Meet Your eTech Team

“Win-win sees life as a cooperative arena, not a competitive one, it is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win-win means agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial and satisfying. Win-win thinking flies in the face of this ‘I win, you lose’ mentality. It encourages us to help others to win too, and in doing so increase success for ourselves”

Shamshul Khaliq started his journey with eTrepid handling support tickets and getting to know our infrastructure. Years later, he now handles an array of the service desk and system administrator tasks.

With nearly a decade in IT infrastructure support, the team was surprised to learn that Shamshul is an aspiring software developer, too. As a child, he’s always wanted to jump out of an airplane, but for now, he’ll settle for flying in one. Traveling the world in his off-time, Shamshul has been to five countries and takes every opportunity to add to his mounting souvenir collection.

Shamshul likes finding innovative solutions for hard to reach problems, “There can be a hundred ways to do something, I want to find the best way to do it right.” Known for his technical prowess and customer support ethic, Shamshul understands the eTrepid customer, “When we work on all project types, we are dedicated to on-time completion within the budget to meet and exceed the expectation of the client and end-user - that's our main goal.”

When asked what it means to be a part of the eTrepid team, Shamshul recalls the early days, “It's been an amazing journey, I’ve enjoyed driving the technology and working as a team to understand new concepts globally to deliver for our clients. With exposure to Azure, Microsoft, networking - all those skills are enhanced.

"EVERYONE has strengths and differences that can be utilized to reach greater heights. We just have to take the time to recognize and understand them. One's strength could fill in for my weakness. One's difference can enlighten my point of view. So when teamed together, we become a powerhouse bulldozing down oppositions and obstacles to reach our goals.”

Establishing the voice and foundation for all eTrepid marketing efforts, from design and digital to PR and strategic planning, is our marketing director, Sheebah Smith. With 15 years in marketing, two master's degrees (an MBA and another in marketing management), Sheebah also applies her expertise in providing an exceptional experience to organizations building our community. “Through great leadership, I’ve learned to give back to your community. I work closely with nonprofit organizations in our community who lack the capacity to outsource marketing efforts.”

While she’s among our newest team members, it’s hard to recall what it was like before Sheebah arrived. Before joining eTrepid, Sheebah held marketing and business development positions for small businesses across Southern Maryland focused on delivering a superior brand experience. “It’s about being passionate around what you do, and I love what I do.” It’s not just her 15 years experience as a marketing leader that makes her a force to be reckoned with - Sheebah simply doesn’t stop moving. 

The ultimate giver, Sheebah is a leader in the Charles County Chamber and an advocate for small organizations that build the community like Zonta of Charles County, a leading global organization of professionals empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy.

When she’s not giving back to the community, you can find her at the local yoga studio where she found and fell in love with pole athletics and aerial hoop fitness, specifically known as Lyra. In her few moments of spare time, Sheebah focuses on continuing her education and intends to seek her project management certification among other professional certifications.

“Innovation drives everything we're doing. We solve problems with technologies that continuously evolve and thrive on those evolutions. Our family-first culture at eTrepid drives us to get even better at what we do. We strive for excellence and open conversations that keep and hold each other accountable.” 

Best known for her organization, listening to Ted Talks, making lists and crushing goals, she explains, “I live for the results we get for our customers, our team strives for the excellence that keeps me on my toes.” 

When your business assets are on the line, you want Keith Solininka in your corner. With a passion for helping all businesses grow and protect their investments, Keith serves eTrepid's cybersecurity, compliance, and IT customers.

Originally from Southern Maryland, Keith bounces between eTrepid headquarters and its satellite office in Tampa, Florida-- and everywhere in between. With a background in business banking, he brings 20 years of Account Management experience with significant experience serving:

• Government contractors
• Municipalities
• Medical providers
• Legal providers

"I'm a huge people-person. I believe in getting to know my customers by understanding their workflow and what business needs are important to them. This leads to building lifelong relationships."

