Welcome to episode 133 of the Nerd Journey Podcast [@NerdJourney]! We’re John White (@vJourneyman) and Nick Korte (@NetworkNerd_), two Pre-Sales Technical Engineers who are hoping to bring you the IT career advice that we wish we’d been given earlier in our careers. In today’s episode we share part one of our interview with Donovan Farrow and his progression from IT generalist to someone who developed an expertise in digital forensics and entered the security industry in its early days.
Original Recording Date: 06-30-2021
Topics – Meet Donovan Farrow, Focus on Forensics, Not Quite Calling It Security, Information Security Management, Peacetime is Boring
2:38 – Meet Donovan Farrow and Alias (formerly Alias Forensics)

* Donovan Farrow is CEO and founder of Alias, a digital forensics and cybersecurity company based in Oklahoma City.

* Listen to Donovan’s description of all the things his company does, their size, and their biggest competitors.
* Alias is classified as a bit of a boutique shop in terms of what they do and their attention to detail.
* Donovan spoke at a Dallas / Fort Worth SpiceCorps meeting in 2018 on digital forensics and penetration testing.

* How Donovan got into the industry, the real story

* He hated school but could fix computers.

* How moving to Oklahoma City worked out

* Donovan mowed lawns for a while and would use the money to buy computer parts.
* He started working for a corporation at age 18 and did not have a degree until much later.
* People have at times called him a gunslinger.
* The job at an insurance firm allowed him to do a lot of tinkering, but he didn’t get along with his boss and was fired.

* Teaching and not making people feel stupid

* At his next job, Donovan progressed to a leadership position after coming in with no certifications (only experience). If people wanted to learn, he would teach them.
* He wanted other people to know he loved the work.
* Others in his past had made him feel stupid, and Donovan did not want anyone else to feel that way.

* Getting fired, contract work, and catching full time work

* Donovan got interviewed by many companies, including Chesapeake Energy and decided to work for a contract company.
* Contracts were often sat on site and expected to "do work," performing whatever task needed handling at the time.
* Donovan did work for energy companies, a bank, a manufacturing company, and others.

* The things he learned in this role were out of necessity and to keep getting work.

* He was later hired by an oil field company to learn everything and move everyone out.

* The company later changed their minds about moving others out and gave Donovan a full-time job instead of a contract position.
• Donovan was given every opportunity and never turned anything down, learning a ton in the process.

* First forensic case

* This was around 2004, and Donovan’s boss asked him to investigate possible misconduct of field workers, working with the global head of HR as part of the assignment.

17:26 – The Focus on Forensics

* Forensic Focus forums early member