Cybersecurity and Financial Success: Mastering Business Resilience and Leadership Strategies

0:00 You have built a career around protecting what matters the most, and that is data, people and purpose. So how do you see cybersecurity evolving over the next five years? You know, I think cybersecurity will become more proactive and AI driven with advancements and machine learning, right, enabling real time threat detection and response. That's kind of what I say.

0:22 I think the focus is going to ship shift towards predictive analytics, right? Automation, more zero trust or architects to counter increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. You're going to need it, right? The next element of that it's going to be quantum computing, right? I think that's going to play a pivotal role, like both as a challenge but as an opportunity.

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1:21 Welcome to The Kingdom's podcast, where growth mindset meets leadership and business insights. Get insights from top entrepreneurs, professionals, and thought leaders. Visit kingdomspodcast.com. Fuel your mind. Your next breakthrough starts here. We live, ladies and gentlemen, you all once again, welcome to the Kingdoms podcast.

1:43 And today I have with me from the other side of the pond, Phil Novak. How are you, Michelle? I am fantastic. How are you doing today Do. You want do you want the default answer or you want the authentic answer? Default answer is I am. Well, I'm fine. You know, I'm doing great, but default answer is rather authentic answer is I'm recovering from a few, but Michelle Novak cannot go back.

2:14 We have. So we have to record this one. We have to record this one. You know, your journey is so, so weak and layered, from hospitality and finance to cyber security and authorship. So what has driven your evolution over the years? Great. Question, right? Wow. My evolution has been driven by commitment to growth, right?

2:40 Refusal to settle and a passion for helping and thrive others, right? Like I think hands down, each phase of my journey, whether it's been in the hospitality industry, finance industry, cybersecurity, becoming an author has been about learning for me, adapting and then stepping into all challenges with a purpose, right?

3:04 Purpose driven. I think that's most important for me. Well, Speaking of evolving and adapting, you have won so many hearts. You know, you're that person, the core, the proverbial Jack of all trades. But then you are a master of some. You know, you say Jack of all trades typically is usually a master of none, but that's is actually a false statement. You could be a master of some and of course you have mastered, you know, quite some.

3:37 And you're always talking about leaving your best life. So what does leaving your best life really mean to you? You know, for me, living your best life means owning your choices, right? And embracing, embracing every opportunity that's out there and aligning your actions really with your core values, like who you are, right?

3:58 Living by a standard that is beyond what you can imagine, right? And never, never, never, never, never give up, right? It's about removing negativity, paving the path for others, paying it forward, right? Inspiring others and creating that life of abundance where you can live fully like, you know, authentically.

4:18 I love the word authentically. And you used it, right, with the sense of purpose. I'm always going to drive back with a sense of purpose every single day. And I think the most important thing for me is living the best life as being the family and having a strong faith. Strong faith, my friend, right? Strong faith, I love that.

4:35 Yeah. I love that I'm I'm a man of faith, you know, without faith is it's impossible to please God. And my faith is Christianity out of ways. Hebrew 11/1 says faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And I think it, it went further in that chapter to say that Abraham had faith and it was counted unto him unto righteousness. And of course, first of all, without faith, it's impossible to please God.

5:03 Speaking of opportunities, you you do talk about, you know, harnessing opportunities. And one opportunity that you have quite harnessed is cybersecurity. So you founded Cardinal's Bite to help small businesses to navigate cybersecurity challenges. So why do you think so many small businesses still overlook the importance of digital security and what is at stake?

5:34 That's a loaded question, right? Many small businesses, I think, overlook digital security because they assume they're too small to be targeted, right? Or they believe cyber security is too complex or too expensive. They have no idea the worth, right? What's at stake is everything, right? Client trust, regulatory compliance. When you talk about that and the survival of their business, 63% of all small businesses are attacked in the first year. And out of those, 60 go out of business because of it, right? If not prepared, a single breach can lead to devastating financial and reputational damage. And I think that's why many small businesses overlook it. You know, they don't understand

6:15 it. They don't understand the benefits. You know, I know that from speaking with my clients in the educational piece. Actually lies to something. I like to say. When the use of something is unknown, abuse is inevitable. Yeah. So yeah, you can't blame a lot of small business owners has no, you don't know, but ignorance is not admissible in the court of law.