Keith left banking to focus solely on cyber security and asset protection with eTrepid. The differentiation factor with Keith is his genuine concern for getting to a tailored solution for complex business needs. "I think about investments. What about the investment in your business operations? You must be proactive and protect what you've worked hard to build."

You'll often hear Keith talk about his wife, a teacher, and three teenage boys. He couldn't be more proud that oldest is attending the University of Kentucky for college this year. He admires his wife's dedication and commitment to her profession, loves spending time with his family and traveling whenever possible.

"Seeing my wife's career has been eye-opening and helped me see that education is a service– a commitment to helping a person get better. I try to deliver that same commitment to educate my clients, listen, and deliver." Delivering sound cyber solutions to allow businesses to effectively operate better is grow is my feel-good”

As eTrepid's business development manager, John Flores focuses primarily on serving customers, ensuring an avenue of communication for procuring modern cybersecurity solutions. Growing up, he wanted to be a TV broadcaster but chose a cybersecurity career path instead, always looking to push technology further.  

Passionate about learning new things, John enjoys "collaborating on new concepts and sharing tips and tricks to make people's jobs easier." With 10 years of experience in financial technology and solution development, John is known for his enthusiastic energy in addressing customer needs and connecting with them where they are.   

He lives for his wife and three children who can vouch for his stage-worthy singing abilities. "I sing at home, at work. I love music and am always singing." While this makes some at eTrepid happy for remote operations, John once entered (and actually won) a karaoke contest. Will he take his show on the road? John assures it was an isolated incident. 

John has a keen interest in public health and one day hopes to enjoy his very own beachfront property. Embracing eTrepid's core values of courage, candor, competence, and commitment, John is a tremendous team player who loves a challenge.  

As our up-and-coming finance expert who runs on coffee and loud music, Jessica Gentry comes to you from our home office Mechanicsville, Maryland. 

Jessica Gentry has worn many hats in her young career, once a project coordinator, a graphic designer, and even a small business owner. 

Passionate about her dog, working hard and delivering on her goals, in her off time, Jessica teaches children competitive dance, from contemporary, jazz musical theater and tumbling. 

Coming from such a diverse business background, Jessica was mind blown by the capacity of the solutions we offer. "Most people have never experienced technology on this level before-- it makes me think of all the possibilities."

Not coming from the IT industry means Jessica keeps us grounded. Whether talking to clients, going through contracts, or studying for her PMP certification, she has her finger on the company's pulse at all times.

On her bucket list, this dancing dog mama wants to visit all 50 states (only 30 to go!) before throwing in the towel. She gets her work ethic from her dad, the hardest-working person she knows. "He's always held me to high standards, and I owe my independence to him."

Jessica will be bringing her organizational skills, "can-do" attitude and commitment to excellence to e-Trepid and its clients. Her experience with logistics and communications makes her a great fit for our talented and dedicated team.

There's one thing she wants her colleagues and clients to know. "I'm actually stable, despite the craziness that everyone sees at my desk."

“My version is being proactively honest in everything you do… we learn through our mistakes but with a clearer presence of mind, being proactive can catch trouble before it happens.”

You may think aquatics, piecing together corporate networks and professional figure skating have nothing to do with each other, but they do: Randy Tipton. With nearly 20 years of experience that includes building the network operations center (NOC) for one of the eight U.S. Navy data centers to run 365/24/7 and raising healthy African cichlids, he’s considered an expert. He’s a former professional figure-skater, too.

Passionate about customer satisfaction, Randy always looks for an opportunity to exceed customer expectations and bring a smile through his work. He enjoys the broad view of client networks which gives him the unique ability to isolate and solve issues quickly.

As a child, Randy’s father instilled in him humble but confident perseverance that he brings to the table on every project. From implementation through sustainment, Randy knows it's his job to understand a client’s entire network infrastructure to deliver service the eTrepid way.

“At eTrepid, we challenge each other to not only become better at our individual responsibilities but to cross-train with one another to develop enhanced team skills and become more well-rounded IT professionals.” When Randy isn’t holding down the networks, you can find him spending time with his family, working on cars or catching up on the latest Dean Koontz mystery novel.

