

A Geek Leader Podcast - inspiring technical and creative leaders around the world
John Rouda: technical leader, author, speaker, educator
The ultimate podcast for aspiring leaders in the creative or technology fields. John Rouda discusses leadership topics, interviews some of the greatest minds today and teaches you practical leadership tips, techniques, tricks and hacks to improve motivation, negotiation, and other much needed skills for leaders today.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 13, 2023 • 30min
AGL 298: Cyber Security with Louwki Coetsee
About Louwki
Louwki’s entire career has been devoted to serving companies’ technical needs. After earning his Master Network Engineer qualification, he became a technical trainer for Torque-IT, and shortly after this, he was promoted to Technical manager.
Louwki then joined Tronic Trade Technology Holdings and served as Technical Manager. He then spent over a decade at Netsurit starting as a Senior Technical Consultant. He worked his way up to Head of Support at Netsurit and was part of the executive committee.
Following a 3-year stint at Dimension Data as a Service Improvement & Enablement Manager and part of the GSC Management team, he re-joined the Netsurit team in 2017 to help grow the US business.
Louwki enjoys playing Ice-hockey and spending summer weekends on the boat. He also loves spending time with his wife, Yolandie, and son, Logan.
Today We Talked About
Louwki’s background
Outlook for Security
Awareness
Cyber Security
Leadership Awareness
Common Mistakes
MFA – Multi-Factor Authentication
Dmarc for email
Get an Awareness Partner
Microsoft Secure Score
Security must be proactive
Privacy Concerns
Digital Transformation
Automation
Shadow IT
Microsoft Productivity Score
Free Risk Assessment
Connect with Louwki
Website
LinkedIn
Leave me a tip $
Click here to Donate to the show
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
A2 Hosting
I’ve been using A2 Hosting for several years. They offer state of the art SSD hosting for all of their plans. Their sites are super fast and easy to setup. I rarely need support, but when I was migrating my sites to a larger plan I used their support services and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend A2 hosting for all of your hosting needs. And I also recommend everyone to have a personal website. If you’re in technology and looking for a job and don’t have your own website, I probably wouldn’t hire you. Just sayin’.
Please use my affiliate link when signing up. https://www.ageekleader.com/a2

Feb 3, 2023 • 36min
AGL 297: Jen Hope
About Jen
Jen Hope is an executive and leadership coach for startup leaders. With a background as the Vice President of Marketing for multiple high-growth startup companies, Jen understands the complexity of startup leadership. She leverages data and evidence-based tools that accelerate growth and scale individual and collective leadership. A self-kindness and mental health advocate, Jen is passionate about creating safe spaces for women and non-neurotypical leaders in startup and corporate leadership. Clients will tell you that Jen provides systems and habits that improve life and leadership. They love the sharp insights, structure, compassion, and accountability that come from Jen’s coaching process. Jen’s client list includes Tenable, Oracle, Altana.ai, TOMBOYX, DocuSign, Relayr, BlueJacketeer, and Uplevel. When Jen’s not working, you can find her cooing over dogs, running the hills of the PNW, and singing all of the songs that play in her local grocery store and CVS.
Today We Talked About
Leadership
Coaching
Radical Candor – Kim Scott
non-negotionables
Getting back to it, when you fall off the trail
Empathy… its a skill
Sympathy vs Empathy
Tough Love
Kindness
A 7 year journey for overnight success
Waterfall Habits
Self-care for leaders
Take back some control
Connect with Jen
LinkedIn
Website
Instagram
Leave me a tip $
Click here to Donate to the show
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
A2 Hosting
I’ve been using A2 Hosting for several years. They offer state of the art SSD hosting for all of their plans. Their sites are super fast and easy to setup. I rarely need support, but when I was migrating my sites to a larger plan I used their support services and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend A2 hosting for all of your hosting needs. And I also recommend everyone to have a personal website. If you’re in technology and looking for a job and don’t have your own website, I probably wouldn’t hire you. Just sayin’.
Please use my affiliate link when signing up. https://www.ageekleader.com/a2

