 Hey everybody, this is Christian Buckley doing another MVP buzz chat and I'm talking to you with Allison. Hello. Hi Christian, thank you for having me here. So folks that don't know who you are, where you are and what you do, why don't you give us that logo? Okay, well, I live in Brazil. I actually have worked with Microsoft technology since 1997 got my first application was in NT in 99. I had the opportunity and pleasure to live in Africa for five years I worked there for five years. And then I came back. I worked for the partners there and for Microsoft for MCS and for Israeli company as well. So I love to actually I love Microsoft technology. I love to work with migration services exchange, online security, male security. So this is my field. Are you independent right now or do you work like for a number of kind of long term clients? Yeah, I'm independent. I have, I have contracts with partners in in Brazil and some other countries as well. So, yeah, that's it. I'm helping them. Actually, they are building their strategies with Microsoft, and I'm helping also them to get technicians to get proficient in Microsoft technology. Mostly infrastructure and 365. Well, I imagine your adventure over in Africa and where were you in Africa? You all over the place. Are you focused in one or two areas or? I've been mostly in Angola, right after the civil war in 2004. Yeah. Mozambique. It's an amazing beautiful Mozambique Cape Verde as well. Namibia and South Africa. I've been to South Africa so many times, but I love it over there. I'd love to be able to explore more of it. Well, that's interesting. So those like largely infrastructure projects then kind of building stuff out, getting them ramped up for the modern era. Yeah. Yeah. Back in that time. There was there was some right after the the warrior know they are rebuilding the country. So there was a lot of opportunities for many, many companies around the world to go there and rebuild also it and was working there for the oil company for telecommunications for the government itself, you know, to interconnect everything. So it was really, really nice. It's really nice when when we are doing something that you like and you see the impact also in the people lives, you know, so it's not only about going dead and and and make money. Of course, it was not working for free. You know, I didn't leave my country to work for free there. But I could see the impact on people lives you know when you see that the surface is working better for the population. This is something that it's really nice. And I could also spend my my time working for not working but how can I say I gave speeches for the universities and that kind of stuff, you know, so to use my time also to be more integrated with the local community there. It was really, really nice time. I love the place. Yeah, they are very beautiful sites there. Yeah, I did a tour with a group of friends we did kind of a Microsoft 365 red bus tour and we started we went to flew over to Durban but we drove from Johannesburg down to the coast and all the way down to Cape Town and just realized you know how beautiful that part of the world is just it was an incredible experience to go and do and I I have friends that did events and of course in the SharePoint community the SharePoint Saturday event phenomenon for years of going and doing small, you know regional events to these communities all over the African continent were incredible but I I've got a lot of friends I know MVPs that have, you know, based out of South Africa, but also up in Jordan and Egypt and UAE that that you go and do other events and work with communities in Africa as well. There's a lot going on. It's just not to spend too much time on just on the Africa topic but it's, you know, to be there to see with some of that that infrastructure setup. It's one of the areas that is so much has moved to mobile development, and it's just explosive growth and in app development and mobile development that's happening in those parts of the world because it's easier with all the landlines all the way around here. They go set up towers and they're doing everything via they can grow faster. Right. Yeah. Yeah, that's it. When I was there was amazing because they got everything new you know. For example, with your going to the to the customs, for example, they they had a brand brand servers brand appliances, they were building from from over 20 years of war. So there's a lot of things to rebuild that and there was there was also some challenges. For example, they had a problem with the communication. They had 64 K, not even one one megabyte or one mega mega bit 64 K, you know, for the banking communication. Yeah. And it had to set up active directory and domain controllers. We didn't have much opportunity for consolidation in that time. You see, so it was very, very, very challenging. But I believe that now they have they have improved a lot. I believe so. I know there are more communication companies, you know, there are fiber optics and mobile mobile services really made a difference, especially in those countries that needed to a quick development. So, well it's interesting that space to around that same time in the early 2000s, I was working for a tech company where we were building these edge services and had actually devices because we same thing we were working mostly around Asia Pacific but a lot of these manufacturing facilities in Malaysia and the Philippines and other countries that, you know, there there was a like a shared, you know, 128 K line. So they actually literally just unplug from one computer and go, Oh, you need to update your email and plug it into their computer. I did that shared line. And so but we'd have to build solutions where we had these broadband, these, these thick connections, but we'd have to communicate with these, these partners that were in these disparate parts of the world. And so we'd have to build our solutions really streamline the communications and send essential information, you know, and automate, you know, in between systems back and forth but we did it and you know these these near real time automated solutions across these very limited connections. Yeah, I can say I miss that part of the technology in time you know I really don't miss it. I love fiber uptake saying good technology. I can say that but but but it was nice to to live in that time and to, and to do something