An IT Career After Your Military Service with Act Now Education Board Member Mario Simon

Warriors, Fall in…

It’s time for formation.

Today, I’m joined with a very active Act Now Education board member. Unlike many other situations, being a board member for Act Now is a tall order, in itself because it means you’ve spent hundreds of hours helping the 50k plus community who are considered part of the Act Now Education military group.

He spent 9 years in the Army and currently serves at an IT Security Support Specialist for Bank of America, is a certified Scrum Master, and serves as a volunteer software engineer for Act Now Education. I’d like to welcome Marion Simon to the Morning Formation Podcast.

Contact with Mario on his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mario-r-simon/

Transcript

KP: 0:33

In the military, you're given a uniform and instructed on how to do things and when to do them. But what happens when the cadence fades and you're no longer wearing that uniform? I'm Kp and I started this podcast to fill that silence with direction and to provide overall support for my beloved military family. Welcome to the Morning Formation. This episode is powered by Act Now Education, go to www.actnoweducation.com for free comprehensive educational resources and opportunities for active duty, veterans, military spouses, and children.

Mario Simon: 1:17

Motivation lasts a day, but inspiration lasts a lifetime. So I don't focus on trying to help people by motivating them I tried to you know, have a lasting impression.

KP: 1:34

Warriors fall in it's time for formation. Today I'm joined with a very active Act Now Education Board member. And unlike many other situations, being a board member for acne education is a very tall order in itself. Because it means you've spent hundreds of hours helping the 50,000 Plus community who are considered a part of the Act Now Education family. The gentleman that I have on today is also a certified scrum master. He spent nine years in the Army and currently serves as an IT security support specialist for Bank of America. And he serves as a volunteer Software Engineer for Act Now Education. So I'd like to welcome Mario Simon today for the morning formation podcast How you doing today?

Mario Simon: 2:19

Great pleasure to be here, KP.

KP: 2:22

This man, the pleasure is all mine. I've been trying to make my rounds with all the folks with Act Now Education on top of the list of guests that I have wanting to be on the podcast. And I've been really focusing on having more of a priority towards Act Now Education, because I like to push more people towards the great nonprofit group that we're both a part of. So I really appreciate you for being on the show. Because a lot of times people don't see some of the background workers who are making it happen. So thank you so much for being a part of the show today and just want to start things off by talking about the type of volunteer work that you've conducted for acne education, and why do you do it.

Mario Simon: 3:09

So most of the work I've done around the site that you know, everyone loves to go visit, see all the resources that are available to them. I will say the reason I do it, it's mostly just because I feel like a lot of times being in the service and then transitioning out, the biggest thing is like the questions you have is the things you don't know. And then Act Now can provide you those resources or provide you the insight that you might not have even thought to look into or even ask. So I feel like being a part of giving back what information I have is in any shape way or form, then I'll do it.

KP: 3:52

So is that kind of a pain point for you. When you transitioned out of the military? Did you find it frustrating to figure out what your next step was going to be when you made your career transition out of the out of the army?

Mario Simon: 4:05

I would say it wasn't a pain point for me. But I noticed the pain point. And like the troops that I had that, you know, that got out, or transition, or even, you know, people that are retiring. And they're you know, these are the things I hear them talking about. So like for me, my entire time I probably spent was more or less planning on how I was going to get out, based on you know what I the feedback I was hearing from everyone else. So I was able to kind of I didn't have the same experience that most people probably had when they transition because like just spent years, just planning just that moment to make sure that I was okay.

KP: 4:46

Yeah, it's essential a lot like me, I don't know if you accepted the outside help when you transitioned out. But when I transitioned out, I did everything sort of on my own. And I was very limited. And I guess a little bit ignorant when it came to accepting outside help to do things like look at my resume, to take into consideration other avenues other industries to jump into. It sounds like you made a little bit more of a smart, smart move as far as transition wise. When I left I became part of the 70 plus percent of military veterans that quit their first job within the first year of leaving service. So I didn't land exactly all my feet when I when I got on the military, but it sounds like you did now, did you ever become frustrated? Whenever you tried to help anyone else out as you're transitioning out of the military, whether it was one of your own soldiers, and maybe you're trying to give them some valuable advice on really examining the resume or perhaps getting certifications or going to the Education Center over wasting their time?

