Andrew Maged:
00:11
Okay, Mr. Ivan, so I know now that you work at North pond doing it, but where did all of this interest for technology start? Like in your childhood, maybe you give like, an age, and why? If you had any inspirations? Yeah.
Ivan Learmont:
00:27
So my high school that I was at, I just had like, a knack for math. And this is embarrassing, because I'm gonna age myself, but we used to have to, like, write our own codes and write calculators, and that was, like, exciting to me. Just think about you do two it's exciting to do that, right, and then it just kind of unlocked this interest to want to get into technology. When I was maybe about the age of 13, my godfather used to be the president of a TV station, wqd in Pittsburgh. It's like PBS station. My first internship was there, and it kind of, you know, it was like the studio and everything. But then there was all some some analytics and some other stuff in the background. I didn't know what exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to go into computers. I knew I wanted to play with wires and and things like that. And as I continued through, I did some more scripting. I thought that that was, like, really exciting to me. Went to high school and kind of started some computer science programs. That's back then when it was still sort of cutting edge to get into that space, and decided to pursue computer engineering. From there, I had a couple mentors that were in my high school that really pushed me towards that direction. I didn't know what I was going to do, and I did a computer and electrical track in college, and then network engineering. And then I found my way into the hospitality world with a Information Management master's degree while I was at college, and then that landed me at Mary's at U Delaware, yeah, University of Delaware, the fighting blue hens.
Andrew Maged:
01:52
Okay, so I'm just gonna go, gonna backtrack a little bit. So this was kind of your inspirations for all this, but I know you explained how this was all cutting edge technology, very new. So did you have any setbacks kind of related to this, given the fact that, I'm guessing, it was harder to find, like a common space or multiple people could explain to you how to do this, this is major worth it, like or did you have any setbacks, even just in your earlier childhood, too, with not many people having these degrees.
Ivan Learmont:
02:22
Yeah, you know my parents, my mom was in she's a dietitian by trade, and my dad is a printer, so like offset printing and publishing by trade. So trying to explain computers to them just was really not a thing, right? So I they believed in me, but I didn't have all the support in the world from that standpoint of, you know, just the push. So anything that I would try to learn, or self learn, I was faced with, you know, are you sure that that's going to be a good thing, or how do you know that that's going to work? It was, it was more, I'm not going to call it pessimistic, but it was just kind of caution and risky. Yeah, yeah, in a risk adverse environment, right? Like it wasn't as entrepreneurial as, I think now, also at the time, like, if we look now, right? I think we talked off Mike about this technology has advanced so much that a lot of the things that we have now just these mics, these, this whole production, it was very physical. Things were very expensive. So it was easier to think about things in theory. It was harder to just touch them and grasp them as compared to today, right? But other than some financial setbacks on being able to touch the technology that my imagination would do, I'd never allowed my imagination to get blocked from just wanting to just do anything that I could with computers.
Andrew Maged:
03:42
Okay, so I know that when you, as you were in college, we talked a little more off Mike about how, you know, there are all these new technologies emerging, like even HDMI was not like a very common tech piece of technology. So were there any challenges for you emerging out of a degree and going into the world not knowing, like all this technology that is emerging, and kind of the complexity about how new, new innovations? Oh, yeah,
Ivan Learmont:
04:09
certainly. And well, I'd start with coming out of college, I went into the hospitality industry, right? And back then, Wi Fi was cutting edge, right? And everybody started to get computers that had Wi Fi, but it was very slow, and then the demand was going up, but the supply right the internet and just the Wi Fi access points and routers, as you would know them in your homes today, those were hard to come by. Fast Forward, we had to find different, you know, we had to, we had to be creative in the industry, and we had to find different means of funding, or otherwise to be able to expand that technology a little bit broader. But early on, we, you know, going back to HDMI cables, I remember when we were putting VGA cables in hotel rooms, and we thought that was really cutting edge. And then two. Two days later, flat screen TVs come out, right? And so I was in an industry where I was kind of all always behind the eight ball. And that, in itself, actually motivated me even more to want to go towards something that was a little bit more innovative. Allowed me to use follow my dreams, channel into my passions, and allowed me, I guess, more autonomy and creative space to do things. And that's kind of where I, you know, I progressed my career past Marriott to where I'm at today. And I have all those things in one
Andrew Maged:
05:31
so if you look at where you were college life and below, with all these kind of setbacks, and given the fact that this was a very new field, and then also, your parents really didn't do a lot of didn't have a lot of experience in what you wanted to do. That happens for I think a lot of kids and their parents do this, but they want to do something else. Now, did you ever have any thoughts like, maybe I should just do this instead? Maybe I should just quit? And what advice would you give to some someone who maybe does feel that way, or in the same position, where they don't know too much about what they want to do, and their parents don't do and they're kind of in a stuck situation? Oh, absolutely. I
Ivan Learmont:
06:09
mean, there were, there were, I can think of specific examples, maybe Off mic, but where there were times where I just wanted to give up. I think two things. One, the school system that I was in in the familiar how I was raised. We hate quitters. Hates strong word, but we dislike quitters, right? We I think it's natural that we always want to win. And though there were times in you know, maybe opportunities that my parents couldn't provide what I needed in that moment to quote, unquote, win, they always instilled values in me to find alternative routes and methods and means to be able to still put myself in a position of win, winning, and then also winning is subjective, right? So maybe, if my goal at that time was to, you know, build a computer, but I didn't have all the, you know, I knew what I needed, but I didn't have the the means to get those parts, find another job or do something else so that I can get and maybe if I kind of met the goal halfway, I still won in some avenues. I still won in some aspects. I didn't just pick up and say, You know what, I'm going to go pick up a trade and start painting or something else like that. So I think my advice would be, adopt the ability of learning what it means to scale, define what winning means to you, and then always, never lose sight, never lose faith, right? The world is always changing. The goal post is always moving. But that doesn't mean that the game has to change. Okay?
Andrew Maged:
07:32
So this is very related to what you did with your hospitality work. So when you were kind of working with like hotels and that kind of whole production. What made you decide to lean more into where you working out north pond ventures? Was there anything like, just for someone who is aspiring to have to do work in technology? Was there anything that you want them to know that maybe gets old, that you want to change for, like, What? What? What made you want to switch it up?
