5G Talent Talk with Carrie Charles (00:00)
for joining me today on 5G Talent Talk. I'm Carrie Charles, your host, and we have a really exciting show for you today. One of my dear friends is with me, Michelle Boexley, and she is the Chief Growth Officer of Pilot Global Technologies. Michelle, I'm so glad you're here. Carrie, I'm so glad we got to do this. I know it took some real effort, but here we are. Yes, no, I'm super, super excited. So,

I, you know, a woman, a powerful woman in telecom, you've done so much, accomplished so much, and I have so much respect for you. Can you talk about your story? How did you get into the industry? How did you start your first company? Absolutely. Actually, it's an interesting story because I did not come from telecommunications or technology at all, but I had a sales background and...

Back in the 90s, I got a phone call from a friend of mine who was a technology recruiter and asked me if I'd be interested or if I had known anything about computers and if I'd be interested in working for a technology company. And of course that was really interesting to me. And I kind of fudged my way a little and said, yeah, of course I know technology. I mean, after all, I had turned on a computer. There you go.

So he had gotten me into an interview and I started my first IT sales role right before the Y2K concern was going on, which was a great time to learn about technology and the concerns of systems. And that's when it began. I started selling IT services. So then you started your company, Von Technologies, right?

forward to 2006 after working for a few organizations that went through some acquisitions and mergers and some changes that really I could see weren't a good path for me professionally. And I like to call it an entrepreneurial seizure because I really never had the intention to start a company. But I had the frustration.

of corporate America and said, let's go do this. And really got a core team of people that I trusted and that believed in me. And we started Von Technologies and really focused in an area that I felt was a gap in the marketplace and tying in those services and capabilities that the OEMs and the VARs, the seller of network equipment really weren't doing well.

and focused on rolling out technology to enterprise corporations. So recently, there's been a merger of three companies that created pilot global technologies. So tell me that story and also what you do, who you serve, a little bit about the whole picture. Sure. So flash forward from 2006 to...

October of 2023. In between that time, Von Technologies really did grow a reputation and expertise around network infrastructure, and particularly indoor and outdoor wireless. When COVID hit, I think everybody really recognized this disparity out there and connectivity in underserved and unserved communities and the impact that had on their lives.

all the way from education to healthcare, to access to opportunities that people in a more connected world have available to them. During that time, I was recognizing there was some technology out there, industrial mesh, that could help solve this underserved community. And really wanted to focus on getting

a connection there leveraging some technology that didn't exist. And I started working with some engineers and asking them to help build this out. And we were really kind of far apart. As many people know, entrepreneurs have great ideas and not everyone can get them out of the garage. You know, not everyone really knows how to take an idea, build it and execute on it.

During COVID, I had remodeled my organization and really brought back only engineers, lead SMEs and project managers and started leveraging partners to help me with deploying and beating those feet on the street, actually touching the equipment on site. That really opened up an opportunity for me to make a relationship.

with a company called Pilot Services. And Kim Warren, the CEO of Pilot and I have known each other for many years. We had such a fantastic relationship. We both worked with some of the major carriers and started realizing where our synergies laid. We used to think of ourselves as competitors and we realized we are so strong together.

over the past two years, 22, 23, we started deploying some very large enterprise projects together with a combination of my SMEs, my project managers, and her footprint of over 2 ,500 technicians across the country. Very powerful, allowing me to double in 22, double again in 23, and really kind of focus,

on emerging technologies while quite frankly, she was able to deploy and manage a lot of our large customers. As we started having dialogue about where I was really feeling strongly and where I wanted to spend my attention and how I might be able to work with her in getting this emerging technology into the marketplace, I discovered that she also owned a company called

Crosswind Solutions. Crosswind built two products from the ground up, their own UCAS and their own SD -WAN over 10 years ago. Before SD -WAN was even a thing. And that was very exciting to me. And as we started having a dialogue, it came to light that together these three organizations could build this technology.

and bring it to the marketplace very quickly. So October of 23, we merged all three companies and formed Pilot Global Technologies. And I shifted my focus into the Chief Growth Marketing Officer and focusing on getting this into the market. So I want to hear more about that new technology. It's called OptiMesh.

It's probably providing me the most rewarding opportunities in my career. It is so impactful, Carrie. There are so many areas out there right now that the ISPs are challenged to getting internet into because of the cost, whether it be because of terrain or because of the density and lack of population subscribers that will give them that return on investment.

once they have built that network. And our OptiMesh technology has the ability to connect to any backhaul, whether it's cellular, fiber, or satellite, and extend that out into those remote areas at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional build -outs. It works with existing infrastructure.

and helps us as what we would like to describe as a gap network, helps us get these areas connected while they're waiting for fiber build -outs. As we know, there's a lot of limits to permitting the time to market resources, materials to getting traditional solutions laid out. That's a...

very big impact to these communities who aren't connected today. Even where there are ISPs that are trying to build, they're not building, their roadmap is three, four, five years before they're actually gonna get there. So we're excited that we can actually kind of take their last point of presence, their last mile and extend those and get those communities tied to internet quicker than traditional.

solutions. Okay, this is exciting. This is, can we talk about a case study that is, you know, something that has been accomplished? You can give two case studies if you'd like. I'd love to hear more about this. I'm so excited about it because we, you know, I think people don't understand the impact of getting internet connectivity. We take it such for granted. Imagine if your kids can't get online. Imagine during COVID,

that you couldn't work from home, that your kids couldn't study from home. We have communities out there that exist that there is no connectivity. And even where there is, access is one thing, but adaptability is another thing, and affordability. If people have to choose between paying for their groceries or internet, I think we know what's gonna win.

