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Channel Mic Check — where distributor DNA meets digital swagger.
Hosted by Calhoun McKinney — Vice President, Go to Market — and Jessica McDowell — Sr. Vice President, North America Marketing and Digital Customer Success — this podcast brings fresh energy to the B2B tech channel. From market updates and TD SYNNEX insights to candid interviews with vendors, partners, and innovators, Channel Mic Check cuts through the noise with real talk and real impact.
This is where connection meets conversation. Each episode tests the mic and turns up the volume on what actually matters—growth, innovation, and the stories shaping today’s channel ecosystem.
Forget the corporate jargon. Expect insights with edge, stories with substance, and voices that lead with purpose. Whether you’re a partner, vendor, or industry insider, this is your all-access pass to the conversations driving the channel forward.
Tune in. Turn it up. Channel Mic Check: it’s not just talk, it’s a movement.
Welcome back to Channel Mic Check.
Speaker 2:Yes,
Speaker 1:happy to be here. This is a special edition episode. Today we are doing a Mother's Day episode, which our viewers might be thinking, why would you be doing that? Well, Jessica, like we always say, we are people first.
Speaker 2:That's right. We are people first. People that drive technology forward. We're not starting with people. What are we doing?
Speaker 1:That's right. And normally when we think about people, we're starting with adults. But today we actually want to change that a little bit and talk about how the next generation is using technology. And to do that, we have a special guest who we bring on the show. And I feel like you need to be the one to introduce them.
Speaker 2:I would be honored to introduce this special guest. It's my daughter. My daughter, August is here with us today to talk about what technology means to her. So we are gonna live through the eyes of the future generation. As scary as that
Speaker 1:might I was about to say, that's a scary thought, but let's go, dare to go.
Speaker 2:That's right. That's right.
Speaker 1:Welcome August. Hi. Happy to have you here.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Teal looks good on you. Thank you. I like the teal.
Speaker 2:She's on brand. Very on In the blood.
Speaker 1:That's right. We In
Speaker 2:the blood.
Speaker 1:Game day colors. We appreciate that. August, you know, I love asking younger people this question because I think what we do is a little bit complicated. So what would you say that TD SYNNEX does? What do you think are what we're doing here at this company?
Speaker 3:You guys have other people's cell technology.
Speaker 2:Nailed it. Nailed it.
Speaker 1:Nailed it. That most people fumble through that. So that I'm impressed. Good job. That was simple.
Speaker 1:We might
Speaker 2:put that in the complex.
Speaker 1:We should hire her. We're hired. Yes. Intern. As soon as you meet labor law restrictions whatever legal team's listening.
Speaker 1:Okay. So now how would you describe your mom's job? What does she do?
Speaker 3:Well, same thing.
Speaker 1:Same thing? Same thing? Same Yeah.
Speaker 3:She works in marketing.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:Okay. And she the vendors sell to her and then she sell she helps other people sell to the people that go to schools.
Speaker 1:Yes. And so when you I I think that I think that's pretty I think we'll accept that. Yeah. Yeah. That's the the right supply chain flow.
Speaker 1:So when you're at home and you see your mom working, like, what is she normally doing? Is she just, typing all day? Right? Like, what what's going on?
Speaker 3:She's always on the phone. And Rodney and Rodney's always interrupting our dog.
Speaker 2:Rodney's our dog. Yeah.
Speaker 3:He's snorting in the background. And then I try to tell her about my day and she's like, I'm gonna work off. Give me a minute.
Speaker 2:Well, that's because you walk in in the middle of a phone conversation on video and you're like, hey, you know, COVID didn't teach us any boundaries. So that is one thing I can say about technology, that shift.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it did change.
Speaker 2:It took down a wall
Speaker 1:did. Within the That is for sure. So August, what's something you admire about your mom?
Speaker 3:She always works hard to provide for our family and she loves our dogs and me.
Speaker 1:Okay, now wait, hold on. This would be a good time
Speaker 2:to say August is not our only child.
Speaker 1:We got two more. We
Speaker 2:have two brothers. Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1:She loves them too. Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes. Yep.
Speaker 1:I like it. No. That's great. I think those are good. Those are very good qualities.