Ivan Learmont:
08:02
So I give a lot of credit to my experience at Marriott, right? And I think that was an exciting the service and hospitality industry in general. One of the things that I loved about it is you're never going to see the same day twice, right? Like you're going to walk in and it's always going to be something different. It's It's partly a byproduct of the work that you do and the people and the events and other things that are going on in a hotel that you support, and then also, you know, the staff there, right? Like, if there's just during the heavy demands and things like that, it doesn't matter what your job function is. You're always going to see something new and exciting. If you are a positive person, and you look for that, for it and hospitality, you know, there's some set structured things, and over time, you know, you can master that trade. I'd say probably in about a year or two. I was there for a while. So, you know, you rinse, repeat, rinse repeat. But so many times, what motivated me to move away and go somewhere else is, well, all these principles and all these things that I learned there, why not do that in at scale, at a larger company, or this is a smaller company compared to Marriott, but on, on a larger footprint for direct accountability and responsibility, why not see how I can take those skills that I learned there and apply it to a completely different industry? Find some synergies, innovate and elevate, right? I think that's the it's probably the largest point I drive home there.
Andrew Maged:
09:27
Okay, and now, after you've done all this work throughout tons of companies, Marriott and North pond ventures, would you say that you are glad that you got all the education you did in degrees like you do did. Would you say that those have been helpful in what you do? Or would you say that maybe, like your degrees, you would, you would switch things up a little bit, like looking back on all these decisions you've made to get to where you are now? Would you make them again? Or if you could go back, would you change it up? Again,
Ivan Learmont:
10:01
honestly speaking, no regrets in regards to my career path and how I ended up, I think there's two things that I would do. I would probably maybe pursue an MBA. There's different career path and track that I think ultimately would have still landed me at where I'm at today. But kind of to your other point, I sat in one place for a very long time. And I think the second thing I'd say, I loved all of my experience at Marriott. I'm the type of person where, if I'm somewhere and I crave autonomy, and if I'm in a good environment, and the people are great. I'll stay I'm loyal. I'll stay there, and I will continue to add value in any way that I can. And if that means that, you know, maybe as I self reflect while I'm in there, in the moment, hmm, I'm looking at all these other people, and they have these degrees and these experiences. If I would have done that, would have had the same career trajectory, possibly, or I can just kind of lean in, work with them, get close to them, and adapt some of those same skills organically, so to speak, and then see where, see how that can help me go from there. You know, it's just, I'm also a big relationship builder. I get along with a lot of people that it's good and bad, but I'm a big relationship person, so
Andrew Maged:
11:24
if you have kind of like two two questions, if you have minimal regrets about your your career path, would you say that that also means that you you wouldn't have switched up a little bit sooner you would do the 15 years and it didn't make you love what you do any less.
Ivan Learmont:
11:43
I don't think so. Yeah, I mean, if I would have switched it up, maybe I would have switched it up a little bit sooner, maybe, maybe around that 10 year mark, right? And which is interesting, because it was exactly at the 10 year mark that I switched it up within Marriott itself, right? So I did something that was, I don't want to call it innovative at the time, but it was completely outside the scope of somebody of My role's career trajectory at Marriott at that time. So what I did was I used to work on the property level. So there were hotels in the DC market that I was overseeing, actually everything in DC and Northern Virginia, and I left that to go oversee telecom strategy for all of North and South America. And then I left that to go open hotels all oversee the team that opened hotels all across North America. So within being at a large organization, jumping over to, you know, other sub organizations within a large company, it was in a lot of ways, like, you know, leaving that and then from there. And I did two years here, threes, three years here, a couple months there, but I did, quote, unquote, quit by staying in one organization too long, one company too long. I jumped over between different organizations over that time.
Andrew Maged:
12:54
So you're kind of talking about how this has all been an experience, yeah. So would you recommend, or would you say this experience has been, like, a worth it to someone who feels interested in it and technology and like, like, what advice would you give to someone who maybe just hasn't taken that, that that step there may be debating between this and furniture, this and that. So when what would you convince them to take that jump? As in, the experience is worth it? Not like, what is your was your take on that? Technology's
Ivan Learmont:
13:31
fun, right? Like, if you're a problem solving person, if you're an analytical person, even if you're an empirical person, right? Technology has a lot of that. It has all those, those, all those, you're going to hit all those critical points in the field of technology. If you know that, you know you also have to be committed to it, right? This isn't a technology is a it's a vast term, but it's not one of those things where, all right, well, I can do this for two minutes and then move out like anybody in a sales role. Can jump around like that. You can sell cars, you can sell houses, you can sell furniture, right? And because it's the art of selling, you can rinse and repeat and do that anywhere. When you go into technology, you kind of have to pick and hone in your path, and it's going to take some time to really acclimate yourself and really develop a skill. So if you want to go into scripting, you can't just go do that for two weeks and say, All right, I mastered this. And now let me go over into, you know, network engineering. You build up to get to a point that you want to be at, yes, yes. And along that way, just know that there's going to be roadblocks, right, defining what you want to do, right? There's roadblocks there. I started with end user, kind of technology, doing the scripting, like we talked about earlier in my days. And then now I, you know, run head of technology for this organization, but at the same time, I've kind of stepped into the AV and other things. Are not just traditional, they're parts of technology, but they're not the traditional day job, day job that I've done, and those kind of things excite me. Are
Andrew Maged:
15:06
there ever days when you have a ton of work and you are like, this is something that I thrive in? Or are there? Are Do you not find yourself having those days just for someone who is like, who just wants to know, like, is there? Is there a stress that's kind of enjoyable? It's like, it's a like, like, a thrill. So
Ivan Learmont:
15:24
