Two Truths & A Tall Tale: A Zebra Technologies Podcast

Episode 15 | The Black Belt is Where You Begin

In this episode, we feature Julie Krater, Senior Manager of Learning Services on the Global Services & Customer Success team, who is based out of our Lincolnshire office.

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"I started with Zebra a little over 3 years ago with Learning Services and recently was honored with the privilege of leading our Learning Services team.  I am excited to be leading a diverse team of dynamic and creative people as we grow our business to help support Zebra customers' learning and technology adoption needs. Outside of work I enjoy spending my time with my husband (Todd), 3 boys (Connor, Liam and Gavin), 2 dogs (Finn and Amber) and 2 birds (Neon and Tsuki). We all have a passion for nature hikes and enjoy trying out new area trails."  ​

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Music used in this episode: 

Spread a Little Sunshine, by Jonathan Boyle (Purchased on Premium Beat, license available)

Episode 14 | Small Steps to Make a Big Change

In this episode, we feature Brenda Soto, Project Manager, who is based in our Condesa office in Mexico City. 

 

"Hi! I am Brenda, I work at Zebra Mexico as a repair project manager. I live with my fluffy cat and I enjoy traveling. I like indie music and watching movies. In fact, during the pandemic, I set up an outdoor home cinema." 

 

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Music used in this episode: 

The Story of Life by Mark July (Purchased on Premium Beat, license available)

Episode 13 | A Donkey, A Band and a Homemade Couch

In this episode, we feature Paul Borovay, Senior Counsel for Trademarks, Copyrights and Advertising, based out of our Lincolnshire office in the U.S. 

"I am a native Californian who, after spending two years in Ecuador as a Peace Corps Volunteer and several years in the Midwest as an attorney, appreciates the finer things in life, which includes: weather (all types), music (I am currently in the loneliest band (i.e., it’s just me), writing (mostly legal stuff, but sometimes screenplays, too), and intellectual property law (it’s what I do, for Zebra, every day).”

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Music used in this episode: 

Take to the Moon by Smile Radio

Episode 12 | What have you done to make yourself happy today?

In this episode, we feature Pratheik Ajit, RF Engineer, Data Capture Solutions, who is based in Germantown, U.S.

"As an RF engineer at Zebra, I have the opportunity to gain insight into developing, testing and troubleshooting hardware for RFID solutions. Outside of work, I enjoy playing cricket and soccer during the weekend. I love going on hikes and getting lost into nature's lap. Of late, I have started to appreciate small things in life that I often used to take as granted and to keep evolving myself. It was an absolute pleasure to be a guest on this podcast and hope that this will be of help to someone."

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Music used in this episode:

Rebuild by Young Presidents (Purchased on Premium Beat, license available)

Corporate Ambient by Eternity Bro (Purchased on Premium Beat, license available)

 

Episode 11 | Uniquely Similar

To kick off season 2 of Two Truths & A Tall Tale, we feature Gbenga Olowoyeye, Manager of Software Engineering based out of our Holtsville office in New York.  

"I work in the Data Capture Solutions (DCS) Software Engineering team which builds our barcode scanning and RFID products and have been with Zebra for about 13 years now. I work as a project software lead engineer as well as a manager. It is very satisfying to be part of a team that develops products that are part of all of our everyday lives. I ran into my very first scanner project (the DS9808) the other day at Walgreens! When I'm not writing code or running projects, I enjoy watching movies (I miss the movie theaters!), watching TV (science/discovery/learning/history) or hanging out with my wife and 2 kids, Ife (2) and Ebun (4)."

 

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Music used in this episode:

Exploring the Outdoors by Jack PIerce (Purchased on Premium Beat, license available)

Episode 10 | A Magical Family Tradition

This month, we feature two special guests, Brian and Kate Courtois, who are based out of our Holtsville office in New York.  

 

More about Brian: “I have been with Zebra for nearly 23 years and have had a wonderful journey through Sales, Alliances, Solution Development and now Sales Enablement & Learning. I am honored to be leading our Global Enablement Center team which is filled with many creative people who dedicate their time to accelerate the adoption of Zebra’s technologies and solutions through the creation and demonstration of sales enablement and learning activities. As Kate mentions below, outside of work, I volunteer for the American Dance Theatre of Long Island supporting the growth of our young women and men and we love spending time together as a family whether it’s making pizzas in our outdoor pizza oven or rooting for Clemson​​ Football. Go Tigers!!”