6:41 So we have great individuals like yourself putting the the the word out, you know, sensitizer and small business owners regarding that importance of cybersecurity specialise in breaking down the compliance in layman's terms. So what are the top 3 misconceptions that small business owners have about cybersecurity compliance?

7:07 Misconceptions, right? I would say compliance equals security. Many people think meeting a standard is enough, but compliance is not just a baseline, right? They think, you know, you download your Malwarebytes or whatever it is that will protect you from, you know that you have, you know, antivirus loaded and you you're protected against everything.

7:30 So that's probably one of the first misconceptions, right? And security is, is only an IT issue. I get that a lot, right? Like, well, the IT guys will take care of it. It's a business wide responsibility, right? It involves policies, training, leadership. You have to have to have it built into your posture in your Business Today, right?

7:54 Just like you would be planning for sales, you need to plan for cybersecurity. It's that essential, right? And then again, I'm going to go back to we're too small to be targeted, right? Cyber criminals often target small businesses because they're perceived easy to breach. They know that they don't have the training and the infrastructure. They know that they can send a phishing e-mail to them. They're going to click on that link. And then before you know it, right, your system is stopping to run because they know that they don't know what they're looking for.

8:26 So that's probably another misconception, right? But again, it's there's so many of them out there. I would say those are my top three though. Hey, so you've actually spoken about the misconcept, the misconceptions, right, that small businesses have regarding cybersecurity. But you and your team at Cardinals Bytes, how do you tailor solutions for SM, ES and industries such as accounting, law, insurance, professional services? You know, where data sensitivity is very, very paramount. Yeah.

9:07 So we tailor a lot of different things. I mean, basically the most important thing in cybersecurity is to identify the gaps and the risk, right? So the first thing that we do is we go into any business and we identify their security posture. Once you identify that, we come up with a plan based on many risk factors, right, just depending where it is in cyber. So most of the time though, what'll happen is, is the majority that we target will be like multi factor authentication, right?

9:40 How they handle backward updating software systems, right? What systems can be exploited? We take a look at the vulnerabilities of those systems. We take a look at their software, we take a look at the infrastructure from being sound to not sound, right, to be physical security as well. Sometimes when we're doing a risk assessment, it's not only about your networks and your websites, it's about your physical security, right? Like, do you allow people to just walk in and walk around and can they see information on your computers? Can they plug in a USB?

10:16 There's a lot of different elements to it. And then we do education, security awareness, right? Teaching people what to look for, because that's important. But that's, I think that's very, very important because a lot of people don't even know what to look for, right? And I think that's where we start.

10:36 You know, I have clients that are just singular, right? One person and some, I think my largest client has about 900 people, right? So you know, what's needed for that one client versus someone who has 900 is completely different, right? So we tailor it, we tailor those solutions based on what they need, right?

10:59 It's going to be a whole different ball game for that one person versus the 900 and the needs of that organ. But for businesses that have limited budgets, what practical low core strategies would you typically recommend for them to stay protected and compliant? So I work with some businesses. I mean, I'm always about helping the community.

11:21 It's not all about money. And I believe that, right? Sometimes you, you know, you have a smaller businesses who are just starting out, they need to get compliant. I share the resources. There's free resources out there, whether it be through the federal government, through the state that will actually help them get compliant, right?

11:37 I'll start them off. Sometimes they do risk assessments for them and I don't charge them because I want them to learn. I want them to build that security trust posture. So this way they have resilience, they understand it. So the state and federal government, I mean, here in the US, they have tonnes of resources that are free that small businesses can actually do and implement themselves and they don't have to pay for it, right? If you have a smaller budget, right, we're willing to work with you.

12:07 You have to be able to work with people and there's a lot of tools out there. I think the biggest thing is, is it's so overwhelming. You don't know what you need, right? So I think what scares a lot of people is to like, I need a cyber security plan, but they, they don't know how much it's going to cost them.

