1 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:10,959 Speaker 1: Welcome to On the Job. This season, we're focusing on 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: how people and businesses are getting back to work. Let's 3 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: call it a great transformation, a change in the way 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: workers are thinking. Employers need people to work more than ever, 5 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: putting laborers in a sort of position of power. We'll 6 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,639 Speaker 1: be hearing from people navigating this new normal for themselves 7 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: as they find their life's work. COVID forced a lot 8 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: of people to face their demons in a way they 9 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: might not have expected. The loss of work took away 10 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: daily purpose for many and left a lot of us 11 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: trying to fill that void with whatever we could well. Today, 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: we talked to Spencer, who lost his job when COVID 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: hit and found new work in cybersecurity, a rapidly growing 14 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: field that's desperately needed as hackers get better and better 15 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: at what they do, and it's a job that gave 16 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: him the opportunity to help others as he dealt with 17 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: addiction struggles that many people faced in the isolation of 18 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: the pandemic. After many remote interviews to make this season, 19 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: I had the fortune of meeting up with a friend 20 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,919 Speaker 1: of mine in person for this episode. My name's Spencer Landing. 21 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: I am an information security analyst for the State of Vermont. 22 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: Spencer's fifty two years old, got a clean shaven head, glasses, 23 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: a mustache, address shirt, and a background in chemistry. Is 24 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: that kind of why you've got a Walter White look 25 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: going on? Yes, I do math on the side. That's 26 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: what this is really about you. I'm trying to sell 27 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: it on the On the state level, We'll never know 28 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: for sure. Security analyst is a pretty good front well 29 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: in that job. Working for the state, Spencer's primary job 30 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: is risk assessment, So we have to look at everything 31 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: that we do because we do use personal like infallible 32 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: information such as people's Social Security number, are their names 33 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: or addresses, all of that kind of stuff. If you 34 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: do your job poorly, what happens. Well, If I do 35 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: my job poorly, then we have the possibility of having 36 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: a security leak that can harm potentially tens of thousands 37 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: of people. So he spends every day working to improve 38 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: that security so Vermonters don't have to worry about their 39 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: information being stolen, and he says that at his core, 40 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: that's all it workers and cybersecurity people want to do. 41 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: They want to help and they want to make your 42 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: life easier, better and safer, or to protect you from yourself, 43 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: because there's an awful lot you don't think about when 44 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: you do things, and it's my job to think about 45 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,359 Speaker 1: all the things you possibly could do that could make 46 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: your life really bad, really bad, really bad, because when 47 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: a hacker has your information, they can sell it and 48 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: that can really mess with your life. You can get 49 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,519 Speaker 1: your identity stolen, you can have your credit cards maxed out. 50 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: You've heard all the stories. Well, Spencer, make sure that 51 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: the people who work for the state are being safe 52 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:14,359 Speaker 1: online and not opening sketchy emails because if they got compromised, 53 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: hackers could have a backdoor to the state databases. There 54 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: are safeguards in there in between, but it is a 55 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: you know, it's how this sort of thing happens. That is, 56 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: ninety percent of the attacks happen through email, and all 57 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: it is is just you click a link and poof there. 58 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: It is Vermonts a small state, so they might not 59 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: see as much action as other states as far as 60 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: fending off hackers goes. However, the threat is constant and 61 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: a breach has pretty dire consequences. So the only real 62 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: things that people would probably glean from it is the 63 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: ability for them to them to actually go through the 64 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: state government to infect federal government. By law, state governments 65 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: are required by the IRS and other federal agencies to 66 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: have a certain level of security, a number they have 67 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: to hit to pass regulation. As he's in risk management, 68 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: Spencer and his team use software that assigns risk numbers 69 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: to everything, like the software, employees are using, the equipment, 70 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: they're using, lots of other factors. So we add all 71 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: of those things up and give the agency basically a 72 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: number that says, this is what your risk is. Now. 73 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: The IRS wants this number. So how are we going 74 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: to get from this very large a number to this 75 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: very small number? How are we going to mitigate this risk? 76 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: Do you always want to do something like this? Not security? 