We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Blake Wyrick. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Blake below.
Blake, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
Being comfortable being uncomfortable and truly being passionate about what you do. It took me a long time to figure this out. I recall life starting in a trailer park and then bouncing around to little farm houses that we rented. Money was always a sore subject and I developed a hatred of it when I was young since we did not have much of it, everyone was asking for it, and it just made me uncomfortable. This, as well as other things in childhood, really tanked my self confidence and my ability to have that vision of doing something in life. How can I get out of this small town of Windfall Indiana and make something of myself? If I even had the opportunity to do it, would I leave everything I know and had to do it?
Against all odds, yes, I did it. During my senior year of high school, I applied to Indiana University Kokomo for a BS in software engineering. Somehow, I was accepted, and my mother told me we would figure out how to pay for it. I always remember her saying she would sell her body to science if that meant we got to go to school and had what we needed. I tested into trig, did all of the entrance requirements, and eventually decided that I did not want to go this route. Here was this opportunity presenting itself, and I shut the door on it. Now, I did get that first little taste of confidence. I was accepted and I tested into trig… so I must have something good in my head, right? At the time, I was working at a small farm store (Rural King) and I was renting a small house that I called “the shack”, since it was like 500 sq. ft.. I did not make enough to pay rent, so mom helped me with that, my phone bill, and I would regularly burn through the allotted data we had so I went down to the McDonald’s parking lot and used their free Wi-Fi. Still going nowhere fast…
I met a guy at work named Chase, and we were very similar people. We hit it off and hung out outside of work. Chase was in the process of joining the Air Force and we chatted about it here and there. Most of my family are veterans, so I was used to the topic. Long story short, I somehow ended up becoming interested in joining. My great grandfather was my father figure in life and he was a retired SMSgt., so making him proud was a big driving factor in this. So, I went on down to the recruiter’s office and talked to them. Took the ASVAB, scored in the 90s, and landed a job as a “radio frequency technician” (3D1X3). What was this? I had no idea, but it looked cool on the job description and there was a lot of math and electronics. So, here I am after turning down college and sticking to what I know. I am now signing a contract for 4 years of my life to leave, essentially become property of the government, and be told where I will live, travel, and do. This was the first step in making myself uncomfortable, and boy was it an extreme uncomfortable. I went on to be really good at what I did. I received several awards, recognition from high up people, and I was able to travel outside of the U.S. when I deployed in 2017. I did a lot of amazing things, and my self confidence and awareness of my capabilities grew immensely, but I still was not happy. It was the same thing every day, leadership was questionable, and my outlook on life was shifting. I liked what I did, but I did not love it. I actually spent a lot of my time down with the network folks since that really intrigued me. Though I was not happy, I was comfortable and familiar with where I was at. My term was coming up on renewal and I was like maybe I can re-enlist, but do I want to? I ended up extending for one year to really start thinking about it. I had no plan, no degree, and really nothing else. Right before this, I met my now wife, Sophia, and she was of course not happy with this, as she was here in Indiana and I was out in Oklahoma. I was scared to leave, as I was comfortable and did not want to be uncomfortable again. I had something good going, and I was told I would be a chief one day, but I just was not fulfilled internally. Something was missing.
Aside from joining the Air Force, I think the biggest turning point in my life and really the start of me being successful was when I was right into that one year extension. You have to take all of these classes to prepare you for civilian life, and I learned of this program called DoD SkillBridge. I heard the speaker mention it and I was like whoa, what is that? It turns out that you can, with your commander’s approval, get up to 6 months of paid time to go work at a civilian job. So the Air Force pays me, I live at home, and whatever company I pick doesn’t have to pay me. Bingo. Now, I was still terrified of leaving, but this was an opportunity I could take advantage of. This was the point where I truly realized that you have to do whatever you are doing, but look for those opportunities. The speaker mentioned it for like 10 seconds and that was it. Had I missed it, not been paying attention, whatever, my life could be totally different. I immediately told Soph and she was all about it. I buckled down to finish my associates before I left and started writing a resume, and Soph was looking anywhere and everywhere for internships. We found a few, but nothing exciting. One day, Soph was in her driveway talking to her mom about all of this and one of the neighbors stopped by. He heard about it and said he knew of a place and would reach out. I was coming home on leave in the next few days, so hopefully it would be soon. He said I needed to be at this place for an interview right after I got off the plane. Anxiety set in. I flew out the next day, knew nothing about the company, and really did not have much about me. The interview went perfect and I was in. No way!
I flew back to Oklahoma ready to execute. There was a lot of paperwork to do, and the hardest part was convincing my commander to let me do this. We were already short staffed and it was a tiny base, so it made me extremely nervous on the outcome. I got everything done and it was time for our chat. She said she would think on it and eventually we had another talk. Instead of me leaving, I was offered to move to the networking department to make me happy. As tempting as this was, I declined, and fortunately got her blessing. I was packed up and on my way home.
