I would like volunteer at

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the Museum of Science and Industry and
just learn about different science aspects. I

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love physics or engineering in general,
so it's always just been very affixated to

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me over the years. When it
came to education, I needed to go

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into community college just because it was
a lot easier for me to kind of

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break through. Four years was just
not something feasible for me at this time.

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So I originally was going to do
information technology, but it's more the

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degree at that time was more heavy
intrough like certifications itself, and that's not

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necessarily what I needed to transition over
once I was done with my degree,

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so I had to bounce into general
studies so I could look at like different

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math classes, some other technical courses
in regards like technical writing and everything else

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for me to kind of get a
gist of what I was wanting to explore.

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On the side. From that,
I was just dabbling in regards to

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statistics a little bit of like linear
regression and everything to kind of understand what's

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going to look like for just me
to be in data science, and once

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I graduated with my associates. I'm
like, gart cool, I'm just going

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to go ahead and finish this and
be done with this. So I graduate

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next December, and I'm super excited. Nice congratulations. Yeah. I love

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when I hear people talk about like
different routes to their pathway in tech,

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right, especially the community college route. Like a lot of people. I

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shouldn't say a lot of people because
I don't know, but there are some

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people out there that feel like,
oh, I automatically have to go and

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get a you know, computer science
degree to four year college, and it's

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like there's there's all these different pathways
now that you can that you can follow

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to get in the tech. Community
college was actually my pathway as well,

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So I actually went to a community
college and got an associate's degree and computer

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network engineering. So that I always
like to, you know, kind of

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bring that up because that's an option
for people, especially with the costs of

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four year degree these as well.
Like community college is always like a good

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option, especially if it's like,
you know, in state and you're living

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at state and there's always a lower
cost for tuition and things like that.

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So I'm curious to what what piqued
your interests in math. Like I'm I

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I used to be like really heavy
in the math when I was younger.

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Not so much anymore, but I
still have a love for like just just

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math in general. It's like the
universal language. Uh So for me,

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I'll always like to hear like withrow
the math. Oh honestly, Like I've

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always loved math, Like I was
always the big nerd, like always just

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wanting to like do like math problems
the fastest, but just as things kind

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of evolved to just like understanding physics
and how like math just naturally shows its

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way into life, whether it's like
the Fibonacci sequence or like how the natural

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spiral shows up in like sunflowers or
anything like that. I've just always been

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really affixiated in regards to math.
I ended up watching like a lot of

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videos and just in regards to either
like different areas of science, whether it's

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like aspects of interactions of like astrophysics
or anything else in general. So it

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just has always been a part of
me that I feel my friends joking with

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say I was an overachiever because I
wanted to do just data science in general,

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Like, but let me just learn
math and just to see where everything

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kind of intertwined. So I'm not
sitting here lost. So that's kind of

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really like the major reasons of why
double major and in regards to math,

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but data science specifically, I think
with especially how everything is transformed and how

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data is so quintessential to everything that
we do. It was just kind of

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a calling to me of just like, okay, let me actually engage in

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regards to this industry and what it
looks like. And it's not you know,

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just straight up coding or doing like
models and everything. Like, there's

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a lot more that could be done
in regards to it, from stakeholder management

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like visual reporting and everything else like
that, and ethics, which is eventually

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what I'll get into and what I
really would like to become as an ethicist

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because there needs to be more representation
of us in the industry to be able

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to tell, you know, computers, scientists or other areas of like how

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to look at data. How are
we properly like evaluating what data needs to

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be looked at, How like our
data is being used in regards to either

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business decisions, whether by our choice
or buy our knowing or even with like

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the huge cybersecurity attacks where people's just
data has been taken over, Like there

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needs to be more conversations of like
what that looks like instead of it just

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being like, oh, it happens, Like reevaluate this from a cybersecurity standpoint

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and move forward, especially because AI
is just booming. Like I just went

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to Google I out and I just
came back from not too long ago,

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and they're already talking about like different
ways of how they're going to integrate like

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AI into like databases and spreadsheets and
everything else. That for Google just alone,

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that's fantastic and it's amazing to see, but like we need to also

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step back as a society to see
like, Okay, these innovations are great,

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but how is this actually going to
impact us as we're going Like is

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it going to be job elimination?
Is it going to be a culture shift

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in regards to like the arts and
sciences or music and everything which is already

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kind of attacked as is right now? How are we going to be advanced

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forward in technology while keeping again integral, integral parts of the culture and society

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moving forward as well? Yeah,
I've actually I got I got two things

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that come out of what you just
said. Well, one thing that comes

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out of what you just said something
else that I wanted to talk to you

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about in regards to mathematics, because
I've been I've been watching some videos and

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I just want to get your opinion. But first I want to ask you

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about like I've never heard of ethicis
sot fire is? Like? What?

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Like what what is an ethicis?
So like the aspect of evaluating ethics is

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often just beyond just morals. It's
just the implications of how things affect society,

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and it's usually on more of a
philosophical end, which is cool.

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But now in regards to data ethics, like that's more of a it's still

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philosophical. That's marrying the two of
like how again we evaluate and look at

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like things like data privacy, what
is like when it comes to like the

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art, like what is copyright and
what is like intellectual property and things like

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that. Like there's kind of where
ethics kind of go into because once again,

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computer scientists can like make the code, make the pseudo code, they

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can make some amazing models and do
all of that, But who is this

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data or like who is this stuff
like actually for is it an actual best

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fit in regards to like how this
could potentially like affect civilizations or areas because

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it could be a best fit.
But if it's not targeted to like black

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and brown people and it doesn't apply, then is it really innovative. That's

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kind of like really big of where
like ethics come into I can't remember her

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name off the full extent of it, but as doctor Joy, she had

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made a book in regards of like
Unmasking AI and I saw her at Grace

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Hopper. That was kind of like
the start of where my interest in regards

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to ethics came in. I've wanted
to always marry like tech and social good

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of some aspect just in my life
because I just want to be able to

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provide that impact and I find more
happiness of trying to do it in a

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way that tangibly helps like society move
forward. And so after that, I

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went to Harvard weecode this year and
they had an actual data ethics pan where

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there was different people who were like
graduate students, people who are working in

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industry and showing like how they were
interacting in the regards to day of privacy

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and everything like that. And that
was really kind of like my spark of

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like, Okay, this is what
I want to kind of do as a

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career. So yeah, that's very
interesting. So a friend of mine,

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her name is Alio Ray. She's
spent on podcasts before, and she's a

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close confidant as far as like an
advisor to you know, bitten and things

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like that. She I'm pretty sure
she mentioned doctor Joy uh and sent me

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some videos on her and her some
of her talks and so it's been pretty

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interesting stuff. I do have a
question about on the math sign of So

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what do you think about? And
this is off script. This is not

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a question I opposed to you are
provided to you, but I'm just curious,

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like, what have you have you
heard? Are seen any videos by

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by Terrence Howard recently? I have
not the actor? Okay, so Sarence

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Howard is the actor who played in
Hustle and Full Yeah, his videos in

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regards to his take on mathematics,
as far as we've been looking at math

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completely the wrong way, Like his
whole take is like we've been looking at

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it from this kind of like Euclidean
stamp our guest perspective. Uh. And

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we've been saying for years at one
times one it was one when that's not

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that can't be true, and he
has like he's essentially created like his whole

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this whole branch of mathematics. And
I don't know if you've ever seen it

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before, delve deep into it.
So I haven't seen that particular Okay,

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sorry, I didn't mean to cut
out. I haven't seen that particular video

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before. But that's not the first
time of me hearing of like people kind

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of questioning how like why math is
fundamentally the way it is. It's been

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a very weird mindfield to kind of
navigate because people ask the questions with not

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necessarily like looking back at proofs or
like looking back at like, hey,

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why why is it like you know, fundamental laws of mathematics operate this way

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so that it is, you know, you can't multiply things by itself like

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one times twenty equal in one or
anything like that. So I haven't heard

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I haven't heard anything that matter.
But this isn't the first time, and

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especially with how math is deaf has
been taught differently over the years, it's

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going to be a very interesting way
of like people to understand what math actually

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is, and especially when it comes
to tech two, it's kind of going

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to be a little bit concerning per
se where and it goes to AI as

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well, Like there's so much of
AI that like you're just doing, like

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putting the work and numbers into it
that you don't have to necessarily understand.

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So for people to sit here and
kind of like question without knowing that fundamental

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aspect, there's like a smidge concerning. But I'm hoping that even still,

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like people will go back into like
education or like learning more of like math

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to understand fundamentally, like why things
are the way they are, so that

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it's not necessarily of a confusion.
That's that's a layer topic between like is

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the school system properly educating you of
why math is the way it is?

