How to Break Into Cloud Security in 2026

[SPEAKER_01]: right now. [SPEAKER_01]: And if you're not talking about it, you should be talking about it. [SPEAKER_01]: And if you're not thinking about it, you should be thinking about it as your company, because I can guarantee you if you don't have it blocked, they're using them. [SPEAKER_01]: But I think that right now it is a different climate than what it was when I started it. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I think that you need to be strategic about what it is that you want to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that if you [SPEAKER_01]: Breaking into the cloud, take, cyber, if that is what you want to do then you have to go hard or go home with it. [SPEAKER_01]: You need to in a way decide and map out what your plan is. [SPEAKER_01]: How often are you going to study? [SPEAKER_01]: What are you going to study? [SPEAKER_01]: What are your goals that you're going to achieve this week? [SPEAKER_01]: You can use AI to help you my part of plan.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's hard to come up with a plan by yourself when you don't know. [SPEAKER_01]: Security plus and a degree still ain't gonna do it. [SPEAKER_02]: It's still ain't gonna do it. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, many people have a degree in security plus. [SPEAKER_01]: So I think that you need to think about what am I doing to stand out from the other 10,000 applicants that also have a degree in a security. [SPEAKER_02]: How would you stand out? [SPEAKER_02]: How would you stand out?

[SPEAKER_01]: I would be... [SPEAKER_03]: You probably have a security plus maybe even a security clearance and nobody taught you how to write poems or how to test a security control or submit a T.O. [SPEAKER_03]: package on Chris Arkpala a few years ago I was in your shoes all the five on paper But completely lost when it came to our map.

[SPEAKER_03]: I had to degree I had to serve so I had to drive when somebody said how to test an AT2 control or got a date stick by this I had no clue what that actually looked like [SPEAKER_03]: Fast 4 or 5 years, I worked across DOD and federal agencies, led control assessments, ring ATO package, and pass orders. [SPEAKER_03]: That's why I built Arne Neficatomy to teach you the real-world execution. [SPEAKER_03]: They don't cover in certification books.

[SPEAKER_03]: Inside I'll show you how to write a poem. [SPEAKER_03]: And don't get fast back. [SPEAKER_03]: Test and validate security controls, Translate tech jardan, Navigating this 853 and RMF with confidence. [SPEAKER_03]: If you're in IT support in the government systems or stuck on edge of sub security, this is your way. [SPEAKER_03]: The people who go through my training don't just be hired. [SPEAKER_03]: They hit the ground running because they practice the work before they win.

[SPEAKER_03]: Go to RMF Academy.io and let's get the work. [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome everybody to another edition of the Tech Work Podcast. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm your host Chris and in today's podcast we have a great great guest. [SPEAKER_02]: Her name is Destiny Simmons She's a co-host of the Tech Show chatter podcast. [SPEAKER_02]: She's also a solutions engineer and without further ado, Destiny how you doing today. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm doing well, glad to be here.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm glad for you to be here too. [SPEAKER_02]: I know you were your birthdays tomorrow. [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it is. [SPEAKER_02]: I know you've been having it up in New York. [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, that was. [SPEAKER_02]: You're going to have it up in DC. [SPEAKER_01]: It can't will. [SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, I'm just glad that you came here or gave me a little bit of your time. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm really excited about this podcast because we're both connected to Haan Ray.

[SPEAKER_02]: And since you're on the podcast and I just want to make sure I say publicly and probably, you know, Han Ray's a great dude. [SPEAKER_02]: He gives me a lot of tips. [SPEAKER_02]: He helps a lot of people. [SPEAKER_02]: He's been in this game for a long time. [SPEAKER_02]: He's a hopeful guy who helped anybody. [SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, connected to him, we good. [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely. [SPEAKER_01]: He is good. [SPEAKER_01]: How'd it to Marco?

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, shout out to him. [SPEAKER_02]: So, I'll be on the right. [SPEAKER_02]: Not Henry. [SPEAKER_02]: So that's it. [SPEAKER_02]: I've been seeing you online for the past couple years now. [SPEAKER_02]: We know you as the host on textual chatter. [SPEAKER_02]: We know everything that you've been doing. [SPEAKER_02]: I see you do cyber awareness. [SPEAKER_02]: We see where you work at. [SPEAKER_02]: We see what you do.

[SPEAKER_02]: But this is a great podcast for me because I kind of want to understand who you are, what you do and where you're going in the future. [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: So I am cyber shorty, I am a solution engineer, specifically focused in on data security by day, and then by night I also teach cyber security as well, so some of the courses that have taught our clinics.

[SPEAKER_01]: security plus eight plus network plus some of the compt of related material and then of course I make content as well shooting with I'm Ray on the textual chatter podcast this is co-host and then on the side I'm doing some content as well so that's a little bit about me and what I do. [SPEAKER_02]: Now, hey, so we're going to go from the beginning. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: So, I can relate to you a lot because I was a criminal justice major.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, as you got your criminal justice major, how was that? [SPEAKER_01]: It was interesting. [SPEAKER_01]: It was interesting. [SPEAKER_01]: That was like the third or fourth degree that I chose after trying to figure it out. [SPEAKER_01]: Initially, I feel like I had hopes and dreams of going into the medical industry. [SPEAKER_01]: And then I took an Academy of Physiology and she sat me right down.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I think I failed anatomy and physiology twice and then I was like, all right, we need to switch route, you need to find something else and so then I started going for criminal justice, I think I did some psychology, radiology, I was all over the place and so I landed on criminal justice and I wish that

[SPEAKER_01]: People would have told me that that was not a good degree to get it to me and no disrespect to anybody So who's getting that degree it just kind of felt it feels like a filler degree like if you want to go to law school Then get a lot degree. [SPEAKER_01]: I thought you can get a little bit more specific. [SPEAKER_01]: So Yeah, that that how it went.

