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.
Complexity may come with the channel, but making it look simple is where the magic happens. Chris Fabes, President of TD SYNNEX Canada, discusses what he’s learned from viewing the industry through customer, vendor and distribution lenses. He shares what he wants to protect, evolve and challenge in Canada. Listen in to hear how orchestration and authentic leadership can help us all navigate AI and other emerging opportunities while moving the Canadian channel forward.
17 Sept 2026
The Future of the Digital Buying Experience
What was your last great digital buying experience? Often, it’s the one you barely notice. In this episode of Channel Mic Check, Meredith Payne, Vice President of Digital Growth and Customer Success, explores the PartnerFirst digital growth experience. Hear how TD SYNNEX is using personalization, AI, human expertise and connected digital experiences to make commerce seamless and doing business easier. It’s all part of PartnerFirst.
20 Aug 2026
PartnerFirst and the Making of First-Rate Experiences
Digital transformation is a contact sport. Albeit virtually. That’s what Nate Herz, our Senior Vice President and Regional Chief Informational Officer for North America, shares as he covers two ambitious topics: PartnerFirst and customer zero. PartnerFirst allows you to transact, train and expand your business within one digital suite of offerings. It gives you access to TD SYNNEX from within the tools you use every day. This level of innovation at TD SYNNEX is driven by our internal approach, one that’s become a cultural one: customer zero. Listen in to learn how these two concepts can make a big impact on your business.
22 Jul 2026
You Don’t Have to Go It Alone. Go with PartnerLINK.
PartnerLINK represents the best of peer networking paired with easy access to large-scale enablement programs through TD SYNNEX. That’s according to Anthony J. D’Ambrosi, PartnerLINK Advisory Council member and Chief Executive Officer of Abacus Group, a trusted MSP. In this episode, hear how TD SYNNEX PartnerLINK gives IT providers the greatest tool for growth: community. Going it alone is no longer an option. As end-customer needs grow more complex, a community that understands the market and your business can help turn uncertainty into direction. Listen to learn how.
21 May 2026
Leading the Public Sector Forward
What does strong leadership look like in public sector right now? In this “Channel Mic Check” episode, recorded onsite at the Red White and You conference in Indianapolis, Calhoun McKinney sits down with Senior Vice President of Public Sector Sales at TD SYNNEX, Wendy Welch. Hear Wendy share her journey into the space and what’s top of mind as she steps into this role. From partner execution and simplification to clarity, accountability and scale, Wendy shares her perspective on where the public sector is headed, and what partners should be focused on next.
14 May 2026
Mother’s Day Edition: From Analog Roots to AI Futures
What happens when you grow up with technology instead of growing into it? In this special Mother’s Day episode, Jessica McDowell and her daughter, August, have a candid conversation about how technology shapes daily life across generations and the importance of maintaining creativity. Hear how digital tools and social media have transformed parenting, while August shares how AI and education apps are a natural part of her routine. Tune in for honest insights and meaningful dialogue that connect the channel’s past, present and future.
23 Apr 2026
Redefining Security, Power and AI: Live from High-Growth Conference
We’re live from Puerto Rico at our High-Growth Conference! Hear from TD SYNNEX’s Phillip Privett and Francisco Criado, along with special guest Scott Whitehouse from Palo Alto Networks, as they break down one of the most immediate challenges facing the channel right now: energy constraints in the era of AI.
This three-part episode starts with the reality of power and cooling limitations and how the Hybrid IT Energy Program is helping partners get ahead of it. From there, the conversation shifts to AI, where many organizations are still stuck in pilots and PoCs, and what it actually takes to move toward real ROI and value. The episode closes with a look at how security is evolving, with identity becoming the foundation of modern architectures.
If you’re a partner, the message is clear: start the conversation with your customers now, assess energy readiness, rethink cloud and AI strategy beyond experimentation, and prepare for a more complex, identity-driven security landscape.
Listen in for practical insights you can apply right away and three mic drop moments you don’t want to miss.
10 Apr 2026
Driving Demand through Marketing
TD SYNNEX’s extensive suite of Marketing as a Service (MaaS) offerings rolled out at our Inspire conference last Fall. Have you started using them yet? Molly Sherwood, Senior Director of Marketing as a Service, walks us through the partner-led pillars of these opportunities from where you can find leads in your area to how you can build your online presence. With complimentary consultation services and several easy ways to get started, the real question is, what do you have to lose?
21 Jan 2026
Neoclouds Are Now, Not the Future
Is your infrastructure ready for the AI evolution? In this Channel Mic Check episode, Jessica McDowell and TD SYNNEX IaaS expert Charlie Barnett unpack the shift from traditional IaaS to AI-native neoclouds. Learn how you can build the right foundation, reduce infrastructure costs by up to 70% and capitalize on as-a-service-led growth. Tune in for future-ready and ready-made infrastructure solutions.
18 Dec 2025
A Playbook for AI: What Partners Should Focus on First
In this episode of Channel Mic Check, we dive into the evolving world of AI with Ed Morales, Vice President of AI and High Growth Strategic Business Enablement, and special guest and partner, Bob Tadevich, President of Network Solutions. Discover why 95% of AI projects fail, the secret to harnessing the full AI stack, and how TD SYNNEX’s DAI Solution Grid is empowering partners to lead the charge. Whether you're just starting your AI journey or looking to refine your strategy, this episode offers a roadmap to owning the AI revolution.
18 Nov 2025
Contradictions in the Channel: What 1,400 Partners Really Say
Channel Mic Check is straight talk on the realities in today's IT channel. In our first episode, your hosts Jessica McDowell and Calhoun McKinney unpack the latest TD SYNNEX Direction of Technology report. Get unfiltered takes on market impressions vs. reality, the roles of specialization and scale, the AI execution gap, and how customer experience is your new competitive moat. The mic's hot, so listen in.
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