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Do you necessarily understand it? Is
it the method of how you need to

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learn it? Like so on and
so forth. Yeah, I asked you

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that, I mean, because you
know, you're studying to be a mathematician.

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So it's it's interesting to get your
your point of view. I'm not

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a mathematician. I didn't study to
be a mathematician. I you know,

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however, I was, you know, studied to be an engineer. So

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I took physics. I took math
and all that stuff. Now, Terrence

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Howard, he's what's the best way
to put this. He seems very very

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knowledgeable in the areas of mathematics in
physics. I don't think he's your run

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of the mill, like I'm just
an actor. Like. It sounds like

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he's actually studied and he seems very
very very smart. However, my whole

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thing about his take, and maybe
I don't fully understand it, is how

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would anything right now function if we
had math totally wrong? Like buildings like,

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everything relies on the principles of mathematics
in physics. In order for you

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to be able to build anything,
roads, buildings, bridges like, you

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have to have a basic fundamental the
basic fundamentals of mathematics in order for it

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to work. Otherwise it would completely
not work. Right. That's how I

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you know, from studying physics in
college and math and things like that.

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That's how I see it. However, he's saying, no, that's that's

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there. I guess what he's saying
is, yeah, there are some fundamental

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laws of math. But I guess
the overall general consensus as he wants,

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as he puts it, is that
it's it's it's wrong one times one does

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not equal one, it equals two. And I'm just like, what,

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I don't see how anyhow I'd have
to look at that video. If it's

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what I think it is, that
he is not necessarily like he may be

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taking multiplication in a different man than
what it actually means, and that might

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be where like his confusion lines.
Well, we'll definitely have a base in

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regards to that. I'll definitely give
you a better feedback right now, right

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right, So, I'm curious more
about about your your journey in getting your

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your bachelors to day science and maths, Like what are some of you always

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kind of hear like a different information
about like beating a mathematician and what it

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takes, uh, and whether or
not like you know how that correlates to

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you know, you being and catch
with things like that. BIT is always

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focused on forming new partnerships and opportunities
to assist the community and our members with

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their continued professional growth and development.
If you'd like to partner with us,

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send an email in queries at blacks
and Technology dot net, like what are

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some of the misconceptions I guess that
have been proven wrong? As you've you

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know, for your journey, your
educational journey and pursuing your your degree in

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mathematics. So when it comes to
data science and mathematics, a lot of

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times it tends to be I also
hyper focus more in regards to data science,

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and that it has to be very
like hyper specific of it being technical

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that you kind of need to know
like Python and R and everything, when

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there's so much more behind it.
There's you know, the communication of like

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what the models mean or if you're
doing like data data analysis, like what

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the reporting and everything means. Like
those soft skills are actually very key and

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like consistential in regards to understanding what
data looks like as a whole. Like

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of course it's all crucial, like
the mathematical aspects to understand what the data

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is is crucial, but there's so
there's so much more in regards to be

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able to converse what these numbers mean
things, because how would you be able

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to even interpret and understand what problems
you're looking at to solve or like what

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you know a business or person might
need to understand of what the data is

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necessarily interpreting. The other thing I
definitely see that's coming up is like a

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lot of like machine learning and AI
tends to be like the big hot topics,

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especially even as I'm getting close to
finishing, they're like, oh,

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you're gonna go into machine like or
you're gonna be an AI, and I'm

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like, that is a small subset
of it. There's so much more behind

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it. Like there's database management.
If you're doing like wrangling in regards to

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data, you have that, there's
big data, there's like quantum data.

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There's so many wide broad topics of
application of data science or just data in

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general that it's not necessarily just those
those areas. I think also too when

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it comes to data science. So
it's often viewed in a technical aspect that

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you have to be in tech.
But I'm seeing tech I'm saying, excuse

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me, data science from anesthesiology.
I'm seeing it in government, I'm seeing

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in finance, healthcare, marketing,
Like there's so many versatile ways to be

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able to use data. Again,
because it's just it's going for not even

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just in tech. It's like from
aspects of students. If we're looking at

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like how you know government funding will
go in regards to the amount of students

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being with it, Like that's data
that's numbers that are being wrangled and to

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be able to explain you know,
how certain schools get funding or how you

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know, places make shut down and
everything like that. Those areas are again

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quintisential to where the data is needed. I know. Another big thing is

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again watch why I'm going for a
math major, is that a lot of

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people don't necessarily hyper focus in regards
to math. Like anytime I talk with

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people, I'm like, oh,
you have to be familiar with statistics,

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and they're like, A, I
don't want to be good with math,

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but I'm like, you have to
be good with math to understand it,

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just because quantitatively you can't get the
data without knowing what it means. So

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I think that would be pretty much
like give or take the big ones.

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I think the last thing would definitely
be that it's I guess, a trendy

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topic. Like I wouldn't say like
sebate securities trendy, but like data science

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is trendy, AI and m A. It's trendy at the moment just because

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of how much is coming out research
and innovation for it. But it's definitely

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going to be something term to stay, and it should definitely be something to

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be considered as people are like moving
forward and wanting to like pivot in a

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manner that like will be palatable for
them for security's sake. So what would

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you what would you say to someone
who is thinking about going into data science

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mathematics, Like what are some of
some things that you would tell people as

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far as like preparation, like you
know, so before you go on with

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yeah, go ahead first and foremost, before I even hyper focus the data,

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I often ask them like where they
want to be in regard to are

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they more of like a social person
or if they wanted to be more on

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the technical end, because again that
that broadened and stretches your skills of where

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you wanted to go to. If
you're wanting to be more on the public

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facing end where you're dealing and interacting
with businesses stakeholders, doing more of like

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reporting, then you have like your
data data analytics, where you're doing again

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transforming number numbers and data to be
able to visualize and showcase numbers of like

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what they mean and how it could
impact. Then if you're going too like

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data science where you're looking at models
and everything to be able to do significant

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work, then like I would be
like, Okay, are you really wanted

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to be a little bit more technical, or if you're even wanting to go

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on the farther end, you have
like database management or data engineering, which

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is like a software between software engineering
and data science or just data in general.

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So it really kind of just varies
on where people are interested in regards

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to if anyone's like, hey,
I'm like really open to it, like

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where I start? I often like, okay, start with your math,

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like even if people hate math or
whatever, like, you have to get

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a basics of general statistics. You
need to know at least like cortal aspects,

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median mode and everything. While it
may not be you know, stretched

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along the way in the data industry, those areas will be just very basic

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for you to just start and move
somewhere, you will need to understand at

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least Python or anything else or at
least some visualization software. So you do

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need to get comfortable in regards to
that. But I would say at least

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like knowing Python and starting with a
math foundation will get you in a good

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spot to kind of see if you
know data is just going to be for

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you, or where that can look
like to you in the industry, that's

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very very very good by I always
like to, you know, kind of

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touch on like what you know,
what people need to get, you know,

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to get started. It's always important
because I get I get a lot

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of questions from people. They hit
me up on LinkedIn or they email me

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and say, hey, like I'm
interested in this, like how do I

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get started? And so it's always
nice to kind of like have a knowledge

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base of like, oh, yeah, you want to get started in data,

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these are the things that you might
want to look at before you start

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your journey. So thanks for that
one. Well, two things I would

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definitely count on in regards to your
resources. Sorry, I didn't mean to

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cut off. One for sure,
if people were like wanting to gauge data.

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Camp is an amazing platform for just
learning data in general, whether it

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affestsats, Python are, if you're
doing data like data analytics, data engineering,

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anywhere in between. Like it gives
you such a wide repertoire of places

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to learn at. And then I
also know that it does have a business

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analytics and in a degree, I
know it's stopped for this cohort, but

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I know I a little lightly in
regards to it. If the people are

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just wanting to kind of get a
light area of like where they can see

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themselves in regards like business or marketing. That's a great place to also learn

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and get those fundamental skills to ramp
up and hopefully go into the industry.

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It's very good plug by the way
too. Problem. So you're currently a

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contract analyst at CDW, and I'm
interested to know, like how are you

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using tech uh in your current position. So for right now, we do

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a lot of like procurement stuff in
regards to like Salesforce and Agiloft. But

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even for CDW, like they're also
trying to integrate AI to be able to

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move things forward in regards to just
the state of the business to where it

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interacts of my department that's not necessarily
known of us yet. But like I

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do also help out in regards to
more or less like data wrangling of like

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what contracts look like if things are
correct. A lot of data validation on

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that end, whether it's like visual
through like excelor something else or through other

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aspects. But it's a little bit
lighter than what I'm wanting to actually get

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00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:03.839
into. Like I do a lot
of other nonf I mean nonprofit work as

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well as just like side projects where
I'm using AWS or Tableau or power bi

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to be able to still interpret data
to showcase things. But for my work

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right now is just very lighter and
on that validation and in correction or just

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data wrangling in general. But I'm
hoping I'm get to expand a bit more.