I'm gonna answer that in two parts. I believe that, and your mom will actually, she can attest to this. I have a saying that I try to indoctrinate around here, one team, one dream, living the dream like. I don't just say those, that's my tagline, but I don't just say it. I believe in it, right? So I stress the amount that I allow myself to get stressed. If that makes sense, right? My stress level is only as high as I allow it to be. In other words, that's number one. Number two, I work incredibly well under pressure. You, you know, witness some things happening behind the scenes prior, and, yeah, and you're just like, you get it, yeah, you know, it's, it's, it's one of those things where I, like, I'm driven by problem solving, and I'm driven, driven by finding solutions, right? That's, that's what drive like, truly, inside, that's what drives me. So if I, if there's a problem, I don't look at it as there's an issue. I see an opportunity, right? It's an opportunity to learn. Well, why did this happen? How do we prevent it in the future? But then it's also, oh, wow, cool. Done this thing this way. So many times it was outside my realm of possibility that this issue would be caused. Now, we have to go about solving it. But, you know, just kind of put something in the toolbox and it keeps the hamster on the wheel, so to speak. That's That in itself, doesn't allow me to get bored. Now, if you want to talk about my day drop my day job, right? You know, cyber security, just overall technology. I also oversee Facilities and Operations at this firm as well. So, like, I'm never bored, kind of, like the hospitality no one day is the same. Here's
Andrew Maged:
16:54
kind of, it's always, you're always, kind of going back and forth. So we have a great team
Ivan Learmont:
16:58
here. You met Brandon and a few others, but we have a great team here, and we're just, we try to run like a well oiled machine at all times, and we try to keep each everybody in tune, in touch. Just, you know, hold each other accountable. Also, make sure that we have fun, make sure that we celebrate each other, make sure that we lift each other up. And just, you know, I don't allow negativity around Okay,
Andrew Maged:
17:22
so this is that was really interesting, because I think for for someone watching it, can kind of give them the idea that if you want to pursue this career and actually have sustain yourself in the long run, you have to go in with a mindset when you have to, honestly, not even just force yourself the mindset you kind of, this is my if you have This mindset of, they'll really benefit you. Of just problem solving. There are no problems without, like, a solution like, and just being able to explore these problems and just not kind of go in, mean, like, this happened, what do I do? What I do? Just learning, learning, learning. That's right. So I think that that's, that's a very interesting way to think about it. So
Ivan Learmont:
17:59
it's, also life, right? Yeah,
Andrew Maged:
18:02
so I think, I think I just have one or two more questions. So first one is, when you look back, like all the way back when you were younger, and now where you are today, not just where you were when you did hospitality work, when you look today, would you say that you reached the goals that you set as a kid, when you were 13?
Ivan Learmont:
18:22
Wow, that's a great question. Yes, when I was younger, professional goals, that's tough to answer. Life goals, yes, I wanted to have, you know, I wanted to raise a family, right? Like, family means a lot to me. So I grew up surrounded by older cousins who were also kind of like siblings. And I got to watch them grow and develop through college, high school, high school, college, etc, in real time. And it really kind of shaped my being in following them like I get a lot of slack that I was the oldest 12 year old that a lot of people knew I was like 12 going on 30, right? Just because of the environment that I was around, so that, wanting to have a family, wanting to be successful, wanting to be able to provide, and wanting to have fun, all those things, I've checked all those boxes and then some. Career wise, when I was in engineering in undergrad. I really, I thought I wanted to do chip design, right? So I'll give you a fun fact, your iPhone as you know it, right? Oh, sorry
Andrew Maged:
19:31
to interrupt, like, like, when you mean chip, you mean like, like, like, motherboard type. That's
Ivan Learmont:
19:36
the track that I was on in my junior year of college, right? So, like, engineering at my school, computer and electrical the first two years were kind of the same. So, like, I had friends that were electrical, I was on the computer side. We all had the same classes. And then kind of junior year you, you, you switch off, freshman, sophomore, the same junior, senior, you switch off. And in my junior year, I thought that I really. Wanted to do chip design, like VHDL, all this other stuff. I can bore you with the details, but I was really in it, right? Like, there's a thing called breadboard and, oh yeah, breadboard plugin, yeah. So I was really, really into that. And then I found love. So my college sweetheart is now my wife, and I had this weird inflection point of, well, I love her, but also, at the same time, I have to spend a lot of time in the lab, so I've had to choose one or the other. Going back to that when I was younger, and I admired family, and I wanted to, I wanted to grow a family, it was like, Well, I don't want to lose this. I can always come back to that. So I chose the one path. And I'm not saying, honey, if you watch this, I'm not regretting that, but I chose that path because, you know, I'm also like a very I'm sort of extroverted, I'm a very social person. And then I had, because I chose that path, I had to force myself to go a different way with an engineering that's kind of where I went to the network side, which in Computer Management and network management, which was emerging still at that time. So it's not like I I did the well, I may fall back to the furniture sales, as we were talking before, but I did. I did something that was different, but not what my true love and my passion was at that time. So you asked if I were to go back and change something, maybe I'd find a way to do that and love because I think I'd be in a completely different space. I started to bring up the iPhone. So my senior year in a lab. They were a professor and a student, grad student at my university. They spun out of the lab. They spun out this company. And it was a keyboard that was supposed to help folks that had dyslexia and other, you know, she was,
Andrew Maged:
21:51
like, some type of, not like ergonomic, with some type of, like, specialty, yeah. And,
Ivan Learmont:
21:56
well, Apple liked it and bought it because that's when they were developing their iPhone product. And the thing about the keyboard was it was kind of like a mirrored that keyboard. What they designed physically, it was like a almost like a plastic rollout, and it was a mirror, a backwards mirror, of a keyboard. And when you think about it, and again, don't quote, it's been so long, but they bought the company so that they can use the technology, so that was the touchscreen of the glass on the phone as we use it today. Because really, when you're touching the key over here, it's really the other side of the keyboard. Is how they explain,
Andrew Maged:
22:27
oh, it's like, because it's bad, it's on the other side of it,
Ivan Learmont:
22:30
right? So they bought that company, bought the technology, had the rights, and then they just iPhone is just kind of been running the game now, obviously there's Android, and there's all sorts of, I, you know, other things that are touch, touchscreen to use as a keyboard to the to this day, but they were the pioneers in that space. And if I would have stayed on that chip side, high probability that maybe involvement with a company like that, or some other spin out, out of a lab similar to the work that we do here, you know, at North pond, with spin outs of labs from in the in the life sciences, in the biotech space. But that is something that I think about sometimes. I think about it. Often it's like, wow, well, missed opportunity, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I love you, honey.