[SPEAKER_01]: I graduated [SPEAKER_01]: wasn't able to land the good paying job doing things that I wanted to do. [SPEAKER_01]: I wanted to work at a juvenile office facility in some way, form a fashion, but the pay was not good or sustainable for me. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I was just like, what is next? [SPEAKER_01]: So the plan was to go to law school. [SPEAKER_01]: I was studying for the LSAT and then I wasn't. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I never made it there.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then before I knew I blinked in it was six years. [SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, girl, what? [SPEAKER_01]: What's an X? [SPEAKER_01]: What are you gonna do? [SPEAKER_01]: You're not happy, so what's an X? [SPEAKER_01]: What are you gonna do with Part B? [SPEAKER_01]: Which was my masters? [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so that's, so like I will tell the audience who I was a criminal justice major and basically it's a sociology degree. [SPEAKER_01]: Literally.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and you can't really do none with it. [SPEAKER_02]: I got lucky I had a clearance. [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, well good. [SPEAKER_01]: So you landed, you landed somewhere better than I did. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so, and I trust man, I was a background investigator. [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't make no money. [SPEAKER_02]: So I understand where you at. [SPEAKER_02]: So just make sure, for the audience, make sure you pay attention with degree you're getting. [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_02]: So you did your master's like, why did you do your master's in cyber? [SPEAKER_01]: So, cyber came about through my employer at the time. [SPEAKER_01]: They offered tuition reimbursement. [SPEAKER_01]: And so, I was desperate. [SPEAKER_01]: I was like, I'm going back. [SPEAKER_01]: Whatever they're going to pay for, I'm going to go back. [SPEAKER_01]: For something that I, you know, feel like aligns with me.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, I was looking through like all of the degrees, and then I saw criminal judge, or excuse me, cyber. [SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, hmm, let me a little bit of research about this. [SPEAKER_01]: Never really studied any of these topics in undergrad, let's kind of see what this looks like. [SPEAKER_01]: So before you could do tuition reimbursement, you had to be employed for a year.

[SPEAKER_01]: So for that year, I just kind of did some research here and there, looked at different career fields, YouTube University, just trying to understand what this could potentially do for me, and how it could change my life. [SPEAKER_01]: And I was so doing it, I applied, I got accepted, [SPEAKER_01]: tuition reimbursement with my employer, my manager approved it, and then I applied to the school and got accepted in the rest of the system.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I did my master's in digital forensics. [SPEAKER_02]: Just so the audience will know, and I know I've been saying cyber security, but I counted as the same. [SPEAKER_02]: But when I did that program, it was outdated. [SPEAKER_02]: Like a lot of the stuff, the Beyoncé, which I can't really get a job with the stuff I did. [SPEAKER_02]: To be honest, we learned like, what was the FTK on NPS? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you know, you did the same thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay. [SPEAKER_02]: So, can you tell me like, when you go off your master's, did they provide you the necessary tools to get a job?

[SPEAKER_01]: absolutely my program did I can't speak for everybody's school but my program did for sure and that was one of the things that I was researching was okay what are the top schools in my city who was accredited who are they accredited by why does that matter to me um and so [SPEAKER_01]: My program is aligned with the CISSP that I graduated from. [SPEAKER_01]: And so it is designed to help you be a leader, not necessarily someone that is super technical.

[SPEAKER_01]: So there were some technical classes pen testing for insects, things like that networking. [SPEAKER_01]: But outside of that, it was really designed for you to think and get that experience as a system would. [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's why I chose the program because I was like, oh, I can really see myself aligning to this area. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so basically what you telling the audience is like, you really got to focus on where you're going.

[SPEAKER_02]: Because that's why I messed up.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and also look at the classes. [SPEAKER_01]: Like, I don't think it's enough for you to see this school offers a cybersecurity degree awesome. [SPEAKER_01]: What coursework do they have, this align to that degree? [SPEAKER_01]: have even helped people who are interested in these schools and I'm looking at the classes and I'm like, oh, these are actually some good classes or I might say these classes are not really that good. [SPEAKER_01]: What is it that you're trying to do?

[SPEAKER_01]: I think that that matters more in addition to the coursework that you are exposed to. [SPEAKER_01]: Because you get to see from those classes, what is your capstone going to look like? [SPEAKER_01]: What projects are you going to be able to add to your resume? [SPEAKER_01]: Is this going to help further advance your career? [SPEAKER_01]: Because you are paying for it.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's a lot of money and she and like you said you got tuition reimbursement for a little bit But that's I've had to take that yeah, yeah, yeah, so even when you and I like how you said like even if it makes you think like a See-so that that's a big thing because working in this field you kind of kind of think like that to get a job because a lot of people I've worked with or talk to they don't know how to think [SPEAKER_01]: It's critically. [SPEAKER_02]: Period.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Like you just got to think of something like a peanut butter sandwich. [SPEAKER_02]: How do you make a peanut butter sandwich? [SPEAKER_02]: And then that's how you excel. [SPEAKER_02]: And that's why I've learned from talking to people like you, all these people that's excelling inside of a security. [SPEAKER_02]: Was there any difference with what you thought cybersecurity was versus when you actually seen it?

[SPEAKER_01]: I think initially starting out, we all have that cliche, unless you know people who are in the field and you just have some exposure but I didn't. [SPEAKER_01]: So I feel like I have that cliche and I want to be a pen tester. [SPEAKER_01]: I want to have things I want to do this and then I took the class and I was not interested. [SPEAKER_01]: That was not. [SPEAKER_01]: I was bored. [SPEAKER_01]: It was a boring class to me.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so I think at that point, once I got over that hurdle and the hype of things, I was like, okay, what do you actually see yourself doing? [SPEAKER_01]: How does your skills set aligned to these roles? [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that that made it more realistic for me, but nothing puts the cherry on top, like actually doing the work. [SPEAKER_01]: So when you get your first job in you are doing something that [SPEAKER_01]: can change the security posture of the company.

[SPEAKER_01]: You start to think, okay, my decisions matter, my input matters, I need to get all my game, I need to do the right things. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, that's good to hear, and that's a good segue, because we're trying to, okay, so you, you did your master's program, so how did you pick, how did you figure out what you wanted to do, and then be, how did you slowly, did you get a job after your program or during your program? [SPEAKER_01]: During the program.

[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, you managed our program.

[SPEAKER_01]: During the program. [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, yes, so, [SPEAKER_01]: I was working full time, quit my job because I was like how are you going to get that exposure if you don't have the space available? [SPEAKER_01]: So I think I quit my job in April and then July. [SPEAKER_01]: I was able to land a sock internship doing vulnerability management. [SPEAKER_01]: And so how that landed was the manager reached out to me on LinkedIn and he was like, hey, I see you're open for work.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have a position open. [SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to chat? [SPEAKER_01]: And so we got on the call, we talked about some of the things that I was exposed to and he looked at my resume and you know gave me some feedback and he was like, all right, we want to get an interview set up with the team. [SPEAKER_01]: And this was like every leader in the company, the CISO was in there. [SPEAKER_01]: It was very intimidating. [SPEAKER_01]: And it was actually my hardest interview today.

