WGU Alumni Podcast
WGU’s alumni network now has more than 350,000 graduates living in all 50 states. The WGU alumni podcast highlights the incredible work that our alumni are doing in their local communities. We also share benefits, perks, resources and partner information to help our graduates stay engaged and get the most out of the alumni community.
WGU Alumni Podcast
From Pharmacist to Cybersecurity Leader: Distinguished Graduate Dr. Brady McNulty's WGU journey
Imagine facing immense pressure in your job during a global pandemic and deciding it's time to make a bold career change. That's exactly what Dr. Brady McNulty did, transitioning from pharmacy to cybersecurity. In this episode of the WGU Alumni Podcast, we explore Brady's inspiring story of resilience and reinvention. Hear how his interest in hacking culture and his Navy background fueled his passion for a new career, all while receiving unwavering support from his wife.
This episode highlights Brady's personal growth proving that it's never too late to chase your dreams.
Have you ever thought it's too late for me? Well, it turns out you have more time than you think. We're living longer, doing more and collecting more moments. On this new season of the WGU Alumni Podcast, we're sharing the inspiring stories of our distinguished graduates who went back to school to pursue a degree and better their lives. We hope their stories will inspire you to realize it's never too late to go after your dreams. Hey everybody, welcome back to the WGU Alumni Podcast. We're thrilled that you're tuning in. It's Jeff and Robert back with you. Hello, robert.
Speaker 2:Jeff, excited to be here again.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. It's been a minute since we recorded and we are actually ushering in a new season that I'm super excited about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's not just a new season. We kind of have a new outlook, a new theme and some really incredible alumni we're going to talk to right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Over the next few weeks and even a few months, we're going to introduce you to 14 of our distinguished graduates that have been recently announced, and these are graduates in all four of our schools. They're across the country, they're doing amazing things and I think, robert, our audience here is going to be inspired by the things that they learn.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and just to set this up, I mean, as we travel, both you and I get to go to different events across the country we meet our alumni and all of them are amazing. Like everyone has an incredible story, and these are people whose stories have kind of risen to the top when we look at their impact in the community, at their job with their family, and so they really are. The stories we get to hear are going to be really exciting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, kind of as a new angle, we're going to be focusing in on the theme of it's never too late. So, specifically, we're going to be talking to these graduates who, many of them maybe a little bit later in their career, later in life, they came back to school for a particular reason and we're going to be inspired, I think, by what they share and to kind of learn when that point was where they were like, okay, it's never too late to go back to school to invest in myself. And so, robert, I want you to be thinking about that question because you and I, over the next couple episodes, maybe we can dive in on a personal note on and it doesn't have to be just school, it can be when did you know it was never too late to learn a foreign language or take up that hobby or take that trip?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's a good reminder because it isn't just about school. I mean, obviously we're talking to our WGU grads, so that's on top of mind for so many people. But it really is a good reminder because even after you get that degree, what next? Now, because you know that it's never too late to get that degree, what else can you do? Right, and you are an alum, jeff, that is correct, you did get your MBA. What else did you decide you could do that it wasn't too late for?
Speaker 1:One of the things that I think it's instilled in me is confidence that I could take an idea into realization and make that happen. And so I'm a storyteller by nature, like I. That's why I love this podcast, that's why I love alumni relations, just because we get to meet so many interesting people, and so maybe stay tuned for that on what I'm doing, to like kind of expand into the storytelling space on a on a personal level, because, yeah, you're right and I appreciate you asking, like as a WGU graduate, like I love my job at WGU, but it's also like, what else can I do? What other passions or interests can I fulfill while simultaneously working here at WGU? And so, robert, thanks for asking about that and hopefully good things coming in that space as well.
Speaker 2:No, I love that. Thank you for sharing that and it's a perfect segue into our interview today. Right, we're going to hear from Brady, who was a speaker at commencement not too long ago, and he had a really good career. He had a great career path and one day he decided he wanted to change that, do a complete 180 and do something different. And WGU made that possible. And I don't want to spoil it because I want him to tell the story, but it is such a unique story of heading one direction down a great career path and deciding to do something completely different, and I'm excited to hear that story today.
