Books4Guys - Reanna Schultz

Keynote Speaker | Adjunct Professor | Podcast Host | Midwest Education Advisory Board Member | CompTIA Advisory Council Member

Reanna is all things cybersecurity and is doing whatever it takes to protect her community from the dangers lurking on the web. 

X: @CybeReanna
Bluesky: @Reannaschultz.bsky.social 
YouTube: @CyberSpeakLabs
Twitch: reannaschultz

https://www.cyberspeaklabs.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:14

Right? Kansas City area.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Yeah, I'm in Kansas City. That's that's right. Home of the the Chiefs.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Hey, we're big, we're big Chiefs fans, actually. I'm from Northwest Arkansas. My wife's actually from Springfield, Missouri. So we're we're actually big Chiefs fans. So I actually have a lot of friends there.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Yeah, I make a joke that Patrick Mahomes is 15 minutes up the road from me, which which is true. Uh that is a true fact. But have I ever seen Patrick Mahomes in the wild? No. Have I seen Taylor Swift in the wild? No. But I still tell people, like, oh yeah, she's like basically my neighbor now, I guess. You know.

SPEAKER_03 0:52

Yeah. Whole Foods. She's there.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Yep. Yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_03 0:56

No, that's awesome. But Rihanna, no, I was telling you, it's so cool to have you on the Books for Guys podcast. Is you're really the first person that I've talked to that specifically in the cybersecurity space. I talked to a lot of, I've talked to doctors, former athletes, entrepreneurs, business leaders, authors, obviously, but no, no one that's in cyber, which I'm shocked because it's such a I don't it's a it's an area that we it's very important. Yeah. And so I'm curious. My first question for you, honestly, is just what led you to going down this path? And before you answer that, I want people to know, like, you're you're very like you're deep into this. You you're you've been in cyber for eight, nine years now. Yeah. You're a public speaker on it, professor on it, your YouTube channel. I'll check out your website. Like like you're you're in cyber.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Yeah, I meant it hosting conferences, um, writing two books right now on the side. Like, it's just it I always tell people when you find something that makes you want to do better for your community, like that is your talent, that's your niche. And like, especially with cyber, you find people that that is literally what they live and breathe in. And uh work life balance, of course, you know, I have dedicated days where I turn my phone off, and that's for my family. And that's so important because that that truly does matter. But tech is a very fast-growing world. And if you don't stay on top of it, oh my goodness, you're behind it. And so one of the things like, and we'll kind of go into this, but like one of the things I really wanted to do was how can I inspire people to think like this? Because it's not all just highly intelligent, you know, people sitting at a computer all day in as I'm wearing a hoodie, but like in hoodies in the dark, you know.

SPEAKER_03 2:47

But you guys can be like that.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah, and like I there should definitely be a human element to things that are going on. And I I really wanted to start with my community, and then it just it went to an international scale overnight, it felt like. And if you asked me the nine years ago when I first started what I would be doing today, I'd be like, no, bro, you're you're crazy. No way.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

Yeah. But what what like trick like high school class? Like what piqued your interest?

