The rise of the Tech Guy

My love of technology began in High School, my original career path was in Business Administration. I was an active member of DECA (Future business leaders of America type of club). While I enjoyed the activities and opportunities that came with this organization I never really felt like I fit in with that group, especially with how much of an introvert I was during high school. As part of a marketing class I got into some web design and I was hooked.

Fast forward a bit—I immersed myself in everything tech-related. Eventually I was offered a “class” where I just worked on the school website, I quickly became one of the lead designers for my school’s website. By junior year, my passion for technology had grown so much that I decided to drop out, earn my GED, and start college early. The community college in my town had a Cisco network admin program which I joined, I worked a number of tech jobs during college, including a cell phone repair store which was a lot of fun. I eventually was able to join a local school district as a heldpesk team member and my journey into “real” I.T. work began.

My time at the school district was both formative and rewarding. I had a fantastic mentor who generously shared his knowledge. Although I started in a helpdesk role, I proactively sought out additional responsibilities, which quickly expanded my skills and confidence. After about a year, I found myself functioning as the Systems Administrator managing the servers and network infrastructure for the school district. Now I was really hooked! Systems administration was the perfect job for someone as introverted as me. A few years into this position and I became tempted by the prospect of broader opportunities and made the decision to transition to a consulting firm.

Transitioning into tech consulting and sales was a completely new experience—it felt like a true culture shock. I went from rarely needing to talk to people to exclusively having to talk to people. My comfort zone was no longer an option. I can’t say I succeeded as a salesman, but I learned a tremendous amount about communication and pushing myself into uncomfortable but growth-oriented situations. This period taught me how to present myself professionally—everything from dressing well to maintaining strong personal hygiene and learning to connect with people. Most importantly, I began to break away from the old stereotypes of the “typical IT guy.”

Eventually I left this consulting firm and moved into Finance tech, this company was another pivot point for me. My first boss was a Cyber Security guy. Watching him work made me realize that I wanted to move out of general IT and into a much more specialized field. I re-enrolled in college under the Cyber Security bachelors track, taking night classes while working full-time. When my boss left the company, they chose not to refill the role, and I was fortunate enough to step in unofficially. I gained a wealth of hands-on, real-world experience protecting the firm’s infrastructure and data. My new boss was very supportive, encouraging me to take on new responsibilities and consistently rewarding my initiative.

This organization afforded me a lot of opportunities that I am very grateful for. I continued the cyber security role for my entire time there. I learned how to manage audits, the importance of accurate documentation, asset management and time management. My new boss was very supportive, encouraging me to take on new responsibilities and consistently rewarding my initiative. I continued to grow in that cybersecurity role, learning how to manage audits, maintain accurate documentation, oversee asset management, and improve time management. Eventually, I was promoted to team lead—a huge learning experience, especially when it came to managing people. I discovered that I genuinely enjoyed leadership. Thanks to my boss’s coaching and support, as well as access to professional development opportunities like workshops and classes, I gradually transitioned into a formal manager role. After many years of working there, the organization unfortunately closed and I was fortunate enough to land at my current organization, serving in a director level position.