LIU023: Wendell Odom – The Man Who Wrote THE Book

SPEAKER_1 (0:06)

Welcome to Life in Uptime, the show where we talk with the people behind the networks that keep our world connected.

Kevin (0:15)

I'm Kevin, joined by Alexis, and every week, we sit down with engineers, leaders, and builders in tech to uncover the stories behind their careers, how they started, what they've learned, and where they're headed next. Our goal is simple, to help you see how far tech can take you, no matter where you start from.

Alexis (0:36)

All right, guys, today we have a very special guest on the podcast. We have the Wendell Odom, one of the most famous authors of the CCNA. We're going to dive into his career, what he's doing now, and what the best way to actually study for your certifications are. So, Wendell, welcome to the show.

So happy to have you here.

Wendell Odom (0:59)

It's great to be here. And, you know, I came for the intro, but I'll stay for the conversation. That was great, Kevin. Thanks for doing that. But great to hang out with you two.

Kevin (1:08)

You're one of my heroes. Like, it's I think you're a hero for a lot of network engineers because we all kind of start with the CCNA. We all start with your Cisco Press book. And so that's our first introduction to networking. And so on our journeys in networking, we fall in love with networking. And you're kind of our guide. You're our Cupid to help us fall in love with networking. So I feel like everyone has really an affinity for you. Like, and you're such a nice person. Like, you never meet your heroes. And you're such a dad.

That sounds bad. But like, you know, you're just like a normal guy who's down to earth. And you're like, just you're a cool dude. So I really appreciate you being on here. You're one of my heroes. And I'm just, I'm going to be fangirling this entire episode, I think.

Wendell Odom (1:57)

Well, that's kind of you. I'll take the dad nickname anytime. I am a dad and I love being a dad. So I'll take it anytime.

Kevin (2:05)

So I think we wanted to start out with, you know, you are Cisco Press author.

And, you know, that is such a unique job because not only are you an author, which is a niche in itself, but then you're also a networking author. And so you're a niche within a niche. And it's really interesting. How did you get started being an author? Like it was, did it just fall into your lap or were you working towards that goal?

Wendell Odom (2:33)

I didn't set about to become an author, but it's kind of like, you know, you go through your career and you gravitate towards things you get paid for and things you like to do and hopefully those overlap.

Alexis (2:44)

Hopefully, yeah. Right. They don't always, right?

Wendell Odom (2:47)

You know, you might have a job, you're just paying the bills and supporting your family, you know, and you got to do that. But I've been blessed enough to be where I recognized I like training. So I had jobs that had some training in it. And I didn't want to be sitting still at a desk all day long. So I had jobs out in the field where I'm seeing people. And by the time I got around to where I hooked up with Cisco Press to do this book, I'd already gotten my CCIE, which was one of the requirements for who they were hiring to do this.

And I had some experience doing consulting and writing 50, 100-page consulting reports for companies to do network design.

SPEAKER_1 (3:28)

So I had some writing experience.

Kevin (3:29)

Yeah, fun.

Wendell Odom (3:31)

30 pages on your IP addressing plan.

Kevin (3:33)

That sounds terrible.

SPEAKER_1 (3:34)

Yes.

Wendell Odom (3:36)

And so I had a lot of relevant experience, but it wasn't, oh, one day I'm going to be an author. It was more, hey, I like doing this work and they pay me for it. And one thing led to another, but the story is pretty cool. I know you did an episode recently about Cisco Live. So in 1998, US East Networkers, the world of solution or was, was like a 20 by 30 room, tiny. Geez.

Cisco Press had a table, like a three by six table. That's all they needed for their five or six books. And they had a placard the size of a business card that said, want to write for us? Call Jim.

Alexis (4:21)

That's crazy.

Kevin (4:22)

Well, it's someone's phone number, just like.