[SPEAKER_01]: They picked apart. [SPEAKER_01]: every single thing that was on my resume but I can speak to it and I had my projects pulled up and I was able to kind of talk them through some things that I worked on but it really just came from me sharing some of my journey on LinkedIn when I was getting my masters like different assignments I would post about them about what we did and that got someone's attention who had an opportunity.

[SPEAKER_02]: I had a hit up because I preach every day like, hey, I talked to so many people that I got a job through LinkedIn. [SPEAKER_02]: And all you did was just post your projects. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: How many? [SPEAKER_02]: Like, what projects would you post and just write your regular stuff?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I just write, I can't even remember because it was so long ago, but I know I probably posted some projects about my digital forensics course, which I thought was super cool. [SPEAKER_01]: I think I posted about my capstone, where I got to be a CISO, and [SPEAKER_01]: come up with a strategic cyber security plan and cyber breach report where we got to analyze some recent breaches that we're going on and determine how you can prevent that from happening in your company.

[SPEAKER_01]: So just things like that that illustrate some of the things that I'm working on. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, that's good.

[SPEAKER_02]: So remember audience and then I'm wrong with posting because let me do example like even a while back I just put a hell of it somebody was posting a job on the on a Ninth in I just sent them like I've reached like they posted it I just sent them all the projects I was already I post on YouTube so I just showed them all my projects got to interview I didn't get the necessary job, but it kind of it shows you that you can go that far. [SPEAKER_01]: Oh for sure Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah [SPEAKER_01]: And then the more that you aren't afraid to be seen and to share your journey, you never know who's watching. [SPEAKER_01]: I never had it in my mind that that was going to be the way that I was going to land that internship. [SPEAKER_01]: And you asked me what was like, what did I want to do? [SPEAKER_01]: I did it now because I took so many classes. [SPEAKER_01]: I knew for sure that I did it, know what I wanted to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I know after completing some things what I don't want to do. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so going back, what would you do, what would you do go straight into back then if you would go back? [SPEAKER_01]: I wouldn't change the journey. [SPEAKER_01]: Are you going to, I wouldn't change the journey at all. [SPEAKER_02]: Remember, I always said he want to go back. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, the journey helped you get you and need to go. [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: I hear that. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so you get in this job as you got this job off a link then. [SPEAKER_02]: I know for everybody that got in the side, including myself, I was nervous. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, you, you hearing about the, you did the security plus, you hearing on it. [SPEAKER_02]: So when you first got in, how was, how did you feel?

[SPEAKER_02]: Did you, like, when you're, when you're in there, you're starting to hear all these terminologies and all these people that've been there for 10 years? [SPEAKER_02]: How did that make you feel? [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I knew that I got the job because they believed in me. [SPEAKER_01]: Okay. [SPEAKER_01]: And I knew that they knew. [SPEAKER_01]: I was coming with zero experience and knowledge besides what I worked on in my program.

[SPEAKER_01]: So for me, it really just kind of turned me up. [SPEAKER_01]: I was like, I ain't going to disappoint you. [SPEAKER_01]: You took a chance on me. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a making proud. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm doing my big one while I'm here. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm trying to leave this program better than it was when I started. [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's just kind of how I approached it. [SPEAKER_01]: I was nervous for sure. [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely. [SPEAKER_01]: nervous.

[SPEAKER_01]: But my manager was super hands-off in a way that empowered me to reach out to my peers and figure out things on my own. [SPEAKER_01]: And then as a last resort, I needed to reach out to him. [SPEAKER_01]: I could. [SPEAKER_01]: But it was my manager. [SPEAKER_01]: It was me, my manager, and then the sister. [SPEAKER_01]: So the relationship was very cool. [SPEAKER_01]: He was very friendly. [SPEAKER_01]: Somebody could go walk and talk to him. [SPEAKER_01]: Reach out to him.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was easy to reach. [SPEAKER_01]: big for me as well because you get to see like these are just regular people. [SPEAKER_01]: Like yes, he's a cell, but he's still a human, you know, so there's no need for you to necessarily be nervous. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I mean, Daddy still sweat. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, he's exactly. [SPEAKER_02]: He still have, uh, getting mad and traffic, so it's nothing like that.

[SPEAKER_02]: And then again, how I was mentored in the game when I first started, I didn't really tell me much to do. [SPEAKER_02]: All they told me was, hey, we got to ATO. [SPEAKER_02]: It's like, what is it, ETO? [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, we had to prepare a package and do all this stuff, and I was like, oh, okay. [SPEAKER_02]: So I had to do it, yeah, you had to do it. [SPEAKER_02]: So that's kind of the best way to learn of your answers with you.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's like, quote-oh, we say you pressure to return you to diamonds or turn you to dust. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, you don't want to turn to dust. [SPEAKER_02]: So your vulnerability, analyst, what is a vulnerability, analyst? [SPEAKER_01]: So what you do in vulnerability management is you are focused in on identifying vulnerability in your environment reaching out to the appropriate teams to let them know hey you have these assets that are on this list.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to give you X amount of time frame to remediate the vulnerabilities, then we're going to follow back up. [SPEAKER_01]: But the way that my company did it, which I really liked, and I don't know what this is, how everyone works, but we gave them a great. [SPEAKER_01]: And so each team had a great month over month, and so you got an F this month, because you have not remediated anything, and then we're presenting this to the sister, who

[SPEAKER_01]: Now you have to explain to him why you're not making progress and we showed the trend as well over like the last three or six months So we could see are you all always in the F range or do are some of y'all what is the difference between the team that's in the F or a team that got in A And so I did appreciate seeing the program ran because what I was finding they might have some folks who are scanning and patching but it's not necessarily a true

[SPEAKER_01]: program where someone's meaning or handling it. [SPEAKER_01]: So there were like three of us that were on the vulnerability management side who were tasked with all of the access for the company and following up with the teams and again making sure that when we rescan them to reach back out to them and say, [SPEAKER_01]: Or if it's a one-off situation where there's a critical CVE that was just released, the Nat means that this requires special attention.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is above that list that we gave you. [SPEAKER_01]: But I think more importantly, it's trying to help people understand the risk that's presented because it's difficult to do. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so you were actually scanning. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so what vulnerability scanner was it using? [SPEAKER_02]: Rapid, rapid, rapid. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay. [SPEAKER_02]: So was it doing plug-in, CV? [SPEAKER_02]: Yes. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so you was okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: So you're scanning multiple assets. [SPEAKER_01]: It was just like on a schedule. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so you see it's more like a compliance side. [SPEAKER_02]: That's how I count that. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so you're reaching out. [SPEAKER_02]: So what did you learn like dealing from each program like? [SPEAKER_01]: I learned that.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's important for you to have a process, it's important for people to understand the process, and it's important for you to be able to replicate and explain. [SPEAKER_01]: So in my instance, we scan the assets, let's just say once a month. [SPEAKER_01]: We were scan the environment, and then we would pass these out to the teams, and we would say, hey, these are your high medium and low vulnerabilities. [SPEAKER_01]: So that way they understand where some of your focus would be.