SPEAKER_01 3:19

My gosh. So I I live and grew up in the Kansas City area. I actually lived in a pretty small town. I go back every once in a while. I try not to go too often, mostly because like the fastest speed limit in the area is like 30 miles an hour. And I just I like once you live in the city and like slow is 45, unless you're in a school zone, it's just like, oh gosh, what are we doing here? I don't know how I grew up like this. But I grew up on Acreage. It wasn't anything fancy. It was like your typical rural Missouri area. I always joked that my town had more cows than people itself. And, you know, talking about STEM and tech, like that wasn't really a topic. And I go and talk to like Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, you know, youth groups, schools, you name it. And one of the things that I always tell them, I was like, my STEM class was building Legos. Like we sat down and build Legos. That was my engineering class and computer classes. We had to do a words per minute class. And to kind of like date myself a little bit, a graduation year was 2015. And so I remember my mom, and it's crazy to think how our world is and like even growing up and how things have changed, what felt like yesterday to me. And I remember my mom telling me, she's like, you need to like learn how to use a computer. You need to learn how to type because as a woman, you can always have secretary skills. And like there is some truth to that. And I was like, whatever, you know, I I don't need that. I'll I'll go back playing my 1999 roller coaster tycoon game. Sure. Uh put me on the computer. And I I didn't know what I wanted to do when I was gonna grow up. Like I was an FFA, future farmers of America. I actually judged chickens at our state fair. And I was really good at it. I love chickens. I wish I could have one, but my HOA is very anti-chickens. It's frowned upon. Whatever, different problems for different things. But when I was 16 years old, uh I still was trying to figure out how to drive on a highway and stuff like that. My town didn't have a stoplight. It had to kind of like span how this, um, how my life was. And at 16, my parents they came up to me and they're like, hey, you know, you're 16. I was like, Yeah, isn't that great? I have a driver's license. I'm driving this 1992 vehicle sitting on the driveway. Like, I am a cool kid. Like, I'm listening to my Edia music on volume 20, and you can't tell me no. And they're like, Okay, cool, but what are you gonna do when you grow up? And I was like, I don't, I don't know. Like, why are you guys asking me this? And they're like, Well, you know, 18, you're an adult, you need to start figuring life out. And I was like, Oh, that sucks. Wow, you know, that's kind of a bombshell. And they're like, Well, you need to figure out what you're gonna do because you need to like start thinking about your future. And I was like, I don't wanna do that. And coincidentally, my high school, even though we didn't have STEM classes or anything like that, we had career day. And a lot of the times the people that you would bring in were like teachers, you know, because they're the kids' parents. Uh, we had one guy come in and he talked about agriculture selling corn, you know, just things like that, or just nothing that like really piqued my interest. I didn't want to be a nurse. I thought that was boring for some reason. I don't know. I was like, I think it's cool now, like knowing what nurses do now. Like that's pretty cool. At 16, I didn't care. Um, and then I was like, I definitely don't want to be a teacher. Like, I want to leave school and not be in it every day. It bless the teachers that are out there. I don't know how they do it. I don't teenagers are scary. Teenagers are so scary. And um, so there was one guy there, he was a state highway patrolman, and he really stood out to me. Not the fact like he had this awesome sports car and he let me sit in it, but the fact that he was so passionate for wanting to like be in his community. And thinking about that at how young of an age I was, that stayed with me. And he was just so like, everything I do is back to my community. Everything I do is so that way my kids can grow up and have like a better tomorrow because I know I did my job. And I was like, wow, this guy's cool. He drives fast and he's excited about his job. Okay, well, I want to be a highway patrolman. So I went home and uh we were having dinner and you can't really see me on the camera, but I'm I'm super small. I'm five foot two on a good day. The older I'm getting, the smaller I am. And I like I just I'm a tiny person. And and so I came home and I was like, hey, I figured out what I want to do when I grow up. And my parents were like, oh, how exciting! What do you want to do? And I was like, I'm gonna be a state highway patrolman. And they're like, why? And I was like, they have a cool car and I get to chase guys off a highway. How fun! And of course, like my dad, oh my god, my dad, I I'm the youngest, and so he's just like, yeah, like he wasn't gonna say anything. And I have like there's no boys in my family. All the boys are married in. So like everyone's a girl dad in the family. And of course, like he's just like, oh, like, no, no, you're and my mom's like, oh, just he she's fine. Like, if that's what you she wants to do, you need to be support, like a good mom. And uh, and so they're like, Okay, well, if this is what you really want to do, how are you gonna go to get there? And I was like, there's a second part to this one dick question. And I remember I would go, I went to my high school counselor, and she was absolutely amazing. Uh, she was full of resources on like post-high school, and I hear very like bad experiences with school counselors and like post-graduation. She she was not like that, she was absolutely amazing. She had a daughter that graduated a few years before me. So she it was all fresh in her head. And I went to her, so this was I'm now 17. So going into the like you know, the following year. Yeah. And um, I was supposed to graduate that year or something like that. It's a blur, but I walked in and I was like, hey, I really want to do state highway patrolman. What do I need to do? Like, do I need to like go lift weights? Do I need to go like take a running test? Like, I don't smoke. Like, what do I do? And she was like, Well, you know, like police academy, you need to be 21. You're not 21. And I was like, Yeah, that sucks. And she's like, But have you thought about going to college? And I was like, I don't, I don't know. Like, that sounds expensive. Like, I don't really know what college is. I don't know if it's for me. And she's like, Well, you know, why don't you like here's some pamphlets? You know, it's really good. You can literally do like you have a degree that will go with you the rest of your life. And I was like, okay. And she goes, plus, you can earn higher education. And by the time you theoretically graduate, you can be old enough to roll into the academy. Or, you know, maybe you'll find interest. And I was like, okay. So I went home, looked at these pamphlets. And so I was like, okay, why not? I got nothing else going on. I don't want to work at McDonald's after high school because that was the only like food chain where we were. And so again, I went to my parents and like, hey, you guys asked me how I'm gonna get there. I'm gonna go to college. And they're like, How are you gonna pay for it? And I was like, why are you guys like asking these hard questions, you know? And uh I went back to my-pick something. Right. Yeah, pick something. Okay, now you need to go like do your own thing. And I see what they're doing, they're making me grow up, and it was absolutely terrifying and terrible. But it allowed me to like find my way at a young age, and there's a lot of pros and cons to that. I I'm not saying my exact story is gonna be copy and paste and have the same results for someone else. We all have different journeys for a reason. And so I went back to my counselor and I found a college. It's called the University of Central Missouri, and it's where I teach part-time now. I love the staff there, love the program. It's a great program for many reasons, not just my personal bias, but just a lot of good reasons there. And I went back and I was like, okay, well, University of Central Missouri, UCM, they have a really good criminal justice program. And it's still like that to this day. And I was like, I think I'm gonna go there. It's 45 minutes away from my parents. It's an inconvenience for them to visit me, uh, but it's close enough in case like I need to do laundry on the weekends type of thing. And my counselor's like, oh, hey, letting you know you have enough credits to graduate if you want to. And I was like, Oh, that's cool. Yeah, why not? Let's go do it. She goes, You need to go take the ACT. And I was like, What's an ACT? And she's like, Oh, it's like the C blah, blah, blah. ACT, in my opinion, is one of the top most dumbest things I have ever taken in my life. I didn't study for it. And at that time, they allowed like students to have like one free pass or whatever. And there was, I don't know, it was some promo. I remember not paying for it. Maybe someone did, maybe my parents did and they didn't tell me, I don't know. Um, I went to the first uh ECT that was available. So it was like that Saturday. So I showed up, I took the exam. Um, I got a 17, which is super low if anyone knows what that is. I got a 17, and that was the bare minimum to get to UCM. And I said, good enough. And I got on a scholarship because apparently that's a scholarship level thing. And I went back to my counselor. I was like, hey, I got I got enrolled in college. And she goes, Oh, okay, that's exciting. Okay, yep. ACT looks good, creds look good in the state of Missouri at that time. Uh, 17, you're considered a legal adult. And so I did not need my parents' signature to allow me to graduate early from high school. And so I had enrolled in college, I signed my paper away, I was done with school. January, I believe, 9th or whatever it was, 2015. That's when I showed up to my classes. And so I remember going home and I told my parents and I was like, hey, I uh I got accepted in the college. And they're like, oh wow, that's so wonderful. And I was like, Yeah, I'm gonna need help with like financial aid and whatever. And I was like, Oh, by the way, I graduated high school. And they're like, What?

