Recharging, Exploring, and Sharing Knowledge So My Kevlar Stays Intact The world is always moving fast for me, so it’s easy to overlook the importance of self-care. We often find ourselves caught up in work, deadlines, and the constant drive for productivity. However, taking the time to step away, unplug, and recharge is vital. Not only for my mental and physical well-being but also for my creativity and professional growth. Recently, I had the incredible opportunity to spend a couple of weeks traveling through Europe, exploring the vibrant cities of Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Trieste, and finally, the charming coastal…
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I was caught off guard last week when the “Congratulations on your work anniversary!” messages started rolling in on LinkedIn. It had slipped my mind that it had already been a full year since I began contracting with Redgate back in May 2024. And, true to form, LinkedIn, always eager to simplify the complexities of tech careers and notified my entire network that I’d officially hit the one-year mark, although I hadn’t started full-time till the beginning of October. It can almost feel like an identity crisis as you perform so many roles for different organizations – thrilling and satisfying…
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Along with beginning to write on my own blog again, I’ve made a few, minor updates to my site. There is now a Podcast and Webinar page with links to all the recent podcasts and other online content I’ve been creating. More will be available as time goes by, but considering the sheer amount of podcasts I’ve been doing, it just made sense. I’m migrating all scripts and doing a revamp of the Scripts and Presentations page. I’ve uploaded all recent slide decks to Github, (shame, SHAME Slideshare… :)) and adding a ton of new scripts over the next month…
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Hard to believe its been one year, but it was June, 2018 when I joined the unstoppable company known as Microsoft. All-in Analytics I joined, with the expectation that I would leave much of what I had specialized in behind me- Oracle, along with other non-Microsoft database platforms, Linux, optimization and DevOps. I was excited to start my journey in business intelligence. Power BI was already starting to take over the world. I’d noticed the patterns, having only arrived on the BI scene in 2015, it was encompassing a larger percentage of speaker sessions and focus of content on the…
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I’ve had my nose to the grindstone for almost four months now investing my brain in new technology, reinvesting fully in performing technical work and prioritizing it all to ensure that I’ll be successful. I stepped back from many speaking events to make sure my private and professional life would succeed in this transition, but that doesn’t mean I would skip PASS Summit. What I didn’t expect was the event would arrive so quickly and I’d feel like I’m always short of time preparing for it technically or personally! Well, its 4am on Sunday morning before and I’m up, so…
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Becoming a mentor was not a direct path for me. Even though I inspired people with my perseverance and common sense, I had no inclinations for a corner office position, (I often joke about passing up the corner offices in a fight to get to the server room) and this is often a trait that is expected for someone who is titled with “Mentor.” In the five years in an official mentoring capacity, I’ve learned as much as I feel I’ve imparted among those I’ve mentored. I now find others asking me for advice on how to become a mentor or…