Mario Simon: 5:57

Yes, I think that was probably the thing that frustrated me the most, because just me in general, I'm like, you know, if I know information, if I know something, I'm going to tell you about it. Especially if I, if I know it's going to You know, and I'll tell you once. And I'll tell you twice, benefit you. I'll tell you three times. And then you know, after that point, I'm just like, you know, I've given you the the knowledge, you decide how you want to use it, if you choose not to, that's up to you. But it will always need based around like, hey, go to school, if you're not going to you're not going to go to school, get some certs, it doesn't matter. If you're going to not use the certs while you're in the service. It's about what you're going to do. When you get out of service, things like this. That's the first thing you're thinking about is like, you want to get a job, right? And you're like, oh, man, I can make all this money when I get out of the military. But then you don't think about all the things that you got to do in order to kind of be out there. It's not like I'm just the veteran so hire me. That doesn't work. It doesn't work at all. It might give them a thank you for your service. But that's, that's, that's where it stops.

KP: 7:01

Honestly, yeah, that conversation that Oh, how cool conversation will last for about five to 10 minutes, when you're sitting across from from a recruiter looking to hire you. And then after that, they're going to ask those questions on what can you do for me? And what can you do for this company? And that's when you really get challenged? And I asked you that question, mainly because I've been frustrated before. And I know that you're a very passionate person, when it comes to helping others caring about the person to your left and to your right. I know that about you. Because you're a board member for active education and spending all the hours that you spent working on the nonprofit organization. It really takes someone who has that passion. And that's why I asked you that question specifically. But why did you decide to specifically reach back and serve our military community through act now education? Why act now education over all the other nonprofits out there?

Mario Simon: 7:57

So, I would say it was mostly because I was in the group, and you know, but I was kind of like Silent ordering, I was there. I was, you know, seeing the resources, you know, but rather than just seeing it and kind of like looking into taking advantage of the, whatever information that I could. And then as I was transitioning, you know, I happen to be working with Micki, and then mix the come, be part of this, you know, this great organization, I was like, Oh, that's interesting. I was like, which one? She tells me this, you know, Act Now, and I was like, Oh, well, that's, that's also good to know. So when I saw an opportunity to kind of like, volunteer, because I don't think volunteering is just, you know, it's not just good for you, it's just good for whatever cause you're, you know, you're doing it for and just right there, Act Now is where it's at. So

KP: 8:48

yeah,

Mario Simon: 8:48

just go in and, you know, do what I can, because at least I know, at some in some capacity, I'm going to be helping somebody. Even if they don't they don't know.

KP: 8:58

Right. No doubt. And that's why you're on the show today, because I want people to see the folks who are behind the scenes building the, I guess the overall machine that is Act Now Education. It's so easy for people to go to the actnoweducation.com website and not even think twice about, you know, who engineered this, who put this together? It literally takes hundreds and hundreds of hours. And I know the frustration I mean, I I work in podcasting. And I can tell you that even as a big dummy like me, me trying to figure things out, man, it's so frustrating. So it's it's such a refreshing thing to have someone like you on the team really pushing for our overall cause for Act Now Education. Now, how long have you been part of Act Now Education.?

Mario Simon: 9:48

I would say it has to be a little over a year now.

KP: 9:52

Wow. Time flies quick QA.

Mario Simon: 9:56

You don't even notice that?

KP: 9:57

Yeah, man. It's been over a year and a half for me as well. And I remember when you came on board, man, it was like a breath of fresh air as far as getting someone that understands the IT space. And as far as it in itself. I know you work at IT security, but what would you like for folks out there to know about the industry and how that field can be an ideal transition for folks exiting the military.

