My life at various points has been a mess. That I cleaned it up, found success and learned how to manage it shows what I try to teach people today – you’re not defined by your circumstances. You’re defined by the lessons you learn and how you implement them to improve your life.
I’ve struggled financially and academically. I have an arrest record. But long ago I learned the value of faith, hard work and perseverance, and as a father of four those qualities still drive me today. When I reflect on my dark times, it makes me appreciate more where I am today and how I got here – cybersecurity expert and trainer of cybersecurity specialists.
A big opportunity knocked for me when there was a nationwide shortage of tech talent. As a consultant managing other cybersecurity consultants, I had a hard time finding qualified people for the roles I was trying to fill.
Before long I was thinking, You know what? I’m gonna start a training academy.
Right away, I wanted to figure out how to put people in high-paying jobs that didn’t require certifications or college degrees. I took it upon myself to leverage my network and influence to start building that business while I was still working as a consultant.
Looking back before blueprinting the future
My initial idea was to start a company to help IT professionals become security consultants. But when I put everything online, I got few responses. I struggled with marketing.
The key was that I didn’t give up. I dissected other business courses and studied their ads. I slowly became an expert in the people who bought and went through courses like mine. I read their profiles and investigated their interests. Every day I spent hours learning about what my ideal customers wanted and where they were.
I also shifted my focus away from training people to become consultants and instead focused on getting IT professionals into the cybersecurity space. My brother Will, a mindset guru and performance coach, provided assistance, helping me sharpen my focus.
Will and I zeroed in on what I wanted to accomplish and who I wanted to help. He started to take me through his process, which he calls the Breakthrough Method. That entailed walking back through my entire journey. Will had me write down the most impactful experiences I’ve had in my life, good and bad, all the way up to the present. After that, we looked for the wisdom I gained from each experience.
Will told me there’s a powerful lesson in each of those experiences. His message to me: You didn’t go through them because you’re a victim or because you were born to suffer. When you find out what those lessons are and learn from them, it will change your life – and then you will help change the lives of others.
Things started to click and make sense, and in a way that even transcended business. Considering how I could share my wisdom in a way that served others was where the real magic and insight came from. The whole time I’d been thinking like a victim, and that I wasn’t good enough because I didn’t have a college degree. It was a massive reframing moment for me. I realized I had gone through all my personal trials for a reason. I realized that I could distill everything I had learned and use it to help others. That was the breakthrough effect.
Finding solutions out of pain points
One of my pain points was what I went through chasing certifications myself. They didn’t pay off nearly how I thought they would. In the interim, every time somebody asked me for career advice, they would always ask what certifications to get.
Then I thought about how later, when I was working for American Airlines, three business analysts worked on a security team with me. They had no IT background or cybersecurity experience but were making great money and crushing it, all because they knew about one core security framework. I put two and two together, and it became the basis of a completely different type of marketing strategy.
I went online and spent an entire day researching marketing: how to attract people, what makes people click links, what makes people buy, what to say to get your target audience to listen. I had a new idea, and now I really felt my audience’s pain point, because I went through it so painfully myself.
Today, my understanding of marketing is ever evolving. If you want to have a successful business, you need to continuously study marketing. But first, you need to know your “why.” When your why is strong enough, you can overcome anything.
My approach was selling a dream. I went back to showing people what that really looks like. I generally travel first class, drive nice cars, and all that. I started documenting it all to show my students how they could live when they learn the right skills. The point wasn’t just to show off – the idea is that anyone with the commitment can do it.
You are the creator of your destiny. It’s never too late to reinvent yourself or to turn adversity’s lessons into a launching pad toward a bright future.
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