12:25 And then they go online and you start doing the research and we all go down the Google rabbit hole, like I like to call it. And you know, you're not really sure. And then you become overwhelmed and you're like, oh, this is going to be too expensive. And you talk yourself out of it when you really need it, right? So it's, I think just getting in touch with the right person and doing your own research and not going down that rabbit hole. But listen, the average for a small business can cost, I say a couple of 100 to a couple of 1000, right, on average. Interesting.

12:58 Yeah, it's a very broad range just depending on what you need and that you know. But again, there's a lot of free resources if you're limited on budget. The most important is implement multi factor authentification on anything you have implement VPN. I'm going to tell you that right now. Backup, backup, backup your data regularly, right, So you have a landing point.

13:22 Educate your employees or do some, you know, YouTube, go on YouTube and say, you know, give me videos on, you know, cybersecurity training. They're free, right? Educate so you know what you're looking at with emails because that's the biggest way they get in, right, sending scam emails and invest, right? Invest in a cost effective measure. You know, it's power mount, right? If you get a breach, again, it could put you out of business, right?

13:46 You don't want to lose your client's trust. Your data is your. A lot of people don't understand that, but the data that you own is what they're after. And that is your biggest asset, right? It's not just an ex, it's not just an expense, cybersecurity, It's a safeguard for the longevity and trustworthy of your business. You have to have that.

14:07 You lose trust, you lose everything. Exactly, you're talking about the Google rabbit hole and you're reminding me of an older friend of mine. She will know herself from this. I shout out to you, she calls herself a Google patient when a doctors tell her to do this. Is this that she's always going to Google to go search her symptoms everything and now goes to the doctors.

14:33 The doctors are frustrated like are you? Are you, are you the patient or the assistant doctor? Let us know and then she said put on how far the Google patients and. Then Google patients, listen, you know, I, I mean, I know somebody who does the same thing, like right to it, right, like, and they know better than the doctors. So like, listen, I mean, we're all at fault. We love Google, we love these tools. I mean they're great.

15:05 They help us, right, Chat GPTAI, all of that. But you know, you can go down a rabbit hole. That's what I always say. So are you, are you, are you advising your clients to become Google patients? Yeah, no, no, I think what I'm advising them of is reach out to your local cybersecurity person, right, whoever it might be, and ask the questions, gain knowledge, right?

15:29 20% of my knowledge, someone else doesn't know, and 20% of their knowledge I don't know. And that's what it's about. Just educate yourself, reach out, ask the questions. A lot of these websites have chats. Ask the questions, of course, you know people are out there to sell, right? You know, you're in business, you want to have products, but that's not what it's about.

15:50 Well, for me anyway, Axe call, you'll get the answers that you need. I mean, small businesses need an infrastructure in New York where I am, I mean, there are state requirements that you have to be certified for certain fields and licences. So it's, you got to know the regulatory end of it. Cyber is so big today.

16:09 You've got to protect yourself and your clients, right? Because you can be sued. And you know, unfortunately, it's tough out there. It's rough out there. And these cyber criminals, they're becoming more and more prevalent, right? So. Exactly, let's talk about mindset and transformation. You have written your book and it is about mindset right?

16:34 Shifting your mindset into into one days of abundance. So what might achieved changed everything for you personally and professionally, Yeah. So I, I think the biggest shift was realising that I have the power to my own choices, right? And to create my own reality. I think that was the biggest thing, right? By letting go the fear and the negativity, understanding what made me who I am and allowing me to focus on growth and resilience and living authentically kind of helped me realise where I needed to go.

17:11 We've all that book is about identifying who you are as a person, right? And I had to unknown me and understand that I need to love myself first. I think first and foremost, if you don't love yourself, then you don't have direction, right? You got to love yourself. So I think that for me is what shifted understanding that.

17:35 Something I really appreciate about you is the fact that you're very big on faith. How does faith and mindfulness and abundance play together in the mix for success as a tech entrepreneur and as a mentor for you? Faith keeps you grounded, right? I'm going to say that again. Faith keeps you grounded. That's how it's done it for me, right? It keeps me grounded.

