Founder and CEO of Immersive Labs James Hadley takes us through his career path from university to cybersecurity startup. James tells us about his first computer and how he liked to push it to its limits and then some. He joined GCHQ after college and consulted across government departments. Teaching in GCHQ's cyber summer school was where James felt a shift in his career. As a company founder, he shares that he is very driven, very fast and also very caring. James offers advice to those looking to get into the industry recommending they chase what interests them rather than certifications. We thank James for sharing his story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americas Security R&D Lead for Accenture Malek Ben Salem shares how she pivoted from her love of math and background in electrical engineering to a career in cybersecurity R&D. Malek talks about her interest in astrophysics as a young girl, and how her affinity for math and taking on challenges lead her to a degree in electrical engineering. She grew her career using math for data mining and forecasting eventually pursuing a masters and PhD in computer science where she shifted her focus to cybersecurity. Malek now develops and applies new AI techniques to solve security problems at Accenture. We thank Malek for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CEO and consultant Richard Clarke took his inspiration from President John F Kennedy and turned it into the first cybersecurity position in federal government. Determined to help change the mindset of war, Richard went to work for the Department of Defense at the Pentagon following college during the Vietnam War. From Assistant Secretary of the State Department, he moved to the White House to work for President George W. Bush's administration where he kept an eye on Al-Qaeda and was tasked to take on cybersecurity. Lacking any books or courses to give him a basic understanding of cybersecurity, Richard made it his mission to raise the level of cybersecurity knowledge. Currently as Chairman and CEO at Good Harbor Security Risk Management, Richard advises CISOs. We thank Richard for sharing his story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Communications consultant and podcaster Carole Theriault always loved radio and through her career dabbled in many areas .She landed in a communications and podcasting role where she helps technical firms create audio and digital content. In fact, Carole is the CyberWire's UK Correspondent. She says cybersecurity is good place to go because of the many different avenues available and "you don't even have to be a tech head" (though Carole has quite a technical pedigree). Our thanks to Carole for sharing her story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Associate Professor of Computer Information Systems at the University of Tulsa Sal Aurigemma shares how his interest in how things worked shaped his career path in nuclear power and computers, Being introduced to computers in high school and learning about the Chernobyl event led Sal to study nuclear engineering followed by time in the Navy as a submarine officer. On the submarine, Sal had to understand how systems worked from soup to nuts and that let him back to IT. As a computer engineer, Sal spent a lot of time on network troubleshooting and was eventually introduced to cybersecurity. Following 9/11, cybersecurity took on greater importance. Sal's research focuses on behavioral cybersecurity. To newcomers, he suggests heading into things with an open mind and doesn't recommend giving users 24-character passwords that have two upper, two lower, and two special characters that cannot be written down. We thank Sal for sharing his story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior VP of Cyber Operations at KnowBe4, Rosa Smothers, talks about her career as an early cybersecurity professional in what she describes as the Wild, Wild West to her path through government intelligence work. Rosa shares how she always knew she wanted to be involved with computers and how being a big Star Trek nerd and fan particularly of Spock and Uhura helped shape her direction. Following 9/11, Rosa wanted to work for the government and pursue the bad guys and she did just that completing her bachelor's degree and starting in the Defense Intelligence Agency as a cyber threat analyst focusing on extremist groups. She joined the CIA and worked on things you see in the movies, things that are science fictionesque. Rosa recommends talking with people to get your feet wet to find your passion. We thank Rosa for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Investigative journalist and author Geoff White talks about tracing a line through the dots of his career covering technology. Geoff shares that he has always been "quite geeky," but came to covering technology after several roles in the journalism industry. Newspapers, magazines and television were all media Geoff worked in before covering technology. Geoff got into journalism not due to the glamour sometimes associated with it, but because he wanted to fight for the public to cover stories that helped those who didn't have massive amounts of money, power or a huge lobbying campaign in political circles. When writing his book, Crime Dot Com, Geoff reflected on the cybercrime and cybersecurity stories he's covered and saw how things started falling into place. Our thanks to Geoff for sharing his story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Commandant for the National Security Agency's National Cryptologic School Diane M. Janosek shares the story of her career going global Diane explains how she's always been drawn to doing things that could help and raise the nation. From a position as a law clerk during law school, to the role of a judicial clerk, and joining the White House Counsel's office, Diane was exposed to many things and felt she experienced the full circle. Moving on to the Pentagon and finally, the NSA, Diane transitioned into her current role where she orchestrates the educational environment for military and civilian cyber and cryptologists worldwide for the nation. Diane encourages those who love to learn to join the multidisciplinary cybersecurity field. Our thanks to Diane for sharing her story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director of security operations at Syntax Richard Torres talks about his path leading him working in juvenile justice to becoming a private investigator to physical security at a nuclear power plant to cybersecurity presently. Always a fan of police shows, Richard became a member of the Air Force Junior ROTC in high school and began his path there. Richard shares the challenges of working in several facets of the security industry including his transition from SWAT team member to cybersecurity. He notes the role that diplomacy plays when you're trying to get honesty and be steered in the right direction. Our thanks to Richard for sharing his story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cyber Initiative and Special Projects Fellow at the Hewlett Foundation Monica Ruiz shares her career development from aspirations of being a weather woman to her current role as a grantmaker and connector in cybersecurity. Monica discusses how her international study experience changed her outlook and brought her to the field of security. She shares the difficulties she faced as a woman of color when when not that many people look like you, and how she used that as her reason to move forward and better the cybersecurity field through her work. Our thanks to Monica for sharing her