Jan 27, 2023 • 34min
AGL 296: Partnering with HR from Dr. Keri Ohlrich
About Keri
Dr. Keri Ohlrich has led an impressive career as an outcome focused business executive in her 20+ years working in the HR field. She is the CEO and co-founder of Abbracci Group, the co-author of the book, The Way of the HR Warrior and the co-host of the podcast reCHARGE® Your Life. Dr. Ohlrich has been featured in HR and business industry articles, interviewed on multiple podcasts and spoken at numerous events in the United States and internationally.
Throughout her career, Dr. Ohlrich has held leadership positions at a variety of organizations ranging from start-up to Fortune 500 companies. In her previous roles she has created and implemented HR processes, redesigned the talent function for an organization serving 25,000 global employees, led change management for a new business strategy, and overhauled the Human Resources department. Her broad areas of expertise include leadership coaching, talent management, culture change, performance management, organizational development, workshop facilitation, and employee engagement and development.
At the heart of Dr. Ohlrich’s work is to improve the environment of organizations which in turn improves the lives of employees. Whether it is coaching and training leaders, performing cultural assessments or helping develop HR professionals into HR Warriors, she wants all to reach their potential. Keri also loves to help outside of the business world as a volunteer for Voices for Children as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and at Scholar Match. Both non-profits are focused on helping children reach their potential. Keri is honored to serve on the board of UNA-USA Coachella Valley whose mission is to support the work of the United Nations.
Keri is proud that Abbracci Group belongs to the National Small Business Association (NSBA) and is certified as a women-owned business by Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as well as a women-business enterprise by the County of Los Angeles. Dr. Ohlrich is certified in change management methodology and organizational and personality assessments. She obtained her PhD in Human Development and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University. She holds an MS in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University, an MS in Global Human Resources from Loyola University Chicago, and a BS in Psychology and Business from Carnegie Mellon University. Keri resides in Southern California with her husband, son and two Dachshunds.
Today We Talked About
Keri’s background
Psychology in 4th grade
Why building a relationship with HR is important
Check-ins
Being Proactive
Teambuilding
Consistency
Communication
Expectations
Happy Employees
Setting Goals
On-boarding
Individual Leadership
Recognition
Ego
Connect with Keri
LinkedIn
Website
Book
Leave me a tip $Click here to Donate to the show
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
A2 Hosting
I’ve been using A2 Hosting for several years. They offer state of the art SSD hosting for all of their plans. Their sites are super fast and easy to setup. I rarely need support, but when I was migrating my sites to a larger plan I used their support services and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend A2 hosting for all of your hosting needs. And I also recommend everyone to have a personal website. If you’re in technology and looking for a job and don’t have your own website, I probably wouldn’t hire you. Just sayin’.
Please use my affiliate link when signing up. https://www.ageekleader.com/a2

Jan 20, 2023 • 34min
AGL 295: Remote Development with Alex Svinov
About Alex
Alex is the CEO and Co-founder of Insquad, the platform to build remote development teams. He believes that the future of work is in remote teams – and this notion will radically change the world as it will bring opportunity and talent closer to each other.
Alex launched Insquad one year ago because he faced challenges hiring senior tech talents for his previous startup. He tried staffing services, but there were expensive and did not give a lot of value to him as a startup. So he decided to solve this problem and help the startup community as well as offer great opportunities to the talents in underprivileged countries.
Now, Insquad holds an 80%+ interview-to-hire rate and worked with over 300 tech startups
Alex is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor — 10+ investments in IT companies all over the world — Forbes council member, and Alchemist mentor.
In the past 10 years, he has created several successful startups in industry areas that he had no experience in before — FinTech, outsourcing, HRTech, and food service. He is passionate about making new tech products and services and helping distributed teams achieve their goals.
Alex met with Bill Clinton and Queen Elizabeth in Moscow’s high school. Outside of work, he’s a father of 3, plays tennis and regularly participates in amateur tournaments.
Alex is the CEO and Co-founder of Insquad, the platform to build remote development teams. He believes that the future of work is in remote teams – and this notion will radically change the world as it will bring opportunity and talent closer to each other.
Alex launched Insquad one year ago because he faced challenges hiring senior tech talents for his previous startup. He tried staffing services, but there were expensive and did not give a lot of value to him as a startup. So he decided to solve this problem and help the startup community as well as offer great opportunities to the talents in underprivileged countries.
Now, Insquad holds an 80%+ interview-to-hire rate and worked with over 300 tech startups
Alex is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor — 10+ investments in IT companies all over the world — Forbes council member, and Alchemist mentor.
In the past 10 years, he has created several successful startups in industry areas that he had no experience in before — FinTech, outsourcing, HRTech, and food service. He is passionate about making new tech products and services and helping distributed teams achieve their goals.
Alex met with Bill Clinton and Queen Elizabeth in Moscow’s high school. Outside of work, he’s a father of 3, plays tennis and regularly participates in amateur tournaments.
Today we Talked About
Alex’s background
Remote Development
Hiring Challenges
Current State of Tech Talent
Team building with remote workers
The importance of remote work
Calls “not” about work
Onboarding remote employees
Connect with Alex
Website
LinkedIn
Twitter
Leave me a tip $
Click here to Donate to the show
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
A2 Hosting
I’ve been using A2 Hosting for several years. They offer state of the art SSD hosting for all of their plans. Their sites are super fast and easy to setup. I rarely need support, but when I was migrating my sites to a larger plan I used their support services and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend A2 hosting for all of your hosting needs. And I also recommend everyone to have a personal website. If you’re in technology and looking for a job and don’t have your own website, I probably wouldn’t hire you. Just sayin’.
Please use my affiliate link when signing up. https://www.ageekleader.com/a2