SPEAKER_02 13:19

And I was like, Leave tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Yeah, I was like, Yeah, whatever, you know. I remember they were they were like, What do you mean? And I was like, Yeah, apparently you could just sign a paper and you're done with school. Like, I didn't know that was a thing. Yeah. They're like, Did you drop out? And I was like, No, I graduated.

SPEAKER_03 13:37

I did better than what you're supposed to do.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

I was like, you guys were gonna ask me like how I'm gonna like graduate high school, so I just did it, you know. Long story short, I showed up, I started taking my criminal justice classes. I hated it. Absolutely hated it. And it was, it was very textbook study. It was like, this is the law, this wasn't. And I played a defense attorney for one of my classes, and some guy he had alcohol and ran over a neighbor's dog and he refused to pay for like the vet bill. It was something super dumb. And I was like, I looked at my teacher and I was supposed to defend the guy, saying that he wasn't drunk. And I looked at my teacher and I was like, this program isn't for me. And I walked out of that room and I did not go back to that class. And I changed my major. And uh, I was super into bodybuilding in my younger 20s, and I was like trying to get fit for competitions and stuff like that. And I was like, oh my goodness, I'm gonna go to physical therapy. Like, that is my calling. I love knowing about muscles and workout routines. Like, this is something I enjoy because again, it's my money, it's my time. And I go back to the highway patrolman who was super excited, super passionate. I kept thinking, what am I excited and passionate about? Definitely was not criminal justice anymore. That is not my passion that I learned very fast. And I took anatomy and I hated anatomy. I was like, why would anyone find joy in studying any of these things? I was like, this is so like I'm going crazy just looking at this photo of a head. I don't even care. Like, why do I care about this? And I was like, well, I should care because of XYZ. And I was like, I can't, like, I I literally could not study. And it was becoming frustrating for me because I just like the things that they talked about, I enjoyed learning. I enjoyed school, but I just couldn't like find motivation to really care about what I was investing my time in. And one semester, I um I was taking an 8 a.m. uh Python programming class. And that was the first time I've had any programming experience. I had to have it for a university elective credit for technology. And I took it and I was like, oh my gosh, I was like, I love this. Like, sign me up. I don't know anything about computers, but I love this. And I realized it was the type of thinking. I am not a person that, you know, would follow the main quest in a video game. I like to do all the side quests before I get to the main quest or even like problem solving. I always like to find different ways to solve like my mouth problems when I was in high school or color things like my way, not the instructions, because I wanted to see what else would happen. So I was very curious. And it's probably because I grew up reading Nancy Drew, honestly. But um, I loved it. I loved how I could just study. It could be my own thought, my own creative outlet. And I switched to computer science and eventually we see them rolled out, uh, cybersecurity. And so I was one of the first, one of the first graduates out of there. There was a handful of females, which was super awesome. We are a very close-knit group still to this day, and we mentor a lot of young women out there, and it's just really positive. We started um the university's first hacking league, so students can go get experience. There's a lot of study groups. It's a lot of really cool things that are happening now, and especially being a part-time faculty member and just seeing this next generation coming through on where it started when I went through that program. It's just wow. Just like it's so, it's so, so cool. And so eventually um I got out there, I started networking. That was one of the big things that they've always I've always been told was you need to go network, network. You can spam resumes, especially in today's world. You got to know someone. And I eventually landed uh my first job and eventually tumbled my way into what I'm doing today.

