I signed up for the 5-Day Cybersecurity Jobs Challenge on a Tuesday night, feeling completely overwhelmed by the cybersecurity field. I had zero technical background, just a marketing degree and three years coordinating campaigns at a small agency.
Day 1 hit me like a revelation: You don't need to code to protect companies. By Day 3, when they broke down GRC (Governance, Risk & Compliance), everything clicked. I saw exactly how my project management skills, attention to detail, and communication abilities were perfect for cybersecurity roles I never knew existed.
The breakthrough moment? When the instructor said, 'Rachel, you're already doing risk assessment when you evaluate campaign performance metrics.' Suddenly, cybersecurity didn't feel foreign, it felt like home.