Apr 28, 2025
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;33;04
Unknown
You're listening to the Oracle Maven podcast, where we bring people
together from the veteran affiliated community to highlight
employees, partners, organizations and those who are continuing the
mission to serve. Welcome to the Maven podcast. I'm your host,
Chris Spencer, and in this episode I'm joined by Pat Smith, Oracle
principal security engineer and Army veteran, where we explore
Pat's journey rooted in strong family influence and an innate drive
to pursue her goals without hesitation.
00;00;33;08 - 00;00;56;28
Unknown
Pat opens up about her path to self-discovery. Shaped by a deep
sense of self-awareness and unrelenting competitive edge that
pushes her to rise above every challenge she faces. Grounded in
possibility and resilience, Pat highlights the value of thoughtful
observation, knowing when to pause, evaluate, and listen before
speaking or acting. Her ability to take on tough, high stakes tasks
reflects a rare combination of courage, adaptability and solution
oriented thinking.
00;00;56;28 - 00;01;18;07
Unknown
Pat doesn't shy away from discomfort. Instead, she leans into it,
earning the trust of those around her by demonstrating competence,
reliability, and strong commitment to results. Whether you're
navigating a career pivot or working to better understand your own
capabilities, Pat's insights will inspire you to think more deeply
about identity, preparation and how to effectively translate your
existing skills into new opportunities.
00;01;18;07 - 00;01;36;11
Unknown
She encourages others to research what's required for the next
role, embrace continual learning and take bold steps towards their
goals with clarity and confidence. This episode is a must listen
for anyone who wants to lead with purpose, grow through challenge
and be recognized as someone who delivers real impact. We have all
we need to become the person we want to be.
00;01;36;11 - 00;01;55;16
Unknown
Let's remember how to connect with others with sincerity and
genuine intent as we continue the mission to serve. Thanks for
listening. We hope you enjoyed this episode, and please remember to
check in on your buddies and family. Pat's contact details are in
the podcast description and you can always find me on LinkedIn.
Good morning Pat. How's it going?
00;01;55;18 - 00;02;16;24
Unknown
Good morning. Going great. How about yourself? I'm doing all right.
Thanks. Happy Monday. So funny thing, people say that. What do you
think people say? Happy Monday. I don't know, because Monday
everybody usually dreaded after the weekend. Right. Yeah. They want
their weekend to be a little longer. A little bit longer. Yeah. So.
So we talk about the weekends and coming to work.
00;02;16;25 - 00;02;48;01
Unknown
You know we're going to talk a little bit about you and then what
you do. And before we started recording for everybody out there, I
asked Pat how it was going. And I guess the Monday already started.
So there's a lot of a lot of things going on already. And it's
interesting if you, as you hear Pat talk about her, not only your
experiences here at Oracle, what she does, and you probably
understand how things keep moving and, what we do for our customers
and for the for the company and supporting the effort of what
whatever the collective organizations do.
00;02;48;03 - 00;03;07;17
Unknown
It'll be clear. So. But before we get into all of that, Pat, would
you tell us a little bit about Pat? Good morning everyone. My name
is Pat Smith. I've been an Oracle roughly three years. I am former
military Army go Army storm. I served in the Army and an army
reserve as well. I went to Germany.
00;03;07;18 - 00;03;30;03
Unknown
I'm in a different places. I ended up deploying to Southwest Asia
as well. And, once I got out of the military, I started working for
the Department of Defense. I work for DoD. I've, been a member of
Homeland Security for. I work for U.S. cert, and I also work for
the, FBI. Before retiring from the FBI.
00;03;30;03 - 00;03;53;22
Unknown
I go on into the civilian sector. Boom there. In a nutshell, all
right, all, have a good day. No thanks for that. And so you've done
a lot. And so for all of us out there, sometimes I learn things
because I, I would like to have, the, the guest share for the first
time some of their experiences.
00;03;53;22 - 00;04;14;23
Unknown
And so some of these things I'm learning for the first time. So
let's, let's talk about, why you joined and, you know, wherever you
grew up, in kind of the circumstances you found yourself in to find
yourself in, to be able to, you know, planned on, I think I'll join
the service in why Army? So, I came from a, military family.
00;04;14;23 - 00;04;33;28
Unknown
I guess you could say my father was Air Force. I I'm the youngest
of six, and all my brothers and sisters had gone into the military.
Some were officers, some were enlisted, and I graduate. I was in
high school, and I was like, well, to get some little extra money
over the summertime, I'll go into the reserves.
00;04;33;28 - 00;04;50;13
Unknown
It's a couple hundred dollars for a weekend out of a month, you
know, to go to drill and I'll have something in my pocket. So for
me, it was just like, okay, and then it'll teach me the discipline
and my thing about discipline and knowing how to do stuff on my
own, transitioning from being a high school student.
00;04;50;15 - 00;05;11;20
Unknown
So eventually having to be out there on my own in college. So I
went into the reserves. When I was in, 11th grade, my mom had to
sign because I was too young to sign for myself. I was underage,
and, I went under what they called deferred entry. So one year I
did basic training. And the next year, when I was a senior, after
my senior year, I did my ATC training.
00;05;11;22 - 00;05;36;03
Unknown
So I did that for I was in the reserves for about four years. I
went I went to Louisiana Tech University, where I majored in
biomedical engineering. I stayed in in college through college, and
then I'm from Louisiana, and I was like, okay, I want to get out. I
want to see, I want to travel and I don't want to pay for, but I
want to be able to still be able to maintain a lifestyle and take
care of myself and not have to call home.
00;05;36;03 - 00;06;01;24
Unknown
Mommy, daddy, can you send me money? So I was like, well, most
family I can go travel for a couple of years, do what I want to do
and come on. So that's what I do. I got into the Army, I enjoyed
the Army. The Army was a great experience. It taught me a lot.
Definitely discipline, definitely taught me a view of dealing with
a lot of different people from different places, different
personalities, which was really a very good experience for me.