 

​​​More about Kate: “I’ve been with Zebra for 27 years, and I’ve had amazing opportunities to have a variety of marketing roles in throughout my career here. I currently support Portfolio Marketing for our Printer and Scanner portfolios, which I love doing! Outside of work, I serve as the President of the American Dance Theater of Long Island, which is a local not-for-profit ballet company whose mission it is to give the youth of our community the opportunity to dance in a professional environment, and to use their abilities in dance to give back to the community. Besides that, I love spending time with Brian and our daughters Meghan, who lives in Philadelphia and Olivia, who attends Clemson University in South Carolina; we enjoy traveling to spend time with them (when we’re not in a pandemic, of course!).”

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Music used in this episode:

Tchaikovsky - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (From the Nutcracker Suite) by Leo Symphony Orchestra (Purchased on Premium Beat, license available)

Episode 9 | I'm Not Alone in this World

This month, we feature Veta Yan, an HR Business Partner based out of our Shanghai office. 

"I started at Zebra in November of 2018 in the HR function. Meeting, communicating and working with different people are my biggest passions. During these two years, so much has changed and I've had the chance to see the agility of the Zebra Nation. These changes have only made the company grow stronger, making it an attractive employer in the market. This is the company I am always willing to grow with. Outside of work, I like swimming a​nd watching horror movies alone in the middle of night 😉"

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Music used in this episode:

Cooks in the Kitchen by Flash Fluharty (Purchased on Premium Beat, license available)

Episode 8 | My Coming Out Story

This episode was recorded in honor of National Coming Out Day, which is celebrated on October 11 of each year. This month, we feature Alex Holdsworth, Regional Product Manager for Enterprise Mobile Computing and Industrial Printers.

"I am based at the Bourne End office in the UK and have been at Zebra for 2 years now. I originally joined as an intern back in 2018 as a Regional Product Management Assistant before returning to Newcastle University to finish my Computer Science degree. I loved my time at Zebra so much I decided to come back as a graduate in 2019 as a Regional Product Manager. My day job now involves managing vehicle computers and industrial printers and doing what I can to drive the product lines. 

I am currently one of the Bourne End Chapter leads for ZEAL, Zebra's LGBTQ+ inclusion network, and I was recently appointed as the ZEAL Communications lead.

Outside of work, I am a huge sports fan and I recently joined my local LGBTQ+ Rugby team! I enjoy spending my free time creating YouTube videos for my gaming channel or watching RuPaul's Drag Race (my guilty pleasure)! "

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Music used in this episode:

You Are Golden by Young Presidents (Purchased on Premium Beats, license available)

Episode 7 | It's All About the People

​This month, we feature John Bender, Inside Channel Account Manager, who works in a small, rural town in Illinois.      

"I have a diverse background in athletics, ranging from playing baseball, football, basketball, wrestling, and hockey. I am a CAM here with Zebra, and I have one of the best jobs in the world. I speak to business owners and discover ways to help them improve their value to their customers, and look for new ways to develop growth strategies with Zebra. I am excited to share my story with #ZebraNation and I hope it inspires someone to be their best!"

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Music used in this episode:

 

Green Lights by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive)

Episode 6 | How a Cheesy Discovery Led to a Future Career

​This month, we feature Adam Imran, Software Developer Data Analytics Graduate Intern.

"I am based out of the Germantown Maryland location focusing this summer on Zebra’s NFL partnership and creating tools to visualize in-game play data. As a University of Wisconsin-Madison alum, I am no stranger to the Midwest – Go Badgers! I am now a rising second year master’s student studying Data Science at Georgetown University in Washington DC, not far away from my hometown of McLean, Virginia. When I am not working or in class I am either re-watching "Fast & Furious" movies, listening to progressive house EDM music, playing the guitar, or hanging out with my cat GiGi."

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Music used in this episode:

A Little Bit of Rhythm, by Jonathan Boyle (Purchased on PremiumBeat.com, license available)

Buona Sera, by Adieu Adieu (Purchased on PremiumBeat.com, license available)