SPEAKER_03 17:34

So that's so that's so awesome. You brought up a good point because I I was kind of telling you who I work for, and I'm in the recruiting space, and and there's not a lot of females, or or there's there's still not, there's more that are getting into the space. But I remember recruiting like seven years ago, and they were like, We need a woman here, like there's like where are they? And I'm like, I don't know. We gotta talk to the colleges, you know, like where where are they where are the programs at and all that? So it's so cool that you talk about that though, is there was only a few of you, and and you probably see there's more and more now, but yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because as a recruiter, I remember being asked specifically, like, hey, is there is there a female that can join?

SPEAKER_01 18:15

No, the answer is no. And I will say, like, it definitely helps. I feel like my my generation, or even like probably prior to me, it took a few for us to be okay being vocal in a room or being vocal at a conference, being like, hey, these are the uncomfortable things you're gonna have to experience as a female, but this is what you can do to overcome it. And there's been times in my career where like we'd be in a very technical meeting, and I've had someone look over and they're like, Are you taking notes on this? And I would just hit record on the meeting. I'd be like, Yep, I got you, bro. Yeah. And it's just like, it's just some of the things that like, you know, was it malicious? No. But it's just like another thing that you have to like protect about yourself to make you feel like you're an equal and things like that. And and just being around, I feel like that's one of the cool things about cybersecurity is how collaborative everyone is in this community. And everyone just wants to support each other. And especially like the women in this field. I've for the most part, uh, of course, like there's always one in the bunch, right? But for like most part, even the men, like it's just such a woman promoted industry. And it's so, so cool, especially seeing like the next generation. Or like sometimes I'll go and check my LinkedIn and I'll get a message and they're like, hey, you don't know me, but I've been following you. And like you were a huge inspiration. And now I'm running a nonprofit. Now I'm like building a chapter. Now I'm doing this because like you weren't afraid to do it. And I was like, Well, I was like, well, hold a second, hold a second. Like uh I was afraid, but I was okay promoting me being afraid and me failing to normalize like it's okay. Like things things don't come naturally. You gotta you gotta normalize, you know, the struggles and everything else. So it's just it's really, really cool to see things going the way they are.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

Yeah. What one of my questions for you is so there's been obviously a ton of change in cyber from when you first started till now. I mean, there's so much that, and then now with AI, like I don't, I don't understand, like, I can't conceptually understand like the threats that I'm pro like we're probably dealing with right now as we speak. And like I have no idea. I went to a conference one time and and someone there, they were it was really cool. They were showing us like how the dark web works.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:37

They were like, like, what do you want to know? And it was just like they could pull up any bit of information that they wanted, my credit card number, like where I've lived 20 years, like it was so insane what they could do. And that's when I got like super interested, and just I mean, I not like you, but like I was like, oh, this is legit scary. Like, people in the raw hands can do so much damage. But what are just some of the things that I don't know that that you know that people like me don't know that would find very interesting about the cybersecurity space?