Mario Simon: 10:22

I would say first thing is to understand that you know, it is like broad you know, there's different avenues within it that you can go down a lot of times people say it, then I say cyber security, then they say policy, you know it all it is different avenues. So it's really just understanding what your flavor do you like to be more hands on? Do you like to be more, you know, logical, you know, think things through, you know, what kind of then, you might want to go into the governance kind of space? Or, you know, do you like to do penetration tests, you know, and do like the cool ethical hacking, or the person that's on the other side reading through parsing through logs, thinking of ways to kind of defend against that? Yeah, no, those avenues. So that's one. And then the other thing is being, you know, being open to like relocating to a spot, that's going to be more beneficial to you. A lot of times, I noticed people don't want to move on, when it comes down to it, they'll say, I want to get a job in Georgia, I want to get a job in Florida doing it, the best place to do it is DC, Maryland, Virginia, that's where you want to be, that's what you want to do it yeah. Because they are going to pay you a reasonable salary, or hourly rate. But it's going to be way better than what you're making in pretty much every you know, the 47 other states, you're gonna make more money in that area. So you have to be open to kind of, you know, moving a lot of time, people don't want to move and get out of their comfort zone. But that's where you want to be. And then three, degree versus certifications. It's always like a thing in IT. Both of them are pieces of paper, it's how you kind of, you know, take those pieces of paper and add value to them, just like the dollar, you add value to $1. That's why it's worth something. So if you got that certification, make it worth something, if you have the degree, make it worth something, it's interchangeable, if you're going to go into Fed space, security plus baseline, get security plus, if you're gonna go into the commercial space, they're a little bit more open to IT certifications. So you don't have to just, it doesn't have to just be Security Plus, they look into you, you know, whatever other certifications that are IT base, whether it be like the CIS PS or the CISM. You know, they look at all those other certs that are not like DoD 8570, you know, requirements, so you have a little bit more leeway. But they also kind of like look into your education background, you know, rather than experience, whereas on the federal side, they're more concerned about DoD 8570, do you have the certifications? And then maybe your experience will play a role, but usually how it goes. So I would say those are things.

KP: 13:29

That's fascinating. Man, I'm surprised to hear that the DC area is DC, Virginia area is the most ideal place for it, I would assume that, like Silicon Valley, or some kind of technological area, geographical area would be more ideal. So I was a little surprised to hear that. And as far as you being a ethical hacker, which is what it says on your LinkedIn, can you explain what exactly that is?

Mario Simon: 13:56

So essentially, you have your, you know, you hackers that are trying to break into your your phone, send you phishing emails, saying, hey, click this and win the million dollars. And then I lock your computer, on the ethical, ethical hacker side of things, it's more of testing to make sure that the proper controls so to speak, are in place. So the things like that don't happen. organizations aren't, you know, falling victim to ransomware, or, you know, denial of services, where they're their sites just down or their networks down, because some, you know, malicious group, in whatever country, you know, decides that, hey, we don't like We're just going to, you know, argue or we don't like your your product. company, we're just going to ask you, or we just have alternative, alternative motives. And we're just going to hack you. So my job is kind of to simulate those and test, you know, corporate environments. Basically, their security to see if they're prepared for those kinds of events. And then, kind of giving them insight. Generating reports. Showing them like, Hey, you could fall victim to this. This is how I can show you how it's done. Here's a report outlining all your vulnerabilities. And then I'll hand it to you, you decide how you want to fix that. if you want to fix that. Is the risk worth it or not? If it is, you know, I can tell you how to how to fix it, and then go from there. Or you have your IT staff, you know, your service desk, your network engineers, your software engineers, and they come in and basically fix your issue. But it's identified through ethical hacking,

KP: 15:49

or the terms of black hats and white hats. Is that what that is basically, folks who are on the evil side, and folks that are on the good side of hacking, is that sort of where that comes from?

