Cybertech Yourself NPower: Interview with NPower graduate Joshua Murphy & Program Director Demetrius Goodwin

This episode is brought to you by act now education, go to www dot act now education comm for a free comprehensive educational resources and opportunities for active duty veterans, military spouses and children.

I was working in particularly hard job at one point in time it was freezing cold, you know, it was like 17 degrees below zero, we had to have everything running in order to you know, if we shut it off, it would, it would freeze. You know, I remember working in that situation, and we were making jokes about pursuing an education looking like a good idea at the time. And I think it was a month later I was in my first semester of college, you know, studying to try to make myself better. So it was an immediate turnaround to, uh, yeah, I was making money, I was able to support myself, but long term that wasn't going to be a viable option.

Thank you for joining us today. We're very fortunate to have two army veterans on the show here to talk about a program that prepares you for tomorrow's job market with technological occupations, which will open doors to a lifelong career because as you know, our high speed age of internet and security isn't going away anytime soon. The program is called n power. And they have established themselves as a frontline leader in providing military veterans and underserved communities. A great opportunity for up and coming professionals looking for that window of opportunity to open up. I'd like to welcome program director of empower, Demetrius Goodwin, and recent program graduate Joshua Murphy to the morning formation. Thank you both for joining me. Thanks, KP. Thanks for having us. Absolutely. The honor is all mine. And I really appreciate you giving me the chance in the in the the time today. I know you guys are super busy. You got a lot of stuff going on, especially in this beautiful summer that we're having. And my first question is to you, Demetrius, just for context, I want to start off to ask you about and power, would you mind briefly explaining to our audience what empower is all about?

Yeah, so basically, you know, we have a mission to connect young adults, and also veterans and their spouses to know certification based training, and then also internships as apprenticeships and job placement opportunities. So we've had that mission, you know, for about 20 years now, a little over 20 years now. And yeah, that's basically one of our tag lines, I

was gonna say just lunching helping to launch digital careers. That's great. And definitely over the horizon digital digital careers, is something that's going to continue to grow and grow. And so I want to congratulate Josh for being a recent program graduate of inpower. And since we're talking about you, Josh, I'd like to hear more about you as an individual, because you are successful in power graduate, would you mind telling us where you're originally from?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. So I grew up in a small town near Pittsburgh. So Southwest Pennsylvania, you know, now I live down here in Baltimore, and pursuing it related career for for a bit now. And that's why I moved across, you know, the East Coast there a little bit. So originally from a small town, and, you know, kind of grew up real grassroots,

right on, I understand that growing up, education was not at the forefront of your upbringing, and you dropped out of high school, can you tell us that? what age did you decide to drop out of high school?

So it was really a kind of an organic decision, because work was just more important at the time, I think, for me, so I started working in small businesses that my family owned and things like that. And so, you know, going to work and making money, it was kind of more of a priority than going to school at the time.

Yeah, I understand that. 18 years old, you decided to get your GED? How difficult was that for you? And why did you decide to take education more seriously,

my earlier thoughts that it was important to start making money and, you know, prioritizing that over everything else. I was working very hard. And that was kind of like everyone around me that was, was like their ticket to make it and be successful in life. Let's just go to work Work hard. And so I was working these really long days and everything like that, and, you know, 50 6070 hours a week, and it was true, I was making money, and I was able to support myself, but I wasn't moving ahead. You know, I wasn't there wasn't a path for me that was was gonna make any of this better. So I was working in particularly hard job at one point in time, it was freezing cold, you know, it was like 17 degrees below zero. We had to have everything running in order to you know, if we shut it off, it would it would freeze. So, you know, I remember working in that situation, and we were making jokes about pursuing an education looking like a good idea at the time. And I think it was a month later, I was in my first semester at college, you know, studying to try to make myself better. So it was an immediate turnaround to you know, yeah, I was making money. I was able to support myself but long term that wasn't going to be a viable option.

