Everyone has their own journey, but I got into the market without a big name on my resume by doing things in my own time that got me recognition. I started giving talks about information security to local groups at colleges and whatnot. Wrote some software that did some cool stuff, and wrote books that no one ever read. Nothing particularly mind-blowing, but it got me the connections that gave me a seat at the table. Eventually I interviewed with a startup and they liked my work and pulled me onboard.
