Fork Around And Find Out Staying Calm with Duffie Cooley
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Oct 9, 2025 Duffie Cooley, Field CTO at Isovalent and a veteran in the cloud-native space, shares invaluable insights on staying calm under pressure and the importance of people in tech. He reveals how his theater background shaped his leadership style and discusses his journey from support roles to network architecture. Duffie emphasizes lifelong learning, the value of community in tech, and how personal values guide career decisions. He reflects on significant moments in his career, including the evolution of Kubernetes and the impact of acquisitions on trust in the industry.
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Calm Learned In Theater
- Duffie learned calmness from theater because everything was always on fire and adding his own anxiety didn't help.
- He became the calm one to solve problems and manage egos effectively.
From Theater To Network Labs
- Duffie moved from theater tech to networking after discovering computers in high school and working TA/support roles.
- Early help-desk and network roles launched him into network architecture and lab work at North Point Communications.
Follow Communities, Not Just Hype
- Stay aware of emerging technologies and communities because they open many doors now via open source.
- Join communities and follow projects to find the next train instead of waiting for it to find you.