Jan 13, 2023 • 40min
AGL 294: From Now to Next with Erica Rooney
About Erica
Erica Rooney is a Keynote Speaker, Executive Coach & HR Consultant, Chief People Officer and host of the Podcast, From Now to Next.
She is on a mission to help women get seen, get heard, and GET PROMOTED by breaking out of their “sticky floors”, and busting through the glass ceiling, to live a life filled with purpose and passion.
As a top Culture Expert, Erica invigorates and educates organizations through change, driving a positive experience for employees, and guiding executives through the process of change to lead to massive success.
Today We Talked About
Erica’s background
Outcomes and New Year Resolutions
Do The Work
What’s your Why?
Why coaching?
Write down what you love, and what you hate doing
What are Sticky Floors and Glass Ceilings?
Lids and Labels
Get me promoted
Name it
Question it
Shift it
READ
Ask for direct feedback
Connect with Erica
Website
Podcast From Now to Next
LinkedIn
Leave me a tip $
Click here to Donate to the show
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
A2 Hosting
I’ve been using A2 Hosting for several years. They offer state of the art SSD hosting for all of their plans. Their sites are super fast and easy to setup. I rarely need support, but when I was migrating my sites to a larger plan I used their support services and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend A2 hosting for all of your hosting needs. And I also recommend everyone to have a personal website. If you’re in technology and looking for a job and don’t have your own website, I probably wouldn’t hire you. Just sayin’.
Please use my affiliate link when signing up. https://www.ageekleader.com/a2

4 snips
Jan 9, 2023 • 35min
AGL 293: Lift Your Impact with Richard Newman
About Richard
Richard Newman is an award-winning writer and speaker with expertise in leadership communication. He is also the Founder and CEO ofBody Talk. Since 2000, Richard and his team have trained over 100,000 people worldwide in 46 countries. In the new hybrid world, there are more ways to communicate than ever before, but finding true connection and engagement still eludes many of us. Without the ability to effectively engage an audience and inspire action, new ideas struggle to be implemented, adding frustration and failure to the workplace. Richard transforms that failure into success, helping one client gain over $1 Billion in new business and winning 100% of the pitches he coached them on by applying the breakthrough strategies he teaches.
Richard began his communication journey by living in a Tibetan monastery in India for six months, teaching English to monks. Body language and voice skills suddenly became absolutely essential to Richard’s work, as the monks spoke no English when he arrived, so they had to communicate non-verbally. When he returned to the UK, Richard continued to study advanced communication skills while working as an actor on stage and screen. In 2000, Richard combined his passion for communication with his love of storytelling when he founded UK Body Talk Limited.
Over the next 21 years, Richard and his team developed a new, science-backed coaching method designed to create real and practical results. Richard’s breakthrough research on communication has been published in the Journal of Psychology. Richard’s clients include CEOs, Vice-Presidents and leadership teams across many industries, including Virgin, Expedia, NYU
, Microsoft and 3M.
Richard documented his journey in his best-selling book, You Were Born to Speak, which debuted at #1 on Amazon for both Kindle and Hardback. In 2014, Richard was the recipient of the Cicero Grand Award, the most coveted prize in the world for speechwriting.
Richard’s new book ‘Lift Your Impact’ explores how you can ‘Transform your mindset, influence and future, to elevate your work, team and life’.
Today We Talked About
Richard’s background
Living with the Monks for 6 months
Congruency
Much match the word with your body language, vocal tonality, etc.
RBF – Resting “Blessed” Face
Communication Improvement
Reading Children’s books
Reading Famous Speeches
Palms up vs. Palms down
Mindset
Values – Principles
Value Shift
Vision
Shift Identities
Archetypes
Shield
Sovereign
Sage
Servent
Sprite
Show Time
Connect with Richard
Website
Twitter
LinkedIn
Latest Book
Leave me a tip $
Click here to Donate to the show
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
A2 Hosting
I’ve been using A2 Hosting for several years. They offer state of the art SSD hosting for all of their plans. Their sites are super fast and easy to setup. I rarely need support, but when I was migrating my sites to a larger plan I used their support services and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend A2 hosting for all of your hosting needs. And I also recommend everyone to have a personal website. If you’re in technology and looking for a job and don’t have your own website, I probably wouldn’t hire you. Just sayin’.
Please use my affiliate link when signing up. https://www.ageekleader.com/a2