Mario Simon: 16:01

In a sense. Yeah, that's kind of like we're, where it comes from. And they have, you know, different names for it all. Nation state actors, script kitties, which are just...a Script Kitty could be, you know, some 16 year old, that just doesn't like, you know, say they don't like McDonald's, they're gonna go, and they're gonna just run a script. And they don't know what it does. They just saw online that it's, you know, it will make your website go down, and they just press the button. Those are your script, kiddies, which are pretty much the bulk of them outside of like, you know, nations kind of doing their thing.

KP: 16:40

Over the span of the last year or so I've had quite a few cyber tech folks as guests. And even for me, on the outside, not really in that space. I've learned a lot about cyber tech and IT security and the many number of jobs that are available within the industry itself. And like you mentioned earlier, you've got folks that are more technical, as far as more involved with the IT stuff, whether it's ethical hacking, or IT security or it's more sounds like more HR, like human resources, where you're managing folks that that do the it technical side of things, and it's amazing how big the field is in itself. Now, when you transitioned out of the military, did you start out in IT as soon as you got out?

Mario Simon: 17:33

Yes, soon as I got out. And they actually found me.

KP: 17:37

Oh, nice. Wow

Mario Simon: 17:40

Interesting scenario.

KP: 17:41

So yeah. So what obstacles did you run into, whether it was an obstacle that you ran into, or you stumbled in within your first week, or your first few days of working, that you didn't really foresee, when you were preparing for that military career transition?

Mario Simon: 18:02

The first obstacle was onboarding. Where you know, when you're in the military, you have like your spot direct, someone's gonna go there, hold your hand, hey, you need to go, you know, somebody's pay, you need to go make sure that you have your papers squared away. This is where you're going to be staying, this is going to be your manager, you know, you have all of that. When I transitioned, that was like the biggest puzzle, I'd sit there and select okay. I don't know what I'm supposed to do today. Yeah. Like, they're like, Hey, you're going to have a person that's going to call you to help you onboard. And then, you know, when you're in the service, you're pretty prompt, right, you check time, spent 15 minutes till they're late. And then, you know, 30 minutes later, you're like, okay, they're still they're still not here. I don't know what to do. Who do I call? You know, you know, all this, everything's like, unknown. And then you just figure it out? Like, what health benefits do I gotta choose? Dental insurance? Which one do I take? I don't know. I never had to think about that. There's a lot of decisions you have to make that aren't that weren't that weren't common. Like, you're just so used to just getting everything handed to you don't even realize it. That's the crazier part.

KP: 19:16

Yeah, you know, even in the intro of this podcast, that's something that I address at the intro of this podcast, you know, I talked to a really brief intro where I say, in the military, you're given a uniform told where to be what to do. But what happens when that cadence fades, and you're no longer wearing that uniform? And who's going to tell you to pivot, when it's time to pivot? Who's going to tell you to step off, when it's time to step off? It's sort of up to you at that point, right? When you're a civilian. And that's that kind of takes some getting used to because you're used to that, that mentorship, right? But it's really not there on the in the civilian world. So that can be I understand where you're coming from, because I dealt with the same thing too. When I first started my my job outside of the military, I kind of expected for there to be some left seat right seat training going on. And there really it really didn't come. It was kind of like, hey, figure it figure it out for yourself, right. So within the IT field, how can someone position themselves as an ideal leader within the IT space? That would also have been skills that were utilized in the military?