Andrew Maged:
23:15
Okay, so I have two more questions, one I was intentionally gonna ask before, and then another one's gonna is gonna be my last question. But this one I'm asking, is it kind of about going back to high school, so college and applying to college and knowing what you want to do in high school. I mean, it's the most stressful thing for so many kids. They have no clue what they want to do. So even just with like, what, what is your perspective on that, especially with applying to you Delaware and what, what you what you chose your major in, what you wanted to go there for. Why did you go there? Like, what? What was your mindset throughout the whole college application process?
Ivan Learmont:
23:52
Um, that's a great question so, and I'll tell you how it landed at Delaware. But that's a great question, because I think first of all, there were probably less options back in my day, right? So I knew I wanted to do something with computers at my school, was computer engineering or computer science, and then on the computer science side, it was like, Well, I've done that, like, I mean, not to the not to the collegiate level, but I knew enough about that because of scripting, and I kind of knew what I didn't want to do. I knew nothing about the on the engineering side, other than, you know, robotics and things like that that were still kind of emerging, but in telecommunications, but I wasn't as experienced with that. Remember, I liked I craved challenges. I crave problem solving, the solutions. So I wanted to go that way. Today's world, there are, it's almost like they break down all the things that I learned in engineering, and those are specific majors. So I tip my hat to you as you're trying to look towards that, and I'll try to give you the best advice that I can based on my past experience. But it was I wanted to I think the driving force for me was I knew I wanted to go to college. I knew I wanted to pursue an event. Degree, and I wanted to leave the state. I grew up in New Jersey, so I wanted to leave the state. So, like, whatever I did, I was leaving the state, and I wanted to go experience somewhere else, but I didn't want to go too far away from family. So I actually applied the schools I applied to and got into her University of Maryland, College Park here, RIT Carnegie Mellon, and and a few other schools, because they, you know, they leading engineering and technology programs. How I landed at University and University of Delaware, I also applied to grade school. How I landed there, though, or what was my real push to get there? I received a four year full ride scholarship to pursue computer engineering, and it was, I was awarded a scholarship as a the high school that I went to, there was a gentleman who went to my high school, who also went to University of Delaware, and he was looking for, you know, students who were really looking to pursue kind of just degrees outside of just the normal, you know, there were some business degrees and Things like that. But engineering, there were some students that were pursuing medical degrees, and he was looking to try to help those so, like, being able to say, I went to school for free, right? Versus the whole tuition, and otherwise, yeah, you know, my parents also helped me make that, yeah, it's free. Yeah, it's free. Like, how can you pass it up? From there built a relationship, and that's where it got tough. So when I had a job lined up, when I was ready to graduate undergrad, and my wife was looking for grad school, and she dragged me with her to this like I had my mind made up. I was ready to work, and I was done with pursuing more education, I couldn't read another book, or I could use a break. And my wife had her mind made up that she was going to grad school, so I went with her to this program. Came across the hospitality school at UD, and they were looking for somebody like me who can help develop emerging technologies. Right? Use that, use the tech brain to help develop emerging technologies and then teach me the hospitality stuff. And they were trying to, you know, do a new program at the School of Business. So it was, like, a win, win. It was like, hey, so would you like to go here for free? And I was like, Well, sure, I just did this for four years. What's another two? Right? So that's another reason why. Also, I would never, I look at my college experience as like such a blessing. It was a blessing all the way through in every I truly believe that every step that I've made since there is maybe it's divine timing, but I kind of hearken back to something that I learned in my previous degree. You asked before, was there any time where I felt like I'd learned something and I've never used it? There's never been a point in my career where I haven't used something with my degree, with any of my degrees, that ever so I've been
Andrew Maged:
27:46
really interesting. And then so one final question, I don't know if you have kids. I don't know if you don't. I don't know if to you two kids. So two dogs, so for all four of your kids, would you feel the same way, like, would you want them to do what you did and get a career in something outside of what you know about and outside what's familiar to you have do you feel like it's your role to push them to do what they want to do, to learn more and to maybe gain new experiences and then choose what they want to do? Because, I mean, that's what you did. You kind of branched out. It was risky. And would you want the same thing for your kids and or would you, or did you? How did you feel about that?
Ivan Learmont:
28:27
Absolutely, I want to encourage them to be entrepreneurs first and foremost. And that doesn't necessarily mean go create your own business and try to sell and hustle and do things like that. Sure, if it lands that way, great, but entrepreneurs in thought, right? So similar to like, my path, something that was completely outside of my parents, my fam, my immediate family, scope. And I want to make sure that I show them the love and support that in with some guardrails, like, hey, I want to go do this. No, you don't, right, but with some guardrails, I want to make sure that they know that they're supported by their parents, and that I don't want to ever put a block on their creativity, right? Like my kids are three and five, right? So I find sometimes when I say no to them about things like, I see it on their face, it's like, the disappointment, and it's like, well, well, to know to that because you have to go to bed. But at the same time, I don't want that to become i Well, why? Why do you feel this way now? And they explain it to me and it's like, oh, wow, that's a great perspective, right? So I'm always gonna, you're still gonna bet kid, but I'm always gonna, you know, do whatever I can to help motivate them to think outside the box, be their own person. Speak up every day, each of my kids, we have, like, a handshake again, three and five, we have a handshake. They each have their own, like individual handshake. And before they leave me, when they get out the car, they Daddy, I'm big, I'm brave, I'm strong. So like, that's the values that I put in them, just in life, and I hope it carries over to their entrepreneurial spirit. It in whatever they decide to do. But one thing's for sure, they're not going to live for free, right? They can. I got them through high school, if they they if they pursue college, right? The pressure's on for four year scholarship. Yeah, yeah. The pressure is on. The pressure is on. Set a high bar on that, I guess. But whatever they want to do always going to be supportive. I'm trying to channel into the power of Yes, but I'm also going to be reasonable and have guardrails there. Okay,
Andrew Maged:
30:26
thank you. All right, cool. Thank you. You.