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Yeah, for the sake of time, um I will just focus on one that everyone can probably relate to. Yeah. And um, that's that's kids and family accounts. Holy cow. One of my big pushes for 2026 is trying to change the laws in Missouri for children privacy. And it has been a thing for a while. I will say you can look at the dates and probably fact-check me, but there hasn't been major changes to our federal laws for children's privacy acts. And at the same time, how we in the United States define what a child is, or by age, by whatever, in Europe or other countries, a child can be represented as something different. And so, for example, like TikTok, YouTube, their quote unquote child settings, there's no age verification. Like, how do you verify that this child is 13 or 18 or 25.

SPEAKER_03 22:01

And so it's just a question that you can fake.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Right. And so, you know, don't get me wrong, like a lot of, in my opinion, very known platforms out there, they're doing other types of verifications and like whether it's through phone number, age, and stuff like that. And I always get a little giggle. Recently, TikTok's been promoting a lot of their we are secure, we take child privacy seriously, we do this and this, when like their platform, in my opinion, is probably one of the most exploited child predator platforms next to roadblocks, in my opinion. And what parents are also not thinking is that these videos eventually will end up public. Like you can't stop someone screen recording a video of your child. And then what's even more sick is that these predators, they are predators. They will upload these videos to like AI and make it into something that is highly inappropriate. Um, and there's a lot of the newer versions of AI, they do have guardrails for explicit content now and or even like emotional codependency. And so people were using it as a therapist, receiving bad advice, et cetera, et cetera. But there's still big quote unquote black market AI bots, even on the dark web, that are just sick for these predators to use. And so I tell parents, I'm like, these things are out there. Like this will never go away. Your child is growing up and they are literally being content cows, essentially. And here in the United States, some of the states, they are cracking down even with like advertisements and stuff like that. California is a good example. Uh New York is also pressing it, Texas is getting there.

SPEAKER_03 23:41

Uh but it's still hard to like put it back in the box though when it's out. But it it grew so fast, like all the capabilities. I feel like and that was kind of one of my other questions for you is like, how do you how exactly can you stop it at this point?

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Like obviously you can set laws and like really try to the damage, but so a lot of and I always tell people to like actually look up privacy settings on the phone. And this is one of the big things that federal laws in the United States do not do, especially with child accounts, and it's just sick in my opinion. But they have data sharing enabled automatically in the settings of a child's account. Uh Roblox, for example, you don't you can still be 13 on the on the platform, but like you can still talk to someone who's older. And that's because that person might have verified as 13 as well. And so a lot of oh my gosh, I came across, I do a true crime like cybersecurity podcast on my platform. And I came across this one group, and they literally would find children data, like advertisements conter to kids, and then they would use that as a way to communicate with children online because you see all these child accounts going to like these specific ads or playing these specific games because when you're 13, you click on an added download, it's gonna promote more for kids that age range or even location. And that's because again, all of this is enabled in the settings by default. And so these predators would look for these popular types of games, Roblox being one, and they would almost groom and have a child go from these platforms to private channels like on Discord or Telegram or WhatsApp. And parents don't, in my opinion, don't understand the severity once a child is moved off of these platforms into these private groups. And it's just a sick game. There's one group out there that they use basically their hunting as a point system, right? And so it's like their own online cult. And the FBI in 2025 really started cracking down on this stuff. And once you kind of start researching it, it's just like, oh my gosh, like this is this is sick.

SPEAKER_03 25:54

And it's really, really one small thing that's going on out there that's just it's just one small thing.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

And so I I guess like the biggest takeaway with like parents that I really try to promote is one, go in the settings, remove data sharing right now. Another thing is have conversations with your kids, like tell them the dangers of moving off platforms, the dangers of sharing explicit photos and stuff like this. You know, be careful what you post. And lucky, like lucky for me, I say lucky loosely, there's some really embarrassing Instagram photos out there that my friends had screenshotted and reposted. But like I was, I was very okay not posting at a young age. And so in today's era, it's a little bit harder because instant gratification, communications this way, being engaged in family. And one, I would say nail in the coffin for me. And you see a lot of stuff in the cyber field, not just, you know, children things or whatever. But when it starts impacting you personally, that's when I really started pressing to have a petition. And it's up to 150 signatures, so at least update uh Missouri's laws and hopefully the rest of like the surrounding Midwest states can be updated, but one small change at a time. And my niece, she at the time was like six or seven, and she had downloaded an app because she loves cats. She loves cats. That is such an innocent thing. And on the app, you would be able to what looked like FaceTime a cat. And my sister had called me, she's like, Hey, this got flagged on the parental controls. It's just kind of weird. And I was like, Okay, just you know, send it, send it over to me, like the link for the download. And she goes, Okay. And after looking into this app, it had fake reviews, like accounts were created on Amazon that wrote the review, and that was only the review that account ever created. And then it would flood all of these positive reviews would flood the real ones, which were talking about how dangerous this app is, how this is not okay. And after looking at the mechanics of this app, there was no data privacy, a policy on how the data was collected, used, how it was stored, how it was shared. It required video feed. So what are they doing with that video that they're recording and where are they storing it? And who else has access to it? Like none of this was out, and this is a huge fine already.

