Consultant Joel Benge, founder of MessageSpecs talks with Michi Lantz about why smart founders get blank stares, how expertise turns into “expertise myopia,” and what happens when an inventive solo founder becomes the bottleneck in his own growth.

Joel Benge is the principal consultant at MessageSpecs. He supports technical organizations in creating technically-accurate and textually-beautiful stories and messages. He works closely with clients to connect their business objectives to the human emotions and motivations of their target audiences — creating content that gets attention, gets remembered, and gets results. He has over 25 years in IT, cybersecurity, and marketing.

Joel has worked for companies from NASA to Nickelodeon, along with several other organizations that start with different letters than N. A background in theater, education, and video games naturally led to a role in IT Security (naturally), where he developed a knack for explaining complex technical subjects to non-tech and senior leadership audiences. After several stints in network and security operations centers, he discovered a burning passion for turning compliance reports into works of art and applied for a compliance role at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

His resume was flagged as “a nerd who talks good,” and he served for seven years as the principal Cybersecurity Communications Manager for the DHS Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer.

A brief career layover as Director of Communications and Risk Evangelist for a cybersecurity startup led to speaking opportunities in Zürich, Switzerland, the RSA Conference, and a private audience at the White House. Joel is a proponent of the series comma, a husband and father, and (poorly) plays the didgeridoo.

Connect with Joel Benge
Website:https://www.nerdthattalksgood.com
Business website:https://www.messagespecs.com
Book page:https://www.messagespecs.com/book

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:
Mirasee

Credits:
Host & Producer: Michi Lantz
Editor: Michi Lantz
Executive Producer: Danny Iny

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