[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, [SPEAKER_01]: you might want to focus more on the high vulnerabilities than you would the low but not to say that the low ones aren't worrying but that's the way that we pass them out and I think seeing now that I'm not there anymore just seeing and understanding the program that I was a part of and how that impacted the company was an eye opener for me because if you don't patch some of these vulnerabilities they're exploitable.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, because like I work in compliance, you know, uh, you got zero days. [SPEAKER_01]: Exactly. [SPEAKER_01]: This is not going to talk about it. [SPEAKER_02]: Like those CBEs, yeah, so you know if you don't. [SPEAKER_01]: And don't let it be the weekend. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Because those things in the weekend doesn't matter.

[SPEAKER_02]: And it goes to show you that what we're doing as a job is a lot of people think it's just money, but if you don't, you can lose, you can lose them. [SPEAKER_02]: I love it. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Your reputation. [SPEAKER_02]: Your mind. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, your reputation. [SPEAKER_02]: So like, even like working compliance now, so I handle a lot of vulnerabilities and things like that.

[SPEAKER_02]: So the thing I will say for me as a, in compliance is like, we have a process where we track everything. [SPEAKER_02]: So every week, we're continuously going on with this, going on, it's, it's important. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so yeah, and then also teaching you about how a organization goes about accepting risk because everything can't and won't be patched, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And so what does that accept it? [SPEAKER_01]: What is the acceptance criteria?

[SPEAKER_01]: It was a process, it would go, they would tell me, for example, although we can't patch this because we need to buy a new server, and then we would be like, we'll go buy a new server.

[SPEAKER_01]: You might be very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, [SPEAKER_01]: But knowing that the SISO is not going to accept that risk because you don't want to buy a new server.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so like when you're working in cyber, right? [SPEAKER_02]: Just to answer a lot of people sometimes when people look on the outside and it can say, hey, this job is a little bit ruthless. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, do you think it can be ruthless or do you think it's like everything wants to get done compliant or like, how do you feel when you first started? [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think that the culture of the place that you work at plays a lot into

[SPEAKER_01]: you know, how you may feel working. [SPEAKER_01]: I have worked at places that were a bit more ruthless, a bit more, you know, shooting from the waist. [SPEAKER_01]: I've worked in places that have a nicer friendlier atmosphere, but I do think that depends on where you are.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, if you're in sales, yeah, it's gonna be a little bit more ruthless than if you may be [SPEAKER_01]: post sales, more customer facing, both of them, you're still dealing with customers, but you know if you're in sales, they can be a little bit more ruthless. [SPEAKER_02]: And then let me clarify too, like if you're messing up something on like a period of time, they were like, okay, well if you can't do the job, we'll get somebody else within the next couple of miles.

[SPEAKER_01]: I have been experienced that I've actually been blessed with leaders who know that [SPEAKER_01]: you're not perfect, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And who allow space for there to be mistakes makes? [SPEAKER_01]: Because when you make mistakes, that's how you learn. [SPEAKER_01]: Now, obviously, we're not talking about, you know, top dollar mistakes, right? [SPEAKER_01]: You miss the CVE and now, it's like, that's different.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I think that I've always been encouraged to be curious and to make mistakes, so that I can learn from them.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's a good environment, so hey, you had a great upper end in the field, so okay, so we're working as this vulnerability analyst, obviously you're talking to you, see so you're building a good rapport, and I know you're transitioning, okay, you're like, okay, I'm feeling this now, you was there, and I forgot to tell you how long you've been inside, you've transitioned, one last time, when did you transition to sign up like, and 21.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so you're like, okay, so how did you start preparing for your next role and describe your next role you took on? [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I just started applying because that was the internship, so I was working part-time. [SPEAKER_01]: They initially had offered me a full-time role, but I had just left a full-time role and I was still finishing up the program, so I was just like, I don't want to do anything else whole-time until after I'm done.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, so I just started applying the first offer I think I got was from a stinture and then- Yeah, I got another offer after that. [SPEAKER_01]: There was more money with AT&T, so I went with that and then where I met now. [SPEAKER_01]: But the next role was a- [SPEAKER_01]: Let's talk about it. [SPEAKER_01]: So the next row I was hired, initially to do network engineering.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm telling everybody like, I'm gonna be a network engineer, I'ma good news, we will, and then they call me like two weeks before it is time to start and they're like, hey, so the CVP in this org has decided that if you don't have an engineering degree,

[SPEAKER_01]: you can't be a network engineer so they were like trying to minimize it like well we're just going to put you on this other because they were like three tracks they were like we're just put you on this other track it'll be fine like you they were trying to minimize it was a big difference night and day so the next world actually ended up being a technical business manager and I was doing a lot of organizational change and management. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: So you did that. [SPEAKER_02]: I bad. [SPEAKER_02]: You're like, how I go from this coming business. [SPEAKER_01]: It was, I learned a lot and I'm grateful for it because it has helped me in my role now. [SPEAKER_01]: Just understand how important it is to implement change effectively and how it just impacts the organization and the stakeholders. [SPEAKER_01]: But that was not what I had in mind. [SPEAKER_02]: This kind of a little bit, though, I'm curious.

[SPEAKER_02]: What is, like, how did it help you? [SPEAKER_02]: Like, what did you like? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so think about if you have, I like this example. [SPEAKER_01]: If you have always used an iPhone, right, and that someone gives you an Android at a company. [SPEAKER_01]: Like, let's say that everybody at the company has been using Apple devices, and then we decide, all right, we're no longer using Apple, we're switching over to Android.

