Get to know Micah Ulrick, a key member of the CIO Solutions team for nearly three years! Micah is a vCIO, or Virtual Chief Information Officer, in the San Luis Obispo office. As a vCIO, he acts as a C-Suite consultant for clients, advising them on long-term strategy, security, technology budgeting, and road mapping. He and the other vCIOs form our Strategic Client Services team.

Micah attended college in Seattle (the PNW!) where he initially studied Biology/Pre-Med before switching to Business Marketing. After college, his love of cooking led him to spend a few years working for Relay Restaurant Group under Chef Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi at Joule in Seattle. His tech career began at a small e-commerce startup that grew into an Inc. 500 company, followed by nearly eight years at Xerox Corporation.

Originally from Vail, Colorado, Micah grew up in the Santa Ynez Valley. He currently lives in Grover Beach with his wife and their newborn baby boy. Micah is a self-proclaimed gearhead at heart and enjoys anything mechanical, from watches to cars to motorcycles. His hobbies don’t end there though! He also loves snowboarding, photography, and competitive shooting sports (USPSA, 3 Gun, Skeet, Olympic, and International Trap.) On weekends, you can usually find him detailing his cars or exploring the Beach Cities with his wife on their bikes.

Read on to learn more about Micah!

What would the title of your autobiography be?

How to Become Lucky and Make Friends

What has been your proudest moment at CIO Solutions?

Personally, I was honored as the Customer Success Champion in 2022 after just a year on the job. This is a peer-nominated award, given to employees for their commitment to client success and representing our “Quad Win” core value. But as a whole, I have never been as proud as watching our entire company come together for the “Great Blue Screen of Death Incident of 2024”.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I am an Eagle Scout

What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?

Always go to the bathroom when you have a chance

What was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve had?

I worked in a Photo Lab before digital cameras were a thing. Specializing in 35mm, medium, and large format developing, printing, mounting, and matting.

If you could go back to any moment in time, when would it be?

April 19, 1775, at the Battles of Lexington and Concord for the “Shot Heard Round the World”

What’s the weirdest fact you know?

1 Calorie = 4.2 kilojoules. Therefore 1 joule=1/4.2 calorie. Which is equivalent to 0.24 calories.

What’s your favorite famous or inspirational quote?

“Comparison is the thief of Joy” -Theodore Roosevelt

What’s your favorite TV show? Why?

Top Gear/The Grand Tour. Apart from great hosts with wonderful chemistry. The cinematography and audio are brilliant with good 4k TV and Dolby Sound system.

What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten? How was it?

I’m a pretty adventurous eater but I’d say Rocky Mountain Oysters (cow testicles). Surprisingly good, like a chicken nugget.

What could you give a 30-minute presentation on without any advance preparation?

Marksmanship

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Bonus: What 3 words would you use to describe CIO Solutions?

Teamwork, Trust, and Empathy

We are proud of our team of skilled and friendly individuals. It’s a unique group of collaborators and innovators who share a common “can-do” mentality paired with a fondness for gifs and puns. 

Looking for opportunities to join our team? Visit our Careers page to see all open positions in our Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Fresno offices!

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Behind the Screens- Meet Fernando Rivera

Let’s introduce you to Fernando Rivera, who has been an integral part of the team at CIO Solutions for 16 years. Fernando works out of our Costa Rica office, where he leads a team of talented and dedicated IT professionals while also performing his duties as a security solutions engineer.

Fernando lives between two of the nicest provinces in Costa Rica, Alajuela and Heredia, where he spends time with his girlfriend and his dog and enjoying the coolest sunsets. He is a fan of TV shows and series, playing video games, and taking care of his fish tanks (a self-proclaimed obsession). He started with a small tank (10 gallons) and has since moved up to a whopping 100-gallon one! Fernando’s love of nature doesn’t stop at his fish tank- he’s a nature fanatic and loves animal photography. It’s an advantage that his girlfriend owns a travel agency! He invites all to visit Costa Rica and experience the beautiful nature and diverse animals.

In his role as a security solutions engineer and Costa Rica team lead, Fernando has a lot of responsibilities. He and his team help protect our clients’ data and systems from cyber threats through cybersecurity solutions, patch management, and antivirus solutions. As a team lead, he guides, instructs, and directs his team in delivering the highest-quality service possible. Fernando recognizes the fundamental importance of embracing growth and keeping an eye on the changes in the technological world to keep our clients safe and happy. Over the years, he has earned several certifications and credentials, such as CompTIA A+, Network +, CrowdStrike Falcon Platform Technical Fundamentals, Sophos Certified Engineer, Webroot Endpoint Technical Certification, Windows 10 Technical Fundamentals, Watchguard Firmware Essential Certification, and Web Designer University.

Read on to learn more about Fernando!