00:11
Okay, Mr. Ivan, so I know now that you work at North pond doing it, but where did all of this interest for technology start? Like in your childhood, maybe you give like, an age, and why? If you had any inspirations? Yeah.
Ivan Learmont:
00:27
So my high school that I was at, I just had like, a knack for math. And this is embarrassing, because I'm gonna age myself, but we used to have to, like, write our own codes and write calculators, and that was, like, exciting to me. Just think about you do two it's exciting to do that, right, and then it just kind of unlocked this interest to want to get into technology. When I was maybe about the age of 13, my godfather used to be the president of a TV station, wqd in Pittsburgh. It's like PBS station. My first internship was there, and it kind of, you know, it was like the studio and everything. But then there was all some some analytics and some other stuff in the background. I didn't know what exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to go into computers. I knew I wanted to play with wires and and things like that. And as I continued through, I did some more scripting. I thought that that was, like, really exciting to me. Went to high school and kind of started some computer science programs. That's back then when it was still sort of cutting edge to get into that space, and decided to pursue computer engineering. From there, I had a couple mentors that were in my high school that really pushed me towards that direction. I didn't know what I was going to do, and I did a computer and electrical track in college, and then network engineering. And then I found my way into the hospitality world with a Information Management master's degree while I was at college, and then that landed me at Mary's at U Delaware, yeah, University of Delaware, the fighting blue hens.
Andrew Maged:
01:52
Okay, so I'm just gonna go, gonna backtrack a little bit. So this was kind of your inspirations for all this, but I know you explained how this was all cutting edge technology, very new. So did you have any setbacks kind of related to this, given the fact that, I'm guessing, it was harder to find, like a common space or multiple people could explain to you how to do this, this is major worth it, like or did you have any setbacks, even just in your earlier childhood, too, with not many people having these degrees.
Ivan Learmont:
02:22
Yeah, you know my parents, my mom was in she's a dietitian by trade, and my dad is a printer, so like offset printing and publishing by trade. So trying to explain computers to them just was really not a thing, right? So I they believed in me, but I didn't have all the support in the world from that standpoint of, you know, just the push. So anything that I would try to learn, or self learn, I was faced with, you know, are you sure that that's going to be a good thing, or how do you know that that's going to work? It was, it was more, I'm not going to call it pessimistic, but it was just kind of caution and risky. Yeah, yeah, in a risk adverse environment, right? Like it wasn't as entrepreneurial as, I think now, also at the time, like, if we look now, right? I think we talked off Mike about this technology has advanced so much that a lot of the things that we have now just these mics, these, this whole production, it was very physical. Things were very expensive. So it was easier to think about things in theory. It was harder to just touch them and grasp them as compared to today, right? But other than some financial setbacks on being able to touch the technology that my imagination would do, I'd never allowed my imagination to get blocked from just wanting to just do anything that I could with computers.
Andrew Maged:
03:42
Okay, so I know that when you, as you were in college, we talked a little more off Mike about how, you know, there are all these new technologies emerging, like even HDMI was not like a very common tech piece of technology. So were there any challenges for you emerging out of a degree and going into the world not knowing, like all this technology that is emerging, and kind of the complexity about how new, new innovations? Oh, yeah,
Ivan Learmont:
04:09
certainly. And well, I'd start with coming out of college, I went into the hospitality industry, right? And back then, Wi Fi was cutting edge, right? And everybody started to get computers that had Wi Fi, but it was very slow, and then the demand was going up, but the supply right the internet and just the Wi Fi access points and routers, as you would know them in your homes today, those were hard to come by. Fast Forward, we had to find different, you know, we had to, we had to be creative in the industry, and we had to find different means of funding, or otherwise to be able to expand that technology a little bit broader. But early on, we, you know, going back to HDMI cables, I remember when we were putting VGA cables in hotel rooms, and we thought that was really cutting edge. And then two. Two days later, flat screen TVs come out, right? And so I was in an industry where I was kind of all always behind the eight ball. And that, in itself, actually motivated me even more to want to go towards something that was a little bit more innovative. Allowed me to use follow my dreams, channel into my passions, and allowed me, I guess, more autonomy and creative space to do things. And that's kind of where I, you know, I progressed my career past Marriott to where I'm at today. And I have all those things in one
Andrew Maged:
05:31
so if you look at where you were college life and below, with all these kind of setbacks, and given the fact that this was a very new field, and then also, your parents really didn't do a lot of didn't have a lot of experience in what you wanted to do. That happens for I think a lot of kids and their parents do this, but they want to do something else. Now, did you ever have any thoughts like, maybe I should just do this instead? Maybe I should just quit? And what advice would you give to some someone who maybe does feel that way, or in the same position, where they don't know too much about what they want to do, and their parents don't do and they're kind of in a stuck situation? Oh, absolutely. I
Ivan Learmont:
06:09
mean, there were, there were, I can think of specific examples, maybe Off mic, but where there were times where I just wanted to give up. I think two things. One, the school system that I was in in the familiar how I was raised. We hate quitters. Hates strong word, but we dislike quitters, right? We I think it's natural that we always want to win. And though there were times in you know, maybe opportunities that my parents couldn't provide what I needed in that moment to quote, unquote, win, they always instilled values in me to find alternative routes and methods and means to be able to still put myself in a position of win, winning, and then also winning is subjective, right? So maybe, if my goal at that time was to, you know, build a computer, but I didn't have all the, you know, I knew what I needed, but I didn't have the the means to get those parts, find another job or do something else so that I can get and maybe if I kind of met the goal halfway, I still won in some avenues. I still won in some aspects. I didn't just pick up and say, You know what, I'm going to go pick up a trade and start painting or something else like that. So I think my advice would be, adopt the ability of learning what it means to scale, define what winning means to you, and then always, never lose sight, never lose faith, right? The world is always changing. The goal post is always moving. But that doesn't mean that the game has to change. Okay?
Andrew Maged:
07:32
So this is very related to what you did with your hospitality work. So when you were kind of working with like hotels and that kind of whole production. What made you decide to lean more into where you working out north pond ventures? Was there anything like, just for someone who is aspiring to have to do work in technology? Was there anything that you want them to know that maybe gets old, that you want to change for, like, What? What? What made you want to switch it up?
