The PowerShell Podcast

Paula Kingsley, a senior IT leader, longtime consultant, automation and PowerShell enthusiast, eight-time Microsoft MVP for Exchange Server, and happy generalist, joins Andrew for a wide-ranging conversation about her tech journey and what it actually looks like to grow from deep hands-on work into technology leadership. They kick things off with a topic near and dear to a lot of PowerShell folks: the ISE-to-VS Code migration. Paula was terrified of it, put it off for as long as she could, and now uses VS Code every single day.

From there, the conversation opens up into what consulting taught her about solving problems, how being a generalist can be a genuine advantage, why documentation and communication matter as much as technical skill, and what it means to keep the human side of technology alive as you move up. Paula also drops some solid practical PowerShell wisdom along the way, from always including WhatIf support in your functions to the very important reminder that Get is safe and Set is something else entirely.

Key Takeaways:

Making the jump from ISE to VS Code feels daunting, but the move is absolutely worth it. The secret is forcing yourself to open it first and just leaving it open until the habit takes hold.

Being a generalist isn't a weakness. The ability to see across systems, communicate up and down, and translate technical work into business outcomes is a real and undervalued skill.

Always build yourself an escape route. WhatIf and ShouldProcess aren't just best practices, they're the difference between a confident deployment and a very bad afternoon.

Guest Bio:
Paula Kingsley is an outcome-driven senior IT leader, technology operations and engineering expert, eight-time Microsoft MVP for Exchange Server, and self-described happy generalist. Her path into tech started with a liberal arts degree and eventually led through boutique IT consulting, enterprise infrastructure, global production operations, automation, cloud, AI, and a deep appreciation for PowerShell. Paula has built her career around solving problems, simplifying workflows, removing friction, and helping technical teams work better at scale. She is senior enough to shape strategy and steer practices, still hands-on enough to fix things herself, and yes, she even likes regex. You can find her on GitHub as lanwench and on LinkedIn.

Resource Links:

Paula Kingsley on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulakingsley/

Paula Kingsley on GitHub – https://github.com/lanwench

Connect with Andrew – https://andrewpla.tech/links/

PDQ Discord – https://discord.gg/pdq

The PowerShell Podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WLNVCW7S8BE

This episode of the PowerShell Podcast After Dark captures two candid bar-session conversations from the PowerShell and DevOps Global Summit, centered on community, career growth, and the real-world value of putting yourself out there. In the first segment, Josh Dearing talks about attending his first Summit, building PowerShell modules, learning from failure, and using automation to improve systems and processes in higher education.

In the second, Jeff Wardlaw reflects on finally attending the event in person, the impact of meeting the people behind the tools and community, and the broader lessons around perspective, technical leadership, communication, and problem-solving. Across both conversations, the theme is clear, PowerShell is not just a toolset, it is a way into a generous technical community where curiosity, experimentation, and shared learning can meaningfully shape a career.

The PowerShell Podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NyT_A1hSH_M

Lucas Allman joins the PowerShell Podcast for a conversation that starts with practical beginner wins and builds into bigger questions about AI, learning, community, and career growth in IT. The episode covers hands-on PowerShell use cases like event logs, scheduled tasks, and writing functions directly in the terminal, then shifts into Lucas’s experience as a first-time PowerShell Summit speaker and his evolving perspective on AI as a tool for both productivity and learning. It lands on a strong human note, with Lucas reflecting on impostor syndrome, keeping up with change, and why curiosity and community still matter just as much as technical skill.

Key Takeaways:
· Event logs are a great early PowerShell win. Lucas walks through using Get-WinEvent to explore logs, filter for errors, search messages, and troubleshoot faster without waiting on the Event Viewer GUI. He also shares a practical tip for reusing XML or XPath filters from Event Viewer inside PowerShell scripts.
· You can do more from the terminal than most people realize. Lucas explains how he writes full functions directly in the interactive shell, then saves them with a custom helper function so good code does not disappear when the session closes. It is a simple idea, but it opens the door to faster experimentation and building tools in the flow of work.
· AI is changing how technical people work, but not eliminating the need for judgment. A big part of the Summit discussion centered on using AI as a collaborator, not a replacement. Lucas argues that the real opportunity is to offload repetitive work, learn faster, and free up more time for higher-value problem solving, while still applying technical knowledge and critical thinking to the results.

Guest Bio:
Lucas Allman is an IT automation specialist with a passion for building practical, scalable solutions using PowerShell. With deep experience in endpoint management, configuration as code, and Microsoft cloud services like Intune and Graph API, Lucas focuses on making complex workflows maintainable, secure, and efficient. He’s an advocate for knowledge sharing and enjoys helping others level up their scripting and automation skills through real-world examples and interactive problem-solving. He had ChatGPT write this bio and says it’s close enough.

Resource Links:
· Lucas Allman website: https://lucasallman.com

· Connect with Andrew: https://andrewpla.tech/links

· PDQ Discord: https://discord.gg/PDQ

· PowerShell.org GitHub organization: https://github.com/powershellorg

The PowerShell Podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kcjkCS0QN64

At the PowerShell and DevOps Global Summit, this after-dark bar session blends casual conversation with a real sense of why the event matters. Brian Quinn talks about returning for his second Summit, filling in PowerShell fundamentals, and bringing back practical skills like remoting, advanced functions, modules, testing, and version control to improve how his team handles identity and access management.

Scott Lemonde reflects on what keeps drawing him back, not just the technical knowledge, but the community, the friendships, and the way Summit gives people confidence, perspective, and momentum in their careers. Across both conversations, the theme is clear: PowerShell is not just a tool, it is a shared journey of growth, automation, problem-solving, and finding your people in a field that can otherwise feel pretty isolating.

See the PowerShell Podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/akrQSKoKjDI

This episode captures the energy of PowerShell Summit through two conversations, one with Gilbert Sanchez and one with Joshua Dearing. The discussion moves from open source maintenance and the future of PowerShell in AI workflows to the human side of technical communities, including burnout, neurodiversity, mentorship, and the value of showing up in person. It also highlights how PowerShell can change careers over time, not just by teaching syntax, but by opening doors to better communication, stronger community ties, and bigger technical thinking.

Key Takeaways:
· Community is often the unlock, not just the tooling. Both conversations reinforce that Summit’s real value is the people, the hallway conversations, and the sense that learning gets easier when you have others around you who are willing to help.
· Sustainable technical growth matters more than short bursts of output. Gilbert talks about burnout, open source maintenance, and creating healthier ways to contribute, while Andrew connects that to ADHD, mental health, and building a career that can last.
· PowerShell is a starting point for much bigger opportunities. Joshua’s story, from community member to module author, reflects a broader theme in the episode that small steps, taken consistently, can completely reshape what kind of work you can do and who you can become in the field.

Guest Bio:
Gilbert Sanchez is a Staff Software Development Engineer at Tesla, specifically working on PowerShell. Formerly known as "Señor Systems Engineer" at Meta. A loud advocate for DEI, DevEx, DevOps, and TDD.

Resource Links:
· PSake: https://psake.dev
· Gilbert Sanchez links: https://links.gilbertsanchez.com
· Gilbert Sanchez blog: https://gilbertsanchez.com

Josh is a systems administrator with a philosophy degree and a helpdesk origin story. He's a speaker, open source contributor, creator of ModuleExplorer, and a PDQ Sysadmin Hall of Fame winner. He's a firm believer that the best script is the one you don't keep to yourself.

· Joshua Dearing's website: https://dearing.dev

The PowerShell Podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XJAbZgOVMF4