The last part of this story is when I came home. Soph and I got an apartment, she worked full-time in marketing, and I was in my internship hoping to land something full-time. I was interning as a radio tech with AES Indiana and it was super cool. I always wanted college, but money was an issue, so I saw another opportunity with the GI Bill. I immediately signed up to start on my BS in Cybersecurity with Purdue Global. I always talked about networking and would bring up homework questions to the manager of our group and he was really sharp and would help me. He saw my interest and one day asked if that was what I wanted to do, and I of course said yes. He told me he had just the job for me and got me in touch with the manager of our energy control systems. I went in one day for an interview with him and the senior data center engineer. Again having a meh resume and not a clue on what I was walking into. They read my resume, asked me questions, and somehow offered me the chance to fill the spot. I was mind blown. I immediately was moved from the radio shop and was put in my own office and sat in front of my new responsibilities. I was now responsible for the networking that allows the grid to be controlled and monitored. I was really feeling uneasy with it, as I had no experience, but I just had this feeling inside that this is what I love and want to do. This was another opportunity presenting itself and I had the choice to take it or go back where I was. I made myself uncomfortable again.
Fast forward to now. I spent and still spend countless hours studying, doing labs, watching videos, reading books, and doing everything I can to be the best at what I do. I love this and I am so passionate about it. I went from a level 1 to a level 3, I earned the respect of my peers, and I have done some amazing things that I never thought I could do. Oh ya, I finished my BS with a 4.0, then finished my MS with a 4.0, then got a handful of certifications for IT/networking… and I did not have to pay one cent.
The moral of the story here with all of this blabbing is that you have to be comfortable making yourself uncomfortable. Comfort is a success killer. We as humans love familiarity and ease when it comes to the motions of life. If you are not making yourself uncomfortable, you are not growing. Do not stay stagnant. Secondly, you have to have your eyes open for the opportunities. You could easily look right past them. See the opportunities and execute. Lastly, be passionate about what you do. I am just lit up when I get to do anything with network engineering. I live it and cant stay away from it. It makes me truly happy. You will never see your true potential as a person, nor will your industry see its potential if you are not passionate.
I say this as I always knew comfort in my little hometown and small friend group. I made that one choice to be uncomfortable and join the military. I saw the opportunities and went after them. Did I know I would be successful in the military? no. Did I know I would find the SkillBridge program and get my commander to allow it? no. Did I know I would land and internship and be offered a job I knew nothing about, but it was my dream job? no… But I went after it anyways and figured whatever transpired was meant to be. Do not get me wrong, you can see the opportunities and take them, but you have to put in the work. I knew nothing about my job now and if I had not dove into it and worked as hard as I did, I would not be in the position now. I saw the opportunity, I recognized my passion for this, and I executed on learning everything I could and working to be the best network engineer in that building.
No matter your upbringing or the odds against you, anything is possible with a little bit of believing, passion, an open mind, and taking that leap into the unknown and making yourself uncomfortable. Trust me; you will thank yourself later. You will fail, but rather than giving up, learn from it. We all fail, but its the lessons you gain from it and the work you put in to move forward.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Absolutely. My name is Blake Wyrick and I am a network engineer for AES Indiana in the operations technology group. I have always loved math and electronics. I would always take my toys apart as a kid to “invent” things and wire up some contraption that would maybe work. I discovered networking and it was this mystery field I knew nothing about, but I knew there was math, electronics, and the world we know today relies on it. Sold! This field is one where you never stop learning and you cannot stop working to better yourself. There are several ways to do one thing, whether that be in a network design or a configuration. It is just something I love so much. It is dynamic and I can learn as much as I want to. I want to be one of the best at what I do. I always say I want to be the best while knowing there is always someone better. This mindset keeps me working to be better, but never stopping.
Coming out of the military I did want to find something where I contributed to something bigger. That is hard to find, but thankfully I ended up where I am. I directly support and manage the networking systems that allow for the control and monitoring of the power grid around the Indianapolis area. This is a big responsibility and power is one of those things that we cannot go without; especially for extended periods of time. Schools, hospitals, water treatment plants, and the many great customers around the city rely on us to make sure our infrastructure is reliable, redundant, and secure. I am extremely proud to be a part of the team that does just this. Loving what I do makes it that much better.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I have failed many times. I have taken down networks, causes outages, and delayed projects. In this industry, outages catch a lot of attention and you get a lot of attention on issues. It can also cause major safety concerns and bring in huge fines. I have done this with the smallest changes, and I have done it with major overhauls. It got in my head that I was not good at this, the company and customers deserved better, and maybe I needed to look elsewhere. I am hard on myself and expect the best, so failure is hard, but its required to learn and grow.
As much as I wanted to give up, I could not let myself do that. It came down to just holding myself accountable, being honest with my leadership and myself, and promising to do better. I may have messed up several times, but I have never made the same mistake twice. You will fail, you will get down, and you will recover. Remember the reason you are doing this.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Be understanding, empathetic, and driven. Management can be tough. Be in tune with your employees and key in on when things do not feel right. Ask questions. A simple “what do you need from me to help you here” can go a long way. Act on the things you say you will do.