Reinvention isn’t a neat pivot. It’s a grind, a choice you make on hard mornings, and a mindset you carry when no one’s clapping. We sit down with Saeger Fischer of Omada Technologies—former educator, mom of three, and 17‑time marathoner—who rebuilt her career in cybersecurity by treating learning like training and partnerships like team sports. Together we trace the real skills that translate from the classroom to the SOC: structure, self‑teaching, differentiated learning, and the patience to process before speaking. If you’ve ever felt behind, this story shows how consistent effort compounds into momentum.

We also zoom out to the big picture leaders are wrestling with. Is the AI bubble nearing a correction as tools overpromise and underdeliver on simple workflows? Where do agentic SOC models fit, and how do we balance machine speed with human judgment? We break down why you can’t buy your way out of risk, how to separate signal from vendor noise, and why relationship‑driven selling outperforms quarter‑end pressure tactics. Then we dig into category shifts reshaping architecture: the rise of enterprise browsers like Island, collapsing brittle stacks, enabling zero trust without heavy VPNs or VDI, and speeding secure onboarding in minutes, not months.

Finally, we confront timelines most teams prefer to defer: post‑quantum cryptography. Ten‑year roadmaps are already stale, and “harvest now, decrypt later” is not a thought experiment. We outline pragmatic steps to inventory crypto dependencies, prioritize migrations, and budget in phases. We also talk about public‑sector headwinds and where practitioners can still find trusted signal—peer communities, credible advisories, and leaders who share what actually works. If you’re eyeing a move into cyber, or you’re in the trenches and need a reset, this conversation blends grit, guidance, and grounded predictions you can act on today.

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If you’ve ever felt like the odd one out in tech, this conversation will feel like oxygen. Akira Brand joins us to share how a shy kid, bullied for being different, found sanctuary in two unlikely rooms—the choir room and the computer lab—and turned that mix of voice and logic into a career leading application security. We map the path from opera training to DevRel to AppSec leadership, and dig into the moments that change everything: the first terminal command that touched the internet, the DEF CON night when community said “you belong,” and the leadership shift from heroic bursts to steady, compounding wins.

We get tactical without losing the human thread. Akira explains why AppSec works best as enablement, not enforcement, and how a good leader “tailors” security into the SDLC instead of tearing it apart. Threat modeling becomes the star—recast from checkbox to business engine. We talk metrics that matter, risk you intentionally accept, and where compensating controls deliver the most value. You’ll hear pragmatic guidance on keeping velocity without sacrificing security, building credibility with developers, and designing programs teams actually use.

We also explore AI’s double edge. For seasoned engineers, AI can boost secure development and documentation at speed. For beginners, it can hide missing fundamentals and import flawed patterns. Akira shares how to keep human review in the loop, vet model provenance, and use agentic AI to ship real tools faster—without skipping security basics. The episode closes with a message for outsiders: keep your integrity, find your people, and let your craft be both voice and shield.

Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a lift, and tell us: what’s one security habit you’d “tailor” into your team’s workflow today? Your reviews help this show reach more builders, breakers, and brave weirdos—thanks for being part of the Voice of the Vigilant community.

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Panic is not a security strategy. We sit down with Craig Taylor, co-founder of Cyberhoot and longtime virtual CISO, to unpack a people-first blueprint that replaces shame and fear with positive reinforcement, practical safeguards, and repeatable habits. Craig draws on his psychology background to explain why short, gamified exercises build muscle memory that holds up against urgent “CEO” emails and deepfake phone calls. The takeaway: rewarded behaviors are repeated, and that truth can transform both culture and outcomes.

We dig into the highest-ROI controls leaders can deploy today, starting with multi-factor authentication across every external account and a fast path to passkeys. Craig demystifies passkeys in plain language, showing how FIDO2-backed credentials tie identity to both device and site, neutralizing password reuse and phishing without extra hassle. For overstretched SMBs, these steps deliver outsized protection with minimal cost.

From there, we zoom out to program strategy. Craig outlines a risk assessment approach that ranks issues by impact, likelihood, and business materiality, then tackles the basics most teams skip: complete asset inventory, verified patching, least privilege, and clean entitlement hygiene. He shares why agentic AI makes phishing smarter and faster, and how a simple rubric for email analysis, practiced monthly, can blunt even adaptive lures. Throughout, we focus on win-win-win outcomes: empowered users, fewer incidents, and lower support costs for MSPs and IT teams.