Dec 23, 2022 • 33min
AGL 292: Encryption with Rishabh Poddar
About Rishabh
Dr. Rishabh Poddar is the CEO and Co-Founder of Opaque Systems, a confidential computing platform for collaborative analytics, AI, and data sharing at scale. Rishabh holds several US patents and has authored over 20 research papers in computer security, systems, and applied cryptography. Rishabh received his PhD and MS degrees in Computer Science from UC Berkeley, and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. Previously, Rishabh was a researcher at IBM Research and a management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group.
Today We Talked About
Rashabh’s background
Encryption
secure enclaves
The Rise Lab
Data Protection
Encryption in Use
Confidential computing
3 Step Process
Encrypt your data
Use Client through Browser to run Opaque
View Results
Data Collaboration
The trouble with Encryption
Connect with Rishabh
LinkedIn
Twitter
Website
Leave me a tip $
Click here to Donate to the show
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
A2 Hosting
I’ve been using A2 Hosting for several years. They offer state of the art SSD hosting for all of their plans. Their sites are super fast and easy to setup. I rarely need support, but when I was migrating my sites to a larger plan I used their support services and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend A2 hosting for all of your hosting needs. And I also recommend everyone to have a personal website. If you’re in technology and looking for a job and don’t have your own website, I probably wouldn’t hire you. Just sayin’.
Please use my affiliate link when signing up. https://www.ageekleader.com/a2

Dec 16, 2022 • 35min
AGL 291: Marjolein Duermeijer
About Mar
Marjolein (Mar) Duermeijer is an international innovator with a background in production, licensing and content development. She currently leads as Chief Content Officer at Ryff, an A.I. technology company in Virtual Product Placement that allows brands to place their products into video content. Mar has lead senior executive leadership teams working with creators and producers of Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders, MasterChef, Big Brother, and over 700+ other shows. She is passionate about using technology to set new industry standards for end-to-end content creation.
Today We Talked About
Mar’s background
Communication
Leadership
Building Bridges in Operations Using Technology
The Creative Process of Transformation
Blending Content, Data and Technology for Innovation
Data measurements
Analytics
Integrating Content
Brand Protection
New ways of advertising
New ways of marketing
Connect with Mar
LinkedIn
Website
Leave me a tip $
Click here to Donate to the show
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
A2 Hosting
I’ve been using A2 Hosting for several years. They offer state of the art SSD hosting for all of their plans. Their sites are super fast and easy to setup. I rarely need support, but when I was migrating my sites to a larger plan I used their support services and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend A2 hosting for all of your hosting needs. And I also recommend everyone to have a personal website. If you’re in technology and looking for a job and don’t have your own website, I probably wouldn’t hire you. Just sayin’.
Please use my affiliate link when signing up. https://www.ageekleader.com/a2

