Hacker Valley Studio

We Are Here Finale: Rep. Yvette Clarke

Hacker Valley Studio presents: We Are Here - an audio journey and series exploring black excellence in technology and cybersecurity. In part three of this series, Ron and Chris interview Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, serving as the U.S. Representative for New York's 9th congressional district since 2013. 

Congresswoman Clarke’s parents immigrated to Brooklyn, New York in the 1950s from Jamaica. Being born from immigrant parents and witnessing the transformation of the country during the civil rights movement helped shape her worldview. Congresswoman Clarke mentions that the nurture from her family and community sparked her interest in public service at an early age. Congresswoman Clarke recalls being a child and looking up to her pediatrician, Dr. Thompson. Congresswoman Clarke could see herself being like Dr. Thompson and that led her to pursue her interests in STEM in grade school and college. When Congresswoman Clarke went away to college she made a commitment to come back to Brooklyn and use her education to help others

As the episode progresses, Congresswoman Clarke mentions her parents were engaged in the community out of necessity. They wanted to be able to navigate the United States and create community for her and her brother. Congresswoman Clarke’s mother started her community outreach at Parent Teacher Association meetings and was encouraged to run for political office after some time. In fact, Congresswoman Clarke became the first and only child to succeed a parent in political office. 

Congresswoman Clarke describes community as essential and building communities is done through education. Digital transformation has enabled all generations to collaborate on common causes that they previously wouldn’t have had the opportunity to. An example that Congresswoman Clarke provides is narrowing the education gap for children of color. Through technology, parents have been working with government agencies and private organizations to provide more resources to schools in need.  

 

Impactful Moments:

0:00 - Hacker Valley Studio presents We Are Here Pt 3

0:52 - Congresswoman Yvette Clarke on Hacker Valley Studio!

1:56 - Early life and how Congresswoman Clarke made it into office

3:38 - What inspired Congresswoman Clarke to help others

7:21 - Surprises while in office and servicing the public

13:35 - Congresswoman Clarke’s story of perseverance

16:36 - The importance of community and how to influence yours

24:40 - Education and mentorship

27:51 - Using technology to course correct and amplify your voice

31:59 - Sage wisdom for embarking on your personal journey

 

 

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Episode 121 - What Is Your IP Address with Chris Parker

In this episode of Hacker Valley Studio podcast, Ron and Chris are joined by Chris Parker, creator of WhatIsMyIPAddress. His website now reaches six million monthly visitors and began as a necessity to solve a technical problem, which you can probably guess, determine his IP Address.

WhatIsMyIPAddress predates Google and was often found through the search engine AltaVista. For years, the site was simple, straightforward and didn’t have any graphics or markup (HTML). At some point, Chris stumbled upon a Content Management System (CMS) called Geek Log but quickly learned with the amount of traffic that it was best for him to manually code each page on his website. For quite some time Chris maintained the website, answered questions from users about IP Addresses, and created more content without receiving any monetary compensation. The advent of Google AdSense led Chris to realize that he could make a profit for hosting his website.

Chris’s website is in the top 3,000 websites on the Internet and was managed out of his home office for over 8 years. As you can imagine, he received traffic from users across the world and was even the target of some cybersecurity attacks. However, keeping the functionality on his website simple, the biggest threat Chris faced was Denial of Service (DoS). After moving his website from his home to a CDN provider that blocks malicious traffic and bots, Chris saw a 90% reduction in web traffic to his website. This led Chris down the path of creating content about security and configuration.

With such a large audience, Chris decided to start the Easy Pray podcast and help listeners learn how to avoid becoming easy targets for scammers and fraudsters online and in the real world. Chris recalls a story of a fraud group that scammed victims by telling the victim that they’ve won the lottery in their country but are unable to withdraw the winnings because of citizenship. This scam is not uncommon and has caused hopeful individuals to lose thousands and sometimes their entire life savings. Chris has set out on a mission to inform others of these scams and create awareness about online safety.

 

Impactful Moments

0:00 - Welcome back to the Hacker Valley Studio

1:44 - Introducing Chris Parker, Creator of WhatIsMyIPAddress

5:11 - Was the naming of the website intentional or was it incidental?

6:04 - Adapting and digital transformation

7:29 - Malicious traffic and cyber attacks

10:39 - Creating a more safe Internet with the Easy Pray podcast

12:43 - Unfortunate spam and scamming stories

15:18 - More about Chris’s goal to provide education to his listeners

18:40 - Learnings and takeaways to avoid being scammed

24:02 - Tools that Chris is using to grow and scale his business

26:51 - How to stay up to date with Chris Parker

 

Links:

Learn more about Chris Parker and visit his website and podcast.

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Follow hosts Ron Eddings and Chris Cochran on Twitter.

Learn more about our sponsor ByteChek. 

