I graduated in 2019 with a degree in Computer Science from UNC Charlotte and moved to Colorado in 2022. My cyber security career started in 2021 in CTI at Bank of America and is still where I work today. I got my job with the help of a mentor who put me in contact with the right people and to pay it forward, I became a mentor myself for a new hire. Throughout the years, I’ve obtained various certifications in an array of areas including blue team training, cloud, a few training courses from SpecterOps, and MITRE but I’d have to attribute most of my skills to self teaching. Those SpecterOps courses aren’t easy without some prior knowledge on the topic. I run a defensive focused homelab to generate telemetry from attack behavior through malware execution or atomic tests. It used to solely be a malware analysis lab until my career focus shifted to more defensive behaviors. Data from specific research is posted on my blog which was initially stood up to practice technical writing; a highly recommended skill for any analyst. Besides work, I’m a home barista with too much coffee equipment, a car guy with a supercharged Miata, and a snowboarder who learned on the ice coast. I try to maintain a good work life balance by having hobbies unrelated to the industry.