Allow me to introduce you to Kevin Jackson
Monday: MicroBusiness and Marketing Marvels
Every Monday, I highlight outstanding independent professionals with the hope that you might be inspired by their insights and experiences.
In my many years working with independent professionals, one thing I’ve noticed is that while each independent professional is unique and has their own beliefs and principles, they still share a common mindset when it comes to business success: Fulfilling their clients’ needs and building genuine assets and relationships.
Today, I’m excited to share with you a motivational note from Kevin Jackson. Kevin is a cybersecurity expert who founded “vCyber Services” in 2018. Together with his team, he focuses on virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) support.
Aside from excelling in the field of cybersecurity, Kevin is an experienced Enterprise Architect and Business Intelligence expert. He’s also a Business Management leader with a background in information systems development and integration, hardware/software engineering, management consulting, and project management.
To learn more about how Kevin is becoming a leader in the cybersecurity industry, I encourage you to read his own statement of purpose below.
Miles Everson
CEO, MBO Partners
Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute
Kevin Jackson: vCyber Services
I am Kevin Jackson and I am the CEO of vCyber Services, the company that I established in December 2018.
As a cybersecurity services firm, we specialize in virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) support, cybersecurity consulting, and cyber strategy management for commercial and government clients nationwide.
It was just around 4 years ago when I felt the urge to become a full-time independent. I was 46 years old that time. In my 20s and 30s, I also tried to become an independent but it didn’t work out because I didn’t have the expertise in the technical and business areas.
10 years later, I tried again with a friend of mine. He was an architectural engineer and I was more of an electrical and IT systems engineer. We pushed forward with our plans of starting our own business, but still, it didn’t work out as we lacked the marketing and sales knowledge. We’re also experiencing an economic slowdown at that time.
Fast forward to another 10 years, I tried to establish my own business again. One of the main differences now is it’s a pure cybersecurity play and I think “cyber” is simply so in demand in all areas. By the end of 2018, I created vCyber Services and by March 2019, I left my full-time job and became a full-fledged independent.
I currently have 5 part-time employees in the firm, but my goal is to grow a company that is ready to take on challenges at the next level.
One of the misconceptions I’ve heard about the independent career is that a lot of people think it’s easy. It’s not. In fact, I think success is very hard to manage as an independent because of all the things you have to do simultaneously.
As a full-time independent, there’s just so much for me to do and manage. Even having a good client lineup can be a very big challenge because you have to manage them all, especially when it comes to the number of hours it takes.
One of the benefits I’ve enjoyed while working as an independent is moving to a full work from home status. My wife and I have 5 children, so I think it’s a really great gift to be at home and be more around my family even while working. Aside from that, we’re able to do so much better now than we were before.
One of my most memorable and proud moments in working in the cybersecurity industry is knowing that we’re working not just to help companies defend themselves against all threats, but also help the management teams understand and feel that they are well protected. It feels good to have the pressure and stress relieved from them.
It’s so rewarding for me to witness that, because we are affecting their daily lives in a way that they can go to work, do the things they do, and focus on their business without this constant fear that they could be the next cyber victim.
Hope you’ve found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Monday’s MicroBusiness Marvels!
