Replay - Creatively Giving Back to the Cloud Community with Forrest Brazeal

Oct 24, 2024

Forrest Brazeal, a cloud educator, cartoonist, and author, shares insights on his journey from leading content at Google Cloud to his current role at Freeman & Forrest. He discusses the importance of community in the cloud space and highlights projects like The Cloud Resume Challenge, designed to help others succeed. Forrest also provides a humorous take on the job interview process, advocating for more authentic assessments. Tune in for his creative approach to combining technical excellence with community engagement!

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Episode notes

Intro

00:00 • 2min

From A Cloud Guru to Google Cloud

01:52 • 5min

Elevating Careers Through Community and Authentic Connection in the Cloud

07:10 • 4min

Navigating the Cloud: Growth and Challenges

10:54 • 6min

Navigating the Interview Maze

16:51 • 3min

Navigating Public and Private Workspaces

20:14 • 13min

On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we revisit our chat with Forrest Brazeal. When this episode first aired, Forrest was the Head of Content at Google Cloud, but today, he helps run Freeman & Forrest, an influencer marketing service focused on enterprise tech. In this trip down memory lane, Forrest goes into detail on how he is working to give back to the cloud community. Forrest discusses his time at A Cloud Guru, his time as an AWS Serverless Hero, and the technical excellence he brings to his vast-ranging and prolific content. Forrest is also a successful author of a newsletter and multiple books, including a children's book about the cloud! Needless to say, Forrest is an incredibly varied personality in the cloud community, tune in for a chance to get to know him better!

Show Highlights

(00:00) Intro

(1:10) Backblaze sponsor read

(1:36) Starting a new job as the Head of Content for Google Cloud

(2:32) Forrest’s background as a cloud consultant

(3:57) Writing endeavors and The Cloud Resume Challenge

(6:30) Being authentic and helpful in the cloud

(11:43) Forrest’s experiences with Google Cloud

(13:18) Being a thought leader in the cloud community

(16:44) The interview process for Google Cloud

(20:24) Creating online cloud content

(25:51) Having creative freedom at Google

(29:07) The viability of Google Cloud

(31:52) Where you can find more from Forrest

About Forrest Brazeal

Forrest is a cloud educator, cartoonist, author, and Pwnie Award-winning songwriter. He’s also led some of the world's most innovative developer content and community teams at companies like Google and A Cloud Guru.

Links

The Cloud Bard Speaks: https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/the-cloud-bard-speaks-with-forrest-brazeal/
The Read Aloud Cloud: https://www.amazon.com/Read-Aloud-Cloud-Innocents-Inside/dp/1119677629
The Cloud Resume Challenge Book: https://forrestbrazeal.gumroad.com/l/cloud-resume-challenge-book/launch-deal
The Cloud Resume Challenge: https://cloudresumechallenge.dev
Twitter: https://twitter.com/forrestbrazeal

Original Episode
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/creatively-giving-back-to-the-cloud-community-with-forrest-brazeal/

Sponsor
Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/