How many siblings do you have and how would you describe The town that you were in. I mean, I know a lot of small towns have a lot of setbacks as far as things like drugs and simple job opportunities. Would you describe that a little bit. So

yeah, growing up in that in a small town, there's a lot of perks that come along with it. You know, I miss home at Sora, what I always will think of when I think of home, but there really isn't much in the way of opportunity. It's really whatever's in the area. And, you know, I see that all over the place. And when a small town you really had like your pick of a couple factories, or a couple stores, you know, to work at in town, and the industry was really, you know, it didn't have a lot of opportunity to kind of branch out, you kind of got stuck. And, you know, this is what your father did. This is what your grandfather did. This is the industry that's around here. So that was difficult. And yeah, so I'm not a member of a big family, I have a dozen or so brothers and sisters. So it's a little chaotic around the house, you know, running around whenever I visit family and everything like that, but and in our small area, definitely, in 2008 2009 time, which is right around when I joined the army, my town did suffer from the opioid pandemic was hitting around the outside edges of the area that I was growing up. And I saw that in a real way with people that I knew and was close to and everything like that. So it was it was important from early on to prioritize how you were going to play in your life.

So after you get your GED decided to start looking at an opportunity with the military. Why did you choose the Army National Guard and the MLS that you ended up signing up with

going to the guard? To me, it made a lot of sense. Number one, like I said, I was trying to pursue a career and I was trying to get educated and go through college, and the National Guard has always advertised that they're friendly, and in support of you know, that pursuit. So I thought it was a no brainer, because when I arrived to college, it became very evident to me that I didn't know what direction I was headed. And that that was a leading theme until I figured it out later in life. But, you know, it made sense to me to go join the National Guard, and be able to pay my own way through school. So that made sense. And then really, finding a sense of purpose going to the military was important to me, because I was I was seeking for a sense of purpose. And I found that there so not developed some pretty good relationships and skills out of it.

Yeah. And so when you came back from basic and your advanced individual training, I understand that translating those skills to the civilian job market was rather challenging. Can you talk to us about what happened and some of your experiences?

Yeah. So when I went away, for training, it was for line of sight, and satellite communications. So it was it's a great field, I absolutely love it, I'm very passionate about it. You know, I bring up websites and look at things like satellites and information regarding them and everything. But when you try to translate into the civilian career, especially around the area that I was in for a long time, you know, it's it's very difficult to kind of match what I studied in the military and what I did for a long time, into, you know, a civilian career. So, on the one hand, on the military side, it was very beneficial to me, because I figured out how to study complex things. And, you know, I learned valuable skills like that, and, and working with a team and everything, but it didn't translate, you know, directly in math to a job, so to say.

Yeah, a lot of folks do have that, that issue with transitioning and translating those skills. And so at what point? And how did you join the empower program? How did you find out about it? And and when did you decide to join?

So I was coming up on the end of my second contract with the National Guard. And I started, I was working full time for the God for a hot minute. And when I was trying to translate my skills and go into the civilian market, you know, and establish my career outside of the military. A member of the empower team actually contacted me on indeed, actually, and they explained that this path that I was on, because I, there's a very clear path to get in the information technology, and it's picking up certifications on the way and it's very, it's very well laid out. It's very organic in its process. And we know we talked over that that's what I was trying to accomplish so that I could prove that I had, you know, a good skill set coming into the civilian job market, and that's what empower was supporting. I signed up for an information technology program through them and I It was it was like a godsend because it was really what I was looking for. And through them, helping me and provide me with resources, I got my information technology, fundamental certification, I got my A plus certification, I got my google it support certification. So there was a number of things that I was already on my pathway to get. And, you know, they found me on the way and helped me accomplish that.

It's amazing. So they helped you along the way. And then you also saw some results as far as getting certifications that you were seeking. Can you explain to me just from your perspective, someone who is in your shoes? How do you motivate them to? And how do you get them to see the importance of education? How would you try to entice someone to prioritize education such as you have, if you or someone in your situation?

