Episode 11 - From Fast Food Manager to NASA Cybersecurity Analyst

Kris went from making burritos in an American chain of fast casual restaurants to become a general manager by age 19 before giving it all up and starting a new career in Cybersecurity, where he is now guarding against cyberattacks for NASA. It all started the day Kris took a 10 minute break before starting a 12-hour shift at a fast food restaurant. He had just worked 200 hours over the previous two weeks! During the break, he stumbled on this Reddit thread about the Stuxnet worm which sparked his interest in cybersecurity.

Soon after he witnessed one of his managers achieve their dreams after attending Year Up, a non-profit offering one-year intensive training program. Kris joined the cybersecurity program and we discuss his transition from that training to his current role as a cybersecurity analyst at NASA.

Here are the resources that have helped Kris:

1. Lesley Carhart's blog post on how to start an infosec career  2. Productivity timer  3. "Atomic Habits" by James Clear 4. Dare to Lead by Brené Brown 5. Terminus 6. OverTheWire War Gaming 7. Certification Overview Graphic 8. Cybersecurity Overview Mind Map