Ivan Learmont:
08:02
So I give a lot of credit to my experience at Marriott, right? And I think that was an exciting the service and hospitality industry in general. One of the things that I loved about it is you're never going to see the same day twice, right? Like you're going to walk in and it's always going to be something different. It's It's partly a byproduct of the work that you do and the people and the events and other things that are going on in a hotel that you support, and then also, you know, the staff there, right? Like, if there's just during the heavy demands and things like that, it doesn't matter what your job function is. You're always going to see something new and exciting. If you are a positive person, and you look for that, for it and hospitality, you know, there's some set structured things, and over time, you know, you can master that trade. I'd say probably in about a year or two. I was there for a while. So, you know, you rinse, repeat, rinse repeat. But so many times, what motivated me to move away and go somewhere else is, well, all these principles and all these things that I learned there, why not do that in at scale, at a larger company, or this is a smaller company compared to Marriott, but on, on a larger footprint for direct accountability and responsibility, why not see how I can take those skills that I learned there and apply it to a completely different industry? Find some synergies, innovate and elevate, right? I think that's the it's probably the largest point I drive home there.
Andrew Maged:
09:27
Okay, and now, after you've done all this work throughout tons of companies, Marriott and North pond ventures, would you say that you are glad that you got all the education you did in degrees like you do did. Would you say that those have been helpful in what you do? Or would you say that maybe, like your degrees, you would, you would switch things up a little bit, like looking back on all these decisions you've made to get to where you are now? Would you make them again? Or if you could go back, would you change it up? Again,
Ivan Learmont:
10:01
honestly speaking, no regrets in regards to my career path and how I ended up, I think there's two things that I would do. I would probably maybe pursue an MBA. There's different career path and track that I think ultimately would have still landed me at where I'm at today. But kind of to your other point, I sat in one place for a very long time. And I think the second thing I'd say, I loved all of my experience at Marriott. I'm the type of person where, if I'm somewhere and I crave autonomy, and if I'm in a good environment, and the people are great. I'll stay I'm loyal. I'll stay there, and I will continue to add value in any way that I can. And if that means that, you know, maybe as I self reflect while I'm in there, in the moment, hmm, I'm looking at all these other people, and they have these degrees and these experiences. If I would have done that, would have had the same career trajectory, possibly, or I can just kind of lean in, work with them, get close to them, and adapt some of those same skills organically, so to speak, and then see where, see how that can help me go from there. You know, it's just, I'm also a big relationship builder. I get along with a lot of people that it's good and bad, but I'm a big relationship person, so
Andrew Maged:
11:24
if you have kind of like two two questions, if you have minimal regrets about your your career path, would you say that that also means that you you wouldn't have switched up a little bit sooner you would do the 15 years and it didn't make you love what you do any less.
Ivan Learmont:
11:43
I don't think so. Yeah, I mean, if I would have switched it up, maybe I would have switched it up a little bit sooner, maybe, maybe around that 10 year mark, right? And which is interesting, because it was exactly at the 10 year mark that I switched it up within Marriott itself, right? So I did something that was, I don't want to call it innovative at the time, but it was completely outside the scope of somebody of My role's career trajectory at Marriott at that time. So what I did was I used to work on the property level. So there were hotels in the DC market that I was overseeing, actually everything in DC and Northern Virginia, and I left that to go oversee telecom strategy for all of North and South America. And then I left that to go open hotels all oversee the team that opened hotels all across North America. So within being at a large organization, jumping over to, you know, other sub organizations within a large company, it was in a lot of ways, like, you know, leaving that and then from there. And I did two years here, threes, three years here, a couple months there, but I did, quote, unquote, quit by staying in one organization too long, one company too long. I jumped over between different organizations over that time.
Andrew Maged:
12:54
So you're kind of talking about how this has all been an experience, yeah. So would you recommend, or would you say this experience has been, like, a worth it to someone who feels interested in it and technology and like, like, what advice would you give to someone who maybe just hasn't taken that, that that step there may be debating between this and furniture, this and that. So when what would you convince them to take that jump? As in, the experience is worth it? Not like, what is your was your take on that? Technology's
Ivan Learmont:
13:31
fun, right? Like, if you're a problem solving person, if you're an analytical person, even if you're an empirical person, right? Technology has a lot of that. It has all those, those, all those, you're going to hit all those critical points in the field of technology. If you know that, you know you also have to be committed to it, right? This isn't a technology is a it's a vast term, but it's not one of those things where, all right, well, I can do this for two minutes and then move out like anybody in a sales role. Can jump around like that. You can sell cars, you can sell houses, you can sell furniture, right? And because it's the art of selling, you can rinse and repeat and do that anywhere. When you go into technology, you kind of have to pick and hone in your path, and it's going to take some time to really acclimate yourself and really develop a skill. So if you want to go into scripting, you can't just go do that for two weeks and say, All right, I mastered this. And now let me go over into, you know, network engineering. You build up to get to a point that you want to be at, yes, yes. And along that way, just know that there's going to be roadblocks, right, defining what you want to do, right? There's roadblocks there. I started with end user, kind of technology, doing the scripting, like we talked about earlier in my days. And then now I, you know, run head of technology for this organization, but at the same time, I've kind of stepped into the AV and other things. Are not just traditional, they're parts of technology, but they're not the traditional day job, day job that I've done, and those kind of things excite me. Are
Andrew Maged:
15:06
there ever days when you have a ton of work and you are like, this is something that I thrive in? Or are there? Are Do you not find yourself having those days just for someone who is like, who just wants to know, like, is there? Is there a stress that's kind of enjoyable? It's like, it's a like, like, a thrill. So
Ivan Learmont:
15:24