Speaker 1:I admire those things about your mom too. So that's that's a good good list. Okay. Now you, I'm assuming, are using technology every day. So what are some things that you do every day from a technology standpoint?
Speaker 1:What are you what are you using day to day?
Speaker 3:Well, during school, we always go on our laptop and work on our daily math problems. And we go to the Google Slides that our teacher makes for us. And we
Speaker 1:Start your day. Start your day. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And our teacher has this Promethean board, she goes on online worksheets. And she helps us through the problems with her little pen. Okay. On the board. Do you have any books?
Speaker 2:You opening any books on your desk or is everything on the Chromebook pretty much? You're taking tests on the Chromebook?
Speaker 3:Yes. Sometimes it's on paper just depending. If it's a big test or
Speaker 1:Okay. So we do have some paper on Yes. Okay. Now what about like, do you have any mom is She only has one device on. Wait, no, two.
Speaker 1:She got her smartwatch.
Speaker 3:Oh, and I've got
Speaker 1:the Oura Ring. Yeah. We used to have the Whoop band. So we've we've Yeah.
Speaker 2:We had a little shift.
Speaker 1:We had a little shift. Okay. Okay. New adopt she adopted new technology.
Speaker 2:Band on the bottom. I did.
Speaker 1:It was crazy. I yes. Much to my Miss Kelly hated that. I hated she'd be on stage looking like Wonder Woman. She had one on each arm.
Speaker 2:I'm like, what are we doing?
Speaker 1:And but we couldn't have her take them off because then her tan lines showed and that Facts.
Speaker 2:Looks different.
Speaker 1:So are you using any of the health and wellness tech? Like, do you have a smartwatch or anything?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Do have a smartwatch. It tracks my steps, sometimes my heart rate, if it's working or not. Yeah. And I can call my mom and stuff to pick me up from school or if I need to be picked up from a friend's house.
Speaker 2:Call me from the bathroom at school because you know you're not supposed to be having that watch at school. Right? Yeah. Oh, uh-oh.
Speaker 1:Yeah. What's the policy on phones and when I when I was coming up, was like not allowed. Is it still not allowed?
Speaker 2:High school's different,
Speaker 3:My teacher lets it slide sometimes just depending But on the I usually have to go in the bathroom and just text them.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:Or I just sneak it under my
Speaker 1:Put money on my lunch account. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Or I email her. Okay.
Speaker 1:Okay. Very cool. Okay. So you are using technology every day. I'd say she's using more than I was.
Speaker 1:We had to go to like the computer lab.
Speaker 2:The lab.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the lab.
Speaker 2:The computer lab. Yeah, it was a whole room full of computers. Big desktop computers. Yeah. And you and you had a special time during the day where you could go into the computer lab.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I've seen those old time movies. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Those old timey movies. From the 1900s.
Speaker 1:We're going to let that slide.
Speaker 3:We're going to let
Speaker 2:that slide. Technically, it was the 1900s. I know.
Speaker 1:Bebe playing the Oregon Trail a little bit.
Speaker 3:Oh, I've played that game before. Yeah. It's glitchy.
Speaker 1:It is. It's glitchy. It do be that sometimes.
Speaker 2:It does.
Speaker 1:Okay. So what's like if you if you didn't have technology in your day for something, what would feel broken? What what would you be like, I can't deal. I need my blank. What what would that be?
Speaker 3:Well, our our whole school day would be different. I mean, we wouldn't we'd have to do it all on paper. We would waste trees. Okay. And we have to use a chalkboard.
Speaker 1:A chalkboard? Dry maybe we can get a dry erase.
Speaker 3:Yeah. We have whiteboards, but we rarely use this.
Speaker 1:Rarely use this. This is crazy. I know. We were whiteboard people. That teacher was going through those dry erase
Speaker 2:Yeah, all the markers. Yes.
Speaker 3:People like poke holes in our erasers now. Oh, well. So we can't even use them.
Speaker 1:I was gonna say, sounds like you don't
Speaker 2:need them. Yeah. So it sounds like they're just paperweights. So we talked about technology, but, you know, AI, everybody's talking about AI. So where are you seeing AI?
Speaker 2:I mean, where where do you use or see AI just in your normal day?
