Kristin Strand: Be firm in your goals. [Consultant] [Career Notes] - CyberWire Daily

Podcast Summary: CyberWire Daily – “Kristin Strand: Be firm in your goals. [Consultant] [Career Notes]”

Date: October 19, 2025
Host: N2K Networks
Guest: Kristin Strand, Cybersecurity Associate Consultant at Barr Advisory
Episode Focus: Kristin Strand’s unconventional journey from aspiring teacher and Army service member to her current role in cybersecurity, with an emphasis on perseverance, goal-setting, and career fulfillment.

Episode Overview

This episode of CyberWire Daily spotlights Kristin Strand, who shares her candid career journey from childhood dreams of teaching, through her military service, to her current role as a cybersecurity associate consultant. With honesty and humor, Kristin reveals the pivotal moments, challenges, and decision points that shaped and redirected her professional life. Her story is a testament to the value of knowing your goals, standing firm in your convictions, and embracing unexpected opportunities—key themes for listeners interested in nontraditional pathways into cybersecurity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Aspirations and Military Pathway

Kristin dreamed of being a teacher, inspired by childhood experiences and early involvement in basketball.
Quote:

“As I was growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher. I can remember from about second grade…” – Kristin Strand [00:48]
A high school basketball coach, also a recruiter, encouraged her to join the Army, providing a path to college tuition support.
She approached the challenge of basic training and military life by seeking role models and drawing inspiration from their success.

2. Shifting from Teaching to Technology

Initially aimed to teach physical education but found it unengaging, so she pivoted to teaching math for six years.
Highlights the satisfaction of problem-solving and the rewarding nature of teaching, but acknowledges financial limitations:

“Teaching is rewarding but not very lucrative and I have a family so I wanted to make more money.” [01:54]

3. Strategic Career Change and Job Security

Weighed job security and fulfillment while considering a career transition—teaching always seemed stable, but she sought a future-proof field:

“Where is the world going? … Of course, I thought computers, IT, and so that's how I decided to get into IT.” [02:19]
Trusted her general tech-savviness and problem-solving skills as a foundation for furthering her career.

4. Military Experience and Initial IT Exposure

Served as a flight operations specialist, interfacing with helicopter pilots and managing flight records.
Changed her Army specialty to “25 Bravo,” a signal corps position—primarily working with antennas, which was less transferable to civilian IT roles than she’d hoped.

5. Civilian Transition and Formal IT Training

Sought training for civilian IT careers by leveraging Department of Labor resources and the Apprenti program.
Notable Segment:
The Apprenti program paid her while she underwent a 12-week, 9-to-5 intensive IT and certification training course.

“I was able to attend this 12-week program that paid me while I went. ... They pay for my certifications and train me.” [04:35]

6. Finding Fulfillment in Cybersecurity

Now thriving as a cybersecurity associate consultant, she relishes the autonomy of self-managing multiple client engagements, coordinating with colleagues, and meeting deadlines.
Praises the supportive culture at Barr Advisory, attributing job satisfaction to the company’s values:

“It's honestly, it's better than what I thought that it could be and that's just because of the company that I work for.” [05:00] “I really believe that the culture there at Barr…they really care about the employee and I see myself being here for a while and I love what I'm doing now.” [05:15]

7. Advice: Setting and Sticking to Goals

Kristin emphasizes the importance of clarity and confidence in career decisions, even in the face of pressure to compromise.
Defining Quote:

“Be firm in those goals and expressing them.” [05:30]
When offered help desk positions twice, Kristin firmly declined, knowing that cybersecurity was her true goal, and waited for the right fit.

“They called me twice to offer me help desk and I declined it twice. Standing firm on knowing what I wanted and cybersecurity came along and it's really been the best decision that I made…” [06:13]

Memorable Quotes & Moments

On Army and Womanhood:
“If they can do it, I can do it. And that got me through basic training…” – Kristin Strand [01:14]
On Teacher’s Pay Realities:
“Teaching is rewarding but not very lucrative and I have a family so I wanted to make more money.” [01:54]
On Career Fulfillment:
“I am so happy that I made these moves...it's better than what I thought that it could be…” [05:00]
Words of Wisdom:
“Just to make sure you know what you want…have your goals set out and to stick to it. Be firm in those goals and expressing them.” [05:30]