I'm gonna answer that in two parts. I believe that, and your mom will actually, she can attest to this. I have a saying that I try to indoctrinate around here, one team, one dream, living the dream like. I don't just say those, that's my tagline, but I don't just say it. I believe in it, right? So I stress the amount that I allow myself to get stressed. If that makes sense, right? My stress level is only as high as I allow it to be. In other words, that's number one. Number two, I work incredibly well under pressure. You, you know, witness some things happening behind the scenes prior, and, yeah, and you're just like, you get it, yeah, you know, it's, it's, it's one of those things where I, like, I'm driven by problem solving, and I'm driven, driven by finding solutions, right? That's, that's what drive like, truly, inside, that's what drives me. So if I, if there's a problem, I don't look at it as there's an issue. I see an opportunity, right? It's an opportunity to learn. Well, why did this happen? How do we prevent it in the future? But then it's also, oh, wow, cool. Done this thing this way. So many times it was outside my realm of possibility that this issue would be caused. Now, we have to go about solving it. But, you know, just kind of put something in the toolbox and it keeps the hamster on the wheel, so to speak. That's That in itself, doesn't allow me to get bored. Now, if you want to talk about my day drop my day job, right? You know, cyber security, just overall technology. I also oversee Facilities and Operations at this firm as well. So, like, I'm never bored, kind of, like the hospitality no one day is the same. Here's
Andrew Maged:
16:54
kind of, it's always, you're always, kind of going back and forth. So we have a great team
Ivan Learmont:
16:58
here. You met Brandon and a few others, but we have a great team here, and we're just, we try to run like a well oiled machine at all times, and we try to keep each everybody in tune, in touch. Just, you know, hold each other accountable. Also, make sure that we have fun, make sure that we celebrate each other, make sure that we lift each other up. And just, you know, I don't allow negativity around Okay,
Andrew Maged:
17:22
so this is that was really interesting, because I think for for someone watching it, can kind of give them the idea that if you want to pursue this career and actually have sustain yourself in the long run, you have to go in with a mindset when you have to, honestly, not even just force yourself the mindset you kind of, this is my if you have This mindset of, they'll really benefit you. Of just problem solving. There are no problems without, like, a solution like, and just being able to explore these problems and just not kind of go in, mean, like, this happened, what do I do? What I do? Just learning, learning, learning. That's right. So I think that that's, that's a very interesting way to think about it. So
Ivan Learmont:
17:59
it's, also life, right? Yeah,
Andrew Maged:
18:02
so I think, I think I just have one or two more questions. So first one is, when you look back, like all the way back when you were younger, and now where you are today, not just where you were when you did hospitality work, when you look today, would you say that you reached the goals that you set as a kid, when you were 13?
Ivan Learmont:
18:22
Wow, that's a great question. Yes, when I was younger, professional goals, that's tough to answer. Life goals, yes, I wanted to have, you know, I wanted to raise a family, right? Like, family means a lot to me. So I grew up surrounded by older cousins who were also kind of like siblings. And I got to watch them grow and develop through college, high school, high school, college, etc, in real time. And it really kind of shaped my being in following them like I get a lot of slack that I was the oldest 12 year old that a lot of people knew I was like 12 going on 30, right? Just because of the environment that I was around, so that, wanting to have a family, wanting to be successful, wanting to be able to provide, and wanting to have fun, all those things, I've checked all those boxes and then some. Career wise, when I was in engineering in undergrad. I really, I thought I wanted to do chip design, right? So I'll give you a fun fact, your iPhone as you know it, right? Oh, sorry
Andrew Maged:
19:31
to interrupt, like, like, when you mean chip, you mean like, like, like, motherboard type. That's
Ivan Learmont:
19:36
the track that I was on in my junior year of college, right? So, like, engineering at my school, computer and electrical the first two years were kind of the same. So, like, I had friends that were electrical, I was on the computer side. We all had the same classes. And then kind of junior year you, you, you switch off, freshman, sophomore, the same junior, senior, you switch off. And in my junior year, I thought that I really. Wanted to do chip design, like VHDL, all this other stuff. I can bore you with the details, but I was really in it, right? Like, there's a thing called breadboard and, oh yeah, breadboard plugin, yeah. So I was really, really into that. And then I found love. So my college sweetheart is now my wife, and I had this weird inflection point of, well, I love her, but also, at the same time, I have to spend a lot of time in the lab, so I've had to choose one or the other. Going back to that when I was younger, and I admired family, and I wanted to, I wanted to grow a family, it was like, Well, I don't want to lose this. I can always come back to that. So I chose the one path. And I'm not saying, honey, if you watch this, I'm not regretting that, but I chose that path because, you know, I'm also like a very I'm sort of extroverted, I'm a very social person. And then I had, because I chose that path, I had to force myself to go a different way with an engineering that's kind of where I went to the network side, which in Computer Management and network management, which was emerging still at that time. So it's not like I I did the well, I may fall back to the furniture sales, as we were talking before, but I did. I did something that was different, but not what my true love and my passion was at that time. So you asked if I were to go back and change something, maybe I'd find a way to do that and love because I think I'd be in a completely different space. I started to bring up the iPhone. So my senior year in a lab. They were a professor and a student, grad student at my university. They spun out of the lab. They spun out this company. And it was a keyboard that was supposed to help folks that had dyslexia and other, you know, she was,
Andrew Maged:
21:51
like, some type of, not like ergonomic, with some type of, like, specialty, yeah. And,
Ivan Learmont:
21:56
well, Apple liked it and bought it because that's when they were developing their iPhone product. And the thing about the keyboard was it was kind of like a mirrored that keyboard. What they designed physically, it was like a almost like a plastic rollout, and it was a mirror, a backwards mirror, of a keyboard. And when you think about it, and again, don't quote, it's been so long, but they bought the company so that they can use the technology, so that was the touchscreen of the glass on the phone as we use it today. Because really, when you're touching the key over here, it's really the other side of the keyboard. Is how they explain,
Andrew Maged:
22:27
oh, it's like, because it's bad, it's on the other side of it,
Ivan Learmont:
22:30
right? So they bought that company, bought the technology, had the rights, and then they just iPhone is just kind of been running the game now, obviously there's Android, and there's all sorts of, I, you know, other things that are touch, touchscreen to use as a keyboard to the to this day, but they were the pioneers in that space. And if I would have stayed on that chip side, high probability that maybe involvement with a company like that, or some other spin out, out of a lab similar to the work that we do here, you know, at North pond, with spin outs of labs from in the in the life sciences, in the biotech space. But that is something that I think about sometimes. I think about it. Often it's like, wow, well, missed opportunity, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I love you, honey.