00;06;01;26 - 00;06;26;08
Unknown
And after a while I ended up staying. I ended up getting married,
having two kids and going out. Not for the honeymoon, I'm guessing
now, and off and on and 11th grade. How was that? How was that
experience on campus in high school when you chose to do that? And
was it common in the high school that you were you were going to to
where other kids were were choosing that?
00;06;26;10 - 00;06;42;20
Unknown
I didn't know anybody personally that had that had gone into the
reserves. I just checked into it. I thought about it. I check into
it. Like I said, coming from a lot of my brothers and all my
brothers and sisters being in and my father being in, I was like,
hey, it doesn't seem too bad. It seems like a good benefit.
00;06;42;20 - 00;07;02;23
Unknown
And plus I would get the money for to help out with my college
education as well. So it wasn't intimidated to be the youngest
person there, one of the youngest people there walking into basic
training, first time really being by myself where there's no family
member with me, having to go out there in the world and listen and
do all this stuff, it was an intimidating.
00;07;02;23 - 00;07;21;09
Unknown
But once I got into the flow of everything and understanding, I
really enjoyed it. Got it. And how was how was it breaking it up
and over the, the summers to, to go to boot camp and then it, how
did that did you learn anything from the first time you went in and
then when you went to it?
00;07;21;11 - 00;07;40;10
Unknown
I think that session, it made it a to me. It made it a little bit
better because I got that chance to kind of like decompress from
the intensity of being in boot camp. And, you know, all the high
energy you have to run to get places faster. Got to be here on time
and all that structure and just all the little basic training is a
little intense.
00;07;40;12 - 00;08;00;03
Unknown
And then having that time to go back, relax, reset, going to drills
still during that year on and then go on to I, I t was a little bit
with way easier to me and it wasn't the physical aspect. Basic
training that I found to be, you know, stressful because I'd always
like, ran track, play basketball.
00;08;00;03 - 00;08;16;26
Unknown
I was already a athletic person. So the physical part wasn't me. It
was just getting used to the structure. And you have to be here on
time. If you all the time you're late. So you have to beat
everybody 15 minutes early. You have to make sure, you know, and
the rushed nature of things and the precision of things getting
used to that.
00;08;16;26 - 00;08;37;20
Unknown
But once I locked in, I was good. So when I went to I t I didn't, I
had the time to okay, I got this. I had everything organized in my
mind how I knew was going to be. So it flowed really easy. Got it.
So you slid in there that you were an athlete. How did how did that
competitive nature contribute to the ease as you're going
through?
00;08;37;22 - 00;08;52;28
Unknown
Not only that, but even after that, how did that contribute to the
choices you've made? I always want to be at the front of the line.
I was not going to let anybody outrun me. Got it? I had the, I
always shot to be okay. I want to be. If I'm not number one, I'm
going to be in the top five.
00;08;52;28 - 00;09;12;09
Unknown
I want to be at the top of the list. I want to, and but that's.
That was me even before I went into the middle there just kind of
have a competitive spirit and more so not with other people, but to
outdo myself if I did, if I did a certain score one time, okay,
we're going to have to work to do better the next step, the next
time and to just constantly improve.
00;09;12;09 - 00;09;35;29
Unknown
And I, I take that into just everyday life. I want one of the
things I always tell my kids is I want to be better today than I
was yesterday. Every day. And it doesn't have to be. Everybody
thinks when you say something like that, it has to be something
groundbreaking or something like life changes. No. If you learn a
new skill, if you learn something about your job that you didn't
know yesterday, you've improved.
00;09;36;01 - 00;09;55;01
Unknown
If you learn a new vocabulary word that you didn't know yesterday,
you've made some type of progress. But just make sure that you're
progressing in some way every day to improve upon yourself and not
let yourself just stay stagnant and get complacent with and
comfortable with where you are. That I like that, that that's a
hard one because you you nailed it.
00;09;55;04 - 00;10;15;04
Unknown
You know, a lot of times people think they got to go big to to have
that feeling of, of progress or success or an achievement. And
you're right, the little things and I'm, I appreciate your
perspective on that because it is sometimes misguiding. And then
we, you know, might hesitate. Everybody thinks that they have to
they think they have to change the world.
00;10;15;04 - 00;10;35;22
Unknown
But you can change the world one step at a time. That's like the
saying they always say you eat an elephant one step at a time, and
all the little steps add up to that monumental thing and lead you
to, towards that goal that you want one step at a time. Yeah, I
like that. So we're going to put a pin in that one too because
we'll come back to that okay.
00;10;35;25 - 00;10;59;15
Unknown
Because because it is it is it is a mindset. And somewhat of
sometimes a conflict for for those that get used to having to
achieve even that at some point, the conditioning of even the
little things that build up the attention to detail. And, you know,
if it's taken out of context of what you're trying to achieve for
goals, life goals, professional goals, career goals, educational
goals, whatever it is, you could there could be a misstep.
00;10;59;17 - 00;11;23;03
Unknown
Yeah. So, so we'll come back to that. So biomedical engineering.
Yes. Okay. I had a minor. Computer science. That's amazing. What,
what why that what was was there anything leading up to that that
get. You had the curiosity? I was a nerd at heart. I got my first
home computer. I'm not going to say what it is because I'll date
myself.
00;11;23;06 - 00;11;51;14
Unknown
I got my first computer at home. Computer. And I fell in love. And
I just became all the type of nerdy kid, the popular little nerdy
kid that I love computers, I love technology. Ever since I got my
first computer and biomedical engineering, I became really. I
wanted to help people with computers, and I thought medical would
be a great place to help people, to help engineer something that
could save somebody's life or make their lives better.
00;11;51;22 - 00;12;25;11
Unknown
So that's why I chose it. Got it. Any specific circumstance that
had you specifically planned on that, that that you envisioned then
and then chose that path, or was it just a general focus area that
somehow you were influenced by? I had, I had one of my grandparents
killed. They started to fail and I started thinking about people
that have things like kidney failure and heart failure and have to
be on these different types of like, maybe Dallas machines or
different machines that will help them to improve their lives.