story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cybersecurity Sales Engineer Brandon Robinson shares how he built his career in technology and the barriers he experienced along the way. He talks about how his job involves him interacting with customers at the highest levels making sure their solution is meeting needs. In addition, Brandon describes how as a black man and a trailblazer, he's been met with resistance. His positive spin on moving ahead involves relying on himself. Brandon's advice: find your passion, don't be intimidated and you will be met with success. Our thanks to Brandon for sharing his story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Technology attorney and startup chief of staff Elizabeth Wharton shares her experiences and how she came to work with companies in technology. Elizabeth talks about how she always liked solving problems and Nancy Drew mysteries, but not litigation. These morphed finding into her home in the policy legal world and some time later, technology law. Elizabeth describes how she loves planning and strategy in her work and encourages others to ask questions and absorb all of the information. Our thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host of Darknet Diaries podcast Jack Rhysider shares his experiences from studying computer engineering at university to his strategy of using gamification on his career that led to him landing in the security space. Jack talks about how his wide experiences came together in security and what prompted him to learn podcasting. Jack endeavors to share the whole story through his podcasts while making them entertaining, enlightening and inspirational. Our thanks to Jack for sharing his story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Managing director of the Cyber Readiness Institute Kiersten Todt shares how she came to be in the cybersecurity industry helping to provide free tools and resources for small businesses through a nonprofit. She describes how her work on the Hill prior to and just after 9/11 changed. Kiersten talks about the diversity of skills that benefit work in cybersecurity and offers her advice on going after what you want to do. Our thanks to Kiersten for sharing her story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman takes us on a journey of how his career developed from starting a software service company to currently focusing on the infosec side of the business where his team essentially helps to create human firewalls. Stu talks about learning all aspects of the business while creating startups and suggests you learn to speak the language of the area you are looking to get into. He even touches on predicting the future and taking over the world. Our thanks to Stu for sharing his story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cyber threat intelligence analyst Selena Larson takes us on her career journey from being a journalist to making the switch to industrial security. As a child who wrote a book about a green goldfish who dealt with bullying, Selena always liked investigating and researching things. Specializing in cybersecurity journalism led to the realization of how closely aligned or similar skills are required from an investigative journalist and a cyber threat intelligence analyst. Our thanks to Selena for sharing her story with us.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liji Samuel from NSA sits down to share her exciting career path through the years until she found a job working for as Chief of Standards and Certification at NSA's Cyber Collaboration Center. She starts by sharing that she had always wanted to work in the STEM field, explaining that growing up she was surrounded with older cousins who were choosing STEM careers and it became an interesting topic for her. She accounts working for a number of companies that helped her grow into the role she is in now. Cybersecurity became a big buzzword for her, causing her to step out of the agency into US cyber command to help take up a management position for the architecture and engineering division. From there, she continued her cybersecurity journey first as the exploration director before moving into where she is now. Liji shares that there were barriers along the way that she had to endure and hop over to get to the right path. She says "So there are challenges and barriers that come across constantly with our work. Um, one just has to pause and reflect on how we can work with it, around it, or influence like our stakeholders and jointly create a vision around it." We thank Liji for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior security researcher from Secureworks Marcelle Lee shares her career journey into cybersecurity and how she helps solve hard problems in her daily work. Marcelle came into cybersecurity not through any traditional path. She describes her route from a different field and starting in cyber at her local community college through a grant program. Marcelle took full advantage of the opportunities she had and grew her career from there. She recommends finding your specialty, but continue to build other skills. As a woman in the field, she is a strong proponent of diversity and encouraging others to find what excites them. And, we thank Marcelle for sharing her story with us. And be sure to join our live webinar: CISOs are the new Architects (of the Workforce) Join N2K’s Simone Petrella and Intuit’s Kim Jones on Wednesday, March 27th for an online discussion about the pivotal role security leaders play in shaping the security workforce landscape, and how we can start showing up for the future of our industry. Learn more and register on the event page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dawn Cappelli, OT CERT Director at Dragos, sits down to share what she has learned after her 25+ year career in the industry. She recalls wanting to have been a rockstar when she grew up, now she refers to herself as the fairy godmother of security. She shares some of the amazing things she got to work on throughout her career, including working with the Secret Service when the Olympics came to Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002. She shares how she was able to rise through the ranks to get to where she is now. Dawn talks about how she wasn't ready to retire quite yet because she loved the industry so much, saying "I retired, but I knew I still loved security. I have this passion for protection and so Dragos came along and they offered me this role of Director of OT CERT. I feel like I'm the security fairy godmother." She shares words of wisdom for all trying to get into the industry, saying that you need to always take the risk like she did when she first started her career. We thank Dawn for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ground Labs' Head of Engineering, Swati Shekhar, shares her circuitous route from and back to engineering. Always being interested in leveraging the tools available to solve problems, Swati talks about how she found her place in engineering. She mentions how she had her first real experience with a computer when she was 17 in her first year at college. Aside from being one of 30 young women in a sea of 500 young men there, Swati described it as a "good culture shock because anything that takes you out of your comfort zone actually makes you learn and grow." She notes that challenges experienced in life increase your risk appetite so significantly. Swati advises those looking to make a job change to be certain of what is attracting them and to be yourself. We thank Swati for sharing her story with us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices