Forged in Fire: Building Elite Cybersecurity Teams with a Warrior’s Mindset

In 2020, I found myself at a robotics startup in Silicon Valley, building an Information Security program from scratch. No team, no tools, no roadmap — just a mandate to get us FedRAMP Moderate compliant while supporting the building of a highly complex robot. As I dove in, I realized I was drawing heavily from a different life — one built on leadership forged in pressure.

I spent my early career in the U.S. Marine Corps, supporting a Special Operations training detachment as a true “keyboard warrior.” That was followed by nine years in law enforcement, eight of which were with a Special Operations team as both an operator and a leader. I didn’t grow up obsessed with tech, but I always used it as a critical tool — from red teaming and security audits to building field tech and tracking child predators online.

Along the way, I saw firsthand how ineffective leadership could derail progress. Too often, IT leaders resisted change, innovation, or simply leading from the front. I promised myself I’d be different.

In this talk, I’ll share the leadership principles that have shaped my teams and my career:
– Leading with Purpose, Not Process
– Building Trust and Grit
– Thinking Tactically, Acting Strategically
– Leading from the Front
–  Becoming a Leadable Leader

Through real-world stories — some wild, some hilarious — I’ll deliver lessons attendees can apply immediately to become stronger, more adaptive leaders in InfoSec and beyond.