It's kind of funny, our first conversation was when I was a guest on Chris and Nikki's podcast called Resilient Cyber. How did they meet? Well, the same way that I met Chris Hughes, on LinkedIn. Yep. It is a real thing. We met on a professional social networking platform. For about two years, we've floated in and out of each other's networks and have an ever-growing set of real connections.

In getting to know Nikki and her work, she was a natural pick as a guest for Real Technologists. On our first attempt to record, Nikki's sound quality was inconsistent and started breaking up. She said, "Hold on. Let me try something." She tinkered ,and I waited. "How's that now?" "Nope. You're still breaking up."

She tinkered and I waited. Different laptop, different headset. 

I like this woman, I thought. Very determined to fix this tech issue. As it turns out, her podcasting machine serves double purpose as her gaming rig. We agreed to try again in a week to give time to figure out the problem or come up with some alternative solution.

In doing a little pre-work before we spoke, Nikki gave me the same frustration as many other cybersecurity pros: not much about her life or journey aside from very focused cybersecurity insights. Dr. Nikki Robinson only posts on LinkedIn and does not use other social platforms. 

Essentially, the only way to learn about Nikki was to have the chat. "Game on"

1 week later we reconnected. She had uninstalled a few games and applied a new driver or two. I found Nikki to be delightful, energetic, and accomplished.

So much so that the average human like me has to intentionally and actively focus on not comparing myself to this duracell bunny. I did need to ask her the source of her superpowers. Chocolate covered espresso beans. Damn... I wonder if they make a keto friendly version? 

Nikki was born and bred on the East Coast, Maryland, to be specific and still professes a love of her state. Growing up, she showed all the classic signs of being a high achiever. She worked throughout high school and was in a band. Not the band, a band, the kind that practices in basements or garages.