Mario Simon: 20:26

I wou ld say naturally, you're going to have those leadership skills, but it's all about your approach. You know, in the military, it's more like you have to do this, you have to do that. Whereas, when, once you're out, you know, it's more, more or less, what makes more sense at this time, based on budget, you know, based on, you know, you have to take in, you know, your, your, your team's, you know, livelihood and, you know, feelings, because if they quit, you're not, you're down another person. And then that means extra work for you. And then, you know, there's, there's a lot of strings yet that, you know, pull. But when I would say, take that those leap that leadership aspect, and then go in with a more go going with a plan. Everything that I did, I had to make sure to have a plan. So when I came on, you know, coming out, I was like, I have the leadership skills. But what I, you know, I'm dealing with people who the only thing they care about is their job and their paycheck. You know, that's the only thing they care about. They don't care about, you know, whether you like the work that they put together, you don't care about any of that it's not their job and their paycheck, because it's a sense of security. So you have to add value. So you have to, hey, I understand that you like to do this. So I'm gonna help you on my team specifically do that, because I know that your strong suit, and then they'll do that they've performed that job. And I say, Hey, okay, I like the way that you're doing that you're doing it? Well. I want to put you into this other role, because I think it's going to benefit the team. And then they say, you know, teamwork makes the dream work. And I just, I start saying things to kind of get in their heads always say, teamwork makes the dream work, teamwork, makes the dream work. And then students sooner than later, you know, they start sending me, you know, text, hey, teamwork makes the dream work. Yeah, I'm like, Okay, I'm doing something, right. So yep. Take into account, like the skills that your skill sets, because a lot of times people get put in positions that aren't, you know, good for them. Or they're not prepared for. I'm firm believer of training, training, training, training, training, if you want to be a network engineer, know the ins and outs of, you know, operating network, you know, crawl, walk, run. And if I can identify that as a pain point for a team member or something like that, then I'll focus on that. But instead of trying to force them into a role, I'm trying to force them in, like in the direction that I know is going to be beneficial to them based on what they want to do.

KP: 23:16

Yeah, man, you know what, Mario, I really haven't had a chance to talk to you all that much. Even though we are on the board together, we log in every month, and we discuss a lot of academic education, things that are coming up, but you remind me of a very quiet, yet strong NCO that when you speak, you're heard, and the fact that you just described your own type of leadership of challenging folks and and, and putting them out there. And some of the things you just mentioned, right now, as far as like the little short, motivational corpse, I do the same thing too. And like, even in the beginning, when I say warriors fall in, it's time for formation. Like that's something that I used to say. I say, Warrior. So I don't know if you remember the whole warrior ethos thing that they came out with. And it was kind of a joke, right? So I used to say warriors. And I still do that today. Whenever I'm even around my own coworkers. You know, I'll walk up to a group of and say, warriors or whatever. And I don't know, it's, it's funny, but it's also kind of me in a way, because I, even when we were running and doing double time, and I would say little short things to try to motivate folks like, oh, keep on going, keep moving. You know, you know, we're almost home, things like that, you know. And that's, I think that is that's definitely part of your NCO that you were when you were in the military, that you've brought along with you into the IT field right now. Now, as far as strategies, what would you advise someone to consider if they were to begin their journey into becoming part of the IT career field? And the reason I asked that is because it can be very intimidating. There's so many different certifications out there. There's so many different positions and opportunities. What strategies would you give someone or advice to someone if they were to consider to begin their journey into becoming part of the field that you're in right now?

Mario Simon: 25:09

I would say if they're going to try to begin their journey, instead of focusing on the certification, focusing on the educational side of it, you know what? The certification like I said, it's the paper it's it's there. rather than, you know, like, Oh, let me just jump to a boot camp or something like that. I mean, it depends how people learn. Some people learn faster than others. But if you're just jumping into it, and you really want to understand it, you know, yeah, to actually try to understand it, you know, not something that you're going to brain dump, after you take the test and just say, I hope I can get this job, you know, it's, you know, take time to learn what the basics are. If you're going to do something in like the help desk space, but you get technology suck at using computer, you don't know your mouse from the keyboard, start to understand, okay, the mouse, what is it? Therefore, why do I need to use it? You know, what function? What function does it provide? How does that add value? All right, I know what the mouse is. Keyboard, what function does it provide? Computer? What function does it provide? Can I take this computer apart and put it back together? Can I start to, you know, use some critical thinking, to kind of understand how a computer works? Okay, I got that down. Now it's time to move on to networking. How do I understand the network? You know, if you don't want to be a network engineer, that's fine. But understand the basics. You know, how do I, how does the Internet work? How do I get to this website? Like, what's the logic behind that? So it's just understanding the high levels and breaking them down into those, you know, basic components. And if you understand the basics, then you can always build on that. Because as I would say, That's the biggest issue, a lot of people that try to go into it face is that they skip the foundation. They're just like, I'm just gonna build a mansion on top of this. And that's just the ocean. And they think, yeah, and then they have to learn through sink

