Career on Andrew Healey

The right path is often the one that requires you to start over with less status, less money, and more belief

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 11:45:00 -0500

The right path is often the one that requires you to start over with less status, less money, and more belief.

Most people won’t do that. We stay in the slightly better version of the wrong thing because walking away feels like failure.

Sometimes God’s answer isn’t “no.” It’s “not right now… and not that way.”

Chris Curry had an eight-year minor league career and a spring training invite with the Kansas City Royals. When the organization offered him a coaching job, he turned it down. Instead of staying in pro ball, he started over as an assistant at Division III Hendrix College, making almost nothing beyond some gear.

Giving a talk today at the Arkansas IT Symposium in Little Rock

Tue, 05 May 2026 17:38:01 -0500

Giving a talk today at the Arkansas IT Symposium in Little Rock. Proud to represent Simmons Foods and emphasize our Be Curious values.

I looked back at my original outline a couple weeks ago. It’s wild watching the narrative shift over the last three to six months. The conversation moved from “AI users replace non-AI users” to “curious users beat complacent ones.”

When someone on my team asks if they should still go after their CCNA, AZ-104, or CKA, my answer is still yes. But the caveat that used to be a suggestion is now a requirement. They’ve got to lab it.

Today is the 173rd birthday of Vincent van Gogh

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 21:23:12 -0500

Today is the 173rd birthday of Vincent van Gogh. We know him as a timeless artist, but his path was anything but a straight line.

Before he ever picked up a paintbrush, Van Gogh was a deeply faithful man who worked as a missionary to coal miners in Belgium. He gave away his clothes, slept on straw, and was eventually dismissed for being “too zealous.” He failed as an art dealer, a teacher, and a bookkeeper. He didn’t start painting seriously until he was nearly 30.

I'm convinced that writing is dead.

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 15:41:50 -0600

I’m convinced that writing is dead. I’ve been writing for decades. In the 90s and early 2000s, while learning tech, I tinkered a lot while blogging about the journey. It cemented what I learned, shared knowledge with others, and gave me a helpful career reference point.

During Marine bootcamp, my rack mate Kuchenbecker let slip that I knew tech. Voila. I was named scribe. While recruits slept, I got to build a Microsoft Access recruit-tracking app so Drill Instructors could track metrics. Give a nerd a computer and they’ll use it. I sent short letters to family checking in and saying hi. The DIs would’ve blown a gasket if they’d found out about this little “integrity violation.”

Last week, I talked a local community member off the ledge of a $16k cybersecurity "fast track" program

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 19:46:16 -0600

Last week, I talked a local community member off the ledge of a $16k cybersecurity “fast track” program. She’s a bartender. Her husband recently passed away. She has grit and determination. But she heard the millions of vacancies, many in high six-figure roles, and she found her ticket.

Cybersecurity has never been an entry-level field. You have to understand systems before you can secure them or exploit them. Most of us started in IT, learned how things actually work, and moved into security once we had the foundation.

Kubernetes and Cloud Native Security Associate (KCSA) course and exam

Sun, 25 Jan 2026 15:36:40 -0600

Finally had a chance to get through the Kubernetes and Cloud Native Security Associate (KCSA) course and exam. Thanks snow!

Next up: Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD).

As expected, the KCSA went over standard security fundamentals of containers, Kubernetes, network protections, and trust boundaries, along with industry practices such as threat modeling, risk frameworks, and compliance. It’s still multiple-choice like the KCNA, but the questions were a notch deeper. I was caught off guard by a couple products in the microVM and sandboxing space that I hadn’t come across in preparing.

Discovery is a discipline

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 13:36:56 -0600

Discovery is a discipline. At Amazon, it was Learn and Be Curious. At Simmons, it’s no different. I try not to ignore or over index on what larger or wildly successful organizations do. Instead I want to build a discovery practice that exposes my team and I to many perspectives and then filters for our context.

When we approach technology decisions as one-time evaluations, we’re at the mercy of whoever is loudest at that moment. That’s usually vendors, “influencers”, or internal advocates with strong opinions. Rarely do we get a balanced view of alternatives, trade-offs, and lessons learned.

Passed the KCNA last night after work.

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 18:29:16 -0600

Passed the KCNA last night after work.

For my team, I’ve been looking for something lighter than the CKA but with enough meat to dig into the concepts. This hits the mark. 🎯

Multiple choice format keeps it accessible without getting lost in implementation specifics. You need to understand what tools do and when to use them, not how to configure every parameter. Good balance of technical detail with breadth across the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) ecosystem.