Speaker 3:Well, sometimes I look up things on Google and there's always an AI overview that gives us a whole summary of what I'm searching up. It's a little bit much, but
Speaker 2:It's more more information than you asked for?
Speaker 1:She she do she's doing the most sometimes?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Google summary is doing the most. Does it feel normal and natural or does it feel like, okay, this is a little bit much like you said, I mean
Speaker 3:Yes, it does feel natural when I'm searching things up on Google and stuff but if I'm actually going into the chat GPT app, it feels a little different because we used to not have AI as much and now we're using it every single day.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, now let's talk about that. When do you feel like chat GPT or any of the other, know, open AI models like that, when do you feel like it's helpful versus maybe, okay, this is a little bit too much?
Speaker 3:Well, example, if you're asking for help on your homework and ChatGPT is giving you a guide and teaching you how to do it and not just giving you the answer, that's okay. But if they're just flat out giving you the answer, you're not learning anything. You're just going away with the answer. That's not gonna help you.
Speaker 2:It's not gonna help our future generations to what? Think for themselves?
Speaker 3:Yeah. And I remember a lot of people on elearning would just search up ChatGPT and Oh,
Speaker 1:and have them do it. Now, so you're allowed to leverage AI in your schoolwork?
Speaker 3:Yes. Okay. It just can't be at school.
Speaker 1:Well, because when you go to take the test, none of these LLMs are there.
Speaker 3:Yeah. You're just your mind is just gonna be blank and some scratch paper.
Speaker 2:It's just your brain. You got to depend on your brain like in the olden days, apparently, where the computer labs lived. I mean, can you imagine?
Speaker 3:I thought you guys had typewriters too.
Speaker 2:Well, there were some floating around.
Speaker 1:I feel like typewriters were more in offices. Like we didn't have like maybe maybe like somebody in the back office had one.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Early days. Doing
Speaker 2:a book report and you had to go to the encyclopedia, everything was on paper, you had to cite your sources. The computer lab was a special treat. And remember, I didn't get a cell phone until I was senior in high school. You were one of those kids. I was one of those kids.
Speaker 2:And that's only because my daddy worked at Verizon.
Speaker 1:So was norm that at the time? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, well, we had pay. There was a pager phase. I know everybody if you're a millennial, you remember that phase.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That. Yeah. So August, what is it that you feel like adults get wrong about technology?
Speaker 3:They're always talking about screen time and how technology isn't the best for children, but I think it's just how we grew up. I mean, we grew up with it. We have tablets now. Almost everyone has a cell phone or tablet now, they didn't get a phone till So high
Speaker 2:you're saying screen time is like everybody lay off of me with the screen time. This is normal? Is that your feedback? No, that's okay.
Speaker 1:Embrace it. Embrace it. Okay.
Speaker 3:Children do go outside a lot. We have recess and breaks to go outside during the school day, so it's not just technology, technology, technology. Right. It's breaks in between.
Speaker 1:And you're playing a lot of sports. Yes. So you're getting outside a good bit, and you're pretty active.
Speaker 3:I only have one hour on YouTube, so I go in a room and sneak screen time.
Speaker 1:Sneak screen time.
Speaker 2:Can you believe that?
Speaker 1:I've admitted this on camera. Can't.
Speaker 2:We have a record now.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I'll show you the ropes here. So shifting to Jessica a little bit. Jessica, how has technology helped you as a mom raising three kids and two dogs and all the other things?
Speaker 2:All the other, I mean, the organizational aspect. Okay. Keeping things synced, keeping calendars synced, keeping everything in one place. AI helps a lot, especially when we have those super busy weekends where I got one kid that's gotta be at one ball field and another ball field and another at And sometimes I'll ask AI, Hey, I got to go to these three places. Can you map this out
Speaker 1:Try for Can
Speaker 2:you help me get from here to there in this amount of time?
Speaker 1:Where can I stop from?
Speaker 2:Where can
Speaker 1:I stop for food?
Speaker 2:And where can we get Chick fil A?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, I mean, I think there's a lot of areas of technology that just make our lives easier. I take full advantage of whatever I can get my hands on.
Speaker 1:Well, and I've noticed when you didn't say that I see you do is you're big with the phone, like on the watch. Oh yeah. Yeah. Like getting your notifications. You're like, I gotta step out.