for the countries. It was a very, very good time and I was also in the from 20s to 30s you know. Yeah, yeah, what's was a good time. That's fun. Well, so you've been in the community you've been doing the tech for a long time you've been in the Microsoft ecosystem for a long time. And yet you just got your, you're a Microsoft 365 apps and services MVP. So, what was your path to becoming MVP. Well, I can tell you that I, I, I miss it a lot of time. How can I say, I, I wasn't very comfortable, I'm still not very comfortable using the internet, you know, YouTube and Instagram and that kind of stuff. So, I can say that I, I miss it a lot of time I should have started earlier you know I could be helping other people more people, if I had started earlier, I was working as a trainer and training years, MCT. Yeah, 23 and leave MCT and I like to, to give the trainings. But I had some kind of resistance with the internet you know so to my, how can I say to the to the MVP. I believe that the first step is to, is to really work. Doing what you want to do best, you know and showing and helping the people showing them how they can overcome situations on a daily basis. So, I have a, I have a for let's say, five years, five or four years ago. There was an event in the city where I'm living. And there was a guy promoting it. He was an MVP. And I just said listen I have two speeches to presentations that I have working with ransomware. One of them was ransomware. The other one I don't remember right now. And I told him do you need any help? May I help you? Do you need anyone to go there? And he said yeah of course. So that was my first contact with someone from the committee, from the MVP community. I just approached him and said listen I'm here if you need help, I'm here to help. And that's how it started regarding the MVP, right? So, three years ago there was also an event MVP conference in Brazil. Actually it's not at all, it doesn't work actually in Brazil. It started in Brazil, but now it's working. It's happening over the internet. So we have also guests from other parts of the world, not only Brazilians. And he also asked me to give a presentation regarding security. So I did it. And then I started doing my YouTube channel and working on my YouTube channel. I really crossed that line, you know. As you can see I'm still not really comfortable. But we have to start. So as long as we start you go and you get better. See. That's one of the, I think you've just nailed that there's a really difficult thing for you. One of the common things that I hear from MVPs is that even without the MVP, I'd be doing the same stuff. I'd be doing, you know, helping with the community. I'd be involved with my user group and creating the content and doing the other things. A lot of us have a difficult time. It was, some people look at me and it's like some of the stuff that I do out there be like it's really easy. Christian for him to go and do kind of self promotion of these different things. I had to learn that skill. It took a while. I had managers at past jobs who were like, you need to do a better job of letting people know of the good work that you're doing. I'm like, I don't care. I'm just going to let me do my job. I just want to do my job and do it well. And, you know, why do I need to go and sell people on the fact that I'm doing my, I see I'm doing my theater show hands, you know. Why do I need to sell people on that? But you need to do that. You need to catch the attention if your intent is to become an MVP. You have to get the attention of Microsoft and others within the community, but you need to do it in a way that you're not. I know what the right way to phrase it is. So, you know, narcissistic. Yeah, yeah, I wasn't I wasn't actually expecting to get nominated. I didn't ask for it. I'm a member of the community. Recognize the work and he said, well, I would like to join you. You would you like it, of course. And I believe that the MVP is something that will will help you to do. How can I say to achieve more when we are in a bigger community. You see, so if you were, if you're not interested on helping others and helping people and promoting security solutions, if you're not passionate about it, I don't think I don't believe it's going to work now. So I didn't I didn't work expecting the MVP award. I went when actually I was so happy when I got nominated that I didn't believe like, well, I don't I don't know if this will happen. So I stopped thinking about it. And then the word I got there may with their word, you know, I saw I was a totally flabbergasted and was very, very happy with it. But I believe it's something that we have to start doing not thinking about the MVP when I was 10 years ago in Africa was giving speeches for free in the universities, you know, I was after the work. There was some trainees, very young young guys from their university in Angola and they were they were working with me. And not directly with me, but they were there. And I was hoping to teach them and to have a conversation with them, you know, and to learn from them as well because we I know that sounds cliche, but it's not every time we were talking to someone about anything, or especially in technology, we all you always learn something, you know, from their point of view from from their needs from the situation that the guy leaves or he is working, you know, and the needs that they have. And I wasn't a different culture, a different country was a it was a great opportunity for me, you know, to work if OMG is nonprofit as well. So it's something that I have done, even if my with my local community, I mean, I believe this is the spirit, you know, we need to start doing something to help others. And when the pandemic arrived, then I couldn't do it. I love it to do some mentoring as well. You know, to have people that want to to follow the path in Microsoft certification path, or to get a better, a better career or a better job. It was something that I was doing and doing for free, you know. So if you go to the internet, you can use the internet. You can maximize this. So when the pandemic arrived, I started to recording on YouTube, I still have a very, I don't have too many subscribers in my channel yet. And I don't think it to be a lot of subscribers because what we we talk, it's, it's very, how can I say, it's a niche, you know, we we're not talking. Right, we're not talking to something