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|----------------------------------------------| | 00:48 | Kristin introduces herself and early career | | 01:50 | Decision to leave teaching | | 02:19 | Considering IT and job security | | 03:05 | Military signal role and civilian limitations| | 04:12 | Apprenti program & IT bootcamp | | 05:00 | Current role and job satisfaction | | 05:30 | Advice: be firm in your goals | | 06:13 | Turning down help desk for cybersecurity |

Conclusion

Kristin Strand’s journey underlines the value of perseverance and unwavering clarity about your career aspirations. Her story provides both inspiration and practical advice for those seeking to break into cybersecurity—or any new field. The episode is a testament to the rewards waiting for those who know what they want and refuse to settle for less.

Transcript

A (0:02)

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B (0:48)

Hello, my name is Kristen Strand. I am a cybersecurity associate consultant at Barr Advisory. As I was growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher. I can remember from about second grade I was playing basketball in high school and one of the coaches was actually a recruiter and he knew I wanted to go to college but wasn't going to be able to pay for everything out of pocket. And so he sold me that line that the military would pay for my schooling. And so there I was, signed up in the Army. I definitely expected it to be hard and it was. But I kind of approached it like I approached many things that I found to be difficult. Find someone that I know already did it and I'm like, if they can do it, I can do it. And that got me through basic training and then through a lot of the things that I wanted to accomplish as far as the army was concerned. I went to college. I originally thought I was going to teach phys ed and I just actually found the content to be pretty boring. So then I changed my major to teach math. So that's what I did for about six years. I enjoyed it. I like solving problems and knowing that I got to the right answer. Teaching is rewarding but not very lucrative and I have a family so I wanted to make more money. Originally I felt like being a teacher was a stable job. Job security, the world will always need teachers. So in career changing, I also thought about, okay, what job can I get that can also be just as rewarding but also job security. Like, you know, where is the world going? And, and so of course I thought computers it and so that's how I decided to get into it. I always considered myself to be pretty tech savvy, you know, by looking at YouTube or trial and error, able to figure out things, but just, you know, general things. Like I feel like I could learn to do anything. So when I first started out in the army, I was a flight operations specialist working with pilots that flew helicopters and checking their logs, their plans and then checking in with them, making sure that they were on Course not experiencing any difficulties in flight and checking them back in when they got back. Once I decided that I wanted to get into it in the civilian side to try and get some background, I changed my job specialty to it. But it actually turns out that as a 25 Bravo, I was in a signal position and we worked mostly with antennas. So not really what I wanted to do civilian side. So I'm actually training now to go and be a drill sergeant. So going to have a whole new job specialty. Going to be more in line with what I did in the civilian side. Bringing in new soldiers and kind of teaching them the army way. Trying to get the training that I needed to get into it. So I went through the Department of Labor. They then connected me with Apprenti. I was able to attend this 12 week program that paid me while I went. So kind of like a job. And I went to class from nine to five, five days a week for 12 weeks. And they pay for my certifications and train me. And here I am, cybersecurity. I have a plethora of engagements or projects, if you will, that I'm working on. And I kind of really self manage throughout the day, maybe have meetings with internal coworkers or clients. And I have deadlines and due dates. I am so happy that I made these moves. It's honestly, it's better than what I thought that it could be and that's just because of the company that I work for. I really believe that the culture there at Barr and you know, they really care about the employee and I see myself, you know, being here for a while and I love what I'm doing now. My go to words of wisdom since I've started this whole process is just to make sure you know what you want, you know, have your goals set out and to stick to it. Be firm in those goals and expressing them. I know when I first started out with the Apprenti program, being in the military and wanting to progress in IT and looking at cyber security, a lot of people told me, you know, well, a good way to get into the IT industry is through, through help desk. And I knew that that wasn't the type of job that I wanted. But I was willing, you know, to go that route if I had to. But I really was not wanting to do help desk to deal with angry people day in and day out who can't get their stuff to work. I got offered actually through Apprenti to do a help desk position first. But I knew like that's not what I wanted. To do. So I stood firm and I said no, I'm not going to take it. I'm going to wait for cybersecurity to come along. They called me twice to offer me help desk and I declined it twice. Standing firm on knowing what I wanted and cybersecurity came along and it's really been the best decision that I made to stand firm and to know what I wanted and to wait for it to come around. Foreign.