Transcript 0:00 [singing] Talk to me. Information, news, and entertainment on demand. [singing] WS Radio.com. 0:11 [upbeat music] Welcome to The Peggy Smedley Show, the voice of IoT in our connected world, with your host, Peggy Smedley. [upbeat music] Hello, listeners, and welcome back to The Peggy Smedley Show. 0:26 My next guest has been at the forefront of emerging technologist for-- technology for the past decade. She manages her company's partners, such as General Motors, Samsung, and Verizon. 0:37 She also acquires new customers and partners and advances the company's IoT and MDom products and services. 0:44 I'm so delighted to welcome Kami Zimmer, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Marketing for Glimpse, and also this year's Women of MtoM winner. Kami, welcome to the show. Thanks, Peggy. 0:59 Such a pleasure and such an honor to be here with you today. Hey, we are delighted to have you. So it's exciting. As I said, I'm-- congratulations on being named a Woman of MtoM IoT. Uh, we... 1:11 It was really great to see you and have you at the dinner, and it was a lot of fun. And, and I wanna ask you, you know, um, you've been in the space now quite a while. 1:20 We've known each other for a long time, and, uh, you've been doing a lot of different things in this space. 1:25 Uh, h-how does it feel when you've, you've had a chance to see the space when it was MtoM, it's IoT now, uh, and, and see it evolve, you know? And to see a lot of creative things happen. 1:37 H-h-you know, how's it been with the journey, I guess, so far? Yeah. 1:41 That's a good question, especially, um, you know, um, having been a big fan of your show and really, like you said, watching it go from MtoM, and then we called it IoT and connected things, and we just, um, we changed it. 1:53 The last decade has changed so much. 1:56 And so it feels, well, it feels a little bit like I'm old, but it does feel amazing to be a part of it, of this entire industry, and watch the changes that have happened and watch how, um, it now affects not just those of us in tech, but affects of those of us in the retail space and the grocer space. 2:16 Uh, you know, in every single industry, it affects all of us now, and that has been fun for me to watch that transition over the last decade. So what's inspired you along your journey? 2:29 Because you've enjoyed it, you know, and, and all of us would say to be who's been in this space, it's never been a smooth ride. 2:35 And, you know, it's kind of like a rollercoaster, and you have to wanna e-enjoy rollercoasters to be [chuckles] in this space, otherwise- [laughs]... you wouldn't be in it. But what's inspired you? Yeah. 2:46 What inspires me from this industry, I, I, I spent fifteen years in the public policy industry before this, and what's inspired me the last decade has truly been the fact that nothing stays the same. 2:58 So everything that happens maybe today might not be, you know, the answer or the solution for tomorrow. 3:04 And so, um, you, you have to really move quick, and you have to stay motivated, and, um, you have to keep, keep growing. 3:14 And I think, I think that's truly what motivates me because that's pretty much how I've lived my life and, and my career and how I raise my children. 3:22 Um, all of those, um, those key aspects are, are truly how I've seen this industry, and it's, it's what keeps me going, just that, that, uh, competitive nature of things changing all the time and, and the ability to move fast. 3:35 When you, when you look at that, and we talked a lot about, um, inspiring the next generation because we have this whole idea that it's tough getting... 3:46 There's not a lot of girls in technology and STEM and, and even- Mm-hmm... trying to inspire the next millennials, boy or girls, it's tough. How do you get that next generation? 3:55 And we're talking about, um, and one of the things we've been talking about this whole month is we have the aging in place, that the older p- generation, well, it's the first time ever in our history that the older generation is going to exceed the younger generation 'cause the baby boomers are going to be more than there are the new generation. 4:15 And it's going to be- Mm-hmm... 4:16 how do we get them to wanna do technology, wanna be, wanna do all these things, wanna stay involved in tech and keep them understanding it, and yet have the new generation be excited about it? 4:28 There's, there's a, there's a perfect storm sort of- Yeah... thing going on. There, there is. And you know what's interesting, I read a recent survey that said that girls become interested in tech careers at age eleven. 4:40 Now, my youngest is a daughter. She's a girl, and she's twelve. And she says that she wants to be an engineer when she grows up. I don't think she necessarily knows what that means, essentially, right? 4:52 Um, but I also read that, uh, these, these same children lose that interest in these type of careers by age fifteen. 5:00 And so I, I, I'm, I'm torn by that because I am raising this, this girl who now wants to be an engineer at twelve or a soccer player, I guess. But she does want to be a, an engineer. 5:11 And I don't want her to lose that and lo- you know, and, and, um, lose those dreams and lose those goals because I think there's so much for her in that industry, and for my sons as well too, right? 5:21 But, but I, I think that girls lose it a little bit at a younger age. And I think that- It is-... having those female mentors is just key, just key to push them. And that's it. It's, it's like... 5:34 And the question is, why do they? You know, if you go from twelve to fifteen, what happens between- Mm-hmm... twelve to fifteen that they lose that? Is it that we don't have enough mentors? Is... 5:44 You know, what happens that we have to keep them inspired and excited that they don't lose it by fifteen?Right. I think just kind of keeping up that encouragement, right? Maybe we don't... 5:56 And I'm not sure the answer to this, but maybe we're treating them at fifteen a little bit different than we're treating our boys. 6:01 Maybe we're, you know, y- guiding them as they look at their lives into, um, different industries, uh, we as adults or parents. I'm, I'm not exactly sure, right? 