SPEAKER_02 28:14

It was very sick.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

And it was just so sick. So, what would happen with the app face at the face level? A child would download it and they would talk, they would pick a cat, and it might be a cat dressed like a fairy or a cat dressed like a witch, and just all of these like kitschy cartoon characters, and they would look like they're FaceTiming a cat the entire time. And the more that they talk to the cat, the different cats they unlock, and the more they talk to those cats, other cats get unlocked. So it's just kind of like investing time in this. After looking at the website, after looking at the contact information for this app, because Amazon requires it, it was hosted in a residential area located in California. And I of I reported it and I had my sister report it, and I was like, it's not okay. And of course, like my niece, she was she thought she did something wrong. And I was like, it's like if you go into Walmart and you ask a stranger if they want to come back to your house to play Barbies, you know, would you want that? And she goes, No. I was like, that's kind of what that is. And I was like, except it's virtual. You don't really see the person, but you're inviting them to come to your house. And she goes, I don't want that. And I was like, that's why, that's what we're talking about. She goes, Oh, you know, so it's just absolutely wild. It's happening, like the fact that happened to me personally, I was like, absolutely not. And it's because she enjoyed cat games, she enjoyed cat videos, all of this data got her to promote this game. And that's how she ended up finding it. Um, that really hit home for me. And I was like, no, I gotta do something in my community. So I really started putting petitions out, uh, writing letters to my local congressman, you know, just anything I can to get visibility on this. And I've made some very out there YouTube videos of what happens to this because I would say the average person doesn't understand why this is important.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

And when you see it firsthand, you're like, that's I can't imagine this happening to a family where they don't have a technical resource like this.

SPEAKER_03 30:13

Yeah. Well, I'm glad you shared this specific scenario when when talking about issues out there. Like you're caught up in work and you hear about like, okay, you're worried about the company getting cyber attacked, losing some money. Like, you know, you don't really think of the severity of what's going on with children in this day and age because they have access to so much more than we had, and we're we're dumb, like we barely can keep up with new updates, and kids are so smart. Like they they this stuff's normal to them, so they you know figure it out on the fly, but they've gotta they don't maybe necessarily understand the implications and the bad things behind it, and so I'm really glad that that's something you're so passionate about. And I really I it's so cool that you talk about like your community focus on like why you're doing all of this, because I don't know, I I feel like a lot of people I work with or or people I talk to, like that's not their main reason to be in cyber. Like, they're just like, Oh, it's awesome, like I can do all this cool stuff. But I've never heard anyone really say, like, hey, I'm trying to like make a difference for my community with this, like, it's important, like, we've got to battle back on some of this stuff that's going on, and so just really cool for you. Not I mean, that's a totally bad term, but like it's really refreshing, I guess, to have that as their why to what they're doing in the space. So it's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

Yeah, and again, I I said this earlier um in the recording, but like me going out there and promoting things that I'm doing, and don't get me wrong, like I've had people, I've had like a cease and desist a few times for things that I'm doing, and I've had to point out like, hey, I don't mind taking down some of the things I'm posting, but I need you guys to make sure what your legal team is saying, like, it's correct. Because here's some screenshots of things that I found on your behalf that I did not share publicly, and then like the cease and desist would magically disappear type of thing. And but like, and there's been I've had hate emails too.

SPEAKER_03 32:12

I've um I've had like, are you like are there things that scare you doing what you do?

SPEAKER_01 32:18

Like like me personally, no, I'm not super scared. There's been a few times where because I go to like public speaking events and you know, I I try again go out to my community, and uh there's been a few times where I've had aggressive people that didn't really like what I was saying, but there's been enough, I would say, supporting people around me that I was able to like feel a little more comfortable and whatnot. And of course, I I don't know. I like not to speak high in myself, but like I appreciate everyone's opinions as much as I can. Of course, everyone hides behind a screen. I've had uh people comment some really nasty stuff on my YouTube videos and or even like I have a Discord channel. There's been some really nasty messages on Discord to me about basically I'm leading like this internet cult down a wrong road. And I was like, I'm pretty sure I'm promoting awareness around internet cult. So thank you for watching my content and taking something away, I guess. But like at the same time, and I go and talk about my struggles, I go and talk about things like even with my petition, right? I've had a lot of hate with that. But I hope it inspires someone else out there to really pursue what they think is right. And I am a true believer that if doing the right thing was easy, everyone would be doing it. And people that are heroes or people that are community advocates, like they don't let that face them and they really know what they're trying to achieve. And that's something I absolutely keep in the back of my head. It also helps, you know, that I have a lot of free time right now.