Speaker 1:It's a fascinating story. I think it's going to inspire our audience. So what do you say, Robert? We go to the interview with Dr Brady McNulty Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Let's do it.
Speaker 1:All right, let's do that. Dr Brady McNulty is a testament to the transformative power of education, the relentless pursuit of professional growth and the ability to change course as necessary. Thanks to a bachelor's and master's degree from WGU, both in cybersecurity, brady successfully transitioned from a career as a pharmacist to a pivotal role on a large organization's internal threat team. A proud husband and father, brady considers himself a mediocre guitar player and a terrible CrossFit athlete. Dr Brady McNulty, it's a pleasure to have you on the alumni podcast today. Hello sir, hey, good morning. Thank you for having me. Alumni podcast today. Hello sir, hey, good morning. Thank you for having me. Absolutely, I just got to say your background and your bio that I highlighted here briefly is very intriguing and I am excited for you to share a little bit more with our audience about your journey, of where you've been and how you've gotten to where you are today.
Speaker 3:Yeah, happy to tell the story, happy to talk.
Speaker 1:Yeah, fantastic, brady, you and I met back at our commencement in Las Vegas coming up on a year ago and you shared a little bit of this story which we'll put in the show notes so that people can have the opportunity to go back and listen to your speech. But it's hard to believe that's coming up on a year ago and I was one and I'll speak for those at the Thomas and Mac Arena in Las Vegas. I was one of the crowd that was mesmerized and inspired by your story, your journey and really your example of someone who realized it's never too late and took action and made a career change.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it was really fun getting to speak there. It was like the world's biggest open mic night basically, so I'd never spoken in front of so many people.
Speaker 1:For real. You never would have guessed that, and one of the things I thought at that moment was you were just calm, you were confident, you were funny, like everything you. Just you nailed it.
Speaker 3:I got to just say Well, thank you, I appreciate that got to just say Well, thank you.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that. Also, as we've kind of teed this up, we are excited for this season of the alumni podcast because we are featuring our distinguished graduates. There are 14 this year that we've named and you, my friend, are one of them, and so I'm super excited to dive into this interview and for people to get to know your story and how it might serve as a model or as an example to all of us, no matter. You know I don't know that there's lots of pharmacists listening to this today, wanting to make a career change, but I think it serves as an example to all of us that it's never too late to go after your dreams. It's never too late to pursue something that, if you feel a conviction and a calling to it, to move forward.
Speaker 3:So I'm super excited for you to highlight that for us today. Yeah, I'm happy to be here and as far as pharmacists listening, I'll let you in on a secret. I've helped at least three leave the profession through WGU.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, fantastic, let's jump in. I'd love to learn a little bit more about your story, sure thing. Well, brady, one of the things that we do as you know, wgu is an online university and we have students living across the country. We have students and graduates at all 50 states, and one of the questions that we like to kind of start out with, because we have a national footprint is asking you where you are based and what's your favorite thing about living there.
Speaker 3:So I'm in the Pacific Northwest and I'm in Oregon specifically no-transcript.
Speaker 1:Second ago in your bio, you've had a very unique journey to your career. You were a pharmacist. You spent some time in that space. You're a doctor. You changed careers and we're going to get into that today on the interview. But one of the things I wanted to ask you about is what's something right now that you're working on in your field that you're super excited and super passionate about?
Speaker 3:So one of the things with cybersecurity is that there's no shortage of things to learn, and so, even though I work in insider threat, I work in sort of a what they would call blue team aspect, like a more defensive type aspect of it. I'm currently completing my practical network penetration tester certification, pnpt, through TCM security, and it's a different side of the house, if you will, they call it the red team, where you're learning the ethical and legal hacking skills, and so it's been really engaging. It's really fun. I love solving puzzles and so, whether that's on the defensive side or the offensive side, it's just been really fun kind of getting to explore that.
Speaker 1:Now, that's super exciting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a ton of fun. So anyone who's interested, that's a really fun certification. It's very practical, very hands-on. It's not just multiple choice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that sounds cool. As I alluded to a second ago, you were named one of only 14 distinguished graduate awardees at WGU this year. Again, congratulations, Brady. What does this recognition mean to you?
