From high-end security to cloud support.

Where I'm coming from

Before cloud, I spent over 10 years working long, demanding shifts in high-end security across London — including corporate security for high-profile clients, where part of the job was managing access control during public demonstrations: identifying and turning away individuals attempting entry through deception or false pretexts. That's not so different from what social engineering looks like in the cloud world — someone trying to talk or trick their way past a control point that's supposed to stop them.

That work meant being trusted with confidential information every day, and being genuinely hands-on with access control and least-privilege principles — long before I knew that's what AWS calls IAM. It also meant excellent customer service under pressure, staying calm and clear when things went wrong, and a work ethic built from hours that didn't end when things got hard.

Why cloud, why now

I started learning AWS because I wanted to see if the instincts from security work — vigilance, access control, staying calm when something's broken — would carry over into cloud infrastructure. They did, faster than I expected. Reading a CloudTrail log isn't so different from reviewing an incident report. A Security Group is still just deciding who's allowed in and who isn't.

I've also been running Linux distros personally for over 10 years, which turned out to be the other half of the puzzle — shell comfort and EC2 troubleshooting came naturally once I started building.

What I'm building toward

I'm early-career and building a portfolio of real, hands-on AWS projects rather than collecting badges for their own sake — this site included. Right now I'm working toward Cloud Support, Cloud Operations, and Junior DevOps roles — I'm currently halfway through AWS Solutions Architect – Associate, with CompTIA Security+ as the next step after that.

The goal is simple: build things properly, break them on purpose, and learn from both.