Four badges. Four conferences. One meaningful journey.
Being a Mac admin in a long-established Windows enterprise can be a lonely road.
Policies, security controls, governance, and expectations have evolved around the dominant platform. Understandably, people often expect Macs to operate like Windows PCs.
But macOS isn’t Windows. It was never meant to be. And Apple devices are there to meet real business needs, including those of leadership.
When we introduced Apple management through Jamf, I don’t think any of us—including me—fully appreciated the implications. As security tooling and controls expanded, maintaining reliable management and a consistent user experience grew more complex.
Apple MDM doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It intersects with identity, networking, DNS, endpoint security, CASB, VPN, certificates, and more. Success requires cross-team expertise, cooperation, and a willingness to account for architectural differences.
When those dependencies aren’t well understood, someone has to stand in the gap: investigate, explain, escalate, build relationships, and steward the work toward resolution.
Sometimes you’re building the very road you’re expected to travel.
I didn’t get everything right. I made mistakes, learned, adapted, and kept developing my skills in challenging circumstances.
Being autistic added another dimension. My communication style, persistence in seeking technical accuracy, and willingness to question assumptions haven’t always translated easily across organizational boundaries. I have room to grow, too. But inclusion is reciprocal: accommodations matter, and so do listening, understanding, and recognizing the value of different perspectives.
When specialized knowledge, support, or encouragement wasn’t readily available within the organization, I found it through Jamf, Apple, and the wider MacAdmins community.
That brings me to these four badges.
JNUC has become much more than an annual technical conference. During some difficult professional years, it has been a place where I felt seen, heard, understood, welcomed, and valued. A place where I didn’t have to explain at length why these challenges mattered. Where generously shared expertise grew into meaningful relationships and friendships.
This year, I had the privilege of moving from attendee to speaker, sharing lessons from years of troubleshooting, investigation, persistence, and learning.
To Jamf and the people across the MacAdmins community who have shared their time, knowledge, resources, and encouragement:
Thank you for seeing me. For hearing me. For making room for me. And for reminding me that none of us has to walk this road alone.
What began as a professional association has become something far more meaningful. I’m profoundly grateful.
#JNUC2026 #Jamf #MacAdmins #AppleEnterprise #Neurodiversity #ActuallyAutistic
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