Andrew Maged:
23:15
Okay, so I have two more questions, one I was intentionally gonna ask before, and then another one's gonna is gonna be my last question. But this one I'm asking, is it kind of about going back to high school, so college and applying to college and knowing what you want to do in high school. I mean, it's the most stressful thing for so many kids. They have no clue what they want to do. So even just with like, what, what is your perspective on that, especially with applying to you Delaware and what, what you what you chose your major in, what you wanted to go there for. Why did you go there? Like, what? What was your mindset throughout the whole college application process?
Ivan Learmont:
23:52
Um, that's a great question so, and I'll tell you how it landed at Delaware. But that's a great question, because I think first of all, there were probably less options back in my day, right? So I knew I wanted to do something with computers at my school, was computer engineering or computer science, and then on the computer science side, it was like, Well, I've done that, like, I mean, not to the not to the collegiate level, but I knew enough about that because of scripting, and I kind of knew what I didn't want to do. I knew nothing about the on the engineering side, other than, you know, robotics and things like that that were still kind of emerging, but in telecommunications, but I wasn't as experienced with that. Remember, I liked I craved challenges. I crave problem solving, the solutions. So I wanted to go that way. Today's world, there are, it's almost like they break down all the things that I learned in engineering, and those are specific majors. So I tip my hat to you as you're trying to look towards that, and I'll try to give you the best advice that I can based on my past experience. But it was I wanted to I think the driving force for me was I knew I wanted to go to college. I knew I wanted to pursue an event. Degree, and I wanted to leave the state. I grew up in New Jersey, so I wanted to leave the state. So, like, whatever I did, I was leaving the state, and I wanted to go experience somewhere else, but I didn't want to go too far away from family. So I actually applied the schools I applied to and got into her University of Maryland, College Park here, RIT Carnegie Mellon, and and a few other schools, because they, you know, they leading engineering and technology programs. How I landed at University and University of Delaware, I also applied to grade school. How I landed there, though, or what was my real push to get there? I received a four year full ride scholarship to pursue computer engineering, and it was, I was awarded a scholarship as a the high school that I went to, there was a gentleman who went to my high school, who also went to University of Delaware, and he was looking for, you know, students who were really looking to pursue kind of just degrees outside of just the normal, you know, there were some business degrees and Things like that. But engineering, there were some students that were pursuing medical degrees, and he was looking to try to help those so, like, being able to say, I went to school for free, right? Versus the whole tuition, and otherwise, yeah, you know, my parents also helped me make that, yeah, it's free. Yeah, it's free. Like, how can you pass it up? From there built a relationship, and that's where it got tough. So when I had a job lined up, when I was ready to graduate undergrad, and my wife was looking for grad school, and she dragged me with her to this like I had my mind made up. I was ready to work, and I was done with pursuing more education, I couldn't read another book, or I could use a break. And my wife had her mind made up that she was going to grad school, so I went with her to this program. Came across the hospitality school at UD, and they were looking for somebody like me who can help develop emerging technologies. Right? Use that, use the tech brain to help develop emerging technologies and then teach me the hospitality stuff. And they were trying to, you know, do a new program at the School of Business. So it was, like, a win, win. It was like, hey, so would you like to go here for free? And I was like, Well, sure, I just did this for four years. What's another two? Right? So that's another reason why. Also, I would never, I look at my college experience as like such a blessing. It was a blessing all the way through in every I truly believe that every step that I've made since there is maybe it's divine timing, but I kind of hearken back to something that I learned in my previous degree. You asked before, was there any time where I felt like I'd learned something and I've never used it? There's never been a point in my career where I haven't used something with my degree, with any of my degrees, that ever so I've been
Andrew Maged:
27:46
really interesting. And then so one final question, I don't know if you have kids. I don't know if you don't. I don't know if to you two kids. So two dogs, so for all four of your kids, would you feel the same way, like, would you want them to do what you did and get a career in something outside of what you know about and outside what's familiar to you have do you feel like it's your role to push them to do what they want to do, to learn more and to maybe gain new experiences and then choose what they want to do? Because, I mean, that's what you did. You kind of branched out. It was risky. And would you want the same thing for your kids and or would you, or did you? How did you feel about that?
Ivan Learmont:
28:27
Absolutely, I want to encourage them to be entrepreneurs first and foremost. And that doesn't necessarily mean go create your own business and try to sell and hustle and do things like that. Sure, if it lands that way, great, but entrepreneurs in thought, right? So similar to like, my path, something that was completely outside of my parents, my fam, my immediate family, scope. And I want to make sure that I show them the love and support that in with some guardrails, like, hey, I want to go do this. No, you don't, right, but with some guardrails, I want to make sure that they know that they're supported by their parents, and that I don't want to ever put a block on their creativity, right? Like my kids are three and five, right? So I find sometimes when I say no to them about things like, I see it on their face, it's like, the disappointment, and it's like, well, well, to know to that because you have to go to bed. But at the same time, I don't want that to become i Well, why? Why do you feel this way now? And they explain it to me and it's like, oh, wow, that's a great perspective, right? So I'm always gonna, you're still gonna bet kid, but I'm always gonna, you know, do whatever I can to help motivate them to think outside the box, be their own person. Speak up every day, each of my kids, we have, like, a handshake again, three and five, we have a handshake. They each have their own, like individual handshake. And before they leave me, when they get out the car, they Daddy, I'm big, I'm brave, I'm strong. So like, that's the values that I put in them, just in life, and I hope it carries over to their entrepreneurial spirit. It in whatever they decide to do. But one thing's for sure, they're not going to live for free, right? They can. I got them through high school, if they they if they pursue college, right? The pressure's on for four year scholarship. Yeah, yeah. The pressure is on. The pressure is on. Set a high bar on that, I guess. But whatever they want to do always going to be supportive. I'm trying to channel into the power of Yes, but I'm also going to be reasonable and have guardrails there. Okay,
Andrew Maged:
30:26
thank you. All right, cool. Thank you. You.