[SPEAKER_01]: The people need to learn how to use these devices. [SPEAKER_01]: They need to understand how to do things that maybe they were doing previously on these devices. [SPEAKER_01]: Where do they save things that? [SPEAKER_01]: Just the UI is different. [SPEAKER_01]: And so OGM is really focused on making sure that that changed lands and stakes with everyone that's affected. [SPEAKER_01]: from the end users, to the stakeholders, to the leadership.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's making sure that, so like we had a newsletter, that was that came out month over month, they said, we're building this new solution.

[SPEAKER_01]: These are the new features that are in this solution. [SPEAKER_01]: This is what's no longer available in the old platform. [SPEAKER_01]: So it was like a plug-in play. [SPEAKER_01]: Like we were taking something out of here and putting it over here, and we were explaining to the user. [SPEAKER_01]: and walking them through a tutorial of how to do whatever it is they were trying to do in the new tool.

[SPEAKER_01]: So it started with that and then that kind of branched out we would have monthly meetings with the stakeholders to make sure that their concerns in things are being addressed and then from the end users. [SPEAKER_01]: I was keeping up with building basically like a knowledge base of how to go to, you know, in service now. [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so that kind of helped prepare you. [SPEAKER_02]: I know that got you with talking to leadership, understand how to even talk to the users.

[SPEAKER_02]: And as you see how God works, God really prepares you for everything. [SPEAKER_01]: And then I got to work with the product owners. [SPEAKER_01]: I got to work with developers, scrum, project management, agile, all of that. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, you know, we've done. [SPEAKER_02]: And I got you right, so that's why I said that's what you keep saying, I don't, I don't, I don't want to change anything. [SPEAKER_02]: Because it got you where you need to go.

[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely, yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so tell me a how, because I know you, you're currently in cloud solutions and data solutions, right? [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: So tell me about, like, first off, I want to ask, what is cloud solutions in general?

[SPEAKER_01]: So a cloud solution architect, I think it depends on where you were. [SPEAKER_01]: Okay. [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, I think, but for where I was where I've worked at, when I was a cloud solution architect, it is a post sales row. [SPEAKER_01]: So the customers already purchased this solution and maybe they don't know how to use it.

[SPEAKER_01]: maybe they want a better understanding how this solution can help them achieve or better some use cases that they have internally, maybe it's a permissions thing, maybe it's a workshop to walk them through. [SPEAKER_01]: So it was anything of that sort. [SPEAKER_01]: I really enjoyed doing assessments and then explaining out the business risk to customers.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I would do a assessment on their environment, [SPEAKER_01]: talk about some things, and then we have a close-out where we kind of explain overall this is where your security is according to you know some best practices that we recommend. [SPEAKER_02]: Sorry, guys. [SPEAKER_02]: So you're kind of like working more of the end end user. [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like the actual security analyst in the sock team in that org, or the identity team, the infrastructure team, whoever may be. [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, really, you know, you had a really no the environment to do that. [SPEAKER_01]: You have to know, not necessarily their environment because they'll help you understand what's going on in their environment, but you do need to know whatever solution it is that you're helping them with.

[SPEAKER_02]: OK, so we broke down with Cloud solution is you kind of helping out the end user. [SPEAKER_02]: You kind of know your architecture and buildings. [SPEAKER_02]: I heard this row before. [SPEAKER_02]: It pays a lot. [SPEAKER_02]: It pays a lot. [SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes you can be designated an engineer to an architect for a specific customer. [SPEAKER_01]: So [SPEAKER_01]: whoever, McDonald's. [SPEAKER_01]: I am their cloud solution architect.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I'll be working with them for the next year to do whatever it is that they're trying to achieve from a security perspective, support an evasion. [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so maybe like office hours and things like that too. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so for this role, and I know we always, we've been debating now, is technical, is it a technical role? [SPEAKER_01]: Yes. [SPEAKER_01]: Okay. [SPEAKER_02]: So, so how do you prepare yourself to do this role?

[SPEAKER_02]: What would you, would you recommend for somebody? [SPEAKER_01]: I would say you have to know the tools. [SPEAKER_01]: So it depends on what tool that would be. [SPEAKER_01]: In my case, I was kind of doing like Defender for Cloud work a little bit of work in Intra, what conditional access and PIM and things like that. [SPEAKER_01]: Also a little bit of work in our scenes and to know. [SPEAKER_01]: And then what else I'm missing something. [SPEAKER_01]: Those are good.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like VMware's like would you wear any like website no VMware's I don't do that. [SPEAKER_01]: Okay. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that I would say that's more on the infrastructure side Okay, so okay, so okay, so you're doing this role. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay. [SPEAKER_02]: Also with certifications. [SPEAKER_02]: We'll be doing this role [SPEAKER_01]: Definitely, if you want to work in the cloud, you need to have a cloud fundamental certification.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if it's Azure, the AZ900, and then you can build out from there. [SPEAKER_01]: You need to know how Azure works because that's what everything's built on. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I have the AZ900, I have the SC200, and the 100. [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think I have the three. [SPEAKER_01]: I might have the 300 too. [SPEAKER_01]: I don't. [SPEAKER_01]: I have a lot of them. [SPEAKER_01]: But they're focused in on our security solution.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, purview defender for employee and centenal is kind of what those are on. [SPEAKER_01]: And then the SC100 is the cybersecurity architect, one, I think. [SPEAKER_01]: Don't quote me. [SPEAKER_02]: You would see that. [SPEAKER_02]: No quote. [SPEAKER_02]: Right. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: So, from your perspective, what is the cloud, how would you describe it? [SPEAKER_01]: The cloud is just hosting your resources on someone else's hardware. [SPEAKER_01]: That's it.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's still a data center. [SPEAKER_01]: You just don't have to maintain it. [SPEAKER_01]: So instead of you having to maintain it, I want to use Chris's cloud provider. [SPEAKER_01]: Chris is going to pay for the data center. [SPEAKER_01]: He's going to keep it up to date. [SPEAKER_01]: And I can just plug and play and go as I need depending on what resources I'm looking to deploy. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I like the cloud.

[SPEAKER_02]: My only issue, sometimes I like to put the inheritance with the cloud with the security inheritance. [SPEAKER_02]: I like that they take care of a lot of that stuff. [SPEAKER_02]: But I still have my ifs about using that, using other people's stuff, because you never know what if that get tagged? [SPEAKER_02]: What's something happens to them? [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely. [SPEAKER_02]: So, okay, so you've been doing this role.

