A few weeks ago, we shared a blog post highlighting how three of our team members got into cybersecurity — the things that inspired them, the challenges they’ve faced along the way and what they love about their jobs. In part 2 of this series (with hopefully more to come), we talked to three more colleagues about the path that led them to where they are today.

Edgar Kabwe, Security Engineer

What initially drew you to work in cybersecurity?

When I was in fifth grade in Zambia, I’d go to the library with my dad and read all the books about computers they had. I said, “I want to work with computers.” My dad said, “How? Which computers are you going to work with? There are no computers.” 

Just after high school, I lived with a guy who had a computer for work. He said I could use it, but he told me to be careful. So, when he was away one weekend, I took the computer apart to find out what was inside. It took me the whole day to study it and put it back together properly. I gained confidence in teaching myself, which helped me as I moved on to school and started the process of getting certifications like A+ and MCSE. While I was in school, I ran out of money for lectures. I asked the lecturer if I could study for the exams on my own and ask him questions as I had them. He agreed and gave me his phone number. Between studying on my own and asking the lecturer questions, I was able to write and pass all six of the exams within five or six months, which opened the door for me to start getting jobs in IT.

I was always interested in security, so even as I had jobs that weren’t primarily security focused, I continued to study and learn on my own, completing certifications like Security+. I actually spent a lot of time learning how to hack because I knew it would help me understand how to defend a network. Eventually, I got a chance to work for a company that had a dedicated security team. I wanted to move to that team, so I shadowed one of them, learned how to manage firewalls and became the go-to person on my own team for anything security related. I built a network with firewalls on my home computer and continued experimenting and learning. After COVID, they started giving me a lot more jobs working on firewalls, which ultimately led me to where I am today. 

I joined the NWG team as a Security Engineer, and it is exactly the job I have always been looking for. My kids sometimes see me working on the weekend and say, “Why are you working? I thought you were off.” I say, “It’s not work. This doesn’t feel like work.” I remember in my second or third month, I told NWG President David Howard that I could do this job for free because I love it so much. This is what I’ve always wanted to do. 

What was the biggest challenge you faced in getting to where you are in your career today, and how did you overcome it?

Getting experience in network security. I had to create my own opportunities by learning on my own, doing home labs and showing initiative to people that were already working in that field, showing them that I can do this, that I’m passionate about security and learning all these things by myself.

What is one common misconception people have about your specific role in cybersecurity?

When I tell people what I do for work, they think I can hack into their computers or personal devices whenever I want. They think I have this godly power to see everything they do. 

What non-technical skill do you find most valuable in your day-to-day work?

I would say my ability to communicate and work well with just about anybody. I enjoy finding ways to connect with people from all kinds of different backgrounds.

What are your favorite kinds of things (projects, tasks, etc.) to work on?

One of my favorite things about this job is learning how different businesses apply the same technology in different ways. That excites me. It all comes down to the same goal, really. They want to protect their data. 

When you’re not focused on security, what are your favorite hobbies or ways to de-stress?

I love playing tennis, watching Arsenal FC, traveling and spending time with my family. Lately, I've been teaching my four-year-old son how to play different sports. He’s currently learning to play basketball.

Elli King, Ethical Hacker

What initially drew you to work in cybersecurity?

My one true love was math. I loved math. During my senior year of high school, I took two AP math classes when I technically could have stopped taking math my sophomore year. So when I approached my beloved math teacher and told him I wanted to study mathematics in college and become a high school math teacher, I expected him to share in my enthusiasm. Instead, he broke my heart. He laughed and told me I would be miserable as a math teacher unless I had a classroom full of Ellis, and that in his twenty-year career, he had only ever met one. Blunt? Absolutely. But I am grateful for it.

Heartbroken and redirected, I arrived at college and started playing the field. I flirted with accounting, finance and engineering, but nothing sparked. Then my mathematics degree required an introductory computer science class where I felt that familiar flutter. Here was a field where my analytical instincts and love of problem solving had a real home. I started taking cybersecurity and mathematical cryptography courses, and just like that, I had found my new passion.

Math and I are still close, but it was always meant to be the one that led me to cybersecurity. And we have lived happily ever after.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in getting to where you are in your career today, and how did you overcome it?

Cue Shania Twain’s “Man, I Feel Like a Woman.”

I have never once related to the phrase “I’m not like other girls.” I am literally just like other girls. I love the same music (Taylor Swift), the same books (romance and fantasy) and the same shows (reality television). When something is well-loved by women, I assume I will love it too.

The challenge was learning to apply that same logic to my career. As someone passionate about math and technology, I spent a long time feeling like an outlier. The turning point came when I stopped trying to separate the two sides of myself and started looking for where they overlapped.

Turns out, they overlap a lot. Vishing calls? I had plenty of practice doing prank calls at sleepovers. Open source intelligence gathering? That’s just finding what my crush’s grandma posted about him on Facebook. When it comes to physical penetration testing, nobody questions a woman with a purse, which happens to be the perfect place to store my double door tool, lock pick and compressed air canister. Ask any ethical hacker and they will tell you that your terminal aesthetic matters. Mine just happens to be pink.