that is funny or I always say it's kind of a joke I always say this like you know hey look, it doesn't I don't care if I get your thousands of views on a video and I've had videos that have done very well that way but majority of them have, you know, dozens of videos on them. And I say but yeah but if I could help one person, you know, it makes it work out you know, then you know what I have stopped it. For a moment I stopped it with the recordings. I started very, I believe five videos and something. And one guy wrote something for me that changed everything he said don't stop recording. I'm missing you help me a lot. And then I realized that well, since I'm having that guy helping that guy and I'm probably helping others that are not writing anything. And I said well if you're doing something. I mean, if you're not doing something that you could do to help others you were not doing really well you know you should, you should start doing something to help others. This is the real motive that I have started to do. You see, you have to separate a time I was doing it overnight. Or over the weekends, you see, but it was really, really nice to get the feedback from people. This is the fuel that we all need you know when when we see the results and other people lives and they saying well this is helping me thank you so much, or sometimes they don't say anything you know especially when we are starting we just, they just hit the like button it's already fine you know so I didn't was expecting the MVP was something even really really surprised for me. Yeah, well it's it's, as I said I mean, the vast majority of MVPs we all have the same answer like we would, you know where there's other reasons why we're doing it it's not about the getting the award this it's nice to get. But you know, we each, we keep doing the things that we're doing, regardless of the award. It's, it's part of us and so much of it is like, I did the same thing I, you know, for me, it was, you know, inside of a job, this is in the mid 90s. I was handed the task of onboarding and training users on several new technology platforms that I had to go and develop some level of expertise I was by no means an expert on those things but I was here I was standing in front of a classroom, training people on it so I knew the fundamentals of that, and as questions they would ask and these, these were like week long trainings that I was leading, and given the materials like here here's what to walk them through and to go and do. But they'd asked questions that I would on during the breaks or on the evenings go and search for the answers to questions that I couldn't answer and I was found myself learning, and I started to really enjoy that in the feedback was fantastic and I. And so as I, it's interesting as I my career progressed and this was that was not in the Microsoft ecosystem in the mid 90s. And, and I started to write more and more content and I used to look at like questions that people would ask I'm like, I don't know I'm going to go find that out, and that turned into a blog post that turned into another article. And the, you know the last 15 years that turned into a short video that I would go and create. And, and so I just enjoyed doing that answering the question for myself, helping that one person and then other people, you know found use out of that. I, you know, similar thing where people, a lot of MVPs experience this where I'd been speaking at events for years, and somebody's just like well how long have you had your MVP Christian I'm like, I'm not an MVP. They're like, you're not. And he submitted my name that weekend. So, yeah, I mean that that's the kind of thing where, you know, it's, it's not about the glory of becoming an MVP. I mean, there's definitely hurts to be an MVP but yeah it's, but I think the story is pretty consistent with folks. Yeah, I believe that MVP is not an end, you know, right people people see as a current nation and and and now it's not an end actually. It's just exponential. So you are now part of a family and and you're just going to help you to to how can I say to expand what you're doing to others see others you see and you. For example, we are talking right. So you saw probably you'll see you get notified I don't know how did you know, but it's a well there is another MVP here let me chat with this guy and see. So, this is something that you can increase the network. You see, and besides also help helping others. I really like Microsoft technology. So I really like to promote Microsoft technology. I see business shutting down because of ransomware attacks, you know, in the country that I live. It's happening. Also in US it's happening in in Portugal it's happening everywhere. So if you can, if you're passionate about it, as I am and you can do something and posted on the internet listen with there is this solution that every Microsoft 365 has, and you can apply these and these and these will might prevent you from getting it. You know, we're talking about the jobs know the people that did some guy that's working on a shop and he's not going to work for the entire week because there was a ransomware attack. See, so I, I, I am passionate at this point, you know, not only. Of course, it happens, you know, as a result of the work that you're doing. But the, the main results that I see it's in like, it really makes me a tribe is to see that where we are training where teaching you know and and those events that we are doing, I help in the community. Yeah. Well that's that's the exact same reason that I do it so well listen I really appreciate your your your time getting to know you and hopefully we'll get to meet you in person at one of the MVP summits if they ever happen in person again. Hopefully it happens next year but we'll really appreciate folks that want to learn more about you get to you to reach out connect with you. What are the best ways to reach you. Instagram at araujo dot t tech T E C H Araujo is a AR a U J O my YouTube channel as well as it's it's in Portuguese actually so if you want to send a direct message you better send to Instagram, or also LinkedIn. I don't usually slash in slash, I don't usually tech T C H and see in my email address, I don't usually add a little tech. And of course, I'll have all the links out on YouTube and on the blog post as well so well thank you. Great to meet you and let's keep in touch. All the best. Thank you.