77 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: I'd always I've always been a nerd from the time 78 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: nozzle is small and fell in love with computers and science. 79 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: Those are the two Those are the two things math, 80 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,479 Speaker 1: science and computers. Those were those are my strengths. Spencer 81 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: grew up in West Texas, real small town near Lobock. 82 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: It was very rural. There wasn't a lot to do, 83 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: so Spencer got lost in other worlds as early as five, 84 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: when he got his first library card, which the library 85 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: didn't normally do that, but I would go and check 86 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: out five books and then read them all in a 87 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: day or two at most, and then go back note 88 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: to five books. When he was in sixth grade, his 89 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: school brought a couple of the first Apple two computers 90 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: into their library, and the librarian to old Spencer to 91 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: check them out. So I went in there and played 92 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: with them, and I was like, this is actually really cool, 93 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: and then started checking out books and starting to learn 94 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: how to program, and you know, I can do this, 95 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: and I can do this, I can do this, and 96 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: so it was just a natural love for things, like 97 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:41,599 Speaker 1: you went out of your way as a kid to 98 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: learn how to do all that, like original rudimentary coding 99 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: for the old computers. Yes I did. I spent my 100 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: lunch periods in the library on those computers. I must. 101 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: You must have stood out, Yeah, like a sore nerd thumb. 102 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:02,799 Speaker 1: Spencer was definitely different. He didn't fit into the normal 103 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: crowd the way some other kids might. So the books, 104 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: the coding, they were a refuge. Yeah, it was. It was. 105 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 1: It was definitely escape. You know, didn't have a happy childhood, 106 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: perhaps we'll say that anyway, um, and so that wasn't 107 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: It was sort of an escape um and it was 108 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: something that I could control. You know, you can control 109 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: everything that a computer does. And I liked that that 110 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: was that was a you know, it was one of 111 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 1: those moments of oh, I can own that. He loved coding, 112 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: loved it, loved it so much that by the time 113 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: he was about to go to college, he knew that 114 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: he couldn't go into computer programming because I can remember 115 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,039 Speaker 1: in high school when I was programming, I would lose 116 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: days totally just trying to find the two or three 117 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 1: bugs that were in there that I missed a semical 118 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: in here, and I missed a you know, spacing here, 119 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: and I would I would just dive into the code 120 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: and just I would lose absolute track of time. Coding 121 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: was a refuge for him, but it was also an obsession. 122 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: Why is this not working wise? It's not working wise, 123 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: it's not working and trying to find that one little, 124 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: one little mistake somewhere that that was causing the whole 125 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: thing to not work. And you're the kind of person 126 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: you had to know, had to know, Yeah, I couldn't 127 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: just let it go. It was a mistake. He decided 128 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: instead of going down that road, he'd get a degree 129 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: in chemistry, one of his other passions. He did that, 130 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: got an internship at Dow Chemical while in college, but 131 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: he didn't love it. He left school for a bit, 132 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: not thinking it was right for him, but then he 133 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 1: got pulled right back in by his love for computers. 134 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: Eventually he wound up with a you know, a technical 135 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: writing degree actually with a minor and computer science. You know, 136 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: it made me a happy person. He got a job 137 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: at a nonprofit within the university as a computer analyst. 