Ready to build a resilient security culture without burnout or blame? Tune in for clear steps, relatable stories, and tools you can use this quarter: MFA everywhere, passkeys where possible, short training sprints, and disciplined housekeeping.

Special Podcast Offer:

Free access to CyberHoot's Cybersecurity Literacy Training platform for individuals:
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Ever wonder why your brain feels sharp at 2 p.m. triaging alerts but foggy by 7 p.m. at home? We sit down with psychologist and behavioral scientist Dr. Sara Rabinovich to unpack the hidden cost of constant vigilance—and the small, evidence-based resets that bring your nervous system back online. Sara works with high-stress sectors like cybersecurity and uses polyvagal-informed practices, heart rate variability literacy, and tactile micro-tools to turn stress recovery into a repeatable skill set, not a wellness slogan.

We talk through what masking emotions looks like in remote and hybrid teams, why belonging cues matter for cognition, and how to spot the moment focus flips into fatigue. Sara demonstrates playful, science-backed techniques such as elongated exhale breathing with a “stress straw” and a two-minute humming practice that stimulates the vagus nerve. She explains HRV in plain terms—why flexibility, not flat calm, is the goal—and shares how simple biofeedback like respiratory rate helps skeptical, data-driven pros trust the process. The result: fewer errors, clearer priorities, and faster returns to baseline under pressure.

We also tackle tough territory—substance use as experiential avoidance, the loneliness of executive roles, and how leaders can reframe recovery as a readiness control tied to performance, retention, and reduced false alarms. Sara offers free, bite-size modules tailored to cybersecurity challenges—from off-ramping after on-call to resetting imposter spirals—that fit into busy days without adding burden. There’s even a candid look at AI: where it truly helps neurodivergent practitioners and where guardrails are essential.

If you’re ready to protect your edge without burning it down, this conversation gives you practical tools, language for your team, and a fresh definition of vigilance: compassionate, sustained attention you can direct on purpose. Listen, try a two-minute reset (https://learn.pacificmndfl.com/) and share your experience. If this resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it to someone who could use a calmer baseline tomorrow.

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Careers aren’t linear, and the most resilient defenders are forged in the messy middle. We sit down with Andreae Pohlman—Air Force veteran, former Microsoft incident responder, and enterprise security advisor—to trace a path from identity trenches to global ransomware recovery and back to the architecture that holds it all together. Andreae opens the vault on Pass‑the‑Hash, ESAE bastion forests, and privileged access workstations, then connects those lessons to today’s Entra ID, Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Identity, and Defender for Cloud Apps. If you’ve wondered how identity-first practices evolved into a full-stack defense strategy, this conversation maps the terrain with clarity.

What stands out is her through-line of grit. The military taught attention to detail, respect for mission, and composure under stress—skills that translate directly to enterprise response. Andreae explains how compromise recovery belongs beside incident response, not behind it, and why durable outcomes hinge on credential hygiene, tiered access, and secure admin workflows. We also explore the promise and limits of AI in detection and response: better signal and speed, not silver bullets, and the operational discipline required to turn insights into lasting change.

Community threads through every chapter. Scholarship for Service linked education to public impact and built a network that endures. Cyberjutsu—where Andreae now serves on the board—offers a technical, welcoming space that expects moxie and helps members level up through peer-led Small Tribes mentorship. We close with a bold wish: kill the password. Moving toward passkeys and passwordless reduces entire attack classes and the human burden that fuels social engineering. If you’re navigating a cyber career, leveling up your IR program, or looking for a community that matches your grit, you’ll find practical guidance and fresh energy here.

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Chris Lemon's cybersecurity journey defies conventional paths. As Director of Security Engineering at Secure Yeti and an educator at City Colleges of Chicago, she's building bridges between education and employment while championing diversity in tech.

What makes Chris's perspective so valuable is her unique background. Before entering cybersecurity, she worked as a nanny – experience that unexpectedly provided transferable skills in problem-solving and people management. This unconventional entry point gives her a fresh lens on industry challenges and a passion for helping others find their way into the field.

At the heart of Chris's work is the belief that diversity creates stronger security teams. "If everyone is the same with the same background and knowledge, there will be gaps," she explains. "What we need is that Swiss cheese model – when everyone has different lived experiences, we're covering security from all different angles." Her involvement with organizations like Latinas in Cyber demonstrates her commitment to bringing underrepresented voices into the conversation.