Speaking at the Arkansas IT Symposium in Little Rock

Thu, 09 May 2024 14:09:33 -0600

In Little Rock for the Arkansas IT Symposium at the Statehouse Convention Center. My talk is at 10 AM on building a defensible technology architecture. Excited to represent Central States and give back to the community with some actionable recommendations.

Session details on the symposium agenda

The event to attend for new IT and cyber talent in Arkansas

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 02:31:57 -0600

This was the event to attend if you’re in or around Arkansas and looking for motivated professionals coming into IT and cyber. We definitely needed more small and medium enterprises from our community represented. I was honored to help and to represent Central States Manufacturing, Inc. And while I don’t have an open role right now, I have a great pool of folks to stay in contact with, follow their journey, assist along the way, and hopefully hire when I do.

Takeaways from the NWA Tech Summit this week

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 13:54:25 -0600

Takeaways from the NWA Tech Summit this week:

Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce put on a great event. It was a rewarding volunteer experience, no doubt due to all the hard work they did behind the scenes.
Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma, or as the Tulsa Innovation Labs’ Conor Godfrey and others referred to it, the 412 corridor, is primed for mobility and autonomous systems investments, growth, and opportunity.
My family and I moved here in July for the community, outdoors, culture, and people. The opportunities and innovation are yet another reason I don’t see us leaving.
There’s a tangible and deliberate alignment in investment and involvement in the area’s growth by businesses of all sizes along with the local, state and federal government. It’s inspiring and gives hope for what’s happening now and next for the region.

NW Arkansas is an exciting place to be.

Reflecting on my 2020 goals. I'm proud of what I accomplished. I would've liked to accomplish more. Onward to 2021.

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 01:51:19 -0600

Reflecting on my 2020 goals. I’m proud of what I accomplished. I would’ve liked to accomplish more. Onward to 2021. Weight training goal. Not my gig. I discovered rucking and fell in love with hiking again. I’ll call that a win. Thanks for the perpetual headlock, David Walzer." CISSP completed in January with some motivation from Brian East." OSCE ended up retired. COVID changed all my plans. Went after the AWS SAA instead. When I most needed it, landed a gig with Amazon Web Services (AWS) " One CSRF bug reported for $200. Not sure I’m cut out for the bug bounty life. At least I got one.

Knocked out the new Amazon Web Services Solution Architect Associate (SAA-C02) exam this morning

Sat, 18 Apr 2020 18:33:18 -0600

Knocked out the new Amazon Web Services Solution Architect Associate (SAA-C02) exam this morning. 2nd CoronaCert done this month. Up next: AWS SA Professional"

For folks taking the new test, a little practice, reading some FAQs and whitepapers, and running through these resources is enough:

Course: Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate 2020
Practice Exams: AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Practice Exams

The value of cert X or training/cert company Y

Fri, 21 Feb 2020 05:46:18 -0600

I often get asked to weigh in on the value of cert X or training/cert company Y.

IT and InfoSec are broad. Too many folks get siloed or disappoint themselves by not first selecting a reasonable goal and working backwards. We need to be purposeful about our studies and efforts by ensuring they align with our goals. Otherwise, we’re just wasting time.

If you’re interested in cybersecurity, check out this info-graphic. Find that swim-lane you’re after and go get it. https://pauljerimy.com/security-certification-roadmap/

No. Certs Aren't a Waste of Time.

Sun, 16 Sep 2018 17:16:00 -0600

A few times each year, a thread pops up bashing the certification industry, mocking organizations requiring certifications for job applicants or contract opportunities, or using brain-dump test takers as the barometer for those with industry certs. Many, if not most of the arguments are valid in their specific contexts. Hiring or contract awards should not rely on certifications to prove a prominent level of competence. However, certifications do provide value in several areas that are often dismissed or ignored and can bring immense value to the IT and InfoSec industries.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Sat, 26 May 2018 16:42:30 -0600

This is a strong article on learning and deliberate practice with many takeaways. Great book recommendation too: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Some of my favorite reminders:

The Law of Productivity: High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus)
Don’t make the mistake of confusing productivity with busyness. Doing lots of stuff in a visible manner does not mean you’re being productive.
The rule of thumb is that it takes approximately 25 minutes of focus without distraction to reach a state of flow. If you’re checking your Twitter notifications every 20 minutes, which seems harmless, you prevent your brain from reaching that state and therefore prolong the time required to complete your task.
Deliberate practice cannot exist alongside distraction.
Too often, we assume we are getting better simply because we are gaining experience. In reality, we are merely reinforcing our current habits — not improving them.
Our culture loves the story line of the prodigy and the notion that experts possess an inherent talent that separates them from everyone else. But in reality, to master a cognitively demanding task requires this specific form of practice.

https://azeria-labs.com/the-importance-of-deep-work-the-30-hour-method-for-learning-a-new-skill/