“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
You’ve probably seen those YouTube videos. “Get a six-figure cybersecurity job with just one cert!” I saw them too. And if I’m being honest, that’s exactly what pulled me in.
My story didn’t go viral though. It got real.
I came into this field chasing money. I want to say that out loud because I think a lot of people won’t admit it. I saw the numbers, saw the hype, figured I’d grab a cert and be on my way. Simple. Clean. Fast.
Wrong.
Where I Actually Came From
Before cybersecurity, I was the guy you called when something broke. I fixed phones in a repair shop. I worked on drones. I did field service at a Fortune 500 company. For almost a decade I was hands on with technology in the most literal sense — taking things apart, figuring out why they stopped working, putting them back together.
That work taught me something no classroom ever did. It taught me patience. It taught me that every problem has a trail if you’re willing to follow it. It taught me how to sit with something broken and not panic.
I just didn’t know yet that those were security skills.
2020 and the Reality Check
When the world stopped in 2020, I made a decision. I was going to pivot into cybersecurity. I had the tech background. I’d been working with systems for years. I figured this would be a natural jump.
The field had other ideas.
Cybersecurity isn’t for people looking for a shortcut. The deeper I got, the more I realized how much I didn’t know. There’s always another layer. Another concept. Another attack vector you hadn’t thought about. Another certification that opens a door to three more you need. It nearly broke me.
But something happened when I hit that wall. Instead of walking away, I got curious. The challenge started to pull me in instead of pushing me out. I stopped caring about the paycheck and started caring about the work.
That was the real turning point.
How the Culture Got Me
Once I stopped chasing the outcome and started chasing the craft, everything changed.
I went deep. I started doing Capture the Flag competitions. Built out a GitHub portfolio. Joined online cybersecurity communities and started meeting people who were on the same path. I attended conferences. I even started my own Discord server to connect with others who were grinding through it like I was.
The culture of this field is real. There’s a community here that shows up for each other, shares knowledge, pushes each other to level up. I found something I didn’t expect to find when I first sat down in front of those YouTube videos. I found people.
And then I found purpose.
Why Faith Belongs in This Story
I’m a Christian. I’m going to say that clearly because it’s not a footnote to this journey, it’s the foundation of it.
The nights when I questioned whether I was smart enough, experienced enough, visible enough — I didn’t get through those on discipline alone. I got through them because I believe God put something in me for a reason and that reason hasn’t fully shown up yet. That the work I’m putting in right now, even when nobody is watching, is not wasted.
I’m working toward my DBA. I have plans for a cybersecurity company built on faith and tech together, not as separate things but as one mission. Protecting people, defending communities, building something with integrity at the center.
Jeremiah 29:11 is not a verse about things being easy. It’s a verse about things having direction. The struggle has a destination. That’s what I hold onto when the path gets long.
What This Blog Is
I came for the paycheck. I stayed for the passion. And now I’m building a legacy, one secured network at a time.
This blog is where I put that journey on paper while it’s still happening. The wins, the gaps, the nights where nothing clicks, the moments where it all suddenly does. The detections I build, the threats I investigate, the lessons I learn the hard way.
If you’re somewhere in the middle of your own version of this — chasing a transition that hasn’t finished yet, grinding through a field that doesn’t hand anything to you easy — this is for you.
You’re not behind. You’re building.
Let’s get to work.
— Nigel
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”
Colossians 3:23
Next post: The Noise and the Signal — What I Learned From My First Real Threat Investigation
