Project Zero

S2 Episode 14: The Letter that Secured a High-Stakes Healthcare Position with Tom Cooper

Host Alex Tuck interviews Tom Cooper, a program consultant at Rhino Healthcare Solutions. Cooper traces his path from JPMorgan operations and trading into software and project management, then into a Chicago-based green roofing startup driven by city stormwater mandates. His “Project Zero” involves excavating and repairing the King County Bus Terminal roof-park after barbecuing caused membrane leaks, then mitigating cybersecurity risk when their DOS-based leak detection system became a vulnerability, pivoting toward BACnet and a cloud-based alert process while persuading client IT teams and suppliers. He later moved into healthcare via hospital roof gardens, earned his PMP, joined TennCare after an ACA implementation lawsuit through a cold letter, and worked on pharmacy benefit management and data governance. Cooper emphasizes clear, adaptive communication, probing stakeholder “pain,” and AI tools improving requirements and prompting.  00:00 Season Two Kickoff     00:43 Tom’s Origin Story     02:43 Green Roofing Pivot     05:14 Project Zero Leak Crisis     08:10 Selling Risk Mitigation     09:44 Breaking Into Healthcare     12:13 Cold Letter Career Move     15:00 Big Healthcare Programs     17:09 Top PM Skill Communication     24:03 AI In Project Management     25:43 AI Beyond Work     29:16 Future Of Healthcare     31:35 Wrap Up And Contact    Connect with Tom Cooper  * Company Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rhyno-healthcare-solutions-inc/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/rhyno-healthcare-solutions-inc/]  * Personal Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasocooper/    Connect with Alex Tuck  * Personal LinkedIn: Alex Tuck [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alextuck/]  * Website: www.tuckconsultinggroup.com [https://www.tuckconsultinggroup.com/]  * Company LinkedIn: Tuck Consulting Group [https://www.linkedin.com/company/tuckconsultinggroup/]  Email: alex@tuckconsultinggroup.com

S2 Episode 13: Understanding Empathy in Diverse Project Landscapes with Shane Dixon

Host Alex Tuck interviews Shane Dixon, founder of Essix Consulting and managing partner at Corbeau. Dixon describes shifting from rescuing troubled in-flight projects to helping organizations mature their project management and prevent recurring failures through stronger PMO capability. He shares a “legacy PM” career path from scheduling assistant and coordinator to PMO leader, crediting continual learning and detailed schedule knowledge as advantages. Dixon’s Project Zero was a manufacturing program developing ground-engaging tools, where cross-functional coordination across engineering, foundry, marketing, and operations made project leadership “click.” He emphasizes trust-building through curiosity, adapting communication for factory environments, and names empathy as the most important PM skill. On AI, he says it boosts efficiency (e.g., drafting charters) and may reduce coordinator/schedule analyst roles, raising pipeline and training concerns; he cites video generation as impressive and frightening.     00:00 Season Two Kickoff     00:33 Shane's Consulting Mission     01:18 From Firefighting to Prevention     03:32 Career Path Into PM     06:02 Structure for the Disorganized     07:43 Learning Through Scheduling     10:53 Defining Project Zero     11:44 Manufacturing Program Story     14:30 Curiosity Builds Trust     19:29 Factory Floor Communication     22:00 Empathy as Top Skill     25:29 AI's Impact on PM Roles     29:29 Future Talent Pipeline Questions     32:20 Coolest AI and Risks     34:46 Wrap Up and Contact Info    Connect with Shane Dixon   * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanemichaeldixon/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanemichaeldixon/]    Connect with Alex Tuck  * Personal LinkedIn: Alex Tuck [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alextuck/]  * Website: www.tuckconsultinggroup.com [https://www.tuckconsultinggroup.com/]  * Company LinkedIn: Tuck Consulting Group [https://www.linkedin.com/company/tuckconsultinggroup/]  Email: alex@tuckconsultinggroup.com

S2 Episode 12: Project Management Practice on the Line to the Lead with Tyler Norman