138 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: Then he jumped from there to New York City to 139 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: work at the World Federalist Movement, another nonprofit. He was 140 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: coming up with IT plans, helping them acquire their software, 141 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: helped them with development, anything computer related. I became basically 142 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: a system admin for them. So you were the it 143 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: guy that like, if there was anything wrong in the 144 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: company in the building, They're like, call Spencer, Yes, because 145 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: there was only me I was. I was the it. 146 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: That was a eighteen year job. During that time, Spencer 147 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: and his wife, Ava had a daughter. Ava got offered 148 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 1: a job in Vermont, which they loved every time they 149 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: drove through it. So they decided to move there, and 150 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: Spencer kept his job at the nonprofit. I was like, 151 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: I can still do my job no matter where, as 152 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,719 Speaker 1: long as I have an Internet connection, and so I did. 153 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: I did. I did that for quite some time, right 154 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: up until twenty twenty, Spencer was doing this remote work. 155 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: But then, of course, in March COVID happened. The non 156 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: property worked for was pretty much held up by big 157 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: grants which went away pretty quick, and the staff started 158 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: dropping off one by one. I was able to hang 159 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: on for a little while, and then in May a 160 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: majority of the funding went away, and so it dwindled 161 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: down and dwindled down and dwindled down, and finally I 162 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: became not a necessary component, but something that they just 163 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: couldn't afford. Like many people in early twenty twenty, Spencer 164 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: was very suddenly out of his stable job, and also, 165 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: like a lot of people around that time, was facing 166 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: isolation that would become a reckoning for him, and so 167 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:54,559 Speaker 1: it wasn't in the best mental state, and things kind 168 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:58,439 Speaker 1: of went downhill for me after I lost my job. 169 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:05,439 Speaker 1: We'll be right back with Spencer's story after the break. 170 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:12,440 Speaker 1: A strong work ethic takes pride in a job well done. 171 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 1: Sweats over the details. This is you, but to get 172 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: an honest day's work, you need a response. You need 173 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: a callback, You need a job. Express Employment professionals can 174 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:29,559 Speaker 1: help because we understand what it takes to get a job. 175 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: It takes more than just online searches to land a job. 176 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: It takes someone who will identify your talents, a person 177 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: invested in your success. At Express, we can even complete 178 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: your application with you over the phone, will prepare you 179 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: for interviews, and will connect you to the right company. Plus, 180 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: we'll never charge a fee to find you a job. 181 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 1: At Express. We can put you to work with companies 182 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: of all sizes and industries, from the production floor to 183 00:10:55,800 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: the front office. Express No's Jobs. Get to No Express, 184 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: find your location at expresspros dot com or on the 185 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: Express Jobs app. Back to Spencer, it's twenty twenty. He 186 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: just got put out of work and like a lot 187 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,319 Speaker 1: of people, he's having a hard time with the isolation 188 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: and began to have a bit of alcohol problem and 189 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 1: things kind of went downhill from me. Spencer admits that 190 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 1: he was a habitual drinker before COVID, but a few 191 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:29,040 Speaker 1: years into the pandemic. Now I feel like looking back 192 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: when the world really closed down. People had to face 193 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: their habits in close quarters, and there was a real 194 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:39,559 Speaker 1: fork in the road where some people got shaken up 195 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: and they're like, you know, I'm gonna start doing yo good, 196 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: I'm gonna get my dream job and like basically using 197 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: the isolation to I don't know, clean themselves up or whatever. 198 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 1: And then there was the other direction where the isolation 199 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: was just a place where you can go and self destruct. 200 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:02,200 Speaker 1: It definitely I did not go into the happy let's 201 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,440 Speaker 1: go do yoga and let's clean our lives up. Let's yeah, 202 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 1: I know, the isolation really tore at me and gave 203 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: me an opportunity to drink more. That was the thing 204 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 1: that really kind of seemed in it. It became such 205 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 1: such a daily obsession, such a daily obsession. Spencer doesn't 206 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: blame COVID for his drinking, but says it definitely didn't help. 207 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:39,559 Speaker 1: He says he always knew their word demons that he 208 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: hadn't faced yet. But I was able to shove that 209 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: down onto a floorboard, way way down deep into the 210 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: dark crevices of my mind and did that for a 211 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:54,080 Speaker 1: really long time and was I guess successful at it. 212 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: But it eventually eventually catches up, because eventually you do 213 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: feel up the entire basement and it starts overflowing. A 214 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:09,959 Speaker 1: lot of the things that he was shoving under the 215 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 