So for me, it makes sense to try to develop yourself, it really does. And it makes sense to start moving in a direction, the both of those things make sense to me. So if you were in my shoes, and I see this on a frequent basis with soldiers that I work with in the field, what I would say to them, and what I would say to you, is something like the empower program that that helps provide resources, and gives you an opportunity to develop your talent into a skill, especially one like information technology that's not going away, it's only going to increase. Everything has a computer chip. And And nowadays, it's it's a no brainer, really, as far as investing the time to try it out. Because in the very beginning, the first certification is, Hey, is this right for you. And so you'll you'll find out as you're going along the way whether or not you want to push more energy to this, but if you're coming outside of the military, and you have experienced that you're trying to translate, studying it and getting your certifications is an immediate way to show that you're marketable. And pursuing a career so much easy, easier. And then there's so many branches that you can go off so many different ways that you can build a career, starting out with certifications in it. And then there's so many positions that that need people so that there's such a demand for these positions. So it's it's really common sense. And as far as motivation to, to try to push yourself through and study for these certifications and everything like that. It is a lot of hard work. But when you're working on developing your talent into scale, you're moving forward. And it's so much easier to change direction, whenever you're already moving. So a lot of people get stuck, trying to contemplate what's the best route to take, how to get ahead and today's economy and in today's world. And really, I would say just get started. And you know, study something that is going to have an immediate impact on your life. No matter what career field, you are Information Technology going to do that for you. So there's so many advantages to it and just to get started.

Yeah, you your story, you're you're truly a man of resiliency, overcoming many obstacles throughout your life. Can you explain a little bit about the mentors, I, you know, I like to I like to break it down in stages. You know, for me, I had mentors when I was in high school when I was younger, and then I had mentors when I was in college. And then I have mentors now that I that I work with, so for you, what mentors helped you along the way?

So along the way, I had a knack for finding good people. And I got really lucky. And I was really blessed for that. And so I've learned a lot from a lot of people from a lot of backgrounds. And one of the things that is most common in my life is I seek people out, that means to do well and lack the ability, even though they're aware that they have the ability that you know, to do things that intentionally harm people. I'm all about building people up. So I have a huge support group in my life. I have my godfather, who pretty much took me in and adopted me when I was younger. I learned a lot from him. You know, and along the way, a ton of people in the military. And, you know, now I'm pumped up by kids that are a lot younger than me. And I kind of I kind of see them as a role model in a way because when they're going in there trying to figure out their life reminds me of being in that stage and trying to figure it all out. So a lot of them are doing really great. And the support group was was enpower specifically kind of makes me think of that, because immediately we built a peer support group and we started talking And my computer just went off 50 times since I was talking to you with them, you know, chatting in the background and supporting each other. So, you know, things like that kind of motivate me.

Yeah, and the reason I mentioned that is because coming from, you know, a challenging background, sometimes people tend to focus on the negativity like the negative folks. And so it's important to highlight and pay attention to the folks that are, I guess of inspiration, folks who can help level you up folks that can, you know, believe in you. And so that's, that's why I asked that question is really important. And since we're pivoting towards end power, being your your current motivation and inspiration, I'd like to talk to program director Demetrius Goodwin, and get more details on n power. Demetrius, would you mind telling us a little more about the program when it started and where it's at today?

Sure. So we actually started depending on how you talk to I'll say 9999, or 2000. And, you know, started, started down in New York, and then kind of spread out. So now, we have a total of 10 locations, including a sister site in Toronto, Canada. So the locations here are mistakes, of course, we're here in Baltimore, we have a site in San Jose, a site in Dallas, Texas, also Newark, New Jersey, Jersey City, Brooklyn, and Harlem, and then also Detroit in St. Louis. And we're so looking to open up a site in LA, and potentially, you know, other future sites and power sites to come. Um, you know, we started, like I say, with one small class, and it But even before that, we actually kind of a, a nonprofit that helps other nonprofits with their IT support, but then it evolved into what you kind of see the day where we're training, you know, I don't know of was toward now over 5000 people in it, since the inception, with a goal to do 15. By 2023,

it's awesome. From your website, I see that around 80% of your enrollees not only graduate, but they successfully find employment following graduation from empower, what would you say is the main factor for the program's overall success?