Speaker 1:This is needed. So yeah, you're real dialed in.
Speaker 2:All the syncing, all the alerts. Yes.
Speaker 1:Where has technology made it harder as a mom? Well, first
Speaker 2:of all, social media and the access to tablets is unlocking a whole different parenting dynamic that there is no rule book, guide book, manual for. It's unchartered waters scary. But I will also say when it comes to the kids' school, I'm trying to learn seesaw, backpack,
Speaker 3:you
Speaker 2:know- three sixty. Three sixty, bling, bop, boom. I don't know anything that, there's so many different applications where teachers are saying, hey, go find your kids work here or go submit this piece of work there. It's a lot to keep up with. So while all the applications and the functionality are great, there is no single pane of glass as we like to say in our world.
Speaker 2:And that just makes it tough. Everywhere. It's even more to keep up with.
Speaker 1:That is a lot on top of all the apps you use just as an adult human.
Speaker 2:To navigate life. Yes. To navigate life. Instagram. Instagram now.
Speaker 2:Get off my Instagram.
Speaker 1:We got our airline apps which music event.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:Yep. Partner first app.
Speaker 2:Gotta get a plug in there.
Speaker 1:Sure you're using that. PartnerFirst mobile app. PartnerFirst mobile app. So if I were to sum this up, what I hear you saying, August, and I know you're speaking on behalf of your your generation, is you're you're you clearly have a a trust a high trust level with technology, and it's embedded in your day, and you expect it to be there and for these different things that you're doing. But what I also hear you saying is that you have a boundary with it.
Speaker 1:You're you're wanting to preserve human creativity and what we bring to the table there. You're also wanting to make sure that you're balancing that engagement with being outside. That's important. So I think that that's a really healthy perspective.
Speaker 2:I agree. And I think it validates a lot of the bets that we're placing, right? Because it does come back to people. Technology is there to be an aid and to help make our lives easier. But we're placing a lot of bets around people adopting AI in a meaningful way to help them.
Speaker 2:We're placing a lot of bets on robotics coming to fruition to help people. And so I think a lot of this conversation kind of validates that even the youngest generation is saying, hey, we still see people at the core. We still want to keep true to our identity. We don't want technology to take away our creativity and our freedom to think.
Speaker 1:I love that thread woven throughout. And we we kind of, I think, in some way, try to bring that to almost all these episodes that we do. So August, I have loved having you on here today. Have you had fun?
Speaker 3:Yes. I've had a lot
Speaker 1:of fun. We I wish this is what we got to do all day, but it's not. We do a lot of other stuff. However, one of our traditions on this podcast is everybody has a mic drop, which is just like a bold statement. It's like your final word.
Speaker 1:So what is your mic drop for our audience?
Speaker 3:We gotta figure out this robot thing. I I need Kenzie. I need her.
Speaker 1:You need you need her.
Speaker 3:I need her. Yeah. I need her.
Speaker 1:You're going all in on All
Speaker 2:in on the robot.
Speaker 1:And yours is name yours is name Kenzie. Kenzie. All right. All right. That's it.
Speaker 2:I don't know where she's got the budget to purchase the robot, but I cannot wait to see this come to life.
Speaker 1:I see it. I see like a subscription model. An as a service? Yeah. Kenzie as a service.
Speaker 1:Okay. Yeah. We'll get we'll get some people on that August. Yeah.
Speaker 2:What's your mic drop? My mic drop is, I hear you on technology. You know, you're living in technology, but I'll tell you this screen time limitations aren't going anywhere because people do need to get away from the screen, go outside, breathe in the air, and not be tied to their devices no matter how helpful they may be. You heard it here from the lady.
Speaker 1:You got to you got to are you going to go home and start a debate about screen time and try to win her over here? Are you going to let it let it go for now?
Speaker 3:I'm just going to sneak it in.
Speaker 2:Gonna sneak it in. Oh, at least she's honest. All the recording. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I do appreciate the honesty. Well, August, thank you for being here today. It was lovely to have you on, and thank you for sharing with us a little bit about your experience. And, Jessica, happy early Mother's Day.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Very excited for you guys. Have a lovely day this Sunday. And with that, that's our episode today. So thanks for joining us, guys.
Speaker 3:Of course. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Until next time. See you next time.