Meet Bernard Smith Jr | Tech Intrapreneur, Investor, Philanthropist, and Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bernard Smith Jr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bernard, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
Every day God wakes us up, and we are given the choice to challenge ourselves to learn, grow, evolve, and become someone better than we were yesterday. There were definitely a lot of times when I just wanted to give up because my life would be less stressful and I could go back to being “invisible”. Sometimes I put a lot of pressure on myself to be amazing to myself, my family, my coworkers, and my community. One day I told this community, I need help, support, encouragement, guidance, and positive energy. Since I voice that need, I received so many messages and kind comments from people relating to me and reminding me that I am not alone in this and that the message that I shared is important to everyone. Speaking up with my voice matters, and it’s bringing together people from all over the world. It is creating and nurturing a community that many people didn’t have growing up. This made me realize that God is my anchor and with him being that anchor, I can always lean on him to keep going.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Welcome, My name is Bernard Smith Jr. I am a 27-year-old Tech intrapreneur, investor, and philanthropist. The path to get where I am wasn’t exactly direct, and some days I can hardly believe I made it this far. After all, my only reference point for technology was the Xbox I played at my friends’ houses.​
When I was growing up in Fort Pierce, Florida, we didn’t have a lot. My mom & dad worked three jobs. Yet, my eight sisters and I still didn’t have enough to eat sometimes. We didn’t have a TV or a computer at home.
I read at a third-grade level when I was in middle school. I was told, “You’re going to be dead or in jail before you get to high school.” It felt like no one was there to invest in kids like me. With little guidance, I felt in my spirit I needed to get out of that situation. I always felt I could do more, but I never imagined that I’d be where I am today; working at Microsoft as a Cloud Solution Architect, giving to causes that make a huge difference, and being a role model to people who really need someone to look up to. God gave me a second chance.
The path to helping others actually started with someone helping me. I was the first person in my family to go to college when I enrolled in Johnson C. Smith University, a Historically Black University in Charlotte, North Carolina. I didn’t know what I wanted to—or could—do. That was when I met another student who was crushing it in a class we took together. He took me under his wing and opened my eyes not only to the possibilities in computers, coding, and making apps but also to the joy of giving.
I began volunteering in an after-school program where we taught kids about computer engineering. The kids were a lot like me—they couldn’t afford the bus fare, and some had no place to sleep.
They saw me as someone to look up to. Someone like them who broke from a community that lacked hope and options. It was then that I learned I could reach back and help pull others up, too.
Young people need positive role models of people like them who have “made it.” By the power of my example, I began mentoring and inspiring others on how they can get further in life. It turned out that my background was an asset. Since then, I’ve been volunteering, mentoring, starting scholarship funds, and co-founding nonprofits—everything I can, to pay it forward. I like to say I work full-time for Microsoft and full-time for the community.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Dallas has many gems!

To start, I would take them to Brunch at The Ranch.

To grab a bite for lunch, I would take a bestfiend to LA Burger for some of the best burgers in town.

A dinner at My Thai & Vegn.

A day at Cimarron Park to play basketball.

A trip to Pan African Connections bookstore to network and learn about African culture. Pan African Connections bookstore is known as the shortest trip to Arica without getting on a plane.

A trip to Fuel City to get some street tacos

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My life is rich in support from others. There are so many people that mentored and inspired me along the way and continue to do so, but especially the strong family I grew up surrounded by. My grandmother, Mom, Dad, Sisters, Cousins, Uncles, Aunts, God Parents. The family was all centered in my life. They taught me resilience and that’s necessary for life. I had the opportunity to make more friends in College where I grew my family by becoming a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Many brothers from the Fraternity help me continue to believe in myself. Lastly, my Black At Microsoft family at Microsoft believes in me to lead them. I am driven by gratitude for my community.

I truly believe your network is your net worth so I feel very blessed to have a great friend circle of like-minded, driven, successful, philanthropic visionaries who I most certainly would not have gotten this far without. We need mentors at every stage of life and success. You really can’t be the expert in anything without being a student yourself and my friends pour into me daily.

Website: https://www.smithcapitalblvd.com

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Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/bernardasmithjr

Twitter: Bsmoove35

Facebook: Bernard A Smith Jr