1: floorboards were from his rough childhood. He had a lot 216 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: of trauma that he hadn't dealt with, so in this 217 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: new isolation where a lot of it was coming back up, 218 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: he drank more to bury it. And that overflowing basement 219 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: isn't really a metaphor for Spencer. The deciding factor for 220 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: me was when my wife took me down into the 221 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:33,720 Speaker 1: basement and showed me all of the empties into whole. Wow. 222 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:42,079 Speaker 1: It was one of those clarity moments, and I had 223 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: tried to stop and couldn't, and so I had to 224 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 1: go get help. I found a group who helped me out, 225 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:54,200 Speaker 1: of like minded people who who gave me the strength 226 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: and the ability to dig myself out of the hole 227 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: that I was in and give me hope for the future. 228 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:05,679 Speaker 1: Spencer is far from a loan between the isolation and 229 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: losing the purpose that comes with waking up every day 230 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: for a job. Addiction rates and substance abuse drastically rose 231 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 1: all over the world. I can attest to this because 232 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,320 Speaker 1: I was one of those people. I'd always had demons 233 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: too that I smothered with alcohol. But COVID gave me 234 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: a place to self destruct in a way that I 235 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 1: never really had. Took me to the lowest moments of 236 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: my life. And I know this is weird to say, 237 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,320 Speaker 1: but I'm grateful it didn't because I got desperate enough 238 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: to get better. Just like Spencer. That was a good 239 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: moment in my life, in a bad moment in my life. 240 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 1: It's kind of a it's sort of a bittersweet moment, 241 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: but I'm so glad that it happened because I'm in 242 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: such a much better place than I've ever been in 243 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: before in my life. Same buddy, So he decided to 244 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,080 Speaker 1: make some changes. First, he had to get out of 245 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: this isolation. He needed something to do every day, so 246 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: for a job. I actually became the head brewer for 247 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: a local brewery while I was trying to get sober, 248 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: he admits, not the most beneficial place to be at 249 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 1: the moment, but it was a job. It got him working. 250 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: He left that after a few months when an it 251 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: job nearby came up, and then there was another one. 252 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: There was a job that came up and it was 253 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: like asking for a information security analyst, and I was like, 254 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: I don't know anything about it, but I'll apply for it. 255 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: But there this was the job with the State that 256 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: he has. Now he'd never done cybersecurity before, but he 257 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: still had that attitude from when he was young, where 258 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: if he didn't know something, he was a dog after 259 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 1: a bone and he had to figure it out. And 260 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 1: that helps in the security industry because you do need 261 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: to find those bugs. You you need to find those 262 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: holes you need to find and what we need to 263 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: patch and what we need to do. And after two interviews, 264 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: I got the job and here I am, you know, 265 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: nine months later back to present day. He loves his job. 266 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: He works every day to make sure of Vermonter's personal 267 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 1: information is safe and if he's doing his job well, 268 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: people probably never hear about it. No in it you 269 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: typically don't hear when things work. Do you hear when 270 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: they don't work? So and that's that's just a nature 271 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: of the beast. But he says he still gets a 272 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: ton of satisfaction out of it. It can be thankless. 273 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: It might be work that most people don't realize exists 274 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: until it goes away. Spencer is also a volunteer firefighter 275 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: on the side now and same deal unless your house 276 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: is on fire and you're not going to necessarily think 277 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: a firefighter, but when your house is on fire, that's 278 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: the first person that you're going to turn to. For 279 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: better or worse. As technology becomes vastly more integrated with 280 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,240 Speaker 1: our personal lives day by day, that means they're just 281 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: going to be more bad actors out there looking to 282 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,200 Speaker 1: take our information and sell it. There's always going to 283 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: be somebody who's looking to make a buck off somebody 284 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: else and the easiest way possible, and not everybody realizes that. 285 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: It's up to me and to other people to say 286 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: you got to think about this or make sure you're 287 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: doing this so you don't expose yourself and any