00;12;25;11 - 00;12;52;18
Unknown
And so that kind of like got me to start thinking, I would love to
be a part of people who could engineer stuff like that, to be able
to help people to better their lives or correct conditions,
possibly that they ran into. Got it. All right. Moving through
this, because you laid down a lot. You so so you graduate college
and then, help us see where your your mind's at.
00;12;52;18 - 00;13;13;24
Unknown
Now, what direction are you pointing at that at that time, Burnout
from education a little bit. Being under the guns with such an
intense class schedule and just wanted to take the time out, and I
wanted to travel, see the world. And I didn't want to pay for it.
That's the bottom line. I don't want to pay for it.
00;13;13;26 - 00;13;36;07
Unknown
So what job could I get at such a young age that I could go
different places and I'll pay for the military? And so I said,
okay, the military is great. Out is I didn't see any negative to
being in the military because as long as you think with an open
mind and don't put yourself in a box, you can turn stuff to your
advantage.
00;13;36;10 - 00;13;57;29
Unknown
And to me, the military had all the advantages of things that I
want, I would have I will get paid. I will have a place to stay
that I don't have to pay for. In the barracks, I get food, I stay
in shape because I have to run every morning and I go to different
countries. I can go to another country, I go to Germany, I can go
to Korea, I can go to different places.
00;13;58;02 - 00;14;18;05
Unknown
And so it was just it was just college burnout. Yeah. That's a
combination I guess is like, well, yeah. So let's all expense paid
for a career choice. Maybe. Exactly. What most did you end up? I
ended up going and, math. And I ended up going into computers.
Okay. When I was in the military and working in signal.
00;14;18;08 - 00;14;35;13
Unknown
And so I ended up being the ESL. So when I found out, okay, you
went to college for this. Okay. Well, you're going to be a computer
person. So I was always doing everything, you know, the the person
in the room when you mess up your stuff for your computer. Well, I
can't get this done making sure before they call the information
system cybersecurity, shall I say, is the new term.
00;14;35;16 - 00;14;54;08
Unknown
It was information system security, where you secure it, make sure
everything was secure via scans of all the systems going around,
making sure all the systems of update. And then once 911 hit, the
big cyber word came out. I was like, well, we were doing that
before cyber became the buzzword, but now that's the buzzword for
it.
00;14;54;08 - 00;15;13;17
Unknown
So I've been so I'm kind of dating myself, but, yeah, I was doing
it before with the big cyber word. Got it. So I'll help you with
the dating yourself and I'll, I'll get in front of that for you. So
I remember when I was at Fort Hood, the there are our tech and I
forgot his name.
00;15;13;17 - 00;15;37;04
Unknown
But our tech for at the time where I was working, he had access to
windows. Oh yeah. Yeah. And so the IBM PC, something or other. 386
yeah. That thing with the sloppy disks. Right. So yeah. I, you
know, I needed to work and I wanted to work from home and I had one
and it, he sit here and he gave me it, but he didn't know what kind
of computer I had, but.
00;15;37;04 - 00;15;59;16
Unknown
So it was a shot in the dark. It. I literally stayed up, I don't
know, 12 hours trying to install that on, on the machine. I never I
was never successful because I didn't understand what was going on,
but right told me what to do. So yeah, I remember those days when
you had, software, hardware, sometimes incompatible issues where
you just think it should work and you hoped it would, and sometimes
it it didn't do as you did.
00;15;59;23 - 00;16;25;29
Unknown
Exactly. Yeah, but that's the fun stuff. Figuring it out, making it
work. Absolutely, absolutely. But you have to have the background
and I guess the curiosity, like you did right? Okay. So how long
how long were you in the Army? Ten years. Ten years. I end up
getting out after a few years after my deployment, I came back with
a condition that was that I got while I was over there.
00;16;26;01 - 00;16;45;24
Unknown
And I ended up being medical out because I couldn't stay, and not
because I didn't want to, but because my condition wouldn't allow,
was that sorry to hear that? Was that that must have been a
conflict. I mean, because you just said you didn't you didn't
necessarily want to get out, but you had to get out. So how did
that how did that for you?
00;16;45;26 - 00;17;03;06
Unknown
It was hard because I felt like I didn't end on my terms. And I'm
one of those people. I want to end it on my terms, if at all
possible. And it was hard, but then it was the understanding where
I had acquired a life threatening situation where just because of
the medication I took, made me ineligible to stay in.
00;17;03;11 - 00;17;25;01
Unknown
So there was I really had no option to stay in because the
medication that would save my life made me ineligible to stay in
the military. Well, I can't imagine it was a hard adjustment just
knowing that, okay, you're dealing with something that's a big
deal. So what I what happened? I ended up coming back with a it's a
blood disorder and I just throw random blood clots at any time.
00;17;25;01 - 00;17;47;26
Unknown
I can be okay one minute and then I can just get a random blood
clot anywhere. And because I had to be on blood thinning
medication, it's automatically disqualifier for me. At that time in
the military, it was hard dealing with because you're dealing with
multiple things, you're dealing with coming back from war. You're
dealing with coming back and finding out you have a medical
condition that now impacts you for the rest of your life.
00;17;47;29 - 00;18;06;25
Unknown
And then you're told that you can't stay in and do your job. So it
was a lot to deal with, a lot of disappointment that I had to go
through and deal with, amongst other things. Not, like I said, not
getting out on my own terms. Okay, Pat, what are you going to do
now? How how am I going to manage this disorder when I get out and
everything?
00;18;06;27 - 00;18;25;23
Unknown
But then I just had, after Phyllis, I guess. Sorry for myself for a
smart, had to say. Okay. What's best for you, what's best for your
family, what's best for your kids, and how are you going to make
the most out of this situation? Because it's easy to lay down and
give up. But I'm not a quitter.