So it's really important to be able to get affordable connections into these communities. We have one university in an underserved community that we've been talking to who is struggling to get grants for certain types of research because they don't have the connections on their campus. We started having conversations with them and doing a proof of concept to take...

fiber from one of their academic buildings and get connections to their faculty and student housing that was built across the street. Could you imagine a dormitory that's not connected? That's a really hard sell for tuition and encouraging enrollment at their university. When we got there, we did a design.

and proved out that we could connect this community in a matter of weeks at a fraction of the cost of running fiber under that street to light them up. What we learned when we were talking to them was they had actually been awarded a grant two years ago to go towards refurbishing these dormitories and faculty housing. They had to halt that program.

and that bill because they couldn't get connectivity to the buildings. We were so excited to learn that now that we're able to provide that for them, they can go back and take the funding that they were awarded over two years ago and start refurbishing these dormitories because now they're connected. That's powerful. That is, I just got chills. What about you would do some work with tribal nations as well, right? What were the opportunities there?

We do, you know, they're a very unique community. They're sovereign nations that have sacred lands that are typically and unfortunately in some of the hardest terrain we have in our country. They, many of them have a small density, has low population. And it's unfortunate that a lot of the carriers aren't as invested in getting these communities connected because of the cost.

and because of the return where there are not communities that double, triple over the years in population. We are working with a large carrier who admittedly said, we are not going to be doing build -outs in this particular area or region for the next two years. But we would like to see if by working with OptiMesh, we could leverage some...

fiber that's already there that they had put in for emergency services and perhaps leverage that connectivity to their community. Knowing that they weren't going to be there for two years and knowing that of the 650 residents in a 15 square mile rough terrain area,

this carrier told them it would take about nine to 11 million to get fiber to each of their homes. That's a lot. And they weren't gonna start for two years anyway. We went out there and looked at the two 10 gig pipes that were already there and what it would take to extend those to those residents on that tribal nation and learned that we were able to do it for $1 .3 million in eight weeks.

Wow, Michelle. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. So what are the challenges that you're facing right now getting this new tech to market? I mean, it just sounds like it solves a major problem. It fills a gap. It's needed. I mean, yes, yes, yes, yes. So what challenges are you facing? You know what? Awareness. We're a small company. We are trying to...

get our awareness out there of what this technology can do and how it integrates with their current environment. We're not trying to displace any of the carriers. We're trying to empower the communities to be able to get connectivity quickly. We're looking at models where we can partner with the communities and the carriers and put a partnership together where we can leverage their last mile and get these

these communities connected quickly. We realize that a lot of grant money has come into their hands and their mission is all towards fiber. But as I mentioned, some of these build out plans are four, five, six years down the road. Some of these carriers really need to focus on what we call immediate impact solutions. And in parallel to these build outs,

start looking at these areas that are on their year three, four, five roadmap and how we can connect them today instead of in five years. So we really are trying to get our word out as much as possible to those industries that, those areas of communities that are in need. We're trying to find partners.

who are assisting these communities that don't have the bandwidth or skill sets to actually go out and apply for the available funding that they have for this kind of technology. We're looking for partners who will lean in to emerging technologies and be what we call first to market, early adopters, not fast followers.

And we're looking for organizations that are philanthropic or have funds that are focused on unserved and underserved communities that can make an impact. So what? Not much. Yeah. Is that it? Easy. Easy, easy.

Well, this is a global podcast. So there's a lot of people listening here. This is a global solution, right? I mean, this is technology that can be taken all over the world. I mean, our focus naturally has been here in the US and there's a lot of funding going towards these areas. And it's been recognized by many of the broadband offices throughout the states that traditional solutions are not going to

be the answer, the total answer. There are gaps and they have to figure out how to close those. Right, right. So what is your vision? Let's say the longer term vision here. Our longer term vision is to be working with communities, municipalities, education institutions and empowering them to connect.

and be a growth engine for their own community, for private partnerships with the carriers and the communities to be able to offer these types of services and not just connection, right? It goes beyond getting connected. It's that adoptability. It's closing that digital divide and not just the connection, but now how do we show them how to use the internet? How do we provide digital literacy classes?

How do we connect them with the local hospitals that might be two hours away from people and telemedicine has never been an option? How do we teach them to start businesses from their homes and be able to sell products online, e -commerce? That's my vision, to impact millions of lives and help these small underserved communities become self -sustained.

and become economic engines of growth for their residents. I'll tell you, one of the, I guess the mark of a great entrepreneur is someone who has passion and they really, really believe in that vision. And Michelle, every time I talk to you, not just for this podcast, but every time I talk to you, you are so passionate about this subject, about bridging the digital divide and people who don't have connectivity and...

I mean, you really feel it inside your soul. It's hard for me to see this happen when there's solutions. And it's hard for me to see people who have the ability to make this happen turn away and not put the attention and effort towards it. Yes. Yes.

Michelle, how can we reach you, learn more about Pilot Global, OptiMesh, everything that we talked about today? Well, first, for sure, please visit our website, pilotgt .com, and you can find all kinds of information about our organization, about our capabilities, our history, and of course, about OptiMesh. And anybody who would like to reach out to me directly,

please email me at mboexley, B -O -E -X -L -E -Y at pilotgt .com. There you go, Michelle. This has been fantastic. And I have no doubt that you and your partner are going to accomplish this. I know you through, I mean, we've been at events together through the.

the EY community and I just know you're gonna do this. So. Thank you. Well, with the help of people like you and those listeners, we certainly can make a difference. Yes, yes we can. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Bye bye. Bye.