"Being proactive means taking responsibility for your life and actions rather than just watching how things happen.”

Tausif brings an MBA in Information Technology, a BS in Technologies and 5 years experience in IT industry technical support and service desk. Solving technical issues related server exchange, email troubleshooting, ERP, CRM, QuickBooks and other third party applications, Tauif credits his abilities as a change manager to his ITIL V3, Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate and ASP.net certifications. Speed, accuracy and customer satisfaction are important to Tausif. 

Always looking ahead, “I want to continue learning more in networking and security and the overall infrastructure of it.” When he steps away from technology, Tausif is a world traveler and loves a road trip.

“Being at eTrepid, I've already learned a lot of the firewall and networking issues that plague our market.” He describes his work as a journey and adding knowledge as a continual part of that journey. 

“Sharpening the saw is always being open to learn and keep learning. Whatever the task at hand, be it a certification today or a video game when I’m 90”

As a Level 1 technician, Sean Brendan handles IT cybersecurity solutions for eTrepid’s DoD customers. On track to become a Level 2 and 3 technician, Sean continues to hone his skills. “I love working with DoD contractors and do everything in my power to make sure they’re well cared for.”

Studying for his Security Plus certification, Sean feels he has found his rhythm at eTrepid. With so many small businesses going to remote work structures, Sean knows telecommuting securely, email encryption and ___ are hot topics for the eTrepid customer.

Known for his dedication to seeing a job to and through successful outcomes, Sean has found an unexpected knack for cybersecurity. “I'm not going to lie, I wasn’t into cybersecurity,” he explains. “I even tried to stay away from it but always got pulled back to cyber. Now, if there's a cyber incident, I want to be involved, I want to know about it.”

Prior to joining our team, Sean worked in the music industry, producing concerts, festivals and traveling with well-known artists as a guitar and sound technician. Getting the IT itch while on the road led him to finish his education and find a home here. Making things work in concert is how he excels at eTrepid, “I joined eTrepid fresh out of school and have already learned so much. “When I think of a project, I imagine if this were a show, how would I do it? Break it down, start to finish. It's the journey, not the destination.” His patience and level-headedness comes from his father who he describes as an all-around great dude. 

“I can play a mean guitar. I can play drums. I've played bass, violin and piano night.” Prove it we say.  

"Every time you make a decision, it affects people around you. I believe those people should be in a winning situation just as you should be."

Having worked at Microsoft and other big tech companies, Suhail is eTrepid's Level One Engineer and known for his calm demeanor. In this role, Suhail directly coordinates client communication via call, chat, and email, providing technical support for all the tools that fall under managed services.

Suhail has been working in the IT field for nearly a decade with an undergraduate degree in computer science engineering and a Master's in business management.

It’s this background that allows Suhail to find problems and then focus teams and solutions on those problems. "When something is especially stressful, it pays to let calmness and peace prevail." A huge fan of soccer, Suhail has played the sport all his life and follows all things FIFA. But, "as someone usually so calm, my coworkers may be surprised by the passion I have for soccer, especially when play gets a bit aggressive."

Also a fan of Warren Buffet, Suhail admires how he was able to invest at such a young age and see huge successes as a result. If Suhail had Buffet's resources, he'd spend them on climate change and space exploration. "I care about climate change and how we are progressing to a future in space. What are we doing on the planet, to the planet, and if we'll ever need to find a new planet?"

"I believe whatever we do in the end it should be a win-win situation for everyone.”

Mohd Affan is a customer service pro meets expert help desk analyst. Passionate about technology for most of his life led him to Google and Amazon prior to joining eTrepid. Our team approach is what drives him to become better as he pursues Network and Cybersecurity certifications. Mohd points to his teammates as having achieved some of the skills he’s after, “Watching my team members grow and achieve their goals has given me a roadmap to do the same.”