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I know I have a program that
I'm going to be doing to learn

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more about machine learning and AI,
so hopefully I'll be able to do touch

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more in regards to different areas,
Like I know, I really want to

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learn the patchy spark spark. That's
really one of the places I want to

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learn and touch. And I don't
know if I'm gonna do engineering, but

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I at least want to learn enough
of what I can to get where I

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can need to go to. Right, let's touch on that a little bit.

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I find that interesting. So tell
us a little bit about like kind

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of like what your process is,
uh for learning a new technology within the

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data analysts the realm, and like
what what tools are you like do you

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use? I know you mentioned you
know AWS and uh, just you just

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mentioned a Patrick Spark, Like,
tell us a little bit more about like

359
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kind of what your process is Oh, my learning system is chaotic. I'm

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more of a tactile learner, like
I do take a lot of notes in

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regards to just understanding fundamental basis.
But if I can't practice and do the

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work, it's not going to get
to me, which is why I really

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do love data camp where they can
sit here, like go over videos and

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go over explanations of you know,
general topics, but then they'll also help

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you practice in regards to it.
Whether I'm using just like general like VS

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code for some of my classes,
I'm using like pie Spark, I mean

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PI chron excuse me, which is
kind of similar to VS code to be

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able to practice and do work like
that, I've done stuff in regards to

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AWS. I know there are other
learning platforms as well that I've touched based

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in regards to outside of my classes. I think it's d X is the

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one that's coming off at the top
of my head. So yeah, I

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do my best to like I have
like several not books. If I stay

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here and turn my camera like you
wonder what's going on. But I have

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00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:06.759
several notebooks that just go over high
fundamental stuff. But then I'll also take

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screenshots in regards of like what you
know certain libraries mean, or like certain

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aspects, because even in Python,
you you and I can do the same

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00:25:14.599 --> 00:25:17.759
thing in two different ways and it's
still all interpreted the same way. It's

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the beautiful thing about just how inadvertently
math is quintessential to comprehend certain functions.

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But that's give or take, like
how I've gone from it now when it

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comes to like a Spark and everything, and like other places that I'm not

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00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:36.079
familiar with, a lot of times
I'll jump into like their help section just

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00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:38.079
to kind of understand of like how
I'm interacting or how I'm gonna be using

383
00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:41.839
things. One of the things I
know I'm gonna be working on is a

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00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:48.599
model, hopefully that'll be connected to
a database using Apache Spark to use a

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00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:53.359
model to identify extraplanets, And so
I'm still in the wings of figuring out

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00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:57.920
how that all looks like. So
don't hold me to any like particular aspects,

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00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:00.799
but I'm going at least through how
of how to just understand Spark,

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00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:06.000
and then as I'm kind of delving
and going into the database in US,

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00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:07.799
then I'm going to kind of like
touch and feel and see how it goes

390
00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:11.519
from there and if it doesn't,
if nothing breaks, then I at least

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00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:14.160
I know I'm doing a good job. Nice. Yeah, I'm always curious

392
00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:19.960
as to what people's methods are.
They're learning methods. I noticed that you

393
00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:23.039
said, you know, you have
a lot of notebooks, and I still

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00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:26.160
use notebooks. I still write stuff
down in notebooks and things like that.

395
00:26:26.359 --> 00:26:30.359
I don't know if I'm just old
school like that or if it's just like

396
00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:33.839
you said, kind of like the
tactile aspect of it. But I tell

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00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:37.279
you one thing that I do,
I do utilize. I don't really have

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00:26:37.400 --> 00:26:42.599
one, like one set way,
so I'll use every note because ever note

399
00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:48.559
it allows me to search on things
really well, like after I take notes,

400
00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:52.480
and I can categorize it in notebooks
and things like that. I do

401
00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:59.440
utilize that for taking notes. I
do use my iPad and I have our

402
00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:07.279
an app on there called Notability.
So what's cool about notability is is that

403
00:27:07.319 --> 00:27:12.799
it allows you to use the Apple
pencil to write and then you can like

404
00:27:12.839 --> 00:27:18.880
categorize things as well. But you
can take screenshot, well not necessarily,

405
00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:23.200
you can use the camera to take
pictures of like so if I'm you know,

406
00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:29.519
watching something like a video, or
something and they show a diagram,

407
00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:33.200
I'll take a picture with that,
and then I can embed it in my

408
00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:36.519
note, I can resize it,
I can crop it, I can write

409
00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:41.640
on top of it. Yeah,
so it's like so you can really start

410
00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:45.440
having and then like of course,
it allows you to change the color of

411
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:49.319
the font or the color of the
pencil that you're writing with, and you

412
00:27:49.400 --> 00:27:52.400
can do like highlighting and a lot
of things like that, so you can

413
00:27:52.519 --> 00:27:57.079
like have like you know, not
animated notes, but like notes that like

414
00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:00.599
a full of color that you can
it's really cool. And then you can,

415
00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:03.359
like I said, you can bat
these images, you can crop them,

416
00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:07.799
you can do all types of stuff
you can right on top of them,

417
00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:11.839
and it really really helps, especially
like if you're a very visual person

418
00:28:11.160 --> 00:28:15.279
and you need to see like those
those images of that might be graphs or

419
00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:19.720
diagrams or whatever. You can bat
those write into your notes. It's and

420
00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:26.200
then and then you can also back
those up to I think like Google Drive.

421
00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:29.839
You can import stuff from Google Drive
as well, so it allows for

422
00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:33.839
you to import things and it's a
really really cool too. Okay, I

423
00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:37.880
definitely need to learn that. Like
I normally I'm just a very like I

424
00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:41.559
just write things down like I have
when I tell you have colored pens and

425
00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:42.799
everything else, switch over and do
stuff. So if there's a way to

426
00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:45.839
do that in the digital aspect and
still be able to connect it to like

427
00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:49.960
Google Drive or anything, I'm perfectly
fine. I'm tired of buying all these

428
00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:52.279
notes. I just had to buy
a new set of notebooks for my summer

429
00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:56.200
classes. So anyway I can lessen
my load, that'd be fantastic. Yeah,

430
00:28:56.279 --> 00:29:03.480
check out notability there. I think
you're like, what's up everyone?

431
00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:07.599
We hope that you're enjoying this episode
of the Blacks and Technology Big Tech Talk

432
00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:11.880
podcast. Do you or someone you
know have a dope story that they want

433
00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:15.119
to share with our bit audience?
Blacks and Technology is seeking guests to be

434
00:29:15.160 --> 00:29:21.000
on our podcast. We're looking to
highlight the journeys and experiences of black women

435
00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:25.160
and men in the tech industry.
So if you know of someone, send

436
00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:29.440
them our way, shoot us an
email to contact us at Blacks and Technology

437
00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:33.640
dot net, or click on the
link in the show notes and fill out

438
00:29:33.640 --> 00:29:41.240
our form. We're looking to hear
from you. Excellent. Let's Start's talk

439
00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:48.279
about your your your tenure as as
a bit Chicago chapter leader. I'm curious,

440
00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:51.960
like, you know, first,
how did you first hear about bit

441
00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:56.759
and then kind of what led you
to become the chapter president of Chicago.

442
00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:00.240
So I will jokingly sit here and
say, like I like to learn in

443
00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:03.680
regards to different organizations, and so
I've been a member of that. I

444
00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:07.759
want to say for about from now. I think that's probably going to be

445
00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:11.480
like maybe four or five years.
So I had been a long time member.

446
00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:14.920
I've like you know, used resources
and have seen like emails in regards

447
00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:19.200
to events. But I had lost
my job and I had kind of made

448
00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:22.319
it upon myself that I wanted to
be more involved, and so I would

449
00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:26.039
reach out to the former Chicago president. I didn't hear anything about it.

