I recently had the honor of appearing on the Nerd Journey Podcast, a show that explores the personal and professional journeys of IT professionals navigating career growth, burnout, leadership, and everything in between.
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Over the course of a three-part series, I sat down with hosts John White and Nick Korte to share my story—from my time in the Marine Corps to becoming an Enterprise Architect and long-time VMware community leader.

These conversations were deeply personal and incredibly meaningful. We discussed:

• Part 1: My transition from military to tech and learning to lead through hardship
  🎧 Listen: Step Up and Lead: Surviving the Crucible and Getting into Tech
• Part 2: Building community, writing to teach, and stepping out of your comfort zone
  🎧 Listen: Learn and Build Community: For Love of the Technology
• Part 3: Burnout, mental health, and learning to recharge
  🎧 Listen: Recharge and Heal: Navigating the Pandemic’s Impact on Mental Health

This wasn’t just about technology—it was about people, perseverance, and purpose.
If you're on your own journey in tech (or leading others through theirs), I hope you find something valuable in these conversations.

Thanks again to John and Nick for creating a space where real stories can be told.

I am really not sure how to start this blog. This one is different from all my previous blogs about technology. To be honest, I’m feeling a little scared, but I feel like this will be cathartic for me and maybe, in some way, reach someone going through what I did. So, with a deep breath, here I go.

Let me start with a bit of background. Before covid hit, I was very active in different tech communities. You see, I love what I do, and I love technology. I love to learn and share new ideas with others. I love to teach and mentor. I love seeing the impact on someone’s career that I may have played a small part in shaping. I love interacting with other peers within the industry and learning from them. I have made many friends through these communities.

One in particular that I am passionate about is the VMware User Group or VMUG. I have had the honor of being a leader in this community for ten-plus years now. VMware reshaped my career path, and I’ll never forget the first time I was able to dive into their virtualization platform back around 3.x. Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t meant to be a VMware kiss-butt blog, but the impact they had on my career drove a deep excitement to share what I was learning with others in this community, and the same can be said today. This passion was felt within the community, and we grew. At one point, I led multiple VMUGs within Central New York and blogged at every chance I could.

Others noticed this passion, and I took on a new role as a pre-sales architect. I could now speak to customers about this passion and so many others. At one point, I even took on the role of Citrix User Group Leader and Veeam User Group Leader. I was onsite with customers almost daily and planning the subsequent community events with my peers.

While at Sirius, now CDW, I took on the VMware Technology Brand Owner role. I traveled all over the country, teaching pre-sales engineers, post-sales delivery, and client executives about our strategy and how to grow their VMware business. I loved every minute of it. I felt alive and passionate, and I felt valued.

My family at home supported me, and when I was home, I made the most of my time with them to ensure they felt valued. I have some of the most amazing children. My oldest loves horses: my middle son lives, eats, and breathes hockey. My youngest daughter lives on Jesus and sugar. She never walks but dances her way through life. My Wife is a literal saint. I couldn’t do what I do without her tremendous support and encouragement. You must be wondering what in the world my point is. Brandon, it sounds like life is peachy, and everything sounds great. You have a successful career and a healthy family.