About Me

In a hundred years, no one will remember my name. Not my titles, not the jobs I held, not the books I wrote, or even the people I protected. And that's okay.

Legacy is a romantic notion, but I've learned that the real measure of a life isn't how long it echoes into history—it's how deeply it touches the present. It's who you show up for. How you treat people. Whether you make the room a little better just by being in it.

That's the lens I try to live through. Whether hauling hoses at 3 a.m. as a firefighter, chasing threads no one else could find as a private investigator, protecting billion-dollar data as a CISO, or helping the next generation find their footing as a professor—what's mattered most was always the relationship. The trust. The impact in the moment.

The Backstory

I graduated high school in 1987 and took the scenic route to higher education—didn't step foot in a college classroom until my 30s. In between, I lived a few lifetimes.

I served as a firefighter and paramedic, then moved into law enforcement as a peace officer in Texas and later a reserve officer in Oklahoma. Along the way, I worked in private security, bodyguarding for country music artists like Tracy Lawrence, Asleep at the Wheel, and Michael Martin Murphey. I ran surveillance, ran protection, and eventually ran my own firm.

Tech has threaded through my life since the early '80s, but eventually I shifted focus to it professionally. I became a cybersecurity expert long before most people even knew what that meant. I've served as CISO for major organizations—including for the late Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft—led risk governance at the executive level, and consulted on hundreds of penetration tests, audits, and digital forensics cases. Today, I mentor the next generation of cyber-defenders as a university professor and speaker.

I've always kept a few side hustles going. I carved out space to write, to build, to laugh. I toured as a stand-up comedian with Comedy Central, voiced commercials and radio spots for over 30 years, and currently write for COMPUTE!'s Gazette, focusing on the 8-bit tech I grew up loving. I've authored three books with a fourth on the way, and when I'm not doing all of the above, you'll find me restoring vintage computers, soldering old boards, or simply enjoying time with my family.