Oh, man, um, I also a number of things. One, we try our best to recruit individuals coming in, that we think can be successful in the program. Another thing we do is we try to provide some wraparound supports outside of just, you know, the actual tech training. So we have social support managers that work with students and refer them out to resources, they need them. For various things, it could be something as simple as, you know, someone may need a bus pass just to get to class, and or up to, you know, if students are dealing with mental health challenges or family issues, so getting them someone to talk to about those things. And then also, we try to make it you know, a family affair as fun as possible, to, you know, while students are in class, and then on the back end, we do have a team that works with, you know, placement, and internships, and they have a number of behind, or metric behind their success. So it's not just about the training and Okay, that's that there's a team that has to have a, you know, they have a number they have to meet, as far as students that are placing employment and internships.

What is your motivation behind getting folks to level themselves up when they're in less than desirable situations? career wise?

Yes. So my motivation is, I mean, life is personal, you know, personal background, believe it or not, if you talk to me and Josh, I'm sure there's some similarity. I came from a small town as well. Um, you know, and kind of knew that I wanted to do something more. And but along the way, it wasn't a straight line, it was kind of some backtracking. But saying all that, you know, I identify with a lot of the people that we do work with students coming in, and I just want them to say, hey, like you said, this is a pathway, a career pathway, it's not going anywhere. It's a need for it. You know, just like, you know, back, let's say 6070 years ago, that was plumbers, electricians, carpenters, masons. Now you need networking guys. You need your cyber guys and girls. You need your, your coders. So this is kind of the new blue collar. I, in my opinion, going forward. So just knowing that and even working here locally in Baltimore, seeing some of the challenges within Baltimore city itself and in the surrounding area, you get motivated Hey, you got to get connected to this. This is a way forward for you.

And so for I'm sure you don't with folks who are kind of on the fence on whether or not they should join this program, what are some of the things that you tell them to help guide them into signing up for such a program and believing in themselves? Yeah,

I'm a number thing. It's like, like someone like Josh, right? You kind of knew, do what he wants to do going forward. And just kind of saying, This is how we can help you and your situation, you want to be connected to the certs. To provide you a launching pad, we can help you with that. It may be a case where there's a young man or young lady who's not a vet, you know, someone 21 years old, left the parents house, not disparaging the company, they work in that some warehouse, or whatever they're doing. And they're kind of going about their life, but he said, Hey, no, there's something better. And you tried to do it this way, you're like, fed up with it, there's a reason why you either applied, and or came to notice. So let's talk about, you know, what that's gonna look like for you, for the neck in the next 10 years, and not just getting them kind of look to look outside of the short term. But sometimes, you also get, they get so caught up in, you know, I have to make rent, or I have to do this, whatever. And that's great. We want you to think that way. But let's start thinking about 10 years from now to thinking about, not just you, you know, we're gonna have a family, you know, have a career, get them, get them in that mindset to think long term, and just not be on the next paycheck.

And I understand you guys have a graduation ceremony coming up, how many graduates are going to be part of that? What what other opportunities are coming over the horizon?

Yeah, so graduation, like he says, The 28th, this Wednesday at 6pm. Eastern time. And here locally, in Baltimore, we have 65 graduates nationally, and I wish I don't know the exact number, I'm going to say around 300. But I could be wrong on that number. I'm graduating nationally. So I think this would be our largest group yet. And we continue to grow, to grow in numbers, like I said, pushing toward that 15,000. As far as future opportunities, we have another class a cohort starting August 16. For You know, that's, of course, that spouses and young adults 18 and 25. And we're looking to do again is, you know, start them off. Like Josh said, we're focusing on the come to your ITF gay plus, and Google IT support certificate. We also and another thing I wanted to mention to outside of our tech fundamentals class, we also have advanced placement training or advanced program training, where we train students in cyber, so moving toward the security plus, with some Linux with that. And then also, we have an advanced course centered around cloud with AWS. And that's open to all empower alumni, as well.

Nice. So the education continues, even once you've graduated.

Exactly, exactly. We held those classes, you know, every year, we have an advanced placement team that works with them. They are also work with them only the placement side after they complete their advanced training as well.

So with that being said, if anyone's interested in contacting you, Demetrius. What social platforms or what's your email address where they can contact you?