00;18;25;23 - 00;18;51;06
Unknown
So I fought and I found my path. And then let me do Oracle, I love
it. It's somewhat of a conflict because it's it's, you know. So how
how are you how's the fight going now? The fight has actually gone
do it. I've actually been, my condition is actually really
stabilized a lot. So now I don't have as much battles because
initially I was in the hospital at least 2 or 3 times a year.
00;18;51;09 - 00;19;08;26
Unknown
For extended stays because of it. And I almost died a couple of
times, but I fought through. But now I'm in a more stable, the more
the most stable, honestly, I've ever been since I've had the
condition, which I'm thankful to God for. So everything is actually
going really well right now. It's good.
00;19;08;26 - 00;19;18;03
Unknown
Dear. Good to hear. I'm glad to have you here. Thank you. Glad I'm
still here.
00;19;18;05 - 00;19;47;19
Unknown
All right. Maybe for a long time. Yeah. Yes, yes. Here's to that.
Okay. So then, so then you get out and now you've, you worked and
you talked about three organizations Homeland security, U.S cert
and FBI. So let's let's listen to what you what you did. So once I
got out I actually the crazy thing about it is I was actually
flying home when the Twin Towers that I was in Germany, that's
where I got out.
00;19;47;19 - 00;20;09;03
Unknown
I was in Germany, were scared to fly home on 911, and we got the
news, and I was in the, hotel on base on Rahman Air Base. And, we
saw it hit and we were out processing. So we found out that all the
airlines were on the ground. The only one that they would let fly
back into the United States was Lufthansa.
00;20;09;06 - 00;20;32;23
Unknown
And we managed to get on that flight the next day in the chaotic
airport, which was filled with everybody from the United States,
seemed like they were trying to get home. And I remember being in
the airport with my husband and my two kids who were about to turn
one, and one was three at this airport attendant. She was like,
hold out, hold my hand and don't let go.
00;20;32;23 - 00;20;50;10
Unknown
I'll get you through the crowd because you have small kids. And she
literally got us through those hundreds and hundreds of people,
that car people, and got us to where we could check in so we would
be sure to make the flight. So I definitely I'm grateful to her for
doing that. And then we kissed the ground when we got back
home.
00;20;50;12 - 00;21;10;06
Unknown
Oh yeah. And then after that I went to, we're stationed in Hawaii.
So I went to Hawaii, where we were at school for our airbase. I got
a job working as a federal employee on school for avarice. I
started out in chief for, working for the lieutenant colonel there.
And then I went to G6 and eventually to G2.
00;21;10;08 - 00;21;33;14
Unknown
I worked on Schofield for a while that I moved to, Fort Shafter,
where I work with, GCS Global Command and Control Systems for a few
years. And then we moved, to Fort Gordon, Georgia, and I worked at
the Wounded Warrior Division that they had just, stood up, work
there. And then we were doing another move to Virginia.
00;21;33;17 - 00;22;01;02
Unknown
So I said, okay, I saw some DHS jobs. I said, okay, I'm applying. I
don't know if I'm a get in, I'll apply. So I pay off the NHS and
miraculously, before I left Fort Gordon already had an interview to
go into Homeland Security and get the job with U.S. cert. But in
between this time, I had an unfortunate medical incident that
almost took my life, and I was in the hospital for a long time, and
I physically, I had a blood clot that was so catastrophic I
couldn't walk.
00;22;01;02 - 00;22;19;13
Unknown
When I got out of the hospital, I physically couldn't walk, so it
took me a while to go from not being able to walk to walking with a
walker to a pain, to eventually rehabbing myself. And that happened
over probably like a year and a half time where I couldn't just
walk on my own. I got to Homeland Security.
00;22;19;13 - 00;22;36;17
Unknown
I wanted to U.S. cert. I was on their detection division, so we did
things like write the scripts and everything that went into the
sensors. We monitor things around the world. I can't say too much
about what it was. And when the new center that they had opened for
Homeland Security, I actually got to meet Janet Reno myself.
00;22;36;19 - 00;22;59;07
Unknown
But it's okay. All right. Janet Reno and President Obama actually
came to the facilities when we did the ribbon cutting and
everything. So that was a great experience. I work there and for I
was there for, I think for like five years and DHS for like five
years. And one day I was, came home and I got a call and, he said,
this is Charles Gibson from FBI.
00;22;59;07 - 00;23;13;29
Unknown
And I was like, stop, right, call on me. I thought it was a prank
call because I had never applied for a job at FBI. So I didn't
understand how they got my information. And while I was getting a
call. So I thought it was a joke. And he was like, no, I'm serious,
I'm not joking. And I was like, okay.
00;23;14;02 - 00;23;41;03
Unknown
And then he said, I have a job that I think you'd be wonderful for.
Are you interested? And I said, oh, I'm saying to myself, of
course, is the FBI. Most people would love to get it. So I went in
and I interviewed and I stayed at the FBI for about four years at
the FBI, worked on the, Cloud First project, working with a lot of
cloud vendors to help FBI move their things into the cloud and
become more cloud friendly.
00;23;41;09 - 00;24;04;23
Unknown
I was over I actually wrote there, cloud security guy and help, for
FBI and help wrote some stuff for the secret working, on the,
secret site on the cloud and things as well for them. So a lot of,
regulations, documentations, a lot of the cyber, Tiger teams like
that did the, high three for In the Cloud.
00;24;04;24 - 00;24;32;23
Unknown
I was on that Tiger team that produced those high three,
requirements. And then, after that was done, that was, that project
took a while, a few years because it was big getting them in. And
then I said, okay, I want to go see what the civilian sector has to
offer. I don't necessarily have to get totally away from
government, but I want to work for a civilian company because with
the military, everybody knows everything is a little bit more
restrictive on what you can and a little less innovative in some
ways, not less innovative.
00;24;32;23 - 00;24;56;15
Unknown
But there's just more tape for we Go too deep is what's high three.
So they're the standards for the FedRAMP. The high three standards
are standards that have to be met in order for a cloud service
provider to be able to process classified government documents on
the system within that cloud. Got it. Did you ever find out how
your name got in front of the FBI agent?