SPEAKER_03 33:52

So well, to transition this to a little bit of a different topic, you kind of you threw something on me I'd actually wasn't aware of. You said you were two books.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

Um, I had an amazing opportunity uh to start working on a technical book was cybersecurity. I won't go into super many details because it's not public yet. But the fact that I'm getting out there at that level, like that was that's incredible. And I'm so grateful for like the people that, you know, reached out to me for that opportunity. It's a signed deal, it's with an actual like publisher. And then uh one of the things I wanted to do was create a sci-fi book. I am a huge, huge bookworm. I've always loved sci-fi, you know, whatever Star Wars, Star Trek, you name it. I have not seen Lord of the Rings, but I'm at this point in my life where seeing I haven't seen Lord of the Rings is kind of a flex almost because if people are like, What? Yeah, like what? You know, and I'm just like, okay, calm down. You got this one. Yeah, like calm down. Well, we need to watch it. Okay, we'll watch it. And then yeah, then things happen. But that one has been, it's been ongoing. I've had a like, this is just me. I'm such a perfectionist. Or if things don't make sense to me, I'm one to like scrap a huge section rather than just like fix what I have. And it gets me really excited and I go full force at it, and then I burn myself out. And then I'm like, okay, I need to pause on it. I'll come back to it later. And we'll go from there. So I'm really excited about that one. I'm really wanting to drop it soon, but with that publishing deal coming on my plate, it's kind of had a backburn for a little bit. So it was really, really, really excited. I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_03 35:28

Well, super cool. I mean, you're on the Books for Guys podcast. You've got books that you're writing. Cause I was gonna say, like, if you haven't started to write one, which I was kind of assuming you might be. I was gonna say, like, with all that you're doing, a book is somewhere in your future, I'm sure. And uh it already is. So that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

It was not on my bucket list, but I, you know what, like it's an opportunity and it's an area I've never explored or had experience in. And I'm like, all right, let's let's figure this out. This is gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_03 35:57

Yeah, yeah. Well, when they do get published, we'll have to have you back on so we can specifically talk about the books and we can get them spotlighted for you. So that would be uh such a cool.

SPEAKER_01 36:07

That'd be awesome. Yeah, it's it's been fun on here. It's great talking to you, Chris.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

Yeah, yeah. No, for sure. And one more question for you, because as we're talking about your book, what is your you said it wasn't a goal of to write a book, and you probably never in your dreams thought that you'd be, you know, a published author is what you will be when when those come out. Your just process of writing, how do you, I guess, like structure time to actually sit down and and put what you need to together while also, you know, being very busy trying to, you know, protect the community and you know, do all of that.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

Yeah. So even, and I get this question a lot. And it's just like, you know, like how do you manage your podcast, your YouTube channel, your LinkedIn, you're having an online conference, you have a family, you have a full-time job, you're part-time faculty, and now you're right. Like, how like I'm confused where the hours go in this. And I have two rules. One of them is my family priorities come first. And there's been times where I've told people I can't do this right now. Like, you know, I need me time, whatever. And especially with like content creating, you have to be consistent for the algorithm to keep promoting your content. That's just algorithm math 101. And so every Tuesday and Thursday I have off. Tuesday is for my husband. That is him and I's night. And we like to go out to eat. That's the one time of the week we will go out. And sometimes it's to a Taco Bell, maybe it's like at an Applebee's or chilies type of vibe. Maybe it's a really nice restaurant. And just having quality time spending with each other and talking about our goals. Where do we see each other in five years? What are things that we're struggling on? Because my husband, he is he is my backbone. And if I'm having a poor time, I need, I need someone to help support me to make sure I'm on my feet. And then the same goes for him. If he's having a low moment, what can I do to help him out? And like, for example, this last week, he was telling me how he was stressed. And it sounds so silly talking about he was talking about how he was so stressed because he couldn't figure out when to do the dishes this week because work is calling him late. And like to me, I'm just like, it's just dishes.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

But I have those stresses, same, same stresses.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

And he's all like, I just, I like it's stressing me out. And I was like, you know what, honey? When we get home, I'll do the dishes for you. Like, you just have to talk. And that's such a big thing. Like, communication is such a big thing. And so we'll go home, maybe we'll play Mario Kart, maybe we'll play like Uno or a board game. And that's just that's our night together. And Thursday, that's for friends and family. Like, maybe I'm gonna get dinner with my nieces this night. You know, maybe I'm gonna go see my dad, maybe I'm gonna go see a friend. And just having a social life because if you just work, work, work and do all of these side things, like you're gonna burn yourself out. And what used to be passionate and exciting to you, it's more of a burden. And I learned very hard. I had a mentor, he's he's passed away now, but he told me he's all like, your hobbies cannot be work. And I was like, that's a dumb rule. I'm I am I I have high energy. I can do whatever I want.