Yeah, I'm on LinkedIn. If you look up, Demetrius Goodwin, you can find me there on LinkedIn. You also can email me first name, that last name, so Demetrius Goodwin, at empower the letter in POW er, er, that orgy. And if you want to listen, I don't have problem people call him my cell number 443-863-7252. That's my office number, my cell 77085668224. Call me if you have questions. I'll just talk about empower, figure out if it's for you or not. I'm more than happy to answer any questions.

Yeah, and I'll put all those in the show notes as well. So folks interested in contacting Demetrius, you can find those in the show notes, his contact information. And Joshua just wanted to ask you as well. If anyone's interested in reaching out to you to hear your story or to get your feedback or to get your advice on joining in power? Where can they reach you? definitely reach out to me and LinkedIn,

I'm on it. 24 seven, so you know, drop me a message. Send me a link Yeah, I'm more than happy to help out as many people as reached out to me because enpower is a really good program. I believe in it. I think it's a good expenditure of time and everything like that. So I'd love to see people get involved with and help them out in any way I can.

And Josh, do you have anything last to say to our listeners out there anything of motivation, anything of you know, two final things to summarize and final things out?

Yeah, really. if if if you're on the fence and you're trying to get things figured out and and you know, you've tried a few things and you've had a few setbacks. You We've all we've all been there. And if you want to give this a try, if you want to give it a try, you reach out and power and you talk to them about your goals. And it's, it's worth a try. It really is if you've, if you tried everything else, and you're and you're trying to get ahead in life, you reach out and power, they'll put you in the right direction, they'll give you a support team. And you never know, six months down the road, you could be living a completely different life.

And Demetrius, I want to ask you as well, so folks out there who aren't quite sure if it is for them, but they're curious about it. But let's say they don't think they're tech savvy enough. What, what advice would you give them? Yeah,

um, like, like, Josh alluded to the different pathways in it. And a lot of people, they'll watch movies and think about the guys that are, you know, sitting there coding or hacking a computer, but there's a lot more to it. It's not as complicated as you think. And you can learn the material, and then get trained. So yeah, I would say just, you know, seek out information, seek out a program, of course, will hopefully empower, and you can, you can get into it. And it's not as complicated as you think. The right a little bit, I did want to say, you know, Joshua, myself, a bloke that I was even, you know, just tell us about the folks, you know, some countries have where they, they require their system to go into the military after, after high school. And I thought about that, and I was like, You know what, that may be a good thing here. And only because I think, for me, even one time when I was down, I was challenged, wanted to stop, you know, that training that whatever it was in your like, you cannot do that you can't stop, you have to keep pushing, you know, just giving a shout out to the military, you know, just what they instill in you, you know, just that, that training. So yeah, that mindset.

Yeah, I agree with you 100% on that, because I think sometimes, especially as you know, being young, when young men, young women, we don't know what's best for us, the military definitely got me out of my comfort zone. And it got it got me in front of and around people that I wouldn't have never met otherwise, if I stayed in my same town. And I'm sure you can agree with this. But some of my best friends in the military were from places like North Dakota, places like New York City, but some of the some of the places in the United States that would never visit myself. And it was absolutely awesome to have to work with them and learn, you know, their culture where they're at from their side of the map. And I agree, I agree with you 100% on that one, Demetrius for sure. So is there anything else final that you want to say to everyone to meet, you

know, just Thanks, everyone. I hope you learn a little bit more about empower, would love to connect with anyone that's interested. And thank you KP. And thank Josh. Absolutely,

I really appreciate both you give me the opportunity to time today. Because at the end of the day, I'm one of those guys that says, You know, I don't know if it is for me, but here I am dealing with all this it stuff in front of me, the audio recorder that I have the computer that I have this program that I'm running, so it's something that you should at least you know, dip your toes in and, and reach out to empower and speak to, you know, Demetrius speak to some of the folks in power, let them run some questions by you and see if this is something certainly for you. It doesn't hurt, it's free. And at the end of the day, they have an 80% success rate. So as long as you meet them in the middle, you're going to walk away with something that's going to be able to help you in your career. So anyone out there listening, please give in power an opportunity to change your life. Give them an opportunity to actually help you level up and make your career even better. This the morning formation. I'm KP with Josh and Demetrius. Thank you everyone for listening and we're out.