450
00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:29.079
I was like, okay, I
got to figure out a way of like

451
00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:33.000
you know, finding a way to
be more involved. Took a very very

452
00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:36.720
you know, bad financial risk to
go to bitcom when it was a Disney

453
00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:41.240
and my eyes were widened in regards
to just the opportunity of like what you

454
00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:45.400
guys offered. And I remember the
networking lunch. I had approached Dennis and

455
00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:48.279
I was just introduced myself. I'm
like, hey, my name is Vera,

456
00:30:48.279 --> 00:30:52.039
I'm from Chicago, Like, I
want to know who's the Chicago chapter

457
00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:55.319
president. There's too many people in
Chicago, and there's so many like untapped

458
00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:59.640
potential that we could definitely do in
regards to having a chapter there. And

459
00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:02.000
he'd me like, do you want
to be president? At the time,

460
00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:03.359
I was like, I don't know
if this is going to be it for

461
00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:07.720
me. It was my first like
leadership role. Like I was just at

462
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:10.319
a certain space right now where I
just did not know what to do,

463
00:31:11.559 --> 00:31:14.200
and I kind of simmered and thought
about it, and I was like,

464
00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:15.960
you know what, forget it.
Like the most I could do is just

465
00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:21.640
learn and see what it looks like. And obviously it's it's something that's calling

466
00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:23.240
me, so I might as well
just fall into it. If it doesn't

467
00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:26.599
work out, it doesn't work out, or I just see what that looks

468
00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:30.920
like. That's inadvertently how I got
into the role. I was a little

469
00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:33.319
bit drunk, but you know that
has nothing to do with it. That

470
00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:37.000
liquid courage helps a long way,
but really it was personal motivation that helped

471
00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:41.799
a little bit of the alcohol later. Yeah, yeah, and Diney,

472
00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:48.400
it was a fun time. It
was expensive, It was really time amazing,

473
00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:55.839
right, Yeah, Yeah, it's
funny you saying that was Dennis push

474
00:31:55.880 --> 00:31:57.920
your noose drinks to you? Why
he was convincing you to be there.

475
00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:02.160
No, I was so nervous,
like I at the time to when I

476
00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:06.839
started, like again pushing myself out
in networking, Like I did not know

477
00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:08.599
how what that looked like in regards
to me for networking. So I was

478
00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:10.920
like, you know what, let
me just take a couple of drinks to

479
00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:15.960
go around and start meeting people,
getting into conversations. And that was really

480
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.799
what opened my eyes to just the
joy of being in the community with other

481
00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:23.319
people and seeing just so many black
tech professionals that that nervousness kind of went

482
00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:27.599
away by the time I had Donnis, though I may I'm positive I had

483
00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:30.599
too many drinks at that time,
but we were already there, so I

484
00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:34.519
wanted to get the question out as
soon as possible if anyone's to meet me.

485
00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:37.000
Now, I'm not that bad,
I promised you was just that was

486
00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:40.519
a very nervous person at that time. But it was again, as you

487
00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:45.440
said, becom was just an amazing
experience and I really really hope even for

488
00:32:45.480 --> 00:32:49.200
this year that people are just able
to take away from some of the amazing

489
00:32:49.319 --> 00:32:52.599
just panels and experiences that happened,
or even just even with like networking that

490
00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:54.079
people want to get into, like
you'll meet so many walks of life.

491
00:32:54.119 --> 00:32:57.640
It's oh, it's gonna be worth
your while. Yeah, I appreciate you

492
00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:01.400
saying that, and I'm happy that
you can on board as chapter president.

493
00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:07.720
Your efforts are are recognized and we
are grateful for your efforts as well.

494
00:33:08.359 --> 00:33:13.000
And so I just want to say
thank you for for stepping up. And

495
00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:16.039
yeah, it's it's it's not it's
it's not as easy as some people may

496
00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:21.000
think. They may think that you
know, you just it's entitled only,

497
00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:23.640
but there is a lot of work
that goes on behind the scenes to effectively

498
00:33:23.720 --> 00:33:27.880
run a chapter. So I thank
you for all your all your work that

499
00:33:27.880 --> 00:33:35.559
you're doing up there. Thank you. Do you have a product or service

500
00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:37.799
that you would like to share with
a big audience, or maybe you'd like

501
00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:43.319
to support the big community and do
your part in helping us with stomping the

502
00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:50.599
divide. Start by sponsoring one of
our podcasts. Please email us at contact

503
00:33:50.759 --> 00:34:00.599
us at blacks and Technology dot net. So tell me about some of the

504
00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:05.640
initiatives, the chapter initiatives that you
have going on this year, and I

505
00:34:05.880 --> 00:34:09.000
do want to recognize that you are
I don't know the exact title. Are

506
00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:13.199
you the Midwest Regional director? Is
that? Yes? I am? The

507
00:34:13.239 --> 00:34:16.400
title for who you remembering that?
Yes? Sam? So for the Chicago

508
00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:21.639
chapter, our big thing right now
is honestly collaboration. I don't know for

509
00:34:21.639 --> 00:34:23.480
a lot of other chapters, but
for Chicago, what happened tends to happen

510
00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:28.199
in the tech space is that there's
so much untapped potential that happens, whether

511
00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:32.079
it's you know, talent or entrepreneurs
or startups and everything. But we don't

512
00:34:32.119 --> 00:34:36.800
necessarily have like the means of access
to be able to get like funding or

513
00:34:36.840 --> 00:34:38.239
like work in the same way that
I feel like a lot of other areas,

514
00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:44.599
if it's like La Atlanta, New
York or anything else like that,

515
00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:46.239
like we don't have or Texas sometimes
too, like we don't have that means

516
00:34:46.280 --> 00:34:50.880
of access. So a lot of
times is a very very driven, but

517
00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:53.960
very hungry type of environment. So
a lot of times what I'm trying to

518
00:34:53.960 --> 00:34:59.199
do is partner with a lot of
organizations just to get exposure out. I

519
00:34:59.239 --> 00:35:01.519
think another issue it tends to happen, and maybe for a lot of other

520
00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:06.199
just black and drow people, is
that there's a lot of things that aren't

521
00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:08.440
necessarily told to us, and we
have to necessarily like search and dig that

522
00:35:08.519 --> 00:35:13.159
out. And I really hate that
entire aspect of having to do that because

523
00:35:13.159 --> 00:35:16.239
it should be again as accessible as
possible to everybody, no matter what area

524
00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:19.800
you're at, if you're in school, if you're not, if you're transitioning

525
00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:22.920
or whatever. So whether it's you
know, like black product managers or other

526
00:35:23.559 --> 00:35:29.320
smaller stratups, or we've done stuff
in regards to like the Data Institute over

527
00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:31.559
with the University of Chicago, like
we try to online ourselves as much as

528
00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:36.559
possible to give our members and just
give people at large a variety of what

529
00:35:36.599 --> 00:35:38.599
they can see from the organization.
I know, I want to transform it

530
00:35:38.599 --> 00:35:42.360
a little bit more to be able
to touch more on like students, doing

531
00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:45.639
like either Hakathon, or doing more
in regards to like startups and entrepreneurs,

532
00:35:45.639 --> 00:35:49.559
whether it's like more of pitch competitions
or anything else like that. But that's

533
00:35:49.559 --> 00:35:52.559
still work in progress, just to
get a feel of what our members need

534
00:35:52.599 --> 00:35:55.320
and what it looks like. But
as much exposure as much opportunities for people

535
00:35:55.320 --> 00:35:58.639
to be able to see and latch
on, even if it's just like social

536
00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:01.760
events too. I try to provide
as much as collaboration as possible, and

537
00:36:01.800 --> 00:36:06.840
then as we're kind of building things
on and structuring things, then we'll kind

538
00:36:06.840 --> 00:36:09.239
of have more tactile ways of attaching
to our members. Yeah. Nice's nice.

539
00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:14.320
I always feel that. I mean, this is that's that is part

540
00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:20.760
of the foundation that was founded on
is being collaborative amongst the community, right

541
00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:25.599
like we are so there's we're so
often on an island by ourselves, like

542
00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:30.239
within our job or and within this
industry as a whole, that uh,

543
00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:36.039
it's we don't find ourselves collaborating all
the time like like we should. And

544
00:36:36.239 --> 00:36:38.320
usually it's because like we're we're the
only ones, and sometimes we're just trying

545
00:36:38.360 --> 00:36:40.760
to you know, we're just trying
to make it. We're just trying to

546
00:36:40.800 --> 00:36:45.719
survive. And so, you know, when bit was founded, it was

547
00:36:45.800 --> 00:36:47.480
it was along the lines. It
was of course, it was a community

548
00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:52.000
at first, it wasn't the order
that you see right now is just an

549
00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:54.280
online community where I was like,
hey, let's just get together, let's

550
00:36:54.280 --> 00:36:59.280
collaborate, let's share, let's support
one another, Let's build it as a

551
00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:02.360
community first, uh, and then
you know, we go from there and

552
00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:05.880
if it grows, it grows.
If it doesn't, you know, we're

553
00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:09.400
having But I wanted it to have
that community, that collaborative feel. But

554
00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:15.599
I also think it's important from the
standpoint of black organizations collaborating a lot more.

555
00:37:15.639 --> 00:37:20.280
I would love to see that happen
a lot more often. And I'm

556
00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:23.280
glad that there are that we're actually
doing that as an organization, and we

557
00:37:23.400 --> 00:37:29.760
just partner with render at L and
there are a couple of other organizations that

558
00:37:29.800 --> 00:37:32.119
we've we've partnered with as well.
And I think it's it's important, especially

559
00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:38.079
now there's this like there's an attack, I might as well just call it

560
00:37:38.119 --> 00:37:45.159
what it is. There's an attack
on efforts like ours, right DEI efforts.