SPEAKER_02 39:21

And he's all like work so much.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

Yeah. And then uh when he was when he was dying, he had brain cancer. I went to go say my goodbyes to him. And the first words he saw me and he couldn't talk because he was in so much pain. And I I walked in, I was like, You made me very upset. And he was just like, you know, and I was all like, I don't like saying this, but you were right. And like he chuckled and stuff.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

So you got a smile, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

Yeah, yeah. So it was like it was a good wholesome moment and whatnot. And um, what I typically do, like schedule-wise, Sunday or Saturday, I like to have one day of my weekend where I don't do anything at all, at all. Like I need RR, I need to relax and recover, especially working a very busy day job. Like that drains you. It just does. And there's been times where like maybe I've been called at like four in the morning and I just need like a Saturday watching the office and eating a sleeve of Oreos in my bed, and I need to be okay doing that type of thing. And um, with like my book and everything else, um, I try to write at least three to four hours in a week. After work, I will leave and I will go to a Panera and I will sit down, I will have dinner by myself, and I will use an hour to write my book. And I have a playlist on my phone from the moment I start writing. When that playlist is done, that's when I know that number that long of time is done. And so Beethoven and I, we're best friends right now. Uh, we just we just grind through the day. And then with my content, it depends how organized you want to be with it. There's been times where I've scheduled things a month in advance, uh, which is super nice. But then it's just like like you kind of forget what you've been posting, and especially if you don't have a PR team directly, like it just gets difficult. And so I try to, again, not put a lot of pressure on me, but I try to post like two videos at least twice a month. And then I try to like put in a bunch of like remix shorts in between then and there. And then same thing with like LinkedIn and X, you just kind of have to figure out what makes sense for you. I like X because I can make a really salty, sassy tweet at five in the morning and there's my post for the day. But like when I go on a LinkedIn and stuff, like I learned like three or four times a week. If you post like maybe a blog or you comment on someone's post or you share insight to something, like it helps generate traffic and insights and stuff like that. So it's just really a balance of what your goal is and then what you're wanting to achieve out of it. But end of the day, I have to have my family time. I have to have time with my husband. I have to know what's going on because if I can't support my house, my foundation, my backbone, everything else will just crumble around with it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:12

No, I'm glad you shared that. And yeah, on the on the content stuff, it's I used to be like, like so-and-so makes content so easy. And then I started a podcast, and we're gonna be close to a hundred episodes, and I'm sitting here thinking, though, I'm like, how much work it takes to get posts out there and to edit and all these conversations, and you want to do right by everyone you meet, yeah. So I have like a whole appreciation for people that are posting and doing things now. I'm like, it is uh it is legit work.

SPEAKER_01 42:40

It is, it is, and then because it's legit, and you're like, Oh, the thought of this is really great, and then you start doing it, you're like, I'm doing this, and you're like, Yeah, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 42:50

Yeah, it gets it gets a little easier over time, but it's still nonetheless. Like, I'm the same way. I try to some I sometimes I sit on a weekend, schedule out the week, you know, for post to just to try to get ahead.

SPEAKER_01 43:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:02

But but then the next week comes so fast, and you're like, Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_01 43:06

You're like, oh, that time was so nice.

SPEAKER_03 43:08

Yeah. I gotta catch up again. No, Rihanna, this has been such an amazing conversation. Thank you so much for coming on here because again, you are doing like so many cool things, and uh appreciate you now being a part of the Books for Guys, you know, in our mission, and we can't wait for your books to get released so we can talk about them and spotlight them for you as well. But no, keep putting up the good fight, keep doing all the amazing things you're doing. Uh you you have so much I mean, you're you're so young in your career, and you've already done so much, and so it's gonna be super cool to see everything that you do moving forward. So we're rooting for you.

SPEAKER_01 43:43

Oh, thanks, Chris, and thanks for inviting me. I always enjoyed like a friendly LinkedIn message, so I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 43:48

Yeah, absolutely. Well, thanks, Rihanna.

SPEAKER_01 43:50

Thank you.