information 288 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 1: that you might have. Spencer says that even a decade ago, 289 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,120 Speaker 1: anti virus software and hiring a cybersecurity person for your 290 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: business was a good idea something you probably should do. 291 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 1: But now with how online all of our lives are, 292 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,239 Speaker 1: it's not even a question. These are things that you 293 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:47,399 Speaker 1: have to think about, and you have to think about, 294 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: where is my information? If I put my credit card 295 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: number in on a website, is that safe? If somebody 296 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: asked me for my Social Security number? Is that safe 297 00:17:55,840 --> 00:18:00,919 Speaker 1: to give them? Is my health information safe? So you know, 298 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: security and people's personal information has become the forefront of 299 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:09,679 Speaker 1: what computer science now has to battle. And with that 300 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: being the case, there are tons and tons of jobs 301 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:18,400 Speaker 1: and cybersecurity right now everywhere for big companies or corporations, startups, 302 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,200 Speaker 1: or if your main drive is just helping people, there's 303 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: tons of work with nonprofits and state organizations. Whereat the 304 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 1: pay admittedly might be less, a job can be more 305 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,959 Speaker 1: than that. A quality of life is important, and working 306 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,480 Speaker 1: for the State of Vermont is It's about quality of 307 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:37,000 Speaker 1: life and has nothing to do with the job. Just 308 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: has to do with making you a better human, being 309 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: a better person. A job is not necessarily about the paycheck. 310 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: Part of what drew me to working for nonprofits is 311 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:53,399 Speaker 1: that that satisfaction of knowing that when I went to 312 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: sleep at night, I knew I had done something for 313 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: something more than myself. It's kind of funny that, you know, 314 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: when you first start up coding and diving into literature 315 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,439 Speaker 1: and computers and stuff, kind of the point of that 316 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: was that it was isolation, and now you do it, 317 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:17,880 Speaker 1: but you do it for a lot of people. It 318 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 1: is something that I do think about and it helps 319 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:25,440 Speaker 1: me come to terms with that I'm giving back somewhere 320 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: and giving back as an important part for my sobriety, 321 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: it's also an important part as a human being. If 322 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: we all gave back more, things would go a lot smoother. 323 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:41,560 Speaker 1: Do you feel now like you're recoding yourself? Yeah, I 324 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,479 Speaker 1: guess you could say that. Yeah, you know, I'm fixing 325 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: some of those bugs that were there. Yeah, yeah, I'm 326 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: definitely fixing some of those bugs, and you know things, 327 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: things are running a lot smoother than they ever have 328 00:19:53,680 --> 00:20:00,639 Speaker 1: been before. COVID brought a a lot of people to 329 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,120 Speaker 1: their knees, myself included. It put people out of work, 330 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,680 Speaker 1: It's put people in really tough living situations. It's put 331 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: people in a room with everything that they are. It's 332 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: made some of us come to terms with who we 333 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,400 Speaker 1: are in a much shorter time frame than we might 334 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: have liked. But as we come out of this storm 335 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,679 Speaker 1: with new values, new morals, new ways of living, and 336 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 1: new habits, we've had the fortune of having had the 337 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,199 Speaker 1: time to think about how we can help ourselves. And 338 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: it turns out as a lot of people go back 339 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:32,639 Speaker 1: to work. They've realized that the best way to do 340 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: that is by helping other people, even if they only 341 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:41,680 Speaker 1: call you when something's wrong. What are the next bugs 342 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: you got to fix for yourself? Oh, there's always something 343 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: to fix. But yeah, learning to be more patient, learning 344 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 1: to be more kind, and you know, to know that 345 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: there is hope. There is hope always. There's always hope, 346 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 1: and there's always a chance out there makes life worth living. 347 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: It's not always it's not always a bullet chairs, but 348 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: it doesn't have to always be the pits. Yeah, you 349 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,840 Speaker 1: saw what I did there. We're one hundred percent ending 350 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: on that for on the job. I'm Otis Gray. Thanks 351 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:34,360 Speaker 1: for listening. If you or someone you know is struggling 352 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: with addiction, help is out there. You can go to 353 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,360 Speaker 1: find treatment dot gov or call their national hotline one 354 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 1: eight hundred and six six to help for more information. 355 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,160 Speaker 1: That's one eight hundred six six, two four three five seven. 356 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: We'll put this info in the description of the show.