KP: 27:10

Yeah, yeah, I love what you said right now about just the or swim. But, you know, if they build a solid foundation, understanding, you know, this works this way, because this, this works, because that all of this works based on this, and then they start adding things on top. And next thing, you know, they're like the IT guru, you know, everyone's like, he just knows everything about everything. How does he know? That's how that's how that? self discovery of getting the training, you know, Act Now Education offers a lot of free certifications, a lot of free training, to find that self discovery, that self Career Discovery on whether or not you want to do something or not. And like you said, getting the foundation is absolutely paramount, right. So even for me, I'm gonna, I'm gonna share this real quick. I wasn't sure a few years ago, if I wanted to get into real estate, I took, I took and passed all of the real estate courses. And then I scheduled to take the state exam to get to become a real estate agent. And I decided not to go through with it. Because after going through the three different courses, passing all the exams, I just realized that this isn't for me, like, I'm not doing this for the right reasons. And I don't think I would actually keep my head in the game, and really have much passion for this. So I decided not to go that route. And here I am today, talking to you podcasting, because I felt like this was something that I really wanted to do instead. So I think it's a great opportunity. It goes hand in hand with what you said, for Act Now Education and what we're offering on there. As far as the certifications and the countless, IT security certs that we offer on there, I think it's a great spot for folks in the military to take into consideration to at least do that self discovery for their career. And Morio for the time that you've been with Act Now Education over the last year or so, which now you're a board member, which I think is absolutely awesome. And I think it's awesome, because it's great to have folks that are passionate, like you who I can tell really care about reaching back and helping the community, the time that you've been with active education, from what you've witnessed, how has the group changed lives, from what you've witnessed?

Mario Simon: 29:37

I mean, I've seen, you know, give or take, you know, you could say that the testimonials speak for themselves. I'm seeing, you know, the metrics, right, because I'm updating the site, you know, and seeing how a lot of people are taking, you know, going through those Coursera courses, or, you know, saying hey, I got the bookkeeping cert, or, you know, you know, I've gotten this job here, and I've gotten to shop there, or I didn't even know this information that's good to have, you know, and you know, and then you have this the community, right, so, if an act now member, you know, we're a few strong, but, you know, the group is strong in terms of, you know, answering those questions like, hey, yeah, we saw a post about this the other time, I'll give you this information, and, you know, they start talking about their personal experiences and then guess what, you know, oh, yeah, you know, I do have a job at this place. That I can, you know, send your way. So it's a it's legit a community, right? You know, I'm helping people. And I think since I've seen it from like, the point where I came in, and so even just now I just see just the steady growth. And the value that that just brings. Because every single time I see someone, you know, with a question, and they get their answer, and they even find the resource that they've been looking forward to just didn't even know existed, like, oh, man, this is a one stop shop. Yeah, helps.

KP: 31:01

It's really It truly is a one stop shop, even if you go into the Facebook group. And if you simple if you simply have a question on there, I mean, one of the mods, a lot of times won't even have to log in. It'll be another person from within the community that will have an answer for someone else, if someone posts a question regarding, you know, career and career transition. So it truly is a community in itself, where it's not necessarily driven by the mods and the board members and the administrators, but also with each other. You know, everyone in there, we try to create this community where folks are helping folks within the military community out and I think it's outstanding, that Jay has built what we have today. And I really appreciate you, Mario for helping us grow, I can tell you that over the span of the last year or so, we've accelerated so much because of board members like you who decided to spend like all these all these countless hours. I know, Yasmin George has told me before, like how much work you've put into it. And I really appreciate that and everything that you've done for Act Now Education. But for folks out there that might be interested in following up with you, Mario. What's social media platforms? Can they find you on? Like LinkedIn or Facebook or anything like that? And is it okay for them to email you?

