Cybersecurity careers rarely follow a straight line.
Authentically Cyber explores the real stories behind the people working in cybersecurity today. From career pivots and unexpected first steps to leadership, entrepreneurship, and everything in between, these conversations reveal how people actually break into and grow in cyber.
If you're curious about the human side of cybersecurity careers, you're in the right place.
What does it actually look like to go from being an employee to becoming a leader?
Ronnie Wong shares his career journey from diesel mechanic to IT professional, and eventually into leadership. We talk about how he made the transition into IT, what led him to take on leadership responsibilities, and what he learned when he moved from instructor to administrative leader.
Ronnie also opens up about the hardest part of becoming a leader, a mistake he made early on, why asking questions before stepping into a leadership role matters, and what it’s really like to be responsible for other people.
We also talk about the qualities that make a good leader, the most rewarding part of leadership, and what Ronnie is learning now.
Timecodes: 0:00 Introduction 1:30 Diesel Mechanic to IT Professional 9:17 How Ronnie Got Into Leadership 11:35 The Hardest Part of Stepping Into Leadership 14:48 From Instructor to Administrative Leader 16:28 Ronnie’s Mistake as a New Leader 19:27 Why You Should Ask Questions Before Taking a Leadership Role 21:40 The Challenge of Overseeing People 24:18 Qualities of a Good Leader 27:45 The Most Fun Part of Being a Leader 28:56 How to Connect With Ronnie 29:24 What Ronnie Is Learning
22 Sept 2026
From Hospitality to Threat Analyst
What does working in a New York City hotel have to do with becoming a Senior Threat Analyst?
For Katya Kandratovich, the answer is more than you might think.
Katya shares how she went from the hospitality industry into cybersecurity, what she learned through boot camps, and how skills from her previous career helped her make the transition. We also talk about curiosity, staying motivated when you're new to cybersecurity, the reality of landing that first role, and what it actually takes to work as a Senior Threat Analyst.
15 Sept 2026
UNfluence: How Hackers Manipulate People
Hackers don’t always need to break into a system. Sometimes, they just need to convince you to let them in.
In this episode of Authentically Cyber, cybersecurity consultant Ron Woerner breaks down “UNfluence” — the use of influence, psychology, and manipulation to trick people into giving up information, access, or trust.
From romance scams and false identities to AI-generated personas, video manipulation, leading questions, and open-source intelligence, bad actors are getting better at convincing people that they’re someone they’re not.
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