00;24;56;15 - 00;25;17;07
Unknown
According to this day, I don't know why you didn't ask. They didn't
tell me, okay? They didn't tell me. That's great. Yeah. I mean,
your brand obviously preceded you at that point or somebody or
somebody spoke it somewhere. So yeah, it ended up there. So I mean,
you just said it and that's a good one. So it stood out to me.
00;25;17;07 - 00;25;58;18
Unknown
So as you're working through the choices you're making and the
effort you're putting in and the results that are the outcomes that
have occurred based off of what you were doing, how was that
working as far as building a reputation, building your brand,
getting your name to be recognized as somebody that will be top of
mind when they have an open position and they call you, did it ever
occur to you, while you were making the choices and doing these
jobs, performance, taking on the difficult projects that everybody
goes away from seeing, seeing the whole I try to see the whole
picture and see what the holes are in it.
00;25;58;20 - 00;26;20;13
Unknown
So for instance, like when I went to FBI and I walked in, they had
the first project that President Obama had signed for federal
organizations going to for almost two years. But because it was so
huge, nobody, nobody either wanted to or they didn't have a person
that was willing to or with the knowledge to do it because nobody
had dealt.
00;26;20;16 - 00;26;42;11
Unknown
I guess, with security in that form of going to the cloud or didn't
want to learn it. So I took it on and I said, okay, I'll make it
happen and made it happen. So it's thinking of I try to think
outside the box, okay, my job says this, but my job goes into how
does it connected to the other things around me or what the
organization does.
00;26;42;14 - 00;27;05;23
Unknown
And that's how you see the holes in what you might currently have
within your organization. What do I connect to? What is the goal of
what what we have to accomplish for an organization? And I think
about taking on those things where you have to go and and I had to
go and, have meetings with people at the, Google's at the
Microsoft, you know, at the Verizon Cloud people.
00;27;05;23 - 00;27;23;10
Unknown
I had to deal heavily with Amazon and go to talk to them. Just
being willing to put myself out there and be like, okay, I'll take
it on, you know, and just not limiting yourself because I found
that a lot of people, it's not that they can't do it, is that
restriction they put on themselves for the fear of doing what if I
mess up?
00;27;23;17 - 00;27;45;00
Unknown
Okay, if you mess up, correct it and move on. Most great, lessons I
learned were when you make a misstep and then you come up with a, a
good comeback. That's better than what you thought before. But a
lot of people just limit themselves in their mind because it's all
about how you think. It's a mindset now is that it absolutely is
mindset, and I love that.
00;27;45;02 - 00;28;13;08
Unknown
So the versatility of being able to see things that maybe sometimes
others aren't focused on or yeah, you just have what was on the
sports. Right. The you see the field of play. You're seeing that is
that is that something that you had a stronghold on early in your
life, or is that something that just developed over time with your
experiences up to that point, to where it refined your ability to
see things that others weren't paying attention to?
00;28;13;10 - 00;28;39;18
Unknown
I think it came from my parents when I grew up. I was always that
really quiet, observing kid. I was a kid that read the encyclopedia
and dictionary over the summer just for just for kicks. So that's
how nerdy I was. I still am. So it was just always being, always
knowing and understanding from my parents. The loudest person in
the room is not necessarily the person that knows the most or has
the greatest insight.
00;28;39;21 - 00;28;56;26
Unknown
Before you speak, take time to step back and hear everything and
look at the full picture. And my parents always taught me that, so
I always live that way. I don't, and I always tell people I don't
speak up much in media initially because I'm trying to assess the
room. I'm trying to assess what what's going on and get a complete
picture.
00;28;56;29 - 00;29;22;18
Unknown
And then that way, in my mind, I can say, okay, well, there's a
whole here are this gold with that. And it gives me a clearer
picture and a better understanding. And I think that's why I can
see the holes. Did you ever encounter anything that that was
misunderstood as someone that would just sit back and be quiet
meetings and it would be mistaken as some other behavioral
component, or, you know, those types of things to where you'd miss
out or I've never missed out.
00;29;22;18 - 00;29;41;02
Unknown
But I think it initially when I initially do that for a few
meetings, people think, well, she doesn't speak up until I open my
mouth and I'll tell people, I say, I speak up, I say, but I like to
speak with information and inform them to just speak, to be heard,
because there's a lot of people speak because they like the sound
of their voice.
00;29;41;04 - 00;30;05;02
Unknown
That's another thing my parents taught me. Don't speak just to hear
your own voice. When you speak, you need to have something to say.
And so that's how I kind of got myself. It has it is never hurt me.
And then once they work with me, they understand. It's like, oh,
she's analyzing everything because I'm very analytical. She's
analyzing and looking at everything, and then she's going to speak
when she has the information because I don't want to misspeak and
be misinformed.
00;30;05;09 - 00;30;27;10
Unknown
But to me, that's worse than not speaking at all. Nice. It's
probably considered, in my opinion, only my opinion a lost art. I
agree the way the way that I believe, the way social media is
influenced to feel like we have to, top somebody or, you know, pull
out the more extreme now everything has to happen faster.
00;30;27;10 - 00;30;58;10
Unknown
And in first, that it kind of interferes with the ability to have
that innate ability to do what you just said sit back, observe,
absorb, you know, watch things as they occur and then get to a part
to where it matters to speak, speak with purpose and then the
business sector. And I'll take Oracle as an example to me, like
there are a lot of cloud service providers before Oracle came out,
right, Amazon hit the ground run and got the first thing with the
government, and they were locked in with the government for a
while, and they were the big dog with the government.
00;30;58;12 - 00;31;20;02
Unknown
But Oracle came up with their cloud and they paid attention. Oracle
did the exact same thing that I do, but at a on a corporate scale.
Oracle sat back. They watched. They watched the mistakes that
others made. They watched with a hole in the gap for an oracle,
came in and failed. So they did exactly that. It's almost like a
corporate strategy or, you know, a strategy that businesses
use.
