Sedric Louissaint is an MMA fighter and cybersecurity expert who created the educational cybersecurity program, Show Up Show Out Security, which launches on April 24. The program is designed to create opportunities for cybersecurity industry hopefuls to be mentored, supported, and educated in the field.
I grew up competing in wrestling and boxing. After high school, I still had that itch to compete, so it was a natural transition. I started MMA, but life has this way of taking turns and forcing me to pivot what I was doing. I had become a teenage father early, so I had to get my act together. At that time I was trying to figure out what could I do to help afford myself the lifestyle that I want. So, I chose a field that I felt would help benefit me and provide that lifestyle.
Cybersecurity fell into my lap one day and I was watching a TV show called “Hacker.” This guy was living this crazy lifestyle on his laptop with no degree working in cybersecurity getting paid six figures and he’s traveling the world while he was working. I wanted to do that, so I did my research and ended up jumping into the game and I’ve been in cybersecurity for almost a decade now. I’ve doubled back on my MMA dream and I’ve been fighting for a few years again, and I had my professional debut last year.
Show Up Show Out security is my new cybersecurity mentorship and training program. It’s something that I wish I had a personalized mentor for when I was getting into the field or trying to get into the field. We have all had that same struggle where there was a lot of information out there. We didn’t know how to get into cybersecurity, the exact steps, training, and exactly how to go about identifying a career path that aligns with our interests and skill sets and our current situation in life. That’s pretty much why I started a mentorship and training program to help provide not only the technical training that you need to be able to be successful in the different areas of cybersecurity but also to be able to provide that personalized mentorship approach that’s personalized to each situation. So in combination with that, we also are providing technical coaching, which is something you can think of it as tutoring per se, but it’s your technical coach to make sure that you’re understanding the material that you’re learning for you to be successful and get the most value out of the program.