Speaker 3:I really in my mind. I think it means that my story resonates with people. It resonates with the university in that I was someone who needed to make a change and WGU was exactly what allowed me to make that change, and it was a game changer for me. It was a life changing event. I was able to successfully transition from being someone working in healthcare as a pharmacist to someone who now works in the cybersecurity field and is knee deep in it, and that's all thanks to WGU. So I think my story just really reflects the values and what people look for in WGU.
Speaker 1:I love that, and so I want to ask you a little bit more in depth on that, so you kind of take us through the decision making process for you. You spent some time as a pharmacist. What made you decide to go back to school and kind of walk us through that timeline, if you don't mind?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I initially had looked into broadening my skillset as a pharmacist, because once you get into the field, you tend to plateau very quickly, and so as a community pharmacist, your typical career path might be you're a pharmacist, then you might be a pharmacy manager and then from there you might become a regional manager, if your organization has such a thing. That's kind of it. That's 90% of pharmacists who work in the community setting, and so I thought I just want to do something a little different. Not that I wasn't enjoying my work, but work was becoming more and more stressful. Covid was happening, and so we were giving more shots. Staffing was starting to decrease. I'd looked into maybe expanding my skillset, just trying to do something that most pharmacists don't do. I wanted to become someone who was just a little bit unique in the field, but I sort of shelved it and said you know, I'll come back to it Maybe if I find something in tune with what I want. And I'd just taken over a mom and pop pharmacy as the pharmacy manager, and our local chain had just shut down all their stores about a week after I got there, and so we were inundated. We basically more than doubled our patient population in the span of three weeks, which this little mom and pop store, bless them, was not prepared for that, and so it was just a really stressful time. But I always think of it from a military standpoint of okay, these are going to be hard days, but we're going to get through it and I just try to keep the staff motivated. We'll get through this storm, Until we had somebody show up and he wanted his refill and the refill wasn't ready and he basically threatened to go home and get a gun, and at that point I made it clear that that was not acceptable behavior and it was a really hard day. I mean, the staff was shocked. I was just gobsmacked with what was going on. But I went home that night, spoke to my wife and said that thing that I was talking about maybe doing, we're doing it. This is happening.
Speaker 3:Like I've mentioned in my graduation speech, she was a huge supporter. That's what started me down that path. I wanted to take some exams on my own just to prove to her as a proof of concept, I can do this. I know this. I've always felt like I was part of the community, the hacking culture community, but now I was really, really going into the thick of it. This wasn't just a. I wear a hoodie occasionally, or I have a shirt with a funny saying. This was I'm getting knee deep into this. So it was a little bit scary, but we went forward smartly and it worked out.
Speaker 1:Wow, what an interesting journey. As I stated, not one that's probably common, but love that you did that. How would you say that decision connected to a bigger dream you had for your life in going back to school after you had done already a lot of school to become a pharmacist.
Speaker 3:I think that it goes back for me to being in the Navy. I'd read my first issue of 2600, a friend had given it to me and I had no idea that there was such a thing as the hacker quarterly. And then I became familiar with stories like that of Kevin Mitnick, this very famous hacker who I think was very misunderstood. If anyone ever wants to read the book Ghost in the Wires, it's a really good summary of his life. So I'd always been just part of that culture. I'd always felt welcomed around these people. But then this was the idea that I was going to commit to it. It's one thing to say, oh, I'm a hacker, I know how to do a little bit of this and that, but it's another to commit to. I'm going pretty afraid of at the beginning because it is intimidating how much there is to learn. But that pivot it just felt like I was finally getting into where I should have been all along. If that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so what would you say was holding you back from doing it sooner? You had gone down a different career path and invested quite a lot of money and time and energy. Was there anything holding you back from moving on this decision?
Speaker 3:I think it was fear of the unknown because, as a pharmacist, like you mentioned, there's sort of a sunk cost fallacy there where things were great when I was a pharmacist. I loved my job, I loved helping people. It's just that around the time of COVID, things started to get worse as far as, like I said, staffing levels were getting lower. We were being asked to do far more with less. But there's that fear of the unknown because, well, I'm a pharmacist and that's what I do. End of sentence. There is no branching out from there, and so it was. I hate to say it, but it was thanks to the person who decided that they were upset enough to threaten violence. That that's what I needed. That was the push to get over that hurdle of not knowing could I do this and what would it look like if I get to that other side.
