The Gateway Triangle is a podcast series featured on The Global Gateway, Cisco's customer advocacy community with thousands of advocates worldwide! I host the podcast along with my colleague, Rashik Rahman. The podcast features team members from Cisco's Global Advocacy organization, as well as our valued customer advocates who make The Gateway possible. We love to keep it laid back while we discuss tech, advocacy, and life in general.

In this episode, Rashik and I sit down with Michael Rhoades, who now works for Cisco as a Systems Architect! Before joining Cisco, Mike was one of the most active and enthusiastic Gateway "Rockstars." I first got to know him in the Americas Gateway community when I started in my role, and we've kept in touch ever since. We got a chance to check in with Mike to see how his transition into Cisco is going. I think it's fair to say that he's loving it so far!

"I embodied Cisco so much," Mike pointed out, "that I thought, wait a minute, I should be doing this from the Cisco side. I'm now able to help customers get as excited about Cisco products and solutions as I am. When you embrace the Cisco culture and product line, it can help your company become more successful."

The value of The Gateway, two truths and a lie

We  discussed what it was like for Mike to go from customer advocate to Cisco employee. His new role involves working with Cisco customers during the pre-sale process. He described his job as dynamic, and anyone who watches this episode can tell how excited he is by it. Mike emphasized that members of our program are getting valuable insights into Cisco that typically only employees get. He told us that he felt that he had a head start in this role, thanks to The Gateway.

"Being a Gatewayer, you're getting a peek behind the curtains more than most people think. The Gateway does really give you a first look at new products and trends in the industry. It prepped me for my role at Cisco, and the information that is in The Gateway is now part of my daily job."

As we do with every episode, we ended our chat with a game of Two Truths and a Lie! Mike played along, and I must say that he had some of the most interesting answers yet. Sign up for The Gateway to find out what he said and what his lie was!

Watch more customer advocate interviews

You might enjoy this interview with our Global Gateway customer advocate, Pierce Vasale.

Join us in The Global Gateway

For those Cisco customers who haven't yet joined our customer advocacy community, consider doing so. You'll be able to:

• Connect with peers in a gamified, online community
• Have an opportunity to meet with Cisco's executives
• Share your feedback, questions, and best practices
• Get access to "insider" content and resources
• Grow your professional and personal brand
• Amplify your company's success story with Cisco technology

Ready to get started? Head over to The Global Gateway and say hello!