 

Episode 120 - Bishops, Black Belts, and Business with Jeff Cook

In this featured episode of Hacker Valley Studio podcast, Ron and Chris are joined by Jeff Cook, Co-Founder, and CFO of ByteChek. Jeff has over 10 years of experience in both accounting and auditing and has set out a mission to “make compliance suck less”

Jeff began his career at accounting firm, Arthur Andersen. In 2002, the firm surrendered it’s license to practice as a CPA which forced Jeff to consider working at other firms. This surprise turned out to be a blessing as it made him transition from New York to Washington DC. After his transition, Jeff worked in public accounting and auditing for 12 years and began starting IT auditing practices and SOC practices at large accounting firms. 

While working at a cybersecurity firm, Jeff met his co-founder AJ Yawn. The two worked on numerous SOC engagements together - which gave them the confidence to scale their ideas and efforts to make compliance suck less. Despite 2020 being the beginning of a global pandemic, the two decided to persevere and form their company ByteChek.

As the episode progresses, Jeff describes his partnership with AJ as dynamic and fluid. Jeff brings to the table a deep understanding of accounting and auditing challenges and solutions. Jeff admires AJ’s ability to be a leader and rally the troops to ensure everyone is moving in the right direction. Besides complimenting each other’s strengths and weaknesses, Jeff and AJ are also great friends and check-in together to help each other grow personally outside of work.

Jeff describes his superpower as his ability to work under pressure. When there’s deadlines and a surplus of work, Jeff leans on his experience as an accountant. While working as an accountant, each year in January through April (tax season) Jeff had to practice his discipline of working under pressure with clear deadlines from his clients and the government. Additionally, Jeff has spent years practicing martial arts, and describes it as a great technique to use to clear his mind in all situations.

 

Impactful Moments

0:00 - Welcome back to the Hacker Valley Studio

1:41 - This episode features Jeff Cook, Co-Founder, and CFO of ByteChek

2:26 - Jeff’s background and start in accounting and auditing

5:08 - Thriving in business as a founder during a global pandemic

8:31 - Jeff’s superpower and where it began

11:16 - How to overcome your kryptonite and core emotional challenge

13:58 - How martial arts has helped Jeff as a practitioner

17:48 - Parallels between cybersecurity, chess, and martial arts

21:21 - Getting comfortable with discomfort

28:14 - Wisdom from Jeff for leveling up as a entrepreneur and practitioner

 

Links:

Learn more about Jeff Cook and connect with him on LinkedIn.

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Support Hacker Valley Studio on Patreon.

Follow Hacker Valley Studio on Twitter.

Follow hosts Ron Eddings and Chris Cochran on Twitter.

Learn more about our sponsor ByteChek. 

We Are Here Part 2: A Cyber Masterminds Discussion

Hacker Valley Studio presents: We Are Here - an audio journey and series exploring black excellence in cybersecurity. In part two of this series, Ron and Chris host a mastermind conversation with Tia Hopkins, Charles Nwatu, AJ Yawn, and Kelvin Coleman. In this special conversation, we discuss ExIST, a framework to promote excellence in the pursuit of human endeavors like hobbies, careers, and finding purpose.

Explore

As humans, we’re always on the brink of discovery. Watching a documentary, witnessing someone perform a piece of art or a eureka moment might be all that it takes to pull you in a new direction to explore a new topic. Learning something new can be like stepping into a new world that you’ve never experienced. This leap can be exciting, scary, or even uneventful but always leads to discovery.

 

Tia Hopkins began exploring technology since she can remember. One of her first memories of her interest in technology was when she noticed her mom stopped buying her toys because she would take them apart to understand how they worked. Tia took a giant leap into the new world of technology when she took apart her family and realized that she had to put it back together before her mom found out. Tia has explored many facets of technology from working with Internet Service Providers, IT teams, and Managed Detection and Response teams.

Immerse

After deciding which world to ExIST in, the next step to understanding and mastery is immersion. This is surrounding yourself in a new topic or idea and learning what it means to succeed in that arena. In sports, this might be watching a professional game and learning more about the rules. In cybersecurity, immersion may be reading blogs on the topic or watching YouTube videos that explain a focus area. While immersing yourself in this world you’ll identify the mindset needed to remain there and grow.

 

Charles Nwatu’s advice on immersion is to not be afraid to fail - It's the only way you succeed. Not giving yourself the opportunity to take the shot is even worse than failure itself. Learn how to consume content in any way that works best for you - read, listen, watch everything you possibly can. Identify ways that help you articulate what you’ve learned to others.

Study

After learning the rules and where the boundaries exist in the new world, the next step is to study. Using tools, knowledge, examples and mentors to improve your capabilities. If you’re learning about a topic with subtopics, you may need to re-immerse yourself in areas that you’re weak on. In this phase of the framework, you're using your new capabilities to rapidly learn and improve.

 

AJ Yawn provides the advice of staying focused and ignoring the results. To Focus AJ often implements the  90-90-1 rule. And it's taking 90 days spending the first 90 minutes of your day, focusing on ONE thing. Whenever AJ is trying out a new endeavour he ignores the results for the first 90 days, even if there’s no visible improvements. When picking up anything new the focus should be on the attempt rather than the outcome.

