Name:
Joe

In what part of town do you live?
I live right across from Miami zoo.

How long have you lived in the area?
Eight or nice years in this area. But. I was born and raised in Miami.

Did you always think you’d stay here?
I never thought I would stay here. I always thought I would move on, but I found a good company and have settled deeper roots into Miami. Deeper than what I thought.

Tell us a little bit about the what keeps you busy during the week?
I work for a home automation company. We create large scale network infrastructures for big businesses, humongous yachts, or mansions. Think of it as a super private Comcast.

How did you get into this field?
Originally I went to school for information technology and then started looking to networking, got my CCNA. From there, I found this company. It was my first major networking company and I just grew with them.

Can you share about one of the cool jobs you’ve worked on?
There’s so many big jobs. But, I can’t name names. We get a lot of athletes. We did a famous comedian’s house, that will always stand out to me. We’re really just setting up switches, APs, and configuring a large complicated network. So I didn’t get to meet them, but I do know how their internet works.

What is the process like when you’re working with a client?
We work with their integrator, so we don’t sell directly to the client. The client acquires an integrator who comes to us and we set up their network and then hand off the networks to one of our techs and they’ll configure it. First thing would be the quoting. That includes figuring out the size of the space and the kind of data flow needed, the security and then setting up their internal network what’s going in it. Its gets complicated.

Are you specifically focused on the networking side or the automation side?
I’m specifically on the networking side, but we do have a home automation side.

Is there equipment that you typically use that you recommend?
If we’re talking gear, we, specifically in this company, we use Ruckus for switches.  For our firewalls, we either use a company called Fortigate or Sonicwall. For wireless AP (access point), it would be Ruckus as well.

What’s the future of networking? Where’s the industry going?
Funny enough, my boss is now at a conference called Big Dog, in Austin. We’re waiting to hear back from him once he comes back on the cutting edge technology. I’m just focused on working and making sure it all works.

Seems like you’ve got the perfect skillset to build your own crypto mining rig. Has that crossed your mind?
It’s something on my back burner, something I want to do.

What do you enjoy outside of work?
I go to Jujitsu a lot. That’s why I get your smoothies. That’s the only thing fueling me through everything, man.

How long have you been doing jujitsu?
Five years now.

What lessons have you learned from jujitsu?
I learned, you’re always gonna be down so never give up. You just have to keep pushing through, no matter how tired or how bad the day is, you just have to keep moving forward. At the end of the day, there are people working or outworking you. That was a valuable lesson.

How did you discover LNB Grovestand?
My girlfriend and Instagram. One day, she was like, look at this smoothie spot – it’s right next to our house. I mean, I Like organic smoothies. Now, I keep coming because you guys are awesome and the smoothies are fantastic. But, it’s not just the smoothies, it’s the whole atmosphere. You make a Sunday very notable.

What do you pick up when you come by?
It depends on what’s on the menu, but normally I always pick up three smoothies. One for me, one from my girlfriend, one for my brother. I’ll always get the ice cream. should be getting more fruit and I’ll always get the raw honey. I can’t live without that. And, when it’s in season – the guacamole.

What would you like to see more of, what can we do better?
I think you guys are perfect right now. I guess, have bagels on Saturdays as well. Right now, you’re an 11 out of 10 for me.

What other local spots do you enjoy that you can recommend?
I’m not a big restaurant kind of guy. I always recommend Flanigan’s to everybody. Up north there’s a place called Izziban that’s good for Korean barbecue.

What about for a special occasion?
The last was at Chef Adrianne’s in Town and Country.

What’s Miami’s best kept secret?
You guys! I’m always scared of waking up on a Saturday or Sunday and the line to get a smoothie is around the block.

What for you is a worthy splurge?
A good key lime pie. I can eat key lime pies all day. I always recommend Mike’s pies.

What community groups are important to you that you might like to promote or share?
I’ll promote my jujitsu group, 10th planet Miami. I can’t thank them enough for everything.

What question, challenge, or words of advice would you like to pose to the community?
Honestly, never give up, always push forward. If you need help, reach out to the people around you that love you. Never feel like you’re alone.

What question would you like to ask us?
Have you been thinking of another smoothie variant? Have you been thinking of something else?

(A+W) We’ve had different smoothies in the past. And the flavors will change with the seasons. Most of our development focus lately has been on creating more snacks and food items.