A podcast about job search woes, hiring horrors, and everything fair (and unfair) in and around our work lives.
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About
Deany connected with Simon when she was made redundant from her job as a Senior OT Cyber Security Consultant and Simon was “the best cyber recruiter in Perth”.
He didn't manage to land Deany a new gig, but he did manage to get her to join him on stage at the Melbourne AISA Cyber Convention in November 2024. They talked about unconscious bias in cyber security recruiting and, in early 2025, decided to kick off a podcast around the topic.
Both Deany and Simon still keep their day jobs in cyber security, coincidentally both focused on incident response.
With diverse careers between the two across the public and private sectors, including education, financial technology, recruitment, intelligence, and OT/IT cyber security, they have a lot of insights (and tea) to share with the world.
Your hosts
Yes, we are real. We are what they would call “professionals”. We have professional photos to ensure that we are always Linkedin ready.
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Professional procrastinator and last minute scrambler, Deany has been working for wages and paying taxes since the late 1900s (!)
Her life experiences include, but not limited to:
Being the youngest of five children of divorce
Living as an expat in Asia and Europe as a child, a teenager, and an adult
Being married to a French man
Being a boy mum, and now a boy and girl mum
A decade-long career in intelligence and public service
Juggling and making things up as she goes in early stage startups
BURNOUT!
Working in an American corporation, then having the quintessential experience of redundancy
A bout of depression due to said redundancy
Self-publishing a kids’ story book
Wearing two hats at work while fully remote
Surprise, surprise, she has ADHD
Public speaking
Being on this awesome podcast
What Deany sends when someone asks for a professional bio:
With over 17 years of experience in business strategy, security, and relationship management, Deany is a seasoned cyber security professional with a specialisation in Cyber GRC. She helps clients improve their cyber security governance, gain a better understanding of the cyber risks that impact their organisation, and ensure that their cyber programs and operations are aligned with compliance requirements and industry standards.
Deany has delivered consulting and advisory services for IT and OT cyber security for medium businesses, large entreprise and the public sector. She has also worked on cyber uplift for critical infrastructure assets across multiple sectors, such as water, rail, energy, and smart cities.
Deany has a diverse and impressive background, spanning from the financial/technology industry, where she advised early-stage start-ups on business strategy, growth, and product development, to the defence sector, where she supported Australia's national security on critical missions, including cyber, counterterrorism, and counter-transnational crime.
She is a great communicator and a passionate advocate for women in technology, having spoken at various events in Southeast Asia and Australia on topics such as cyber security, blockchain, business productivity, and remote work.
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A former high school English and Media Studies teacher turned Cyber Security Professional, Simon also advocates for better inclusivity and diversity in Australia’s Cyber and wider Tech industries.
Starting out at the Cyber Security Awareness Specialist at Water Corporation in Western Australia, Simon has since worked in innovation hubs, not-for-profits, State Government agencies, and most recently, as a consultant in the Cyber Readiness field.
He has spoken at numerous cyber conferences and occasionally enjoys acting as Master of Ceremonies. Outside of work, he is a dad to three young men and kicks some serious ass on Mario Kart.