Translate / Transform 

Translation is expressing the sense of wisdom into language. During this part of the ExIST framework, you’re using the collection of experience and wisdom to create, innovate, or teach. Taking your developed ability and bettering the lives of others.

 

Kelvin Coleman has always been an advocate of teaching others and promoting the people in the cybersecurity industry. Kelvin can recall researching and reciting state capitals that he’d take to his meetings to build a rapport with city and state government stakeholders. While the name of a state capital or mascot may not seem critical, it helped his customers understand that he does the research and cares about doing what is best for everyone.

 

Impactful Moments

0:00 - We Are Here a series exploring black excellence in cybersecurity

1:13 - Kelvin Coleman, the strategic mastermind

1:50 - Tia Hopkins, the technical juggernaut

2:25 - Charles Nwatu, the wise warrior

3:00 - AJ Yawn, the empathetic CEO

4:28 - ExIST, a framework to promote excellence

5:40 - Explore

22:14 - Immerse

56:09 - Study

1:10:10 - Translate/Transform

1:20:12 - Sage wisdom from our mastermind group

1:25:20 - How to keep in touch with our amazing guests

 

Stay In Touch Kelvin Coleman on LinkedIn

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Stay connected with AJ Yawn on LinkedIn

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Get your start in cybersecurity with SANS through their Diversity Cyber Academy!
Applications are now open, and SANS is looking for the best and brightest to diversify the field! The
SANS ICMCP Diversity Cyber Academy is available for current college students, college graduates, and
career changers who are not already working in cybersecurity.
Those interested can go to sans.org/dca or if you’d like to learn more about what SANS is doing on the
Diversity and Inclusion front please visit https://www.sans.org/about/diversity

We Are Here Part 1: Patrice Washington

Hacker Valley Studio presents: We Are Here - an audio journey and series exploring black excellence in cybersecurity. in part one of this series, Ron and Chris interview Patrice Washington, one of the world's most popular podcasters and authors. This episode in the series is a story of ascension.

As we begin the episode Patrice mentions although she has a background in education, she’s here because of the hard work she put in during uncertain times and stepping into the unknown. 

In 2009, Patrice was in her mid 20s and graduated from the University of Southern California with a business degree emphasizing entrepreneurial studies. During her senior year she started a real estate and mortgage brokerage and grew it to a seven figure business by 25. Everything changed for Patrice after becoming a mother and experiencing the housing crisis shortly after experiencing so much success. Between ages 25 to 28 years old, she went from seven figure business owner to being on the bathroom floor, bawling and snotting and crying scraping up change in couch cushions.

Patrice describes that “doing all the things”, “checking all the boxes”, or “being the one” is not the path to professional or financial success. From following her faith and reading scripture she was reminded, “What good is money in the hands of a fool if they have no desire to seek wisdom?”

Patrice had a lot of knowledge, information, education but I didn't have wisdom. Which is how to apply knowledge, when to apply education, and with whom to apply education. Since March, 2009 Patrice has been on a mission to go everywhere she can and teach others that the journey is not just about chasing money, it’s about seeking wisdom.

What helped turn around Patrice’s life was an unlikely encounter with blogging mothers at Starbucks that gave her the idea of sharing her story through blogs. She was instantly reminded of her first grade teacher. Patrice recalled Ms. Boynton saying, “Miss Cunningham, you know something, you have a responsibility. To share with your friends is not enough. You have to share what you know to everyone, so that everybody moves forward”. That’s what Patrice started to do with the blog, she began commitment to share everything that she has learned.

When Patrice began writing and speaking she began embracing her gifts. At the start of her career she was writing, speaking and educating others with real estate but later realized that her gift was in sharing information and teaching others in a broader way. Patrice began asking herself, “How can I feel the same joy I felt to help others get to the aha moment when buying a home but without the real estate transaction?”. She searched for answers and found examples but none done by a black woman. Though this was discouraging, there was enough supporting information to let her know that if she stepped into the unknown she’d define her own success.

Redefining your wealth and life is done through being intentional. It starts by doing what you adore and not being too tied with how much it pays. Setting intentions through your day, calendar, and time is a great place to start to begin understanding what you enjoy and what you can make into a career. Your career is not the only aspect of your life that generates wealth, your well-being is the vessel that guides you to wealth. Redefining your wealth and life means that you’re putting your health as a top priority.

 

Impactful Moments:

0:00 - Intro

0:52 - Patrice Washington on Hacker Valley Studio!

1:55 - Patrice’s background and dedication to hard work

6:04 - Going from seven figure business to zero and redefining wealth

9:47 - Identifying and applying purpose

15:08 - Dissolving the need for validation from others

20:32 - What others can do to disassociate their purpose from money

26:36 - Investing in your health NOW, not when you’re sick

31:15 - Advice for embarking on the journey of redefining wealth

 

Pre-order Redefine Wealth for Yourself: How to Stop Chasing Money and Finally Live Your Life's Purpose

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