Speaker 1:So yeah, what would you say was the biggest unexpected surprise or bonus from pivoting in your career like you did?
Speaker 3:That I enjoyed it so much. I went through the schooling fairly quickly, but I think that that's partly because in pharmacy school, like med school, like other professional programs, you're taught to drink from a fire hose, and so it was something I was driving myself. Which is part of, again, the WGU model is, you are going this at your own pace, and so, for me, I was consuming this stuff ravenously, and so progressing through the different certifications for me was not a matter of showing people. Look, I earned a badge. Look at this thing I did. It was more oh man, that's really cool. I learned that. Let's move on to the next material. Oh cool, I learned that. And I just kind of kept progressing like that.
Speaker 1:Brady, can you think of another time in your life where you decided it wasn't too late for something?
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure. I'm a perpetual learner and so I speak a little bit of Spanish. That I learned in high school and I was always afraid to learn another language for some reason. And little bit of Spanish that I learned in high school and I was always afraid to learn another language for some reason. And about five years ago I started learning German and now my wife and I talk in German. It's a really handy thing to have as just a second or third language to speak. Also, was very big into art as a kid and so I got into cartooning just a few years ago. Got published in a couple of magazines where to me it's a matter of you're never too old and the clock just keeps ticking, so there's no time to start like the present.
Speaker 1:Yeah. To that I would have to just say, in one word ausgeteischnet.
Speaker 3:Yeah wunderbar.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. And really, brady, I'm loving this interview. I'm loving talking with you because in my life and I'll speak for those that are listening in as part of our audience I think there's a lot of things on my list where I want to do it, and I think fear is something that is very real, holding me and others back. I also think, like you know, I'm too old for this. What would people think? Right, I'm sure people thought that you were maybe a little bit crazy for making a massive career change like you did, is that?
Speaker 3:safe to say. Oh yeah, my father-in-law thought I was absolutely nuts, so the gambles paid off, though.
Speaker 1:Kind of walked me through it personally, just in terms of like you knew you wanted to do it and you obviously had that catalyst. I'm sorry to hear of that sad, violent threat that was made toward you and your staff, but you certainly had to feel like along the way am I making the right decision? Should I have just stayed where I'm at? How did you kind of navigate that and get through the doubt, the self-sabotage, any of that that you might have faced?
Speaker 3:I'm very big on motivation. When I set my mind to do something, I do it, and so with this, it was a matter of I'm not just taking some classes and I'm not just doing something in my spare time. This was literally my avenue into a new career field so that I could provide for my family, and so it was that very strong motivation that fed into this entire effort, and so that manifested itself in every night. When I would come home from work, I would dedicate at least two to three hours of just studying. There are applications on your phone that you can use for doing things like quizzes, and so it was not uncommon for me to be standing at the pharmacy bench, and if we had I don't know two minutes of downtime, I might take a very quick quiz just to keep the gears turning, and I was constantly just learning and trying to figure out what I didn't know so that I could become more proficient.
Speaker 1:Right, all of this is really really good Again for me, for our audience, I think, because we are living longer and I think you go back, you know, maybe to our parents' generation, and you kind of picked a career and you did something and you just you stuck with it and there's there's that's not a bad thing, right, like I think there's something for consistency and and the stability that brings.
Speaker 1:But you know, in our current world 2024, there are opportunities to change careers or to take up a new hobby or a new interest or to do something that maybe you didn't foresee that you'd even consider doing, and so I love that you kind of walk us through your thinking and you know your example. Have there been any regrets since you made this change, since you went back to school and got into cybersecurity from the pharmacy route?
Speaker 3:No, not at all. Not a single regret. If there is any regret, it's that I didn't do this far sooner in life. The community has been overwhelmingly welcoming to me and to others. Community is a big, big part of cybersecurity. I feel like I'm home now, so I'm glad I'm here.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. What's a career or life hack that you've personally learned, and how has that helped you be successful?
Speaker 3:So when I got out of the Navy, I called myself pre-everything. Most people are, you know they call themselves pre-med, but I was pre-vet. I was pre-possibly doing RN into nurse practitioner. I wanted to help people.
