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Blake Carpenter 

Senior Data Center Engineer 

Years at Telcion: 5.5

What are your main responsibilities at Telcion?

I handle primarily systems-related projects. That includes physical and virtual servers, any type of Microsoft products, Active Directory. It also goes into the realm of Cisco DNA Center, Identity Services Engine… really anything relating to systems, and that can span a lot of different technologies. 

How do you prefer to start your day at work?

With a good cup of coffee. And not just your coffee pot—we use a pour over, very specific measured weight, you know, grain to water ratio, how long to let the grains set initially, and all that stuff. It has to be just right. 

What was your first job?

I was about 12 or 13 years old, and I worked for a produce farm in Ohio. I would actually ride my dirt bike there and go pick cantaloupe, hoe the fields, pick peppers, and all that stuff. The farm was called Wengers Produce and that’s where I got started with some form of work. 

What led you to this career?

I’ve always had an interest in technology with, you know, my parents getting our first computer way back in the day. I always had the curiosity of how things work, how things function, and if it breaks can I fix it, those types of things. So I just started out tinkering and it really turned into a hobby, and that’s how I thought it would remain—just a hobby. 

I never saw myself going into the computer industry just because for one, I didn’t know how to get into it early on. And so initially when I needed a job early in my wife’s and my marriage, it was like, what was the easiest thing to come by… trying sales, stuff like that. 

Until we were at church and somebody was looking for somebody who knew how to work on computers. And I was like, “Yeah, I can do that.” And so that’s what really opened the door to me getting into the IT industry, just starting off as a basic computer support technician. I learned as much as I could on my own until it just got more in depth, I gained more responsibilities, and moved into different positions. 

So originally it just started as a hobby—and it continues as a hobby to this day, and just loving what I do. 

What’s your biggest work pet peeve?

When people come to me and they ask me something that they could very easily find on their own. It’s not like I get angry or upset when people do that, it’s just mainly, I like to start off with, “Well what have you found so far in regards to this issue?” 

I try to encourage being able to discover and find answers on your own, because what I’ve found is if you can do the legwork and due diligence to find the answers on your own, you’re going to understand that problem way more than if somebody just fed you an answer. It would teach you all the intricacies of the issue you’re dealing with. 

What’s a mistake you made early on in your career, and what did you learn from it?

So, losing data is never a good thing. And it’s one of those things where the worst thing to do is have to go to somebody and say, “All your data is gone.” It was around a very horrible technology back in the day in dealing with Microsoft Roaming Profiles. I didn’t quite understand exactly how they worked. And the way that I handled data caused me to lose data for a certain person.

So I lost the data, but it was a good mistake in the sense that it taught me a lesson. Whenever dealing with data, whenever dealing with technology, I discovered that you need to be very intentional about everything you do. Any changes you make, any decisions you make when it comes to working with data, you can never be too careful. So that was one of the mistakes that definitely taught me to just be intentional. 

If you could snap your fingers and become an expert in something, what would it be?

I think it has to be either a husband or a father. You know, just always wanting to be the best husband or the best father for my wife, for my kids. So I would love to be able to just snap my fingers and be an expert. Even in thinking about this question, it would definitely seem like cutting a corner because what I’m discovering is I think it’s more about the journey than about arriving. Even though I do wish I could snap my fingers—it would be nice. 

What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

I grew up playing baseball. I don’t know how many people know that about me. I played for a team out of Springfield, Ohio called WBLY, and we were a team that played baseball in shorts! So that was funny, we always got made fun of, but we were a really good team. When I was 18 we made it to the World Series in Harrison, Arkansas and we ended up winning. I played second base for that team. 

What’s something—big or small—that you’re really bad at?

I tend to be somewhat handy, and I figure I may not be an expert at things but I can do a fairly good job doing things around the house if something needs taking care of—shelving put up, painting—I haven’t really had any issues with not being able to figure something out. 

But we had decided to change our flooring and I thought maybe we would use this thin, concrete-type stuff called microtopping. And so I got the idea of, Hey, I can do this, you know, watch a bunch of YouTube videos, see these guys laying out concrete microtopping and making it look nice. So I’m like, I’ll just go buy the stuff, mix it up, and start laying it down. And that was just a no-go at all. I was so bad. What it really came down to was the stuff dried way too fast, I couldn’t get it spread fast enough, just a flurry of frustrations and it was so bad. I ended up having to grind it all up. It was horrible. The worst. 

So I’ve just concluded that flooring is just not something I do. I am okay with admitting I’m bad at that.

Do you have a hidden talent? What is it?

I play guitar and I sing. So I’ve led worship at church for a number of years. I used to lead worship when we helped start a church in Utah—I was the worship director out there. Actually, pretty soon I’m going to be taking part in a worship cohort where we’re going to go through and just really hone some of the musical skills, kind of like a 9 month course that I’m going to be going through. 

What’s something you’ve done, but will never do again?

I went bungee jumping when I was in high school. It was one of those things where it’s like, Yeah, I could do that! That doesn’t look that bad! But it was horrible.

It was questionable to begin with because it was one of those small fair types where they have a big pillow at the bottom and it was totally sketchy. But everything was fine! It’s just looking back, that wasn’t a good idea. And you know, you don’t think of when you’re bungie jumping that all of the blood’s going to rush to your head and it’s going to be super uncomfortable. It just wasn’t fun and I’ll never do it again.

What’s your favorite TV show—the one you’re always watching on repeat?

It’s been a cycle for my wife and I because we went through The Office like so many times—we’re big fans of The Office—and then Seinfeld, not as much. We really enjoyed Seinfeld, but as of late it’s been Everybody Loves Raymond. So I would probably say at this point it’s Everybody Loves Raymond. We enjoy putting that on repeat, laughing it up. So many things that are just relatable in that. 

Thanks so much, Blake! 

Connect with Blake on LinkedIn.

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