The Cybersecurity Career Accelerator program Chris runs exemplifies her practical approach to education. Beyond technical skills, she focuses on helping students stand out in a competitive job market. Through Capture The Flag competitions and hands-on learning, participants discover their cybersecurity interests while building real-world capabilities. Most importantly, these programs are grant-funded and free to students, removing financial barriers to entry.

Chris's passion extends beyond the classroom. Her "Backpacks for Good" initiative repurposes unused conference swag bags into care packages for Chicago's homeless population, showing how the tech community can address local needs. This commitment to making a difference reflects her core motivation: "It's not just changing one life but generations – it's changing how their kids are raised."

Ready to see how diverse perspectives strengthen cybersecurity? Listen now to discover how your unique background might be your greatest asset in tech.

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What if protecting yourself online wasn't mysterious or intimidating, but as normal as locking your front door? Dd Budiharto, founder of CyberPoint Advisory LLC and self-proclaimed "cybersecurity equivalent of a Swiss army knife," is on a mission to make that reality.

Dd's remarkable journey spans continents and careers – from arriving in America without speaking English and working as a campus janitor to briefing CEOs for meetings with President Obama. As a veteran CISO who protected critical infrastructure for multiple oil and gas companies, she witnessed firsthand how cybercriminals don't discriminate between targets. This realization, coupled with seeing a friend's mother lose $850,000 to online scammers, fueled her passion to democratize cybersecurity knowledge.

Now as a fractional CISO, Dd splits her time between enterprise clients and small businesses that could never afford full-time security leadership. She tailors her approach to each organization's specific needs, recognizing there's no "cookie-cutter" solution to security challenges. Her Cybersecurity Circle initiative brings together complete beginners and seasoned professionals in a welcoming environment where they can learn together through accessible, relatable, and – yes – fun discussions about digital safety.

Throughout our conversation, Dd shares powerful insights about career evolution, work-life balance, and the humbling experience of stepping back from prestigious roles to prioritize family during the pandemic. Her message of continuous reinvention resonates whether you're just starting in tech or leading a security program: "Future-proof yourself" by remaining flexible, continuously learning, and understanding that meaningful impact happens at every career stage.

Note: In the podcast, Dd refers to the DoD (Department of Defense). The correct agency she is referring to is the Department of Energy (DoE).

Connect with Dd to learn how you might start a Cybersecurity Circle in your community, or join the movement to make cybersecurity knowledge accessible to everyone. Because defeating cyber criminals requires an army of informed users, not just security experts.

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What happens when cybersecurity expertise meets fifth-generation quilting passion? In this thought-provoking conversation with Mea Clift, Principal Executive Advisor for Cyber Risk Engineering at Liberty Mutual, we uncover the fascinating intersection of technical prowess and human diversity that powers effective security leadership.

Drawing from her 28-year journey through every corner of IT and cybersecurity, Mea reveals how her "Jill of all trades" background enables her to bridge critical communication gaps between technical teams and business leaders. At Liberty Mutual, she's revolutionizing the cyber insurance approach by evaluating companies through five distinct lenses - technology, culture, engineering practices, resilience, and vendor management - creating partnerships rather than simple transactional relationships.

Our discussion takes an urgent turn when addressing critical infrastructure vulnerabilities. Mea highlights how municipalities forced to choose between immediate needs like broken water mains and cybersecurity investments create openings for nation-state actors already "living off the land" within these systems. Her innovative solution? A national program mirroring AmeriCorps that would simultaneously protect infrastructure while solving the cybersecurity talent pipeline challenge.

For professionals navigating today's competitive landscape, Mea offers candid advice about developing a distinctive voice through writing and speaking, while cautioning against the common tendency to undervalue oneself when pursuing new opportunities. "If I don't feel scared about taking a position, I don't take it," she explains, "because that means I'm not growing."

Perhaps most compelling is Mea's refreshingly pragmatic take on artificial intelligence. While acknowledging its benefits, she worries about its impact on critical thinking skills and the security risks of AI systems themselves - sharing a revealing anecdote about a CISO who incorrectly assumed internal AI systems required no security protections.

The conversation culminates with Mea's non-technical passions - from tin whistle playing to her extensive vintage sewing machine collection and quest to become a certified quilt appraiser. Her courage to relocate mid-career from Maryland to Minnesota perfectly illustrates her professional philosophy that growth requires embracing discomfort rather than settling for stagnation.

Subscribe now to join our community exploring the human stories behind cybersecurity, and visit vigilantviolet.com to learn more about our mission to illuminate the people and passions driving our industry forward.

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