18:00 Mindfulness helps me stay focused right in the present and not in the past. And the abundance reminds me to approach each challenge with gratitude, right and possibilities. It's hard to approach the it's hard to stay grounded, be mindful, stay in the present and have that abundant mentality without that opportunity to be grateful and understand that you have possibilities every day, right? Together, I think they fuel my purpose and drive to build something meaningful.

18:35 And I think that's, you know, my next phase of my life is that's I want to build, you know, you have a business, but you want to build something meaningful that helps you. You know, my next phase is mentoring others, helping people along their way and giving back. So I think that's how, you know, my faith has played a role where I am today.

18:53 So what piece of advice would you give to somebody that is facing the fear of entrepreneurship? I'm stepping out. Alone. So I just wrote a book about this not so long ago, Overcoming your fear as an entrepreneur and solopreneur, right? And being a game changer. That's the name of it, right? Fear is natural, right? Let's just say that fear is natural for everybody, right? But you can't let it paralyse you, right? Start small as an entrepreneur.

19:23 Start small. Embrace learning and trust that every step forward, no matter how uncertain, is progress. I think that's the hardest thing. Somebody's stepping out. You've got to know that. Surround yourself with supportive people, right? People who are going to believe in your vision. I know a lot of big people say this, but it's so important.

19:46 Get rid of the naysayers. Cut them out. Cut them out of your life, right? You know, in my book, I hope you, I, I have this one question and I say, why do brilliant ideas die in silence of someday, right? Embrace being a game changer, right? What if the secret, right, just putting it out there. What if the secret to launching your dream was about more information, right?

20:12 Wasn't about information, but about confronting the hidden fears that you hold. That hold you captive inside, being honest with yourself, looking in that mirror. Fear is here. You put it in your mind. What you tell yourself is what you do. And it's that simple. It's that simple. And I think if people understood that, we'd see a change.

20:35 Just then reminds me of the acronym that I have of here False evidences appearing real. Beautiful, Beautiful. It's a great acronym, you know, I like it. I'm going to use it. It's. Going to. Use it. It's a great. I wish I would have thought of it. OK, we, we can both use it then we can, we can both use it. Well, I call you a champion of resilience, you know, But what's that personal moment where you have had to rise above chaos and keep going?

21:15 But rise above chaos, I'd say. When I transitioned to cybersecurity, right? I faced imposter syndrome big time. I'm telling you, I definitely had it. And it was a steep learning curve, you know, into a new industry, right? Instead of giving up, though, I leaned in. I leaned in hard. I found myself a mentor, right?

21:36 I sought mentorship. That really helped me understand that I am resilient. You know, it reminded me, it reminded myself that growth happens outside of when you're not comfortable right outside your comfort zones. That challenge became the foundation, I think for my success today because I just leaned in hard like it was tough, right? Cybersecurity is tough.

22:01 The industry is tough. It's, you know, women in cybersecurity. It's even that that more tougher. I mean, we've made great strides, but this is a long way to go. So I would say that's probably one of the hardest times or to transition in my life that I rose above. But you're actually admirably reason above the chaos, and not just for yourself. You are an inspiration to others across the globe. You are an inspiration to me, and you are highly appreciated. You're welcome.

22:37 You've been a leader. You know, both in corporate America and as a business owner, they are the most important leadership lessons you've learned. Of course, the two domains. You know leadership is about empathy, right? It's about empathy, adaptability, and leading by example. Those are the three things that I've always learned, right?

23:01 You're not above. Leave the title at the door and drop the ego, OK? In corporate America, I learned the importance of clear communication and decision making, right critical thinking. And as a business owner, I think I realised that empowering others, fostering trust and staying true to my vision are the key to build something impactful. I think that's probably where I would leave with that. I love the part we talk about leading by example, reminds me of something a leader I, I admire a lot from my time at Peter to say.

23:44 And interestingly, he, he was on this podcast sometime last year, told Ratulikey. You know, he