From Defending Freedoms to Securing Our Cyberspace

I joined CBRE in November 2021. I’m a senior principal cybersecurity engineer. To really simplify it, if someone tries to break into cbre.com with the intention of stealing credentials, we're the ones making sure that doesn't happen. We protect it. Now that we have different ways to access the internet from wherever you are, we use a tool to ensure you have a secure connection every time. That's just one of the many things that we do to safeguard our cyberspace.

Another example is if someone tries to send you spam mail, with the click of a button, you can send us that link and tell us that someone sent you a phishing e-mail and it will quarantine the e-mail immediately. Those are the kind of tools that that we build, operate, or deploy to keep our systems safe. 

Team Spirit

My team works in different locations, but we talk and communicate more than any team I've ever worked with. We joke with one another, and we meet when we need to.

I've never been able to really truly say this and mean it—I've never had a leader that is as effective as my boss, Alan, is. And I'm not just saying that because he signs my check! He's not a micromanager. He not only has a very high delivery team, but a very strong-willed team. Managing that kind of high-value and high-production team is very difficult, but he does such a great job of managing people by really letting us manage ourselves. That gives us the tools and resources we need to be successful and not be stifled. And he does a phenomenal job of managing up. Often, everything moves fast and there are so many little details. He does a very good job of filtering out the noise and allows us to focus on the work that needs to be done. 

From Tankers to Microchips – Journey to CBRE

I joined the Marine Corps in 1987. I was there for 10 years. I was in tanks for six years, and I was also in tanks during Desert Storm. When I went to re-enlist, I was going to be a tanker forever and die a Marine—the whole 9 yards. Then, a guy that I knew said, ‘hey, what are you going to do when you get out? You know, you can’t drive tanks for Chrysler!’ I said, ‘well, I like that computer thing.’ This was back in ‘93, so he said he can get me a computer billet if I was willing to go to school and get out of tanks. I went to school for almost three years. Then, a major technology company came to Okinawa, Japan to a job fair and recruited me as a computer programmer when I was still in the Corp. When I got out, I went to work for them in Portland, Oregon.

I eventually worked for a few different companies and eventually went to Arizona where I worked for five years as the director of security operations at a large financial services company. There are trillions of dollars involved so it’s very regulated. Everything was prescriptive and I wanted to get back into a role that required thinking a bit more. That is why I came to CBRE. A colleague I worked with previously came to CBRE a few years before I did. He said it was a good environment, and I trusted him. When I had the interview, they kept saying how amazing the culture and the people were, how different leadership is. That was exactly what I needed.

Life at Play