[SPEAKER_02]: And also too, like, how do you be good at this role? [SPEAKER_02]: Like, what makes you stand out? [SPEAKER_01]: I think just the exposure and the experience that you get to receive working with different customers, helping them achieve different goals based on whatever their use case is. [SPEAKER_01]: I think that also you being curious, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: You not being afraid to present a different solution or perspective to a customer on how to achieve whatever the goal may be, sometimes it may be able to be achieved with one solution. [SPEAKER_01]: sometimes you need to use multiple solutions to help them achieve that goal. [SPEAKER_01]: So just being the go-to person, the subject matter expert that they can trust, to achieve whatever it is.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, and then so you're working with different customers and things like that. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, the main thing is this security posture for your environment, to work with them. [SPEAKER_02]: What are some of the common questions that they ask? [SPEAKER_02]: To make sure you're aligned.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think there are common questions, because I think it depends on what it is that you're helping them with. [SPEAKER_01]: I know right now there's a lot of talk about data security with AI. [SPEAKER_01]: And so a lot of questions that I'm seeing right now are how do we allow our employees

[SPEAKER_01]: Flexibility and using these AI solutions while also making sure we're keeping our company data safe And so those are some of the questions that I see That are relevant to all of the things that we are talking about in the tools that we're using Data security is one of one right now and if you're not talking about it You should be talking about it and if you're not thinking about it You should be thinking about it at your company because I can guarantee you if you don't have it blocked.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're using them [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and I agree, like, data security, AI security. [SPEAKER_02]: And I know you in a hungry, I think you're on test on this topic. [SPEAKER_02]: There was this one guy for DHS that uploaded something to ChadGPT, classified documentation. [SPEAKER_01]: I think he just talked about that, yep. [SPEAKER_02]: I don't think that should even be there.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I mean, if it's not blood, if it's not a topic in... [SPEAKER_01]: AI's been around for a while now, but now we're having the conversation of, okay, what about our data. [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that you either have companies who are embracing it or companies who are scared. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay. [SPEAKER_02]: And that's a good segue to data solutions architect. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: So based on a database and AI, the main thing is data, right?

[SPEAKER_02]: So how are we, what are some ways that you would protect data? [SPEAKER_02]: Would you block something with you?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, DLP is big from, not just DLP from, you know, an email perspective, DLP across all avenues. [SPEAKER_01]: Your emails, your applications, your endpoints, also making sure [SPEAKER_01]: your users understand how they should behave with this type of material. [SPEAKER_01]: Also, your end user training. [SPEAKER_01]: Are you teaching them how to use these tools?

[SPEAKER_01]: It's great if you have sensitivity labels in place, but it's not great if your employees don't know how to use them. [SPEAKER_01]: In monitoring, you know, any justifications. [SPEAKER_01]: If they're downgrading something, for example, if I am trying to send you something in this confidential, but I can't send it to you, and then I'm downgraded and say, this is general.

[SPEAKER_01]: am I looking at those to give feedback to say okay so I don't think you need to send Chris this document why did you don't grade it and say that it was not no longer confidential what it was hmm let's talk about another or a safer way to send that to him should he even have access to it [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and then also I wanted to bring in for the software too. [SPEAKER_02]: Like we don't even know what is made up.

[SPEAKER_02]: Like because the supply chain is a big thing right now, are you familiar with S-bombs? [SPEAKER_00]: No. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so S-bombs is kind of like inventory checking the inventory of your software. [SPEAKER_02]: So even with AI tools and things that we bring it in to the database, we don't even know what's really in it. [SPEAKER_01]: I was gonna, that's a, that you're right, even agents.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you don't have a tool that can help you surface your environment to figure out what models, whether the limbs are running, what agents are deployed, then how can you monitor them? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, cause even with agents, I was watching, and set up to Hacker Valley, I was watching his podcast. [SPEAKER_02]: His podcast is really good technical podcast.

[SPEAKER_02]: He was talking about how you have the, for AI agents, you got to make sure that they're doing checkins with you before they do in certain things. [SPEAKER_02]: I forgot what exactly what he said, [SPEAKER_02]: I think it was like, I think some of the involvement acts as control. [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know what he said, maybe something, but even with that, you got to make sure you're checking your agents. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, because you can hack those. [SPEAKER_02]: Like, that's, then that's becoming another topic like a penetration testing with AI agents, AI things like that. [SPEAKER_02]: So, yeah, that's another thing to, to keep an eye on. [SPEAKER_02]: So, so even with, so when you transition to to which your current role is like, how did you, how did you get that role? [SPEAKER_02]: You just transition or what skills did you learn to get into that too? [SPEAKER_01]: I am favorite.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, that's what happened. [SPEAKER_01]: I think favorite, but I knew I wanted something different. [SPEAKER_01]: I felt like the previous role that I was in, I wasn't able to grow as much as I wanted to, just due to the way that my team was structured in what our goal was as a team. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I was just like, okay, what's next?

[SPEAKER_01]: And it was in alignment with what my, [SPEAKER_01]: career road map looks like so I started as a customer success manager that I moved to a cloud solution architect which is a technical CSM I was not technical in that row so that was forced to do a technical row and then from there my plan was okay you're on the post sales side of the house now let's go to the pre-sale side, learn that language, learn that world and then maybe I'll be an AE one day who knows what's the reason?

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, okay, so you're kind of like in the mix between sales and yeah, okay, so okay Because I know a lot of people talk about okay tech sales, but this is different levels to tech sales There are absolutely different levels for sure. [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if you heard that topic red or recently It was like, oh tech sales is not tech. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like Yeah, I know that's a cloud tech. [SPEAKER_01]: He's at first during the pilot [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I think it's tech.

[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, some of themselves people, I would talk to some software people that they do sales read. [SPEAKER_02]: They know more about some things than I do. [SPEAKER_01]: And I think it depends on the company too on what you're selling in how it's being sold. [SPEAKER_01]: In my particular role, you have to be technical. [SPEAKER_01]: You are the technical resource in the sales conversation.

[SPEAKER_01]: You are the ones that you are the one that is answering your questions from a technical perspective. [SPEAKER_01]: How does this work? [SPEAKER_01]: Can they do this? [SPEAKER_01]: Show me what this looks like. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you definitely going to be a counter-exacted person. [SPEAKER_02]: So we're going this way, you know what I'm saying? [SPEAKER_02]: So we're going to segue off to, I have some questions where people that's just trying to get into the space.