Whether complicated technical issues or quick question issues, Mohd is often the first line of defense for eTrepid customers, but Mohd hasn’t always been on the technical career track.  After college, he worked as an actor and starred in several series and even auditioned for a Netflix series. “It was exciting to be in a TV crime series as well as some theater roles.” 

Having worked previously with companies where teamwork and transparency were corporate jargon, coming to eTrepid has been a welcomed opportunity. “There's so much we work on together and the way we come together as a team has been transforming for me.” 

"You cannot be successful at any job, goal, or being part of a team without precision and balance. To focus on tasks and goals, we need to recharge our mind, energy, and health"

eTrepid clients may find Faraday on-site addressing client tickets or virtually troubleshooting hardware, software, and cybersecurity issues. Whether on-site and face to face with clients or as your virtual support rep, Faraday thrives in a team environment and focusing on issues at hand.

Faraday holds a bachelor's degree in business management and expects to earn an additional bachelor's degree in cybersecurity by July 2022. Along the way, he’s also working toward Network Security's Security Plus certification. Faraday admits, "Before coming to eTrepid, I learned I would never stop learning here. No truer statement has ever been spoken."

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Faraday is proud of his time in the Navy, which brought him to Maryland as his first duty station. From there, he PCS'd to Norfolk, Virginia, and then across the world to Bahrain. "I love learning and taking things to the next level–– the military helped me prioritize what's important and what needs to get done."

Passionate about family, Faraday and his wife are excited to be planning one of their own. "My mother was a single mom raising three kids while attending school and working multiple jobs. Through sheer persistence, she earned a master's degree and became my role model."

As a kid, Faraday dreamed of playing basketball with pros like Michael Jordan and Tracy McGrady, but as a native New Yorker, he's a Knicks fan through and through.

"Strive for a sustainable lifestyle that affords you time to recuperate, recharge and be effective in the long-term."

What is multi-skilled, multi-use and adaptable to nearly every task at hand? At the forefront of eTrepid operations is Lynn Erion. “Everybody loves Lynn,” can be heard repeatedly throughout the office, so when you're having any kind of problem and Lynn’s on the case, you’re in capable hands. 

Having spent the past two decades immersed in all things IT and often referred to as a Swiss Army Knife with a lot of different uses - Lynn keeps you both prepared and protected. He carries with him deep industry knowledge and a nurturing dedication to the success of everyone around him, we can’t help but agree. 

His work ethic was likely instilled in him as a boy scout and served him well as he led his sons through their own scout journey to make their Eagle Scout designation. Members of the eTrepid team appreciate how far he’s able to look ahead on projects and in the woods. “Once on a canoe trip, Lynn brought everything sealed in five-gallon buckets. When your canoe rolls, the buckets float, have easy handles and can become a seat. Need to take a break? Set one down for a chair, another for a table. He has a multi-faceted, well-thought-out approach to everything.”

“It doesn’t matter what the situation calls for, Lynn breaks out a solution that’s so simple. That's Lynn. His magnetic personality and willingness to share his knowledge is what makes those around him love to work with him. He breaks the most challenging concepts down into bite-sized, manageable pieces for everyone.” 

"You’re putting in the work and effort now to save time and money by preparing for the unexpected problems now instead of at the last minute.”

Shadab is the tech support associate that often resolves your issues over chat. Having worked in IT for nearly 5 years as data analyst and auditor, Shadab is our internal IT support expert and recently achieved his CCNs certification.

“With so much of the world working remote, nowadays everyone is working from home. Many clients are trying to connect in new ways - we fix that.” Closing out support tasks and getting positive feedback is what Shadab loves about his work. “Consistently getting 5 stars as a team is a great feeling and makes us work hard to maintain that high-level of workmanship.” 

Passionate about learning new IT technologies, especially in networking and cybersecurity areas, Shadab relaxes through his favorite sports teams, traveling and cricket. “I love the work culture here, everyone lends a hand when needed. We have something other teams don’t: trust, teamwork, support through challenges.”