561
00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:49.719
Although I don't I always say,
like, I don't see BIT as

562
00:37:49.800 --> 00:37:54.320
being like a direct DEI organization.
We're an organization indirectly, we are DEI

563
00:37:54.760 --> 00:38:00.880
like directly, we're really just trying
to build ourselves up and progress. Uh,

564
00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:06.400
black people in this technology space.
Uh, we're not really here to

565
00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:08.639
what I like to say, We're
not here to solve your de I problems

566
00:38:08.639 --> 00:38:12.719
like you have to solve that,
like it's because of you all, so

567
00:38:12.760 --> 00:38:15.159
you need to solve it. We
will, we will help you out and

568
00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:19.360
what you need, uh, when
it comes to that. But we're not

569
00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:21.880
here to solve it. And I
guess that's what I mean when I said

570
00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:24.559
we're not a DEI organization. But
there is an attack that's going on right

571
00:38:24.599 --> 00:38:30.960
now across the country and where they're
shutting down you know de I uh departments.

572
00:38:30.519 --> 00:38:37.400
Uh, they're totally defunding DEI initiatives. Uh. So in that aspect,

573
00:38:37.400 --> 00:38:42.960
I think it's really important that our
works stick together, even more so

574
00:38:43.199 --> 00:38:46.280
than than ever before, because we
need to we need to be, you

575
00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:52.400
know, more collaborative. We need
to join together to have a stronger presence

576
00:38:52.599 --> 00:38:55.239
and and and to make the impact
that we really want to make. So

577
00:38:55.599 --> 00:39:07.840
absolutely I agree, especially for accessibilities
essential. Yes, The BIT Foundation has

578
00:39:07.960 --> 00:39:15.480
established featured partnerships and programs with companies
such as Amazon, at and t comp,

579
00:39:15.559 --> 00:39:20.559
TIA, tech Stars, and more
to provide our members with the resources

580
00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:25.159
we want and need to thrive and
succeed in this tech ecosystem. To learn

581
00:39:25.239 --> 00:39:32.000
more, visit Foundation dot blacks and
Technology dot net. Join now and remember

582
00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:43.039
membership is free, so speaking,
I would love to hear like maybe one

583
00:39:43.079 --> 00:39:47.320
success story from from Chicago, like
what's you know, do you have any

584
00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:54.480
success stories like of Chicago chapter people
get job or I know I need to

585
00:39:54.480 --> 00:40:00.480
touch base. In regards to one
of our Southside Innovates sessions that we had,

586
00:40:01.119 --> 00:40:07.719
there was a moment in regards to
people like understanding what the entrepreneurs space

587
00:40:07.719 --> 00:40:12.559
looks like in Chicago with that could
attach to I remember correctly, there were

588
00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:15.480
a couple of people who were kind
of working towards starting up an idea while

589
00:40:15.639 --> 00:40:19.239
I was there. I have to
double check to see if that still had

590
00:40:19.320 --> 00:40:22.320
kind of fostered through. It's been
a while from that event. Outside of

591
00:40:22.360 --> 00:40:25.199
that, I know there was someone
else who did get a job. In

592
00:40:25.239 --> 00:40:30.400
regards to customer success from I want
to say it's the Sauna and it was

593
00:40:30.440 --> 00:40:34.280
from either like a resume session or
anything else. I have to get still

594
00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:37.239
double check. I'm so used to
just doing events and just getting out there

595
00:40:37.239 --> 00:40:39.760
that I need to also do from
a data perspective, come back and see

596
00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:44.559
like what tangible works that we're doing
that could actually make sense, Like hey,

597
00:40:44.880 --> 00:40:47.599
Bit's actually doing you know this amount
of percentage of success in regards to

598
00:40:47.599 --> 00:40:50.960
getting jobs and stuff like that.
But for right now, I'm just in

599
00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:53.400
such an exposure phase that i haven't
even like properly looked at that. But

600
00:40:53.440 --> 00:40:57.880
I'll look back and double back for
you for sure that makes sense. And

601
00:40:58.440 --> 00:41:00.639
I'm not trying to put you on
this spowder any thing like that. I'll

602
00:41:00.679 --> 00:41:02.880
just wondering if there was on the
top of your hand that you that you

603
00:41:02.880 --> 00:41:07.800
can talk about. I think it's
important to know for people to know anyone

604
00:41:07.880 --> 00:41:13.880
watching that there are opportunities for success
in joining one of our local chapters,

605
00:41:13.960 --> 00:41:19.039
right like you know the networking opportunities
that are there as well as like just

606
00:41:19.119 --> 00:41:23.599
opportunities of learning and taking those learnings
and applying it to you know, your

607
00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:28.280
business or you know, your your
idea or even your career. So I

608
00:41:28.320 --> 00:41:30.159
think that's important. What's the future
of the chapter look like? Like,

609
00:41:30.199 --> 00:41:34.719
what do you what do you all
have in the works. We do have

610
00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:37.199
a number of events that are in
the working. We have Chicago Tech Week

611
00:41:37.239 --> 00:41:40.559
that's coming up the week of July
twenty fifth, which is kind of like

612
00:41:40.880 --> 00:41:44.119
kind of like Black Tech Week or
like New York or LA Tech Week,

613
00:41:44.119 --> 00:41:46.039
where it's just a huge shake showcase
of like what tech's looking like in the

614
00:41:46.119 --> 00:41:50.719
Chicagoland area. I know we're going
to do something from either like a light

615
00:41:50.800 --> 00:41:53.119
picnic of the social just for people
to kind of engage themselves and just have

616
00:41:53.239 --> 00:41:57.320
fun, just because there's gonna be
a lot of technical talks. But I

617
00:41:57.320 --> 00:42:00.960
know we're also planning in regards of
doing a panel as well, just so

618
00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:04.480
that with a one on our partners, so that again members can kind of

619
00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:07.800
see what it looks like to engage
themselves with a tech organization and what that

620
00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:12.000
could be. I know we're also
going to be partnering and doing events for

621
00:42:12.199 --> 00:42:15.159
the National Democratic Convention because it will
also be in Chicago, So we're kind

622
00:42:15.159 --> 00:42:17.920
of wanting to see what civic tech
will also be able online and look like.

623
00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:22.440
Whether it's you know, people wanting
to start up their businesses and see

624
00:42:22.480 --> 00:42:25.079
what government contracting looks like, or
again just what civic tech might look like,

625
00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:29.480
or just that social good. There's
a variety of options that can look

626
00:42:29.480 --> 00:42:31.960
in regards to that. The last
thing I know that we have, which

627
00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:35.519
is going to be our big roundout, is there is a partner organization that

628
00:42:35.559 --> 00:42:37.960
we work with. They have a
Black Computer Science Summit. It was hosted

629
00:42:37.960 --> 00:42:42.239
at the Chicago Google office and it
was a fantastic time. When I attended.

630
00:42:42.280 --> 00:42:44.920
I attended more of a volunteer and
just to help facilitate and help.

631
00:42:45.239 --> 00:42:47.639
But we're planning on finding ways to
make things more tangible to where we can

632
00:42:47.639 --> 00:42:52.320
attach and either bring kids in or
bring more exposure in regards to it,

633
00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:54.760
whether it's you know, our chapter
sponsors coming in as well to kind of

634
00:42:54.800 --> 00:42:58.559
like talk with students and see what
it looks like for internships or jobs or

635
00:42:58.559 --> 00:43:01.679
anything like that, just so that
it's again driving the impact that inadvertently,

636
00:43:01.679 --> 00:43:05.400
hopefully someone could get an internship,
someone could get a job, or someone

637
00:43:05.400 --> 00:43:08.000
could be able to at least know
something in regards to what's available in the

638
00:43:08.039 --> 00:43:12.280
Chicago area. If I can at
least do that, my job as president

639
00:43:12.360 --> 00:43:15.719
is done. Nice. Nice.
Yeah, it sounds like some some some

640
00:43:15.760 --> 00:43:19.639
cool events. So if you know, if anyone's watching in the Chicago area,

641
00:43:19.719 --> 00:43:27.000
definitely check out uh the Boxing Technology
dot org site and look into uh

642
00:43:27.719 --> 00:43:30.800
UH if you want to reach out, there's a link on there for chapters

643
00:43:30.800 --> 00:43:34.159
and then of course that will take
you to does it. It goes to

644
00:43:34.360 --> 00:43:37.519
the LinkedIn page right the Chicago Lincoln. Yes, it does go to LinkedIn.