[SPEAKER_02]: To get to the point where you're at in your career, what would you recommend to somebody that's trying to get where you're trying to get where you're trying to get. [SPEAKER_01]: We're at. [SPEAKER_01]: I've had a lot of experiences, my route and what worked for me might not work for you, but the rather than I took was, I did the, I got my internship, I did a, the security plus and then I started going after industry search after that.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I think that right now it is a different climate than what it was when I started. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I think that you need to be strategic about what it is [SPEAKER_01]: Breaking into the cloud, take, cyber, if that is what you want to do, then you have to go hard or go home with it. [SPEAKER_01]: You need to in a way decide and map out what your plan is.

[SPEAKER_01]: How often are you going to study? [SPEAKER_01]: What are you going to study? [SPEAKER_01]: What are your goals that you're going to achieve this week? [SPEAKER_01]: You can use AI to help you my part of plan. [SPEAKER_01]: It's hard to come up with a plan by yourself when you don't know. [SPEAKER_01]: And then I think it's also important for you to start to immerse yourself in the world and in communities.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's not, I think you would be doing yourself a disservice to try to tackle and break into any industry by yourself. [SPEAKER_01]: If you have friends, even if they're not your friends yet, if you have associates or people that you can tackle in the shoulder and say, oh, I'm looking into this, does this a good way to go? [SPEAKER_01]: Or is this a good certification, or is this a good job? [SPEAKER_01]: Is this a good position?

[SPEAKER_01]: Are these in alignment with whatever your career goals are? [SPEAKER_01]: But I think you have to be intentional and strategic. [SPEAKER_01]: I think you should be joining discord for people that you find cool and you like [SPEAKER_01]: what they do. [SPEAKER_01]: I think that you should also not be afraid to go to networking events because that's how you get exposed and meet more folks. [SPEAKER_01]: Join clubs if you're in school.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you have any tech clubs, cyber clubs, join those. [SPEAKER_01]: If you don't create one, documentary journey, but I think that it looks a lot different today than it did when I was in school. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, when I was there, you just get a security pass, get lucky, you know. [SPEAKER_02]: That's, I would say something like that. [SPEAKER_01]: And it used to be enough to just get the degree. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: That's, it's no longer enough.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's not enough. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: And shout out to AJ, like, even with me, I'm an RMF. [SPEAKER_02]: I have to learn technical skills. [SPEAKER_02]: If I do not learn technical skills in the next two years, I'm out of a job.

[SPEAKER_02]: because there's a lot of automation and then after that they got quantum computing, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, agents we just got a constantly adapt to the people that's trying to get into the cyber security I talked to so many people sometimes tech can be a lifestyle so like from people that's trying to get into tech right sometimes they're adapted as they lifestyle, all they do is sleep, breathe, yeah, yeah, how do you how you how you several times?

[SPEAKER_01]: I separate the two, by just being true to who I am, like this is what I do for work, but I don't eat greed and sleep text. [SPEAKER_01]: Some people do, and that's cool for them, but I am a multifaceted person and are many different sides to me, and all of those sides don't have a technical persona attached to them. [SPEAKER_01]: So for me, I do a lot of, [SPEAKER_01]: things that fill up my cup. [SPEAKER_01]: I like to work out. [SPEAKER_01]: I like to eat.

[SPEAKER_01]: I like to try different foods. [SPEAKER_01]: I like to do and cross anything. [SPEAKER_01]: It is off my bucket list. [SPEAKER_01]: I like to have different experiences in life that take me out of just eat, breathe, sleep, upscale, upscale, new surface. [SPEAKER_01]: Did you see that blog, this blog, that newsletter, this, you know, you can eat.

[SPEAKER_01]: I, you have to find a good way to balance it, even across social media, it's like, you know, do you have a personal account where you can escape all of the tech? [SPEAKER_01]: You know? [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, because even me, sometimes I take, I go travel someplace, go to New York, go to a mountain literally, and just separate from life a little bit, and then come back to it.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yep. [SPEAKER_01]: And I think it's important for you to take breaks and space away from the grind. [SPEAKER_01]: You have to, in order to stay sane. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and then also too, like, for people that are trying to get into the space, again, we talked about it in this podcast, Security Plus, the grease not doing it. [SPEAKER_01]: Security Plus and a degree still ain't going to do it. [SPEAKER_02]: It's still ain't going to do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the people have a degree in security plus. [SPEAKER_01]: So I think that you need to think about what am I doing to stand out from the other 10,000 applicants that also have a degree in a security. [SPEAKER_02]: How would you stand out? [SPEAKER_02]: How would you stand out? [SPEAKER_01]: I would be [SPEAKER_01]: more visible online. [SPEAKER_01]: I think that that is what it's becoming. [SPEAKER_02]: That's not a YouTube. [SPEAKER_02]: But it's starting YouTube.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, that's a good conversation starter in the interview. [SPEAKER_01]: What they ask you, how are you stand up to date with the things that are happening in the industry? [SPEAKER_01]: What I have a newsletter or I have a YouTube channel or a TikTok or whatever it may be a LinkedIn, whatever it is that you're doing. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, because you and me, have you scared to say that?

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, do I really want to tell them all this stuff? [SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, well, I'm going to take the route I ain't going to say nine. [SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, it depends on the you two. [SPEAKER_02]: I might make a personal YouTube desk for that. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Also, too, we got a lot of trends going on. [SPEAKER_02]: What trends would you focus on if you were somebody trying to, and again, I know you, you good on your journey.

[SPEAKER_02]: But if you were to pay attention, what trends would you hop on on to get into space? [SPEAKER_02]: If you were trying to start it over? [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to say learning AI and not being an expert in it, but just kind of understanding some basic concepts when it comes to AI because it's not going anywhere. [SPEAKER_01]: It's only going to get more powerful and magical and creative. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I think that it's important for you to understand how to protect.

[SPEAKER_01]: environments from tools that are like this, and if you don't know how, now's a good time to start kind of researching, what risk is presented and how can that be combated using other forms of technology? [SPEAKER_01]: I think AI is big. [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's big. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, because if I were to get in, all I would literally do is just make [SPEAKER_02]: Like, this is one website you should check out. [SPEAKER_02]: It tells me everything wrong with AI.

