Meet the Life at Cisco Blog Team

Ever wondered what Life at Cisco is like? Through the employee stories that appear on this blog twice a week throughout the year, that is exactly what we hope to share with you.  A glimpse into what the culture, technology, and heart of Cisco (our people!) are like.

Most of the stories shared here are sourced by our Talent Brand team through the @WeAreCisco social channels, and our employee’s calling card – #WeAreCisco.

With a keen sense to what makes a great story, and a sharp eye on images that speak more than 1,000 words – our team reaches out to see if the employees would like to share their story further and become a guest author on Life at Cisco.

Their words, our help.

From there, we’re off and running with development, editing, scheduling, and finding the next great story.

Here’s the team behind the Life at Cisco blog:

1.Name – Carmen Collins

2.Role at Cisco and what part do you play in the Life at Cisco blog strategy? – “Lead Unicorn.” I’m the Senior Social Media and Talent Brand Manager for the Cisco Talent Brand Team, which is the team you’ll find behind not only this blog, but the @WeAreCisco social media channels.

A long (it seems?) time ago in a galaxy not so far away, when I was a team of one social person, I started this very blog. It was important to me that the employees that were featured have their byline, and I’m so very proud to see how we’ve grown from one post a week to 2-3 posts per week with a long queue of stories to tell. Almost four years later, I now serve in a role that would be equal to a Publisher or Editor at Large for the blog, managing this great team that you’re meeting now. Occasionally, I’ll pop in and write my own post (hey, I’m an employee, too!) or help with an edit or two, because this blog was my baby when it started. And now, oh, how it’s grown! Kudos to the team, and the hundreds of employees we’ve featured here, and cheers to the ones that will come in the new year!

3.Location – Florida’s Gulf Coast

4.What’s your favorite Life at Cisco blog from 2018? – I can’t choose my favorite blog. It would be like choosing a favorite child. I’m proud of each story that’s published. Since it’s holiday time, I’ll say that I think of the Life at Cisco blog as the gift that keeps on giving, and I love how my fellow employees all think that they don’t have a story, until they see it here. Then they realize how powerfully awesome they are! However, I am particularly fond of my nerdy blog where I made the connection between how we discover our strengths at Cisco to being sorted by the Sorting Hat at Hogwarts.

5.Why do you #LoveWhereYouWork? My fellow Cisconians are truly one of the reasons to #LoveWhereYouWork, but also, this team. This. Team. Right. Here. Couldn’t work with better.

1.Name – Casie Shimansky

2.Role at Cisco and what part do you play in the Life at Cisco blog strategy? – Social Media Manager for Cisco’s Talent Brand. You can often find me as the human behind our @WeAreCisco Instagram strategy, and as Editor of the Life at Cisco Blog.

I manage Life at Cisco’s overall content calendar, day to day operations, and help our employees to see that they all (yes, all 70,000+ of us) have a story to tell. Our team comes together during weekly calls and via Webex Teams to chat about the stories we’d like to tell. From there, employees hear from me first as I reach out to see if they’d like to become a guest author. I help to get them started in telling their story with outlines, guidelines, and tons of encouragement – and see it through the scheduling phase. From development to editing, I can help get you there.  Occasionally, I pop in to write as well.

3.Location – Orlando, Florida

4.What’s your favorite Life at Cisco blog from 2018? – It is REALLY so difficult to just choose one (so many of them have left me with happy tears), and in lieu of that – I will say that the Life at Cisco Blog Ambassador space in Webex Teams has quickly become one of my favorites. What started out as a way for us to communicate when blog posts went live, became a “home base” for our 100+ authors. They are each other’s champion, and celebrate every time a new post goes live with generous comments, social shares, and cheers for their fellow Cisconians. I can’t help but have a proud “Momma Bear” moment any time that space is active and rallying around a new author’s story.

5.Why do you #LoveWhereYouWork? There are a thousand reasons to love working at Cisco (and, to date, I think we’ve only told a few hundred of those stories ) but for me, it’s really in the moments where a Life at Cisco author sees that they not only have a story, but that they ARE indeed a writer too. Writing is scary for so many people (even those who consider themselves writers) but receiving emails from my fellow Cisconians thanking me for helping them on the journey of sharing their story is like fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Nothing beats it.

1.Name: Raymond Leung

2.Role at Cisco and what part do you play in the Life at Cisco blog strategy? Talent Brand Manager. I provide support with gathering Life at Cisco blog credentials and metrics.

3.Location: San Jose, California (San Francisco Bay Area)

4.What’s your favorite Life at Cisco blog from 2018? Definitely Sharon Bui’s From Shark Tank to Cisco – My Journey to Being a Woman in Tech. Cisco is often viewed as an old, stodgy tech company which lacks innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. I really enjoyed that Sharon’s blog shared her journey from fashion and being on Shark Tank (one of my favorite shows) to achieving her dream of being a woman in tech at Cisco. She reflected the realities of working at Cisco and all the great benefits we have to offer as a cutting-edge technology company that fosters innovation, a start-up spirit, and a diverse culture.

5.Why do you #LoveWhereYouWork? I love that I can be myself and bring my unique experiences and perspectives into my role. We really mean it when we say, “be you, with us!” J I realized that I have a non-traditional background into Talent Brand as I worked in the Cisco HR call-center for almost two years prior to this team forming and my major was in Business: HR. By fate, I fell into this role. I love the opportunities I’ve been given to do what I enjoy, and to make an impact within Cisco and around the globe.

1.Name – Janani Vijayakumar

2.Role at Cisco and what part do you play in the Life at Cisco blog strategy? – Talent Brand Specialist (APJ). I read our employees’ amazing stories (often with happy tears), help edit and schedule content for the Life at Cisco blog through the year.

3.Location – Bangalore, India

4.What’s your favorite Life at Cisco blog from 2018? – I love learning about all the different, innovative ways in which Cisconians give back. Jennie Kam’s story about how she is helping create the next wave of #WomenInTech was an inspiring read!

5.Why do you #LoveWhereYouWork? The work culture, without a doubt. As someone who always has an eye on what Cisconians around the world are saying (on social media), I see that it’s a community like no other. I feel grateful to be part of this amazing culture!

We hope you enjoyed getting to know us better, and can’t wait to see what stories we’ll share together in 2019!

If you’re interested in writing for Life at Cisco in 2019 – reach out to Casie to get started.

Want to join our team? We’re hiring. Apply now.