Dec 9, 2022 • 40min
AGL 290: Faisal Hoque
About Faisal
Faisal Hoque is an accomplished entrepreneur, noted thought leader, technology innovator, advisor to CEOs, BODs, and the US federal government, and an author with more than 25 years of cross-industry success. He is the founder of SHADOKA, NextChapter, and other companies. They focus on enabling sustainable and transformational changes. He is a 3 times winning Founder and CEO of Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ awards.
Throughout his career, he has developed over 20 commercial business and technology platforms and worked with public and private sector giants such as US Department of Defense (DoD), GE, MasterCard, American Express, Northrop Grumman, CACI, PepsiCo, IBM, Home Depot, Netscape, Infosys, French Social Security Services, Gartner, Cambridge Technology Partners, JP Morgan Chase, CSC, and others. What sets Faisal apart is the unique position and perspective he has always maintained, which is grounded in hardcore technology with deep roots in leading-edge management science.
As a thought leader, he has authored a number of award winning books on leadership, innovation, mindfulness, resilience, organizational transformation, and entrepreneurship, including the #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Lift – Fostering the Leader in You Amid Revolutionary Global Change (Fast Company), and the #2 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Everything Connects – Cultivating Mindfulness, Creativity, and Innovation for Long-Term Value (Fast Company). His work has appeared in Fast Company, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fox, CBS, Financial Times, Mergers & Acquisitions, Forbes, Leadership Excellence, and Huffington Post among other publications.
American Management Association (AMA) named him one of the Leaders to Watch. The editors of Ziff-Davis Enterprise named him one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Technology alongside leading entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Larry Page, and others. Trust Across America-Trust Around the World (TAA-TWA) named him one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders alongside global leaders such as Bill George, Doug Conant, Howard Schultz, and others.
His book, The Power of Convergence (published by the American Management Association [AMA]), was released in April 2011 and almost immediately was named “One of the Best Business Books of 2011” by 800CEOREAD and CIO Insight. Two of his previous books, Sustained Innovation and Winning the 3-Legged Race (published by Prentice Hall), were also included in the “Top 5 Transformation Books” of the last few years, while Sustained Innovationalso ranked in CIO Insight magazine’s “Editor’s Picks: The 10 Best Business Books of 2007”. His highly acclaimed book The Alignment Effect (Financial Times) was published in 2002, and e-Enterprise (Cambridge University Press) in 2000.
His broad areas of expertise include innovation, leadership, management, sustainable growth, transformation, strategy, governance, M&A, frameworks, and digital platforms. He holds a strong belief that it is through knowledge sharing that we may provide the greatest clarity on how to improve our collective future. As a globetrotter, he is passionate about nature, people, culture, music, and design, and he loves to cook.
Today We Talked About
Faisal’s background
Leadership
Mindfulness – being aware of the present moment
Creativity
Innovation
Empath
Gratitude
Transparency
Intentionally Omnivores
Peers
Open Communication (one-on-ones)
Leave it to the experts
Self Leadership
Must Lift yourself first
Connect with Faisal
Twitter
LinkedIn
Website
Everything Connects
Leave me a tip $
Click here to Donate to the show
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
A2 Hosting
I’ve been using A2 Hosting for several years. They offer state of the art SSD hosting for all of their plans. Their sites are super fast and easy to setup. I rarely need support, but when I was migrating my sites to a larger plan I used their support services and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend A2 hosting for all of your hosting needs. And I also recommend everyone to have a personal website. If you’re in technology and looking for a job and don’t have your own website, I probably wouldn’t hire you. Just sayin’.
Please use my affiliate link when signing up. https://www.ageekleader.com/a2

Dec 6, 2022 • 29min
AGL 289: Steve Kahan
About Steve
Steven Mark Kahan has successfully helped to grow seven startup companies from early-stage development to going public or being sold, resulting in a total value of more than $4.5 billion.
Bringing passion and positive energy, Steve inspires teams and their organizations to take on the impossible and succeed. He is best known for his ability to plan marketing strategy and execute it, so that companies can accelerate revenue, grow market share, and consistently deliver superior returns for shareholders.
Steven currently provides marketing advisory services to startup businesses including several Insight Partners portfolio companies. In his previous position as Thycotic’s CMO and Chief of Staff, he has helped guide the company through incredible growth and a successful exit at $1.4B. It’s been a similar story with the other companies where he’s brought his talents over the past three decades, including KnowledgeWare, PentaSafe, Postini, Quest Software, and The Planet.
A previous board member of Target Hunger in Houston, Steve is passionate about making the world a better place by helping those who need it most.
Steve attended college at Illinois State University where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech Communication. He’s an avid paddle boarder, and he taught himself to play the guitar. He and his wife of thirty years live in Texas. They have two children and two grandchildren.
Today We Talked About
What’s been up?
New Book?
Finding your customers
Thycotic
Cyber Security Podcast
Going through an acquisition
Developers and digital marketing
website best practices
being good on Google
Content is King
Connect with Steve
LinkedIn
Website
Book
I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word. Thanks again!
A2 Hosting
I’ve been using A2 Hosting for several years. They offer state of the art SSD hosting for all of their plans. Their sites are super fast and easy to setup. I rarely need support, but when I was migrating my sites to a larger plan I used their support services and they were phenomenal. I highly recommend A2 hosting for all of your hosting needs. And I also recommend everyone to have a personal website. If you’re in technology and looking for a job and don’t have your own website, I probably wouldn’t hire you. Just sayin’.
Please use my affiliate link when signing up. https://www.ageekleader.com/a2