6:11 Um, but maybe it's, it has something to do with that, or maybe they are, um, uh... That's such a pivotal age for them. 6:17 Maybe they're looking at their own lives and, and, um, insecurities or securities or however that is, um, differently than boys do or that we do as, uh, as adults as well too. 6:28 So, um, that would be something that would be very interesting to look at, why that statistic is eleven years old and then kind of loses interest by fifteen. Um- And it's- -because that is, um... Oh, go ahead. 6:40 No, I was just gonna say because that's important because it, it, it indicates that we need to kind of help them stay involved in that idea of wanting to be- Mm-hmm. 6:49 -involved in STEM and to, to stay involved in technology if that's what they were interested in, not to discourage them and not to want- Mm-hmm. -them to be in some other field if that was where their heart was. 7:02 You know, not to discourage them even though we always say, you know, it's just like the Barbie expression, math is hard. [laughs] It is hard, but, you know, anything worth having is hard. It is true, right? 7:13 And then really providing them, and this is great advice for all of us, is to provide them with enough practical hands-on experience amongst th-those STEM subjects. 7:23 We've gotten so much better over the last couple of years, but really providing those hands-on experiences to get them thinking differently and, and thinking a certain way and, and, and, you know, really using their brains and their hands and, and give them those subjects, give them those opportunities to really grow and, um, and kind of like what I was talking before, move fast in industries and get inspired by it. 7:46 What have you found has been the best advice you'd give other women out there who wanted to start a career, let's say, in IoT, M2M? You know, because right now- Mm-hmm. 7:56 -you've, you've, like I said, had to ride the wave, you know. You've been in different companies, been in startups, had to, to go that challenge and say, you know... What, what advice would you give them for that? 8:08 What I found is I was, I was very lucky. I made a complete career change, went from politics to tech, and I don't know many people that do that, right? That's, that's a unique switch. I would say to find a protege. 8:21 Fi-find someone that you can, that you can look up to, ask questions, and, and really have them... 8:28 I don't necessarily use the word mentor, right, but someone that you can, um, work with and have them really help you get to a certain level that you're inspiring. 8:38 The work falls upon you, but really having that protege or that mentor, right, would be, um, truly, truly awesome to help each other move up and around in this industry. That, that, that would be great. That's one thing. 8:52 Well, you got- I think another thing- Uh- Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, go ahead. Oh, I was just gonna say, yeah, like, like what you did, like the Connected World events, right? That is, is truly amazing. 9:02 It is able to say, "All right, you're doing a great job," right? Because not everyone, um, hears that, and, uh, we're all just trying to make it day to day. 9:12 But we're able to s- to put it out there, and then maybe there is someone that's looking at those awards and looking at an individual person, and they'll maybe then feel more comfortable to reach out and, and ask some questions like, "How did you do that? 9:25 Can, can you help me do that? Can you, can you give me a couple pointers?" I've had people ask me that many times before. [upbeat music] "Can you... 9:33 You know, what, what is it that you did to make, you know, your career go this way?" Well, Kami, we're out of time, but Kami Zimmer from Glympse, thank you for being with us and congratulations again. 9:45 Thank you so much, Peggy. Such a pleasure. I appreciate you. All right. Thank you. All right, listeners, we're out of time. Remember, we broadcast live every Tuesday twelve PM Central. 9:54 Remember, as always, this is The Peggy Smedley Show, and have a wonderful week. [upbeat music] With great technology comes great responsibility. 10:05 Follow Internet of Things tech expert and futurist Peggy Smedley, repeatedly ranked as a top IoT and M2M influencer. 10:13 Go to peggy_smedley on Twitter for her take on the latest tech news and lively interviews with other industry insiders on her weekly radio show. Visit twitter.com and search for peggy_smedley to follow her today. 10:28 [upbeat music] Video consumption is on the rise, so to reach this audience, Constructek Magazine created Constructek TV. 10:39 Constructek TV helps construction professionals leverage emerging solutions to better their business. Tune in to constructek.tv to catch the latest show on the first and third Tuesday of each month. 10:50 Like, view, and subscribe to constructek.tv, bringing dynamic video to construction. [upbeat music] Signal to noise, an electronic term with new relevance on the internet. 11:05 Connected World Media cuts through the noise of data overload and finds you the signal of important information, information that will keep you current and aware of context in the Internet of Things. 11:16 Peggy Smedley shares her insights on The Peggy Smedley Show and in Connected World Magazine, all online at connectedworld.com. Stay current and competitive at connectedworld.com [upbeat music] 11:30 Are you a small business or nonprofit? Securing Our eCity Foundation offers free cybersecurity seminars so businesses of every size can become more cyber safe. 11:39 According to Forbes, just one cybercrime incident can cost a company over fifteen million dollars. Protect yourself, your employees, and your business before you fall victim to the nation's fastest-growing crime. 11:51 Go right now to securingourecity.org or call six one nine six three zero two four four four. 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