645
00:43:37.760 --> 00:43:40.840
It also does have the the chapter
email as well. So if anyone

646
00:43:40.840 --> 00:43:44.599
who wants to, you know,
collaborate any ideas that, we're very open

647
00:43:44.679 --> 00:43:47.400
in regards to being again as accessible
and as immediate as possible. So if

648
00:43:47.400 --> 00:43:50.760
it's anything from just like a light
meetup, or if it's just a social

649
00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:52.519
thing in between, you want to
run and do a virtual plant panel,

650
00:43:52.719 --> 00:43:55.000
let us know. We will see
what we can do and how to make

651
00:43:55.039 --> 00:43:59.639
that work excellent. And speaking of
that, like, how can someone like,

652
00:43:59.679 --> 00:44:01.559
what are what are some needs that
you have right now? As far

653
00:44:01.639 --> 00:44:07.599
as like maybe some volunteer positions,
Like I mean, let's let's let's put

654
00:44:07.639 --> 00:44:10.280
it out there. If you know
there's an opportunity for some people that possibly

655
00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:15.559
help out, let's definitely yeah,
speak to that there there. If I

656
00:44:15.599 --> 00:44:17.199
sit here and say the laundry list, we will be here past time,

657
00:44:17.239 --> 00:44:22.840
I will be here all night,
as you had said already, like the

658
00:44:22.960 --> 00:44:28.119
role is such I will The role
is such an in daunting role, whether

659
00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:31.079
it is event coordination, and we
definitely need help in regards to that.

660
00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:37.679
Communications I've right now handled you know, posting for our LinkedIn our newsletters.

661
00:44:37.760 --> 00:44:42.239
I think I do okay, but
I'm not like visually I would say I'm

662
00:44:42.239 --> 00:44:45.480
the best in design sake, So
like, if anyone's super talented and wants

663
00:44:45.480 --> 00:44:47.679
to take their talents in regards to
that, that would also be super helpful.

664
00:44:49.840 --> 00:44:52.000
I know we're also trying to do
more in regards to like entrepreneurial spaces

665
00:44:52.039 --> 00:44:54.920
too, because I may not know
too much in regards to how to support

666
00:44:54.960 --> 00:45:00.280
an entrepreneur. But if someone who's
more integrated to that network and has more

667
00:45:00.559 --> 00:45:04.360
capabilities or even further connections, like
that be a couple of places of where

668
00:45:04.400 --> 00:45:07.400
we can help out or just again
light volunteering, if they people want to

669
00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:09.280
just come in and help out for
an event, by all means, that'd

670
00:45:09.320 --> 00:45:13.840
be great. Take a load off
my shoulders. Fleet Nice, Nice,

671
00:45:14.320 --> 00:45:15.880
I want to I want to get
into a little bit about like the non

672
00:45:15.880 --> 00:45:22.679
technical things that you're involved in.
I always feel like it's important for our

673
00:45:22.719 --> 00:45:31.159
audience to see you as a leader
at a tech space and also a leader

674
00:45:31.199 --> 00:45:36.599
within bit to see the other kind
of you know, quote unquote the other

675
00:45:36.679 --> 00:45:39.079
side, right, Like, what
are some of the things that you like

676
00:45:39.159 --> 00:45:43.199
to do that are not tech related
and we'll be here all day. I

677
00:45:43.199 --> 00:45:46.480
have a lot of hobbies, so
I have my three D printing. I

678
00:45:46.480 --> 00:45:50.880
have a number of three D printers. I love making small figurines or functional

679
00:45:50.880 --> 00:45:53.960
things in my house. I've been
a huge fan of three D printers honestly

680
00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:58.440
since I was a kid, Like
I've loved maker spaces and everything and three

681
00:45:58.519 --> 00:46:00.000
D printers like twenty five thousand dollars. Told my mom I wanted one,

682
00:46:00.039 --> 00:46:02.760
and she's like, you're out of
your mind. But it's okay now because

683
00:46:02.800 --> 00:46:07.559
I could try to afford it myself. So I have that again. I

684
00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:10.840
have my final collection. I love
just I would not say I say I'm

685
00:46:10.840 --> 00:46:15.880
an audio file, but I just
love the sound that comes up from vinyls.

686
00:46:15.880 --> 00:46:17.920
That's just been something that's been embedded
for me as a kid, and

687
00:46:17.960 --> 00:46:21.199
it's just carried on. I jokingly
say I'm an old soul for it.

688
00:46:21.239 --> 00:46:23.199
But like I'll go in and look
at some old records and pick out whatever

689
00:46:23.239 --> 00:46:28.199
I'm at. I think one hundred
now my goal is right for now like

690
00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:31.199
two hundred. But I got to
reorganize what my collection is looking like.

691
00:46:31.239 --> 00:46:35.880
It's a lot more contemporary than old
school, which is more or less where

692
00:46:35.880 --> 00:46:38.960
I was wanting to lean into.
I have a plant collection. I've always

693
00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:43.599
been a fan of plants. I
just love how plants look and how do

694
00:46:43.800 --> 00:46:47.119
they just so it's like a mathing. But it's also just the uniqueness of

695
00:46:47.159 --> 00:46:52.079
like geogy genealogy of plants. But
I just love how plants are, how

696
00:46:52.079 --> 00:46:55.039
they interact and everything. May have
killed a couple within my time of having

697
00:46:55.079 --> 00:46:58.639
them, yes, but I've still
been able to hold on to a good

698
00:46:58.679 --> 00:47:04.559
twenty Very happy that I'm able to
contain that. Traveling I've already mentioned I

699
00:47:04.679 --> 00:47:07.199
love traveling places, like as much
as I love Chicago. I get really

700
00:47:07.199 --> 00:47:09.559
bored, or I'll sit here and
like, Okay, let me see other

701
00:47:09.599 --> 00:47:15.079
places and just enjoying myself. And
it's just very amazing to see how different

702
00:47:15.079 --> 00:47:17.480
cities are just structured, or sometimes
it's even just the architecture. I just

703
00:47:17.519 --> 00:47:22.119
love seeing those little intricacies of what
makes cities unique. And then when I

704
00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:22.760
get my film, I'm like,
Okay, cool, I'm gonna come back

705
00:47:22.800 --> 00:47:27.440
home. And then I think my
biggest one right now, the two biggest

706
00:47:27.480 --> 00:47:30.639
ones would definitely be I've been in
a really huge, like food craze,

707
00:47:30.639 --> 00:47:34.199
like I really want to just try
different cuisines. Chicago has a really great

708
00:47:34.199 --> 00:47:37.119
food Meca. But again, with
me traveling so much, I'm trying just

709
00:47:37.159 --> 00:47:42.119
different places from other other areas.
I know I had a really great it

710
00:47:42.119 --> 00:47:44.639
was a Fusion Mixed when I was
in California. I can't even remember the

711
00:47:44.719 --> 00:47:45.599
name of it so much, just
because it's been a blur from when I

712
00:47:45.639 --> 00:47:50.800
flew back in. But it's been
that or I've been trying like camboiding food

713
00:47:50.880 --> 00:47:53.400
or anything else in between. It's
been a very interesting time. And then

714
00:47:53.440 --> 00:47:57.880
on top of also that I do
game You can't like Lucy it's in the

715
00:47:57.920 --> 00:48:00.880
back, but I have like a
wide variety of games, like the PS

716
00:48:00.960 --> 00:48:04.079
five all the way down to I'm
trying to get a game cube. I'm

717
00:48:04.079 --> 00:48:07.039
a PSP right now, but I'm
trying to go a little bit more retroactively.

718
00:48:07.360 --> 00:48:10.519
But same thing in regards to just
like storytelling, art and everything.

719
00:48:10.519 --> 00:48:15.559
Like I love video games and just
what the creative process can bring in tech

720
00:48:15.800 --> 00:48:19.519
for video games, whether it's like
molcapit anything else. I could not be

721
00:48:19.599 --> 00:48:23.239
in the industry. I respect everyone
that does what they can. I've tried

722
00:48:23.280 --> 00:48:27.360
video game design. It's not for
me. It's not my wheelhouse, but

723
00:48:27.480 --> 00:48:30.280
I love just even again, the
analytical aspect of understanding like why they made

724
00:48:30.280 --> 00:48:35.320
certain features working games, or why
certain characters like go through their journeys and

725
00:48:35.360 --> 00:48:38.280
evolutions. So it's very very beautiful
to me. But I have a really

726
00:48:38.320 --> 00:48:45.039
big video game collection. It's very
nice. There are a few videos out

727
00:48:45.079 --> 00:48:49.920
there. I know there was one
on Netflix. Man, what was the

728
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:53.639
name of that. I can't think
of it. There was, it was

729
00:48:53.679 --> 00:48:57.800
it was about I think it was
called Indie Game or something like that.