What has been your proudest moment at CIO?

When I had the opportunity to visit and meet my coworkers in San Luis Obispo.

How would your family or friends describe you in three words?

Smart, trustworthy, and helpful

Who is your hero? Why?

I don’t have one hero. I have heroes: My family

What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?

Whatever you can do, give your 100%

If you could go back to any moment in time, when would it be?

College, because at my college we got the opportunity to work in a company to get a better understanding of what life really looks like for someone in that job. I got all my best knowledge during college.

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

Digital animation for movie projects

If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing, what would it be?

Water, I think is the most valuable natural thing we have and we need it in everything

What’s something you’re planning on doing in the next year that you’ve never done?

I am planning to visit one of the seven wonders of the world (Machupichu – Perú)

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Eldritch Magic used by Masters of the Mystical Arts (Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange – Marvel Comics)

What could you give a 30-minute presentation on without any advance preparation?

How to maintain a fish tank with good conditions

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Bonus: What 3 words would you use to describe CIO Solutions?

Leadership, Innovative, Competitive

We are proud of our team of skilled and friendly individuals. It’s a unique group of collaborators and innovators who share a common “can-do” mentality paired with a fondness for gifs and puns. 

Looking for opportunities to join our team? Visit our Careers page to see all open positions in our Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Fresno offices!

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Meet Kevin, a seasoned Project Engineer out of our San Luis Obispo office with six years of dedicated service at CIO Solutions (time flies!).

Born on the island of Honolulu, Hawaii, at the age of 4 Kevin moved to Perris, California. He spent much of his life in the Inland Empire, then after college, he bounced around places as far as Niagara Falls, NY. Eventually, he settled in on the Central Coast to be back with his family. When he’s not working during the week or at one of the paintball fields in Central California on the weekends, he hangs out with his 2 little white fluffy dogs, adopted in 2022.

In his role as a Project Engineer, Kevin is responsible for building new servers and networks, along with managing that infrastructure through various projects. He and the rest of the project team do a little of everything, from patching urgent security vulnerabilities to migrating applications and email platforms. “There’s actually very little technical stuff I can think of that we don’t take on in this department.”

Armed with a trifecta of CompTIA certifications—A+, Network+, and Security+—Kevin’s expertise extends beyond the norm, boasting a deep understanding of Linux systems that he cultivated after spending a long time as a community contributor to various Linux distributions before embarking on his IT career.

He loves playing with embedded systems like off-the-shelf routers, NAS, or set-top-boxes and is proficient in C++, Ruby, and various shell-scripting languages. With a knack for diving into the intricacies of technology, Kevin is a true example of the blend of technical mastery and relentless curiosity that drives innovation!

Read on to learn more about Kevin!

What has been your proudest moment at CIO?

Probably winning tech-of-the-year and rookie-of-the-year in 2018. Talk about a surprise. Who knew interns could even be nominated for such things?

What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?

“You have to dress for the job you want, not the job you have, and you have to start doing the work you want to be doing.” along with “Fake it ’til you make it” memes. I’ve found a lot of truth in similar advice over the years from my parents and mentors that you just have to: believe in yourself, persevere every day, and keep your eye on the goal.

What was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve had?

I managed a cell phone accessories kiosk in the mall to support myself through college. You learn a lot about persuasion, pitching, and haggling in that kind of job. I laugh at it now, because that’s not at all what I thought I’d be any good at.

Would you rather be the funniest or smartest person in the room? Why?

Funniest. I think people who can entertain and resonate with others’ sense of humor have an incredible gift. To gain favor through interaction is a lot of what leads to successful outcomes in whatever the case may be. Funny people have that going for them.

If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing, what would it be?

Paintballs. If you know me, you probably saw that one coming a mile away.

What’s something you’re planning on doing in the next year that you’ve never done?

Travel to Europe. Need to knock that off my bucket list. Everyone says it’s amazing.

What do you pretend to hate but actually love?

Cooking. Truth reveal: I pretend I don’t like it because I don’t want to cook for you, in case you don’t like it. But I actually do cook a lot and hardly go out to eat.

What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten? How was it?

“Balut” it’s a Filipino delicacy. Google it. It’s like chicken broth in a shell if you eat it with your eyes closed.

If your life were a movie, who would play you?

For the lulz, Werner Herzog. I think it would be hilarious to see him play anyone in a biopic. Just look and listen to the man in any interaction.

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Bonus: What 3 words would you use to describe CIO Solutions?

Excellence, Organized, Fun

We are proud of our team of skilled and friendly individuals. It’s a unique group of collaborators and innovators who share a common “can-do” mentality paired with a fondness for gifs and puns. 

Looking for opportunities to join our team? Visit our Careers page to see all open positions in our Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Fresno offices!

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