[SPEAKER_02]: So what I would do is just literally make a website or something, just talk about the fault of AI. [SPEAKER_02]: That's all I would do. [SPEAKER_02]: Anybody watching? [SPEAKER_02]: I'm suggestive. [SPEAKER_02]: That's a good way to get into the space. [SPEAKER_01]: And then to keep still refining your technical skills as well. [SPEAKER_01]: Like AI is this own subject. [SPEAKER_01]: But I think it's important too, because this is the thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: People who [SPEAKER_01]: are developing these tools a month over month. [SPEAKER_01]: New releases are coming out, and so I think it's important. [SPEAKER_01]: If you decide, for example, Azure is going to be in my place. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, Azure is the big piece to the puzzle. [SPEAKER_01]: And so what then Azure, what are you doing to keep up with the updates for whatever workload it is that you decide that you want to cover?

[SPEAKER_02]: OK. Is there any other tips you would want to give somebody? [SPEAKER_01]: To not give up, it can get discouraging, it can get frustrating, it can get stressful, you can feel lonely, but just keep going because one day you're gonna have that like bulb moment and something that's gonna click and you're gonna be like, oh wow, now it all makes sense. [SPEAKER_01]: So that's my advice is to not let the days that you feel frustrated.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like when I was feeling frustrated, I just kept telling myself, well, this is gonna pay off. [SPEAKER_01]: Don't worry, you can be mad today, but it's going to pay off in the end. [SPEAKER_02]: It's going to pay off like, for me, I have a go. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm only going to get Professor Messer. [SPEAKER_02]: And Professor Messer, he reads my messages all the time, but he doesn't respond. [SPEAKER_02]: So, hey, I'm going to keep shooting my shots.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's going to come on this podcast at one point, but hey, like I said, it takes one yes. [SPEAKER_02]: It may be five years for now, but it will happen to anybody, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Okay. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay. [SPEAKER_02]: So, we're going to audience find you. [SPEAKER_01]: Everywhere, I am on TikTok, I'm on Instagram, I'm on YouTube, Cyber Shorty, CYB-E-R-S-H-O-R-T-I-E-E-E-E-E-3-E-S, really everywhere.

[SPEAKER_01]: Most of them linked in Destiny Simmons, D-E-S-T-I-N-I, Lasting Simmons. [SPEAKER_01]: You can find me there as well, but really check me out everywhere where you check out. [SPEAKER_01]: The rest of your favorite creators. [SPEAKER_02]: And take out textual chatter, too. [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely. [SPEAKER_02]: You can see her there. [SPEAKER_02]: Does there anything else you're creating building? [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, so I just finished a book.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm actually meeting tomorrow with my editor to do a final suite. [SPEAKER_01]: It is. [SPEAKER_01]: So I write books in one of my other personas. [SPEAKER_01]: And so this book is my goal at bringing in my cybersecurity community to my urban fiction books. [SPEAKER_01]: Um, so it's like a love story going bad. [SPEAKER_01]: A girl meets a guy. [SPEAKER_01]: She finds out that he's a liar. [SPEAKER_01]: She cuts him off. [SPEAKER_01]: He starts stalking her.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I kind of talk about it from like a technical perspective on how she was able to find out that he's actually not who he said he was. [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, Netflix adaptations come with Netflix call me. [SPEAKER_02]: I got the plot. [SPEAKER_01]: My goal is to continue to be a voice for people that look like us.

[SPEAKER_01]: If I leave nothing behind, I want people to be able to say, oh, she made that make sense for me. [SPEAKER_01]: Because I feel like a lot of the times when we look traditional books, they're not really [SPEAKER_01]: written in a way that maybe our culture or our language where it's easy or friendly for us to just digest it quickly. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I just kind of want to be that for the people. [SPEAKER_01]: I still want to continue to build my brand.

[SPEAKER_01]: Wet, I'm rain, and then also build my brand on the side as well. [SPEAKER_01]: Continue to put out books. [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe drop a couple of courses along the way, but I still want to continue to be that for the people.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and the sad thing about it is like, I just went to church today, and they talked about all this technical advances that they try to, some sticking hide or suppress like the water, the refrigerator, all these, the traffic lights, all this was created by black people. [SPEAKER_02]: So we've been in tech for a while, it's just been suppressed, you know, so continue to push it out there and we're in a different age and time.

[SPEAKER_02]: So I love that you're trying to do these things and make sure that people know because I didn't know be honest with you at some point. [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't think black people can get into tech. [SPEAKER_02]: absolutely didn't believe it. [SPEAKER_01]: I don't really know that many people in my personal life that were in technical roles. [SPEAKER_01]: So if you don't know about these spaces, like I don't even think I know anyone who's a project manager.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like if you don't know how will you know what you can do or achieve. [SPEAKER_02]: And they're there. [SPEAKER_02]: We just got to, like I said, we're doing our part to make sure we notice there. [SPEAKER_02]: Even if the podcast ended or whatever, these videos going to be out for hopefully the next 30, 40 years. [SPEAKER_02]: So just got to keep going. [SPEAKER_02]: We don't. [SPEAKER_02]: What's one thing you want to need to audience with?

[SPEAKER_02]: It'd be a quote, it can be anything. [SPEAKER_01]: My favorite quote is by Maya Angelou, and it goes, if you don't like something, change it. [SPEAKER_01]: If you can't change it, change it, or add it to. [SPEAKER_01]: And that's just kind of my motto with life. [SPEAKER_01]: If you don't like something, if I don't like where I work, if I don't like my life, if I don't like friendships, if I don't like whatever it is, if you can do something about it, do something about it.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so if you don't like something, [SPEAKER_02]: Fed up. [SPEAKER_02]: Some get on your nerves. [SPEAKER_02]: You don't have to deal with it. [SPEAKER_02]: Just change it. [SPEAKER_01]: Or you can't do anything about it. [SPEAKER_02]: Change your attitude. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, change your attitude because if you change your attitude, you might change your outcome. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and your whole life.

[SPEAKER_02]: Well, thank you for coming on the podcast and coming on from New York. [SPEAKER_02]: It's cold and thank you for being on here. [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks so much for having me. [SPEAKER_02]: So, if you're watching on YouTube, remember to like the video, comment down below, subscribe to the channel, share the video, and also check out our MF Academy.io if you're trying to learn a wrist management.

[SPEAKER_02]: And remember everybody, get 1% better each day, peace out, I'll see you on next one.