730
00:48:57.840 --> 00:49:00.199
I don't know if you've seen that, but it's a it's a I'm familiar

731
00:49:00.239 --> 00:49:05.360
with that title. I haven't watched
it yet though. Yeah. It's essentially

732
00:49:05.440 --> 00:49:12.960
goes through the story of a couple
of guys who are trying to make an

733
00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:17.280
independent like video game and they're like
they're hardcore, like you know, programmers

734
00:49:17.280 --> 00:49:22.760
and things like that, and their
video game ends up being like really really

735
00:49:22.800 --> 00:49:28.280
really popular. I'm always interested in
seeing like like how how things come to,

736
00:49:28.519 --> 00:49:31.880
like you know, to fruition and
technology. So I like seeing like

737
00:49:31.920 --> 00:49:37.840
watching like videos of like origin stories
about like oh, you know, this

738
00:49:37.960 --> 00:49:42.960
is how IBM supercomputer was gread or
this is so that that's a really interesting

739
00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:50.159
one. What is another one that
I like? H Another interesting one is

740
00:49:50.480 --> 00:49:54.840
it's more about like the the the
I can't think of the name of the

741
00:49:54.880 --> 00:50:00.320
gaming consoles they call them. It's
it's a big arcade games from like back

742
00:50:00.360 --> 00:50:07.960
in the eighties. Okay, I'm
trying to say the name too, and

743
00:50:08.079 --> 00:50:10.880
is escaping me as well as it's
probably gonna come to me and I'm gonna

744
00:50:10.880 --> 00:50:14.880
remind you and be like, hey, you're probably talking about this. But

745
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:20.239
there's there's a there's a video you're
probably found on on YouTube called King of

746
00:50:20.320 --> 00:50:22.880
Kong. I think that's the name
of it. Uh, And it's essentially

747
00:50:22.920 --> 00:50:29.360
about about uh. Is it king
of Kong? Yeah, it's about Donkey

748
00:50:29.480 --> 00:50:31.320
Kong, the video game Donkey Kong. I don't know if you've ever played

749
00:50:31.320 --> 00:50:37.599
Donkey Kong video game, but there's
there was this huge movement of gamers that

750
00:50:37.840 --> 00:50:42.599
played Donkey Kong to see like who's
the best Donkey Kong player in the world,

751
00:50:43.079 --> 00:50:46.679
and like there's and so it was
almost like a villain like kind of

752
00:50:46.719 --> 00:50:53.119
like a protagonist antagonist type of uh
video because there's this guy that's like always

753
00:50:53.199 --> 00:50:58.079
dressed in black and he goes and
he you know, he's like one of

754
00:50:58.119 --> 00:51:01.239
the top Donkey Kong players in the
world. Near this other guy's kind of

755
00:51:01.280 --> 00:51:05.599
like I would say, he's a
protagonist and he's like, you know,

756
00:51:05.840 --> 00:51:09.039
trying to reach this high score.
It's really really interesting, like how deep

757
00:51:09.039 --> 00:51:14.320
it gets. Well, it's just
another like video game. Oh the one

758
00:51:14.360 --> 00:51:21.039
about about the et video game.
I don't it's an Atari game, like

759
00:51:21.079 --> 00:51:27.800
an old Atari twenty six hundred,
and they talk about they talk about how

760
00:51:27.840 --> 00:51:31.639
that how that video game came to
be, and how terrible of a video

761
00:51:31.719 --> 00:51:37.960
game it was, and it was
so bad that they essentially took all the

762
00:51:37.079 --> 00:51:42.679
video all the ET video games that
they had in inventory and and like put

763
00:51:42.719 --> 00:51:46.239
it like in this like this,
they dug a hole and like dumped out

764
00:51:46.320 --> 00:51:52.559
of this hole and they buried.
Yeah, it's really it's really interesting to

765
00:51:52.599 --> 00:51:55.280
kind of hear the story about all
that. Yeah, so if you're interesting

766
00:51:55.320 --> 00:51:59.639
to go check go check those out. I think it's keen cong. I

767
00:51:59.639 --> 00:52:01.320
don't know. I don't know what
the etam one is called. I think

768
00:52:01.320 --> 00:52:06.920
the out on is called like indie
game or something like that. So yeah,

769
00:52:06.960 --> 00:52:10.400
pretty cool, pretty cool. How
How did you get into collecting vinyl

770
00:52:12.480 --> 00:52:16.880
again? Systematic. Not necessarily I
found it. It found me my dad

771
00:52:16.920 --> 00:52:22.159
growing up. He had a huge
vinyl collection thirty threes forty five. He

772
00:52:22.159 --> 00:52:25.360
would play Soul Train and everything on
Saturday mornings. I just grew up loving

773
00:52:25.599 --> 00:52:29.920
just the sound of, you know, a record hitting sometimes, you know,

774
00:52:29.920 --> 00:52:31.800
if we would run around too fast, we would you know, jostle

775
00:52:31.880 --> 00:52:36.000
up the tone arm and he would
yell at us and everything. I had

776
00:52:36.039 --> 00:52:40.480
just grown to love the sound of
how vinyls were just pressed and everything,

777
00:52:40.719 --> 00:52:45.159
or just have me sorry, excuse
me, how vinyls played through the needle

778
00:52:45.159 --> 00:52:49.400
and everything. I would also just
then as music had evolved, like do

779
00:52:49.519 --> 00:52:52.119
MP three's download through my Lime,
where I'm probably telling all myself the things

780
00:52:52.159 --> 00:52:57.679
I've done, but the sound just
never was the same. And I still

781
00:52:57.719 --> 00:53:00.280
like engage in regards to like Spotify, andalists to stuff through Spotify. But

782
00:53:00.320 --> 00:53:04.920
I also I just always want to
retroactively go back, so I want to

783
00:53:04.920 --> 00:53:07.239
do vinyls. I'm trying to get
cassette tapes, and I'm even trying to

784
00:53:07.239 --> 00:53:08.840
go back to CDs. It's actually
a really great time for CDs now.

785
00:53:09.480 --> 00:53:12.920
I don't know if it's there's a
weird I have to find the article.

786
00:53:13.000 --> 00:53:16.440
There's a recession link to if we
I guess at a point of recession,

787
00:53:16.440 --> 00:53:22.039
there's often times of like a nostalgia
comeback, whether it's like roller skating or

788
00:53:22.079 --> 00:53:24.960
just like a particular like sound in
music. I have to find the article.

789
00:53:25.320 --> 00:53:30.119
But when times are hard, people
just retroactively go back because it brings

790
00:53:30.119 --> 00:53:32.199
a sense of euphoria. I'm not
sitting here saying that that's my reason.

791
00:53:32.239 --> 00:53:36.719
It's just something that I just it's
attached to me and aphyxiated to me where

792
00:53:36.840 --> 00:53:37.760
even just growing up, I'm like, I have to have a turntable,

793
00:53:37.800 --> 00:53:42.480
I have to have vinyls. I'll
play sometimes just my random Saturdays as just

794
00:53:42.599 --> 00:53:46.360
a callback to those times and just
play the same albums over and over again.

795
00:53:47.199 --> 00:53:50.480
And it's just it's so cathartic to
me. I love it so much.

796
00:53:50.719 --> 00:53:55.159
That's pretty cool. I actually have
like bags and bags of cassette tapes

797
00:53:55.239 --> 00:54:00.639
like in my basement, and so
I looked on Amazon. Yeah, I

798
00:54:00.639 --> 00:54:06.920
looked on Amazon because I'm huge in
the like hip hop, like you know,

799
00:54:07.039 --> 00:54:09.119
eighties, nineties, two thousands hip
hop, Like I love that era.

