Updates on the current havoc I’m causing in other parts of my life, and the lives of those around me (sorry to my incredibly gracious and patient wife, who you’ll meet later).

Family Visit from FRSecure

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What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico.

NOT because anything bad or controversial happens here, far from it. It’s because this is a safe place to be “real”, to let your guard down without being attacked for being you. I’ll share things, but never in detail, protecting those who share things in confidence.

ELT in Puerto Vallarta, Q4/2022

Last week, the FRSecure Executive Leadership Team (ELT) was here.

GLOAT: Holy crap, these are AMAZING people! Collectively, they do GREAT things everyday. Individually, each ELT member is uniquely INCREDIBLE in their own right. Spending time with the FRSecure ELT is HUGE blessing for a CEO like me. I’ll never take this time for granted.

Information security is not about information or security as much as it is about people.

Me

The ELT comes to Puerto Vallarta (where I live) twice a year to do whatever they want. This has MUCH less to do about business than it does about doing life together. This is a time to just be people. To rest, hang out, fish, scuba dive, eat great food, swim, play games, take in the sights, etc. The ELT can do whatever they want to do, when they want to do it. No rules beyond what’s legal, responsible, and respectful (never a problem with this group).

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Sure, we talked about more than our share of information security stuff, discussed lots of cool information security ideas, and made plans to serve our customers better, but this was secondary to us being healthier together.

Fix what’s broken with the information security industry.

FRSecure’s mission.

It was a GREAT week and I’m PROUD of this team! We are all focused on our mission, and we won’t achieve the mission without each other. The trust we have built in each other and the love we have for each other will get us through all of the hard times. On the flip side, it’s pretty damn cool to celebrate success with “real” people who have become family.

We made a TON of AMAZING memories. We played games at my dining room table (I didn’t, but I watched the others play, shedding a few “man tears” as I call them). We drank. We sang. We ate. We laughed. We cried (yeah, I cried, but shut up). We talked. We argued. We got mad. We reconciled. We smiled. We laughed. We fought. We sweated (it’s hot in Mexico for some people). We swam. We took in sights. We fished. We dove. We hugged. We talked (about hard stuff sometimes). We rested. We listened. We shouted. We danced. We were offended (to some degree or other). We forgave.

At the end of the week, we had reinforced what we already knew. We are family.

I LOVE my FRSecure family, starting with the amazing FRSecure ELT, and I can’t wait until next time (March, 2023)!

Another Visitor

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For people who don’t know, I live in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (actually, just south in a town called Mismaloya). Living here is the fulfillment of a dream, literally. I’ll write about “the dream” in future post, it’s pretty cool!

We bought our home to provide a place where employees (FRSecure and SecurityStudio) can enjoy a great vacation and hang out. It’s sort of like FRSecure’s house, and I’m the caretaker when they’re not here. It’s not just FRSecure and SecurityStudio employees who are welcome here, everyone is. Well, let me take that back, not “everyone”. We have my “no dickhead” rule here, just like I do at the office.

We’ve had dozens of people take me up on the offer to visit in the two months we’ve lived here, and some of the people I’ve never met before (shoutout to “random Twitter guy). LOTS of great times, stories, and memories. I’ll write about some of these in future posts too.

OK, it’s time to meet my latest visitor, Mr. Robert Pereira.

Robert and me, lunch in PV.

I dig this guy. He travelled from Canada to see me, and I’m glad he did! I don’t know him well (yet), because we only met four(ish) weeks ago. He was a student in one of our CvCISO groups, later going on to become one of our first twenty official CvCISOs. He stood out in the group because he consistently provided value to others, in the CvCISO Community and every class he attended. Sometimes it was an article he’d come across, some research he did, or just words of encouragement for the other students.

Here in Puerto Vallarta, we spent time getting to know each other. We chatted about family, information security (of course), past work experiences, hobbies, and a long list of other cool things. The week’s not over yet, so there’s still plenty of time to get into trouble. Robert isn’t the type to get into trouble, but he IS hanging out with me, so… Unique experiences, right?!

Anyway, the coolest thing about meeting Robert is embracing the fact that he’s not like me. If he hadn’t come here, I would have missed out on learning his perspectives, listening to his stories, and making a new friend. He’s a helluva guy and my life is better for having met him.

Robert is embarking on a (sorta) new venture, helping small businesses in his area with information security (as a trusted vCISO). He’s well on his way to success and I’m happy to help in any way I can! You can connect with Robert too, here’s his LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertjpereira.

Celebrate Juan

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A short post to start things off.

I want to introduce you to someone.

 

This is Juan, our AWESOME maintenance guy. He works his ass off six days a week, keeping everything running smoothly in and around our home. I LOVE Juan like a brother!

Today he’s wearing an “Evan uniform”, one of the t-shirts we bought him as a gift. He’s allowed to wear anything he wants around here, including his “real” uniform; however, we encourage him to be who he is and/or who he wants to be.

There aren’t enough words to describe all the good things we could say about Juan. He ALWAYS does what it takes to do his job well AND he’s ALWAYS content in doing so. His job isn’t glorious and you’d be surprised by how little he’s paid. He’s paid well by local standards, but none (or VERY few) of us would do what he does for what he gets in monetary return.

He performs at a VERY high level on a consistent basis AND he’s a GREAT human being. I’m GRATEFUL for Juan and EVERYONE else like him. He’s an inspiration.

Do me a favor today:

  • STOP and look for someone like Juan in your life. You may not have noticed before, but there are people like him everywhere.
  • CELEBRATE them.
  • THANK them.
  • INVEST in them. If you can, get to know them.
  • DO something nice for them.

Recognize that we CANNOT perform (or live) as well as we do without Juan and the millions like him.

Happy Friday! The squirrels are alive and well…