00;31;20;04 - 00;31;37;23
Unknown
You don't have to be first. Look at Apple. Apple, they don't have
to be first. Other companies do stuff, but they stand there and
they're $1 trillion company because why they let you go make the
mistake. Then they come back and they find the holes that you
missed. They they correct your mistake and make a even better
product.
00;31;37;25 - 00;32;00;14
Unknown
The sound bite. This is I'm biased, but not if you know. You know,
you nailed it. A lot of times people will say, and I'm absolutely
not an expert in this part, but it's just an observation that you
don't find that Oracle goes out loud, right. And the smart, you
know, the types of marketing is very intentional and deliberate and
things like that.
00;32;00;14 - 00;32;23;02
Unknown
So, you know, a lot of times people I mean, well, let me ask this.
Did you know about Oracle before? Oh yeah. I'm a nerd. Yeah. Yeah,
that's probably a dumb question of course. Yeah. But Oracle is the
quiet kid in the room. Oracle was the quiet kid in a room
observing. They were there, observed in one during their analysis
paying attention and that everybody was like, okay, they're quiet,
so they must not be doing anything.
00;32;23;02 - 00;32;47;15
Unknown
But Oracle was working in the background. They weren't the loud kid
on the bus saying, yeah, I'm doing this. And they were like,
they're the quiet kid taking notes, being observant. And then they
just moved in silently. Got it. So FBI change. Yeah. Now you're
looking at the next move, KPMG. And when I worked for KPMG, what
made you go there?
00;32;47;18 - 00;33;18;21
Unknown
They had a job that was really interesting to me. That I wanted to
do, I wanted to move out into the civilian sector and make a
difference there. But knowing that because of my clearance level
that of course I was going to be involved in government stuff as
well. Still, which was fine. So I moved to KPMG and I was with KPMG
for like three years, and I left and I went to another cyber
company that was veteran owned, and what pulled me to that was
because it was better or no, it's called Invictus.
00;33;18;24 - 00;33;35;25
Unknown
And I went there because it was better and on. And I like the fact
that it was veteran owned. They came in, they offered me another
position that ended, I had a contract that worked with Dia them
worked on some projects, and they had the contract. And so I ended
up getting laid off during the Covid for like seven months.
00;33;35;27 - 00;34;01;11
Unknown
So in between that seven months, once again, don't know how I got a
call from Oracle Recruiter. I don't know where that came from
either. I imagine it was probably my LinkedIn profile. I could say.
And they reached out. Her name was Ryan and she was very, very
upfront with what Oracle was looking for. She was very upfront with
the process, the amount of interviews, and Oracle was getting their
certification during that time, she said.
00;34;01;11 - 00;34;25;19
Unknown
So she said, I'm gonna be honest with you, we're going under this
so our interviewers might be busy. It might take a while, but if
you're just hold on, we're serious about the offer, basically. But
just let me know if you decide to take something or if another
organization is looking for you. And at the time, I was actually
the, Situation Room at the white House, I was under consideration
for that position, and I actually interviewed for it.
00;34;25;19 - 00;34;47;07
Unknown
I actually got it. And I told Ryan and I thought about I got it and
I accepted it, and I was like, okay, white House Situation Room
Oracle. Then I said, after I accepted it two days later, I,
rescinded my acceptance because I wanted the opportunity. I saw in
my mind the opportunity of Oracle being greater than working in the
white House Situation Room.
00;34;47;09 - 00;35;03;07
Unknown
I know that sounds crazy to a lot of people, because a lot of
people will be like, why would you take why would you rescind the
offer to the Situation Room? Because of its high bids. And you you
get to do this, that and the other, and you're in this place as
where all these political people and you'll be able to see
this.
00;35;03;09 - 00;35;26;14
Unknown
And that was an important to me. The thing about it is, if I'd work
for all the big three letter organizations and partnerships with
projects and things, so how does that benefit and how is that going
to benefit my career going forward outside of that aspect? How was
it going to grow me as an engineer? How is it going to grow me as a
person in my skillset?
00;35;26;20 - 00;35;47;20
Unknown
It wouldn't, but Oracle would. The Oracle would give me that
ability to work on these different projects to expand my different
horizons, to be to be able to work in stuff that like, generative
AI are the new up and coming technologies where I wouldn't get that
in a white House situation. I'd get what I've always been working
on for the past several years for most of my life.
00;35;47;27 - 00;36;05;29
Unknown
And the federal system. But Oracle gave me something different to
actually go out into all civilian areas and access areas that I
wouldn't be able to access. Working with the situation Room. Got
it. So I was going to I was going to take a minute to go back to. I
was like, well, yeah, your LinkedIn profile probably contributed to
it.
00;36;05;29 - 00;36;31;27
Unknown
But we had some pretty good recruiters also, and it seemed, it
seems though, that, although that is true, that is more interesting
thing to cover real quick. And you landed on this and I love that
you did, because the fact is, it's what you want. And I think that
if we kind of peek into transition in the components and you've
transitioned several times, so not just from the military, but even
for that, you know, you transition from high school mindset into a
military environment.
00;36;32;04 - 00;36;51;24
Unknown
It's a different mindset to come back to high school, to go back to
the military and then go to college. And then, I mean, all of that
shift in focus and attention. It's no wonder you just ended that
statement with, this is why I chose this path, is because it's
going to give you the things that you want, and you landed on
that.
00;36;51;26 - 00;37;19;20
Unknown
How did you land on that specifically to know exactly where you can
assert, probably arguably, just for context, two of the most
significant choices, one could ever have at the white House or
private sector. For me, I looked at the the long haul. And when I
say that, I mean the long haul. For your security as a person, what
do you want as a person?
00;37;19;23 - 00;37;37;29
Unknown
It goes back to kind of like the Lao kid in a room versus the
silent kid, right? The white House working on the white House
Situation Room. Okay, plenty of publicity. You can be in the
limelight. You can be in the thick of things. You can be in that in
that area. But with that comes a lot of extra stress on top of a
job.