Host Alex Tuck introduces Tyler Norman, Director of Strategic Programs at Scholastic and a frequent PMI speaker, who shares his 17-year PM journey from construction and energy into supply-chain transformation programs like warehouse robotics and tech-stack upgrades. Norman’s “Project Zero” comes from working as a teenager in a small-town bar and grill, where he identified a fryer bottleneck, quantified lost revenue, built a rough business case for a second fryer, coordinated installation, and validated benefits, later recognizing it as early project management. He discusses limited formal PM education in undergrad, multiple PMI certifications, and current work toward CPM AI. Norman highlights practical AI value in automating admin work (emails, Excel, decks, meeting summaries) to free time for stakeholder engagement, argues layoffs are often broader business context, and emphasizes empathy, stakeholder management, and business value as key PM skills.   00:00 Season Two Kickoff   00:25 Meet Tyler Norman   02:18 From Construction to Books   04:24 Transferable PM Skills   06:16 Defining Project Zero  07:00 Fryer Bottleneck Story   11:01 PM Education Path   12:53 Certifications and CPM AI   14:36 AI for PM Workflows   21:50 AI Job Impact and Upskilling  25:02 Most Important PM Skill   27:40 Career Advice and Wrap Up    Connect with Tyler Norman  * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-norman/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-norman/]  * Website: navigatewithpurpose.com    Connect with Alex Tuck  * Personal LinkedIn: Alex Tuck [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alextuck/]  * Website: www.tuckconsultinggroup.com [https://www.tuckconsultinggroup.com/]  * Company LinkedIn: Tuck Consulting Group [https://www.linkedin.com/company/tuckconsultinggroup/]  Email: alex@tuckconsultinggroup.com

S2 Episode 11: Coaching the Next-Gen Project Managers with Orlando Sequera

Host Alex Tuck welcomes listeners to season two of Project Zero, with a greater focus on AI’s impact, and interviews project manager and PMP coach Orlando Sequera. Sequera shares how he fell into project management after years in IT, including an early asset inventory project that failed due to neglected scope and lack of formal PM discipline, motivating him to pursue a master’s in project management at Boston University and earn the PMP. He contrasts structured PMP training (35 hours of PMI-required content) with coaching that builds the mindset and critical thinking needed for evolving, more situational PMP exam questions, including AI topics. Sequera emphasizes leadership and emotional intelligence as key PM skills, servant leadership in practice, and AI’s role in automating documentation, meeting notes, and change management while keeping PM accountability with the human.   00:00 Season Two Kickoff  00:38 Orlando’s PM Journey   02:37 Trainer vs Coach 05:19 Mindset for the PMP     07:31 First Project Failure 10:37 Learning Scope and Structure     12:05 Formal Education and PMP     14:53 Why PMs Matter     17:10 Top PM Skill Leadership     20:53 Servant Leadership Stories     24:05 AI in Project Management   31:09 Advice to Younger Orlando     33:16 Connect and Closing  Connect with Orlando Sequera   * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlando-sequera-3414478/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlando-sequera-3414478/]  * Website: www.mydynamicpm.com [http://www.mydynamicpm.com] Connect with Alex Tuck  * Personal LinkedIn: Alex Tuck [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alextuck/]  * Website: www.tuckconsultinggroup.com [https://www.tuckconsultinggroup.com/]  * Company LinkedIn: Tuck Consulting Group [https://www.linkedin.com/company/tuckconsultinggroup/]  Email: alex@tuckconsultinggroup.com

S2 Episode 10: The Secret to Perfect Project Timing with Claudia Wright

Host Alex Tuck welcomes IT program and project manager Claudia Wright to Project Zero season two. Wright shares her 25+ year path from data entry and administrative work at the EPA to database management, then coding (COBOL/DB2) at BellSouth, where frustration with “work thrown over the cubicle wall” pushed her toward business analysis and requirements. She became a project manager at a global grocery retailer, where her “Project Zero” involved enterprise work supporting store planograms and related systems, learning end-to-end delivery (resource planning, production turnovers, failback plans, signoffs) under a mentor, Cindy, who helped standardize templates and lessons learned. Wright’s key PM skill is “know your place,” adapting to organizational perceptions and leadership priorities, and she views AI as helpful for efficiency (e.g., note-taking) but not a “magic pill,” requiring planning and verification. 00:00 Season Two Kickoff 00:34 Claudia Career Origins 04:01 Finding Project Management 05:42 Sewing Meets Structure 07:02 From Coding to Leading 12:07 Technical Edge and Estimates 15:08 Project Zero Story 18:59 Mentorship and Lessons 20:50 Know Your Place 26:19 AI Is Not Magic 29:37 Wrap Up and Connect Connect with Claudia Wright  * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiawright-mba-pmp-cisa/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiawright-mba-pmp-cisa/]  Connect with Alex Tuck  * Personal LinkedIn: Alex Tuck [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alextuck/]  * Website: www.tuckconsultinggroup.com [https://www.tuckconsultinggroup.com/]  * Company LinkedIn: Tuck Consulting Group [https://www.linkedin.com/company/tuckconsultinggroup/]  Email: alex@tuckconsultinggroup.com