In this episode, Tonya sits down with Zack Aleksic, Founder and CTO of Z7 Solutions, to explore the evolving battlefield of cybersecurity—and what it really means to lead when attackers are already inside the walls. With more than 30 years of experience designing mission-critical infrastructure for government, defense, and enterprise organizations, Zack brings a rare dual perspective: a former teenage hacker turned cybersecurity leader. From his early days exploring IRC servers and sys...

In this episode, Tonya sits down with Josh Einstein, Cloud Architect, Software Developer, and AI Engineer at ConRes IT Solutions. With over two decades of experience spanning the dot-com boom, telecommunications, and now artificial intelligence, Josh has built solutions for emerging technologies long before they hit the mainstream. Today, he helps organizations design and deploy the next generation of AI-powered systems—and he’s here to share how IT leaders can take the first real step toward...

In this episode, Tonya sits down with Justin Young—Chief Technology Officer at Commercial Tool Group. With more than 25 years in IT leadership, Justin has navigated both large enterprise environments and mid-size manufacturing—where the risks are just as big, but the resources are often much smaller. He’s built his career on one central belief: cyber resilience isn’t about the latest tools—it’s about people, process, and preparation. Together, Tonya and Justin dive into what “resilienc...

In this episode, Tonya sites down with Mike Lyles—Head of IT at Maxwell Leadership, keynote speaker, certified coach, and author of The Drive-Thru Is Not Always Faster. With more than 30 years of experience leading Fortune 50 IT teams, Mike has built organizations from the ground up and coached leaders across the globe. But what sets him apart isn’t just his credentials—it’s the way his people describe him: “the best boss I’ve ever had.” Together, Tonya and Mike unpack one of the most common ...

In this episode of Tonya sits down with leadership visionary Leslie Ann Keeler to explore what it means to lead in an era defined by rapid AI innovation and constant change. With nearly two decades of experience guiding founders, executives, and teams through complexity, Leslie blends neuroscience, psychology, and ancient wisdom to help leaders embody the qualities AI cannot replace: presence, emotional intelligence, trust, and human connection. Together, Tonya and Leslie dive deep into why t...

Is your IT budget quietly bleeding while you’re too busy putting out fires to notice? In this episode, Tonya welcomes back Leslie Bonsett of Global Consulting Group for a deep dive into IT cost optimization. If you’ve ever said, “We don’t have the budget for that,” this conversation will open your eyes to how much hidden spend is draining your resources. From runaway cloud costs to copper lines quietly ballooning into million-dollar invoices, Leslie reveals real-world examples of overspend th...

AI is moving faster than the infrastructure that powers it. While headlines focus on breakthrough models and business outcomes, CIOs and IT leaders are running into the real bottleneck: data centers, power capacity, and sourcing. In this episode, Tonya sits down with Joel St. Germain, founder of Global Consulting Group and CEO of DataCenters.com, the world’s largest marketplace connecting enterprises, hyperscalers, and investors to over 6,500 facilities worldwide. Tune in to hear: The hidden ...

In this powerful and candid conversation, host Tonya Turrell sits down with three trailblazing women from GCG — Lara Mayes, April Armijo, and Leslie Bonsett — to explore how female leaders are reshaping the future of tech. Together, they unpack the shifts happening in leadership today, why traditional models are breaking down, and how empathy, adaptability, and emotional intelligence are becoming essential leadership skills in the age of AI. From navigating male-dominated boardrooms in the ’9...

Want to know what automation strategies are actually working for real enterprise teams? Automation may be one of the most overused buzzwords in IT—but it’s also one of the most underutilized solutions. In this episode, we sit down with Chris Miller, CTO of Advizex, whose journey from building an ISP at 19 to leading enterprise automation strategy has given him rare, hands-on perspective on what actually works. If you're stuck in firefighting mode but want to build a system that scales and sus...

Is your IT leadership evolving fast enough to meet the demands of today’s human-first, AI-driven future? In this episode, Tonya sits down with Jason Frame, CIO of the Southern Nevada Health District, to talk about what it truly means to lead IT in a post-COVID, AI-driven world. Jason brings decades of experience and a radically human-centered approach to IT leadership. From rethinking how we define value in IT, to implementing psychological safety and building cross-functional trust, Jason sh...

Is your cloud bill out of control—despite doing “all the right things”? You’re not alone. In this episode of Tonya sits down with Martin Hauskrecht, Head of Engineering at Labyrinth Labs and curator of the TLDR DevOps newsletter, to unpack the cloud cost dilemma. With over 1.25 million readers, Martin is a trusted voice in the DevOps space, known for designing scalable cloud infrastructures and cutting through complexity with actionable insights. Together, they explore why cloud costs are sky...

Are your AI pilots technically successful—but still not going anywhere? You’re not alone. So what’s really holding back AI adoption in enterprise environments? In this episode of Between Fires and Futures, we sit down with AI transformation experts Danny Jones and Steve Grosso from Advizex to unpack one of the biggest challenges IT leaders are facing today: the AI buy-in gap. Spoiler—it’s not the technology. From stalled pilots to cross-functional resistance, this conversation is a masterclas...

Ever wonder why tech buying feels broken—and what could actually fix it? In this episode, host Tonya Turrell, founder and CEO of TechnologyMatch.com, pulls back the curtain on the legacy lead generation system that’s failing tech leaders—and shares the bold vision behind the company she built to change it. Tonya recounts her journey from tech sales and marketing to launching an agency just weeks before the global pandemic, and how her frustration with sales-driven models inspired her to reima...

In this premiere episode of Between Fires and Futures, host Tonya Turrell sits down with Dell Technologies’ Chief Technology Strategist, Allen Clingerman, to cut through the AI noise and get clear on what tech leaders actually need to know. With over 30 years of enterprise tech experience, Allen shares what’s really happening in the field—from major fires IT leaders are putting out daily to the critical infrastructure and mindset shifts required to lead through this next era of rapid AI adopt...