00;37;38;06 - 00;37;56;01
Unknown
Right? Just being in that environment and all that entails. So I
was like, yeah, that would be nice. But I don't really I'm not I
need to be in the limelight, at the forefront with my name, shine
and type person. I'm the type person. I can work. I can work
silently in the background and I'm happy either way.
00;37;56;03 - 00;38;42;19
Unknown
But to me, because of who Oracle is of the organization, what
they've done already knew about Larry Ellison and and just how they
were as a company. To me, that value was more than anything,
knowing that I will have the opportunity to work on innovative
technology to move forward, that can make changes and everything,
and just how people use their computer and how people with
disabilities use the computer, and how you research thing and how
just everybody, elderly people might use a computer or RC computers
and how we store that data and secure that data at a more global
scale, because not everybody is going to be on a a federal
system.
00;38;42;19 - 00;39;06;10
Unknown
So, okay, once we lock down, they're locked in. But what about
everybody else in the world? What about your kids and your
grandkids? You know, how are they being able to touch them? Because
I worked and done this presentation on something called Cyber Kids
before teaching kids about the security of the internet and the
pitfalls of the internet and how to stay safe, and how parents can
keep their kids safe online.
00;39;06;12 - 00;39;31;16
Unknown
So an organization like Oracle would let me do that more, and it
would also let me defend it against those bad actors. Like I had
when I was in U.S.. So I can kind of do the military thing without
of being military. That's amazing that because that it's hard to
say because I don't want to consume time on it here, because it
it's hard to believe that it's, you know, sometimes people will say
that they hear what you just said and they'll be like, okay.
00;39;31;18 - 00;39;56;02
Unknown
But the the depth of what the words are that you just talked about
to explain the purpose and and again, it's a biased perspective,
but, you know, the things that Oracle's involved in and how how far
and how deep these things contribute to the things that we take for
granted and simplicity of those things. I mean, you certainly
oversimplified it with the depth of all the complexities.
00;39;56;02 - 00;40;19;23
Unknown
You know, it's all of these bigger institutions. Yeah, but what
about these? And yeah, the folks that are easy to be lost in the
shuffle because it's, you know, not big money, not big opportunity,
whatever the reason is. And so you got to focus on these, these
other little areas that are very specific to how we operate as a,
as a global economic contributor to not only society, but things in
general, education and whatnot.
00;40;19;23 - 00;40;46;22
Unknown
So how excited of Shift gears, how excited are you with the the AI
project? Oh, I haven't worked on a much. I've looked into the
generative AI here I was on I got a free beat into it here. But
Oracle, I'm very excited to eventually put on another bigger
project that I'm working for our team right now for Oracle and I
what I see of what Oracle's doing is exciting, but every little
piece that Oracle is putting in place is a big picture.
00;40;46;22 - 00;41;04;10
Unknown
Plan is like the like I said, it's bytes from the elephant that all
stalk all strategically place and for everybody else is like I have
to be the first one and I'm gonna put it out. But you're putting
out a subpar product. It looks good. It's shiny, it works, you
know, for the most part, but it's missing some depth to it.
00;41;04;13 - 00;41;23;13
Unknown
And Oracle, that was again that kid in the background that paid
attention. And they're strategically placing their chips. So
foundationally they're going to be more set. They're going to have
more of the bases covered. And it's going to all feed into that big
picture of what Oracle has and what they want to move. And so the
future got it.
00;41;23;13 - 00;41;52;28
Unknown
So as we kind of segue and transition out now that we just talked
about that and having been here over three years, what are you
doing here at Oracle? I'm a principal security engineer with the
Threat Voluntarily Management team, where we deal with the
different threats and vulnerabilities that are out there using the,
cvss vulnerability listing and things that come out with our teams
and helping teams to make sure that their systems are secure and
within compliance.
00;41;52;28 - 00;42;17;13
Unknown
So that's where I'm working right now. Got it. And what are you
what are you interested in in the future? What do you have your
sights on since your ambition and all of your, aspirations have
clearly been indicated in this conversation? What's next? What are
you looking to do, either on the next project or in addition to
what you're what you're working on now, the next project or things
after this?
00;42;17;13 - 00;42;42;21
Unknown
I would like to do, I would like to get more into the I feel more
to involved in seeing how Oracle's generative AI functions and
getting some getting involved in that. That would be the next big
thing that I would like to delve into. Got it. So going back to the
pin, were earlier you were you were talking about one step at a
time and I'm just, paraphrasing.
00;42;42;21 - 00;43;06;05
Unknown
So when we transition and this is somewhat of a message to those
that are still serving or maybe got out recently, or maybe not even
recently, but they're, they're in a situation I wouldn't call them
stuck, but they're contemplating the next move. What do you
recommend is the kind of this the high level steps to follow to to
to help them just achieve what it is that they're trying to do.
00;43;06;07 - 00;43;30;04
Unknown
I think one of the biggest things that I've noticed that a lot of
military have in the transition, and it's hard because first of
all, the military is its own world. How you think about things and
how you, carry things out in the military is different than a
civilian sector. And I think a big part of transitioning is has to
be a mindset shift from military to civilian.
00;43;30;06 - 00;43;53;25
Unknown
And a lot I don't think enough of that is talked about because it's
a harsh you have to make, especially if you're a person in
leadership, your, NCO or officer, and you're used to giving orders.
Well, the civilian sector doesn't necessarily work in that way, and
you're very structured on rank structure. And the military, a lot
of times civilian sector doesn't work that way.
00;43;53;25 - 00;44;27;12
Unknown
You can be talking to SVP and you just might be a regular I.T
person and they'll talk to you there. There's more. Yeah, we have
this rank, but we're kind of flat. We respect that you are that SVP
but I'm still a person right. And a lot of it is the transition to
how honestly the civilian sector no longer sees the military, who
you are as a military person, and that is part of your identity as
a person is being sergeant such and such are major, such and such
in the in whatever service.