Mario Simon: 32:28

So totally okay, for them to email me. And LinkedIn is probably the easiest spot, just shoot me a message. And then yeah, I'll just right back or, you know, maybe after the podcast, you drop my email in there. And that way, if you want to, they want to connect on LinkedIn, it works. I'm usually pretty responsive. For whatever questions I get asked, it doesn't ever bother me, especially if I know I'm helping someone. Even if it's a credit question, right? Off the bat.

KP: 33:01

Yeah, yeah, I'll I'll make sure that I put your, your LinkedIn, your LinkedIn link over here on the description. So if you are listening to this on the audio, you want to scroll down to the show notes at the bottom and you'll find Mario's LinkedIn, add him to your connections on there, as well as his email address will be down there as well. If you are watching this on YouTube, scroll down the descriptions. Same deal there. So Mario, before we wrap up today's episode, is there any other pieces of advice that you'd like to mention or share with the folks out there who are listening to this podcast, maybe it's life advice, career advice, Act Now Education advice, any kind of piece of advice that we didn't talk about today,

Mario Simon: 33:48

I would play a piece of advice. And it was something that actually two pieces of advice, the first one that I ever got, and it was the one I was going to the University of New Mexico. And that was "scientia potentia est," which stands for knowledge is power. means so much, because the more you know, the more you can do, right. So that's one and then two, another great piece of advice that I received from someone was that motivation lasts a day, but inspiration lasts a lifetime. So I don't focus on trying to help people by motivating them, I try to, you know, have a lasting impression. So I want to inspire them, and then they can inspire somebody else. And you know, let it spread like wildfire.

KP: 34:36

We definitely need more of that. We really do. I was just talking to someone the other day about mentoring and being an inspiration to folks. And then the same token folks need to be more open to receiving mentorship and receiving help and receiving assistance and not being so, so hard headed about some things. And that includes myself too, right. So and I guess that's why I'm here. And that's why you're here so that we can reach back and help out the military community. But, Mario, I really appreciate you stepping out from behind the curtain, stepping out from behind the curtain where the machine actually happens, which is act now education. And I appreciate being part of the board member with me. The board member group with me. I think we have a very powerful team that's led by Jai Salters. Sometimes I don't know how his back is so strong, and how the man gets any sleep at night. Really he seems like he's always awake. And he's always active and he's always doing stuff. But I appreciate you being part of the board. And I appreciate you giving me the time and opportunity to get to know you more. Today. I've learned a lot about you. And it's nice to see another person on the board. That's was in the army too, because we're we're inundated with Navy people right.

Mario Simon: 35:47

But definitely, thanks.

KP: 35:52

Yeah, thank you so much. Ever folks out there listening, connect with Mario find him on LinkedIn, definitely pick his brain. He's also a certified project, project manager scrum master as well. So the man has many different facets to him, not just it or anything like that. But he's an ethical hacker and he also works in IT security. So reach out to him, get some advice, some career advice, and connect with him on LinkedIn when you get a chance. For everyone else out there, I want you to stay tuned, stay focused, and stay motivated. Warriors fallout. You've been listening to the morning formation podcast. I hope you found today's materials helpful and a value to your current situation. You can connect with me on Instagram at the underscore morning underscore formation underscore podcast. Or you can connect with me via email at theformationpodcaster@gmail.com. Also, I would like to thank my partners at ACC know education for their support, authenticity, community. And trusted is what you can expect from all members of the Act now education team. You can link up with them today and learn about some new free educational resources on their Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or at their website act now education.com whether today's show took you back to a nostalgic time or helped you think about tomorrow. Thank you for tuning in. And I look forward to seeing you again. Stay safe and stay motivated. Warriors Fallout