800
00:54:09.559 --> 00:54:14.920
So I have like all types of
like you know, cassette tapes with

801
00:54:15.400 --> 00:54:20.679
that music hip hop music on it. And so I was looking on Amazon

802
00:54:21.400 --> 00:54:23.239
and they're because I was looking up, like, you know, I need

803
00:54:23.239 --> 00:54:27.400
a cassette player. I don't have
one anymore, like the last one broke

804
00:54:27.480 --> 00:54:29.960
years ago, and so I was
trying to look up, you know,

805
00:54:30.079 --> 00:54:32.760
like or do they still make boomboxes? It ay do, and but they

806
00:54:32.800 --> 00:54:39.239
actually have like these cassette players that
will convert your audio directly to like MP

807
00:54:39.360 --> 00:54:44.480
three's. So I'm like, I
think I'm gonna purchase one of those off

808
00:54:44.519 --> 00:54:49.400
of Amazon. I'm going to methodically
and very slowly go through each of my

809
00:54:49.559 --> 00:54:53.559
taps and it's hundreds, I know, there's hundreds of them and put everything

810
00:54:53.840 --> 00:54:59.199
in digital format. Yeah, so
I can have it because I you know,

811
00:54:59.559 --> 00:55:02.039
I love that sound. I mean
I want to hear like what's on

812
00:55:02.079 --> 00:55:07.559
some of the tapes that don't have
like, uh covers to them, Like

813
00:55:07.639 --> 00:55:09.079
I have a ton of those like
stuff that I might have taken off the

814
00:55:09.159 --> 00:55:13.760
radio or what have you, Like
you know, that's what I used to

815
00:55:13.800 --> 00:55:15.440
do back in the day, like
just record from off for radio. We

816
00:55:16.039 --> 00:55:20.039
me and my brother we actually used
to like and this is when like bet

817
00:55:20.880 --> 00:55:23.079
you know, first came out and
they were playing like videos and things like

818
00:55:23.119 --> 00:55:27.920
that. We would actually put the
cassette recorder up to the TV and press

819
00:55:28.000 --> 00:55:32.400
record record and record songs from off
of it as well. So there's probably

820
00:55:32.400 --> 00:55:36.199
tapes like that in there. So
I just like you're right, like it

821
00:55:36.519 --> 00:55:40.079
does bring it is nostalgic, and
it brings back that kind of like you

822
00:55:40.199 --> 00:55:44.119
for it, you know, feeling
from your from your youth, and so

823
00:55:44.199 --> 00:55:45.400
I kind of want to I want
to relive some of that. So I'm

824
00:55:45.440 --> 00:55:50.320
gonna go ahead and purchase that on
for Amazon. See my friends have been

825
00:55:50.360 --> 00:55:52.239
telling me to do that as well
and go into a digital format. I

826
00:55:52.320 --> 00:55:54.519
don't I don't want to sit here
and say, like I'm old in that

827
00:55:54.599 --> 00:55:58.360
sense that I don't want to do
it, Like I can keep it separate,

828
00:55:58.360 --> 00:56:00.519
like I'll engage in some songs that
I want to, but there if

829
00:56:00.559 --> 00:56:05.760
it's recorded at a particular time,
like you just hear it differently, Like,

830
00:56:05.760 --> 00:56:07.599
I don't want to sit here and
have to like have a digital format

831
00:56:07.639 --> 00:56:10.519
and it doesn't sound the same.
So I'm okay with like, even though

832
00:56:10.559 --> 00:56:14.480
it's gonna look like, you know, possibly hoarding. I'll have my set

833
00:56:14.519 --> 00:56:16.400
of you know, cassette tape,
CDs and everything from those times, just

834
00:56:16.400 --> 00:56:20.559
because I know how it was recorded
or whatever, or sometimes even just hearing

835
00:56:20.559 --> 00:56:24.719
the stories behind the recordings. It's
just something so quintessential that digital doesn't necessarily

836
00:56:24.760 --> 00:56:28.760
touch it the same way. Maybe
I'll get over it after a while.

837
00:56:28.840 --> 00:56:30.360
I'm like, Okay, I have
a lot of stuff and they need to

838
00:56:30.360 --> 00:56:34.679
compress this all, but for now
I can live. So let me clarify.

839
00:56:34.800 --> 00:56:38.880
I'm not getting rid of the tapes
at all. I just yeah,

840
00:56:38.920 --> 00:56:42.239
I just want to be able to
archive it in case. I mean,

841
00:56:42.280 --> 00:56:45.480
because tapes are taped like they break
and like I you know, if if

842
00:56:46.199 --> 00:56:49.920
that ever happens, like I want
to at least have a copy somewhere.

843
00:56:50.039 --> 00:56:52.719
So I'm keeping the tapes for sure, but I'm gonna I'm going to digitize

844
00:56:53.480 --> 00:56:58.360
just so I can have them an
archive. So okay, that makes it.

845
00:56:59.320 --> 00:57:02.239
What's what's next for you? What
are your plans for the future other

846
00:57:02.320 --> 00:57:07.000
than graduating. I do want to
go into grad school. I'm probably going

847
00:57:07.039 --> 00:57:12.039
to get my masters in data science. I don't know about PhD. I've

848
00:57:12.400 --> 00:57:15.960
had a very weird resurgence of people
coming up to me thinking that I should

849
00:57:15.119 --> 00:57:17.840
pursue a doctorates, and I'm like, I don't know if it's my face.

850
00:57:17.880 --> 00:57:21.920
I don't know if it's my deommeter. But right now I'm tired of

851
00:57:21.920 --> 00:57:23.760
school. Right now, I just
want to take a break. So again,

852
00:57:23.760 --> 00:57:27.079
once I graduate Decemmer, I'm gonna
take a small little break, travel

853
00:57:27.119 --> 00:57:30.599
a little bit and enjoy myself.
Then go and pursue my masters in data

854
00:57:30.599 --> 00:57:32.239
science and see what it kind of
looks like for me. Outside of that,

855
00:57:32.320 --> 00:57:35.440
I know I'm going to a number
of conferences. I'll be a reunder

856
00:57:35.440 --> 00:57:38.599
ETL for sure. I'll be at
bitcoan, maybe Afrochech. I'm still trying

857
00:57:38.639 --> 00:57:43.639
to figure out in regards to it, what else do I have upon me?

858
00:57:43.719 --> 00:57:45.599
I have so much going on.
I have an internship myself. In

859
00:57:45.719 --> 00:57:51.559
June, I'll be in Dallas working
for Bank of America doing database management,

860
00:57:51.559 --> 00:57:54.920
which I'm super excited to do.
Outside of that, I'm just coasting.

861
00:57:55.440 --> 00:58:00.519
Nice. Nice congratulations by the way, Q. So, how can folks

862
00:58:00.519 --> 00:58:01.760
reach out to you? If,
if, if they want to reach out?

863
00:58:02.239 --> 00:58:07.639
LinkedIn will definitely be the best vera
directing. There's no other way to

864
00:58:07.639 --> 00:58:09.079
find me. Hopefully there's no one
else with the same name on LinkedIn.

865
00:58:10.840 --> 00:58:15.719
They can also find me through the
bit the Bitch Chicago email where Chicago Blacks

866
00:58:15.719 --> 00:58:19.760
and Technology dot Com. Those are
pretty much my main two places that I'm

867
00:58:19.800 --> 00:58:22.719
on Excuse me, I want to
say, done that and I get confused

868
00:58:22.760 --> 00:58:27.199
every time that'll work. Thank you. Those are pretty much my main like

869
00:58:27.280 --> 00:58:30.039
places that I tend to be found
at. I'm trying to say, think

870
00:58:30.039 --> 00:58:34.360
if there's anything else, honestly other
than that, catching me up a conference

871
00:58:34.360 --> 00:58:37.559
will probably be the only other time
you'll see me, and I'll probably still

872
00:58:37.599 --> 00:58:40.760
be ripping and running from there.
Nice nice where vera I want to.

873
00:58:40.880 --> 00:58:45.320
I want to say thank you for
joining us tonight. Uh. Really really

874
00:58:45.360 --> 00:58:49.119
glad we got to hear your story. Uh. And here's some of the

875
00:58:49.159 --> 00:58:52.400
wonderful things that you you are doing
with the bit Chicago chapter. Uh.

876
00:58:52.440 --> 00:58:57.679
And I definitely look forward to to
catching up with you at bitcom this year,

877
00:58:58.119 --> 00:59:01.920
and good luck with everything. Can
graduates on your upcoming graduation and let's

878
00:59:01.960 --> 00:59:05.639
you know, definitely keep in touch
on and let us know how you're doing.

879
00:59:05.880 --> 00:59:07.960
Of course, thank you so much
for having me. I really do

880
00:59:07.039 --> 00:59:10.000
appreciate it. And again, this
is just an honor just to have the

881
00:59:10.039 --> 00:59:14.119
ability to be a leader. I'm
one of the younger leaders I can probably

882
00:59:14.119 --> 00:59:17.760
say, so that has been just
so transformative to me to have the space

883
00:59:17.800 --> 00:59:21.159
to understand what leadership looks like to
me and how I can be able to

884
00:59:21.440 --> 00:59:24.320
again get back to my community.
So thank you for allowing me to be

885
00:59:24.559 --> 00:59:29.679
in your organization. Oh thank you. I'll say this like the honor is

886
00:59:29.719 --> 00:59:36.519
all ours, Like none of this
is possible without servant leadership, without you

887
00:59:36.559 --> 00:59:42.239
know, people being selfless and really
wanting to make an impact. So I

888
00:59:42.559 --> 00:59:46.920
don't I appreciate you know you're saying
that is but I always tell people it's

889
00:59:46.920 --> 00:59:51.280
not about me. It's all about
our leaders. It's all about our community

890
00:59:52.159 --> 00:59:53.760
and what they're what they're doing and
make an impact. So I want to

891
00:59:53.760 --> 01:01:02.559
say thank you, no problem,
thank you so much. Take care you too.