The biggest challenge was giving myself permission to be both. The cybersecurity industry can feel like it was built for a certain type of person, but it did not feel authentic for me to try to fit that mold. What I have learned is that the interests that make me “like other girls” are exactly what help me succeed at my job and bring a unique perspective to the NetWorks Group team.

What’s been the most rewarding part of a career in cyber?

I love that it is ethical hacking! I truly feel good when I know we are helping our clients improve their security posture, and I take real pride in delivering high-quality penetration tests. There is nothing shady about what we offer; we hold ourselves to a high standard and stand fully behind our work. Getting to do something that is technically challenging and genuinely good for people is a rare thing, and I do not take that for granted.

What are your favorite kinds of things (projects, tasks, etc.) to work on?

Fellow Ethical Hacker Rachel Park likes to call me the resident expert in social engineering, which I always laugh at, because honestly, I just think it is plain fun! I like to remind Michelle Schuitema (Director of People Ops) that NWG is paying me to be evil for the sake of our customers. I love thinking up clever campaigns that will hopefully catch people off guard and encourage them to think more critically about the content landing in their inbox. And while nobody enjoys falling for a phishing test, I truly believe it is far better to fail a practice run and learn from it than to learn that lesson the hard way.

What most excites you about the field of cybersecurity today?

No matter how advanced the technology gets with the firewalls, segmentation and tooling, people are always part of the equation. That is what keeps social engineering relevant and keeps my work exciting. As real-world attacks grow more creative, so do we. I love that our work is never static. There is always a new technique to test, a new campaign to design and a new opportunity to help people build better instincts. Cybersecurity awareness is not just for the IT department anymore. It matters at every level of an organization, and I genuinely enjoy being part of that education.

Samantha West, VP of Marketing and Product

What initially drew you to work in cybersecurity?

I’ve been a marketer for 20+ years, the majority of them working in-house for different companies, and the last decade specifically within the nonprofit world. In late 2024, I found myself at an inflection point in my career; looking to make a change around the same time that NWG was considering creating a new position for someone to head up their marketing efforts. Through a mutual friend, I took what I thought would be a courtesy meeting to work in an industry that had never been on my bingo card. But as soon as I started talking to Steve, NWG’s founder, I got the sense that this company was something special. And with every subsequent interview I had throughout the process, I got more and more excited about working here. Not only was cybersecurity way more thrilling than I had expected (who knew good guys got paid to hack into OTHER good guys in order to thwart bad guys?!), but the culture here seemed almost weirdly supportive and collaborative. When NWG made me an official job offer, I remember saying to Steve, “Either you really got a lot of people here to speak from the same talking points, or this place is actually incredible.” It ended up actually being incredible.

In short, I wasn’t really drawn to cybersecurity; I was drawn to NWG. Now, I’m passionate about both.

What non-technical skill do you find most valuable in your day-to-day work?

My snarky, self-deprecating response is that all my skills are non-technical, but I guess that really only applies to technical cybersecurity skills (of which I definitely have exactly zero). Seriously though, I think the biggest skills that have served me well throughout my career are empathy, curiosity and the ability to translate complicated ideas for a non-technical audience. There have been some interesting parallels between working at a nonprofit that supports people living with a disease and working at a cybersecurity company. But the thing that’s really clicked for me is that at both places, our goal was to help people move from feeling overwhelmed to empowered. I love that, unlike a lot of other cybersecurity companies, our approach is not to add to that overwhelm, but to say, “It’s ok. You’re in good hands. We’ll figure it out together.” That kind of approach to communication and brand persona is where I thrive.

What are your favorite kinds of things (projects, tasks, etc.) to work on?

I love anything that lets me be creative and solve problems, whether that’s spinning up a design for a new deliverable, writing an article for our newsletter, or brainstorming a way to make our services better. I also love facilitating meetings and interviewing customers: Working from home is amazing, but as an extrovert, I need people time!

How has your role evolved since you started working in the field?

With marketing, like with cyber and everything else, every feed I follow is filled with doom and gloom about AI. And while it may be changing some of the ways that we do our work — and I feel for the folks just starting their careers who are competing with AI for jobs that are disappearing — I believe it’s essentially just a tool. It can be useful in the hands of someone who knows the foundational principles of what they’re trying to accomplish with it, and it can be pretty useLESS (or flat-out dangerous) in the hands of those who view it as a shortcut or substitute for human knowledge, creativity and empathy. At the heart of marketing, you need to know what motivates people and allows them to emotionally connect with your messaging. AI is a great thought partner for research and proofreading, but it can’t do that other stuff very well. So I guess I’d say I’m using different tools now and have access to better data, but the basic principles behind effective marketing are the same as they were when I first got started. Oh, and you can pry my em dashes from my cold, dead hands.

When you’re not focused on security, what are your favorite hobbies or ways to de-stress?

I’m kind of a collector of hobbies. I love to read, cook, knit, and go for nature walks with my husband and our pup. I’ve also been playing guitar, singing and writing songs since I was in middle school; although I’ve grown a little rusty at it over the last few years. I’m trying to dust it off again and get back into the habit.

Thank You

Thank you to our amazing team members who took the time to share. We appreciate you!

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Publish Date: March 19, 2026