Speaker 3:But one of the common threads that you'll find among anybody going through those professional programs is you have to find your why, and so it's not enough to say, oh, I want to be a doctor. You really have to understand why you're going to subject yourself to this. Extended years of fellowship, and it's a very long commitment and at numerous points along the way you will find yourself saying why am I doing this? Or, man, this is really hard. And so when you are going to take on something so in my case this career change, you have to have a crystal clear definition of why you're doing it. That's what feeds you when you have those moments of doubt, when you have those moments of I don't know if I know this as well as I thought I did, or I don't know if this is going to work out. You have to keep that definition of why? Just present, ever present.
Speaker 1:I like that because you're right. Obstacles will come up. I'm sure they have for you as you've journeyed through this pivot.
Speaker 3:And that was one of the things where I think it helped, both having the support of my wife, but it also, I think, showed her that I was serious about this, I had intention behind what I was doing. So it's a give and a take of support there. Yeah, yeah absolutely Okay.
Speaker 1:I want to look into the future a little bit. What do you hope to accomplish over the next one to two years? What are you working on? What are you most excited about?
Speaker 3:You know I've had a really good time attending DEF CON the last two years and it's again all of this community. It's the world's largest hacker conference and it's one thing to attend and take everything in. My hope has always been, and especially in this next couple year period, to be somebody who doesn't just take from the community, but I wish to be somebody who contributes something to the community. I'm trying to figure out what that looks like as far as being a speaker, as far as helping with competitions, things like that, but I want to be somebody who gives back.
Speaker 1:I can tell Brady from your military service, from what you've shared in terms of just your desire to help people, and I think you went that route when you were in pharmacy Sounds like you dabbled with nursing right, healthcare, something like that and now you know I think you're helping people. It might be different right, and then the health space, but you're certainly helping. You know your organization, you're helping people in general in the real threat of cybersecurity, and so has that been meaningful to you to be able to help, even if it looks a little bit different than maybe what you started on.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, for sure, the work is very meaningful to me, the work is also very engaging, and it's like I said, I love solving puzzles every day, and I'm also working with a, an organization to help with teaching in the community, and so that's actually another project that I'm trying to take on, probably in the next couple of months, where going out and teaching people. Typically, they target teenagers and they target the elderly, and so you go into the community and you just provide education to these people about cybersecurity, about hygiene when it comes to your information, and so I'm really looking forward to that being one of my next endeavors too.
Speaker 1:Brady, this, as I I stated earlier, has been really fascinating to talk to you and I would love, as we conclude the interview, to give you the final words. So, final word, final thoughts, maybe final advice for me or others her grappling with questions of is it too late to take on this new hobby? Should I take this new job? Should I look, take this new job? Should I look at this new route? What, what sorts of things would you say as we conclude the interview?
Speaker 3:I'm not sure if it's a stoic teaching, but one of the things that is key to how I approach life is change is hard, and one of the most important things is figuring out where you wish you were and compare that to where you are now. And you look at that version of you where you wish you were and they're kind of almost asking you like what's taking you so long? And so you just it's helpful to visualize that, to understand where you want to be, and then just connect those dots, figure out what you need to do to get from point A to point B, because if you don't, you're just going to continue in point A, and so I'm very big on visualization.
Speaker 1:That's why you know motivation is huge for me. But figure out where you want to be and figure out what the difference is there, and you'll be glad you did, because the sooner you do it, the sooner you'll be where you want to be in our WGU community. You represent the more than 350,000 graduates that we have from coast to coast very, very well and we're thrilled to call you a distinguished graduate, and congratulations on all the success Again. More than anything, thanks for being a good example and showing others what is possible when you have a goal and you set out to accomplish that Well, thank you.
Speaker 3:Thank you, it was a huge honor. I was, like I said, really happy to get that call and I love everything about WGU. I talked to everybody about it and about my experience there.
Speaker 1:So well, thank you for the time today, brady, all the best Thanks. Same to you.
Speaker 4:Thank you for listening to the WGU Alumni Podcast To learn more about the WGU alumni community. Wgu alumni community visit wguedu backslash alumni. Thank you to our alumni. Now 300,000 strong and growing WGU a new kind of you.