00;44;27;14 - 00;44;49;03
Unknown
That is who you are. That was your identity. Well, when you step
away from the military and you retire, you get out. You no longer
have that identity. That's not it's part of who you are personally.
But the world doesn't see that. You know, as long as you're in the
world of the Army or whatever military or service, they see that
because you wear it every day, you wear that rank every day.
00;44;49;06 - 00;45;12;18
Unknown
But the world doesn't see that. So it's not taken into account, you
know, so they don't see you as that person. They see you as
civilian Peter Smith, you know, or whoever. That's that's what they
see. So when your transitioning from the military to the civilian
sector, the mindset needs to be is how do I want the civilian
sector to see me?
00;45;12;20 - 00;45;47;20
Unknown
How am I going to present myself as a civilian? What skill do I
need to have in place while I'm transitioned, or do I need to work
on years in advance, whether it be certification, finishing my
degree, and all of that? What can I get? While I'm still in the
last 3 to 5 years to get completed so I can present myself the way
I want to be present in the civilian sector and kind of like have
those milestones in place when you know you're getting out, and
then if you don't have the luxury of doing it for planning out
there for years and you get out unexpectedly, then okay, what are
my next steps?
00;45;47;20 - 00;46;10;21
Unknown
What do I need to do to make myself competitive in whatever field
it is I want from a civilian perspective, not from what I did in
the military, but just as a sheer civilian. What are the things
that I need to do to project myself the correct way and to make
myself formidable in the marketplace? Just ask Plano Pat Smith, not
Sergeant Smith, you know.
00;46;10;24 - 00;46;39;22
Unknown
So that's that's the first step I would do and then go do those
things one step at a time. You don't have to you don't have to
defeat all this at once. One step at a time. Little things, making
sure that you have a good resume that's well-written. Make sure all
those classes or courses that you might have taken in the military,
if they convert over to knowledge in the civilian sector as a part
of a knowledge base, make sure you convert that over to civilian
knowledge, because that counts.
00;46;39;25 - 00;46;58;22
Unknown
And we don't think in the military, some of the stuff that we did,
we think is regular everyday stuff, and we take the classes,
whether it be computer classes, whether it be other engineering,
whatever, because it's just part of the job and dealing with the
equipment that we deal with. So we don't take it into
consideration. But that converts over to to a civilian course
somewhere.
00;46;58;25 - 00;47;15;24
Unknown
So take advantage of doing that. And the biggest thing is the
mindset. And then you don't have to do everything all at once in
the military use okay, get it done. Just make it happen. But you
can take time out on civilians like, okay, how do I need to go?
Where do I need to go? What steps do I need to take?
00;47;15;27 - 00;47;34;21
Unknown
Research those steps, research those things on whatever job it is
you need to do if you want to be a nurse. Okay. What nursing
school? Can I be an LPN first and just go to a technical college
for 18 months and get my LPN and then work towards getting my
degree so I can be a RA? Or can I go and be a CNA and do steps?
00;47;34;23 - 00;47;51;13
Unknown
You know what I mean? To, to kind of like not shake your life up as
much as, as much as possible to make a smooth transition. Put those
baby steps in there, whereas the Oregon is the ultimate goal. But
if you get out and you get a CNA position, you can still work
towards your LPN degree at night.
00;47;51;16 - 00;48;10;09
Unknown
Then you got your LPN and well, you can work for your R.N. license
and make it as steps instead of big projects. And I say that's not
a stressful dealing with the transition and ask questions. Research
stuff on the internet. Find people that you might know that are in
your field that are not in the military. Talk to them.
00;48;10;11 - 00;48;28;01
Unknown
Hear what they have to say. Listen to the things that they say,
okay, you need to have this, but reach out to people. Form a
network of people that are already in there that you might know,
because there might be other people, even in the military, there
might know of people that are transitioning out or have people that
they know in the civilian sector that can give you some pointers
and find a mentor.
00;48;28;04 - 00;48;54;22
Unknown
Find a mentor of somebody that's already transitioned out that can
help you through and take advantage of. Some of the VA does have
programs for transition. Take advantage of those things. I know it
might seem small, but every little bit of assistance in
transitioning that you can get the better. So take advantage of
those things because it'll it'll it'll it'll help change your
mindset and make the transition easier for you.
00;48;54;25 - 00;49;19;29
Unknown
That was amazing. Okay. And and I'm not I mean, you hit all of the
bigger items. The check check the not check boxes because it's
difficult identity. That's that's probably the first one. And this
is not for me. It's not debatable for some that maybe you don't
have yet realized it like you have. Identity is the number one
prevention from moving through the other things that you talked
about is deciding, remembering.
00;49;20;03 - 00;49;42;10
Unknown
You were you were somebody before you hit the rank or the command
or things like that. And that's what people will, will look at. So
I love this. So identity the mindset shift to understand identity,
skill development, networking relations, shipbuilding versus
networking. Networking is different. Very intentional very specific
thing which is fine. But relationship building is the other
thing.
00;49;42;10 - 00;50;08;12
Unknown
Yes. And that's probably the the distinction. And then of course
the planning of being able to once you identify all of these
different components, you plan for it work the plan and go.
Exactly. Yeah. Pat Smith, I love the way that you stated these
things in such a methodical way in order. It explains exactly the
path that you kind of walked us through.
00;50;08;14 - 00;50;36;03
Unknown
I enjoyed the conversation. I appreciate you making time. Any final
thoughts for anybody listening? Now I just want to say thank you
for having me on the podcast, Chris. I really appreciate it. Oh you
bet. And then thank you. I'm grateful that, we were able to
connect. I do love the way that Maven does their stuff internally
to where even for us, it introduces folks that right beneath our
nose, we have a lot of relationships that we still need to continue
making and creating connections.
00;50;36;03 - 00;50;49;16
Unknown
So, it's a pleasure to have met you and had this conversation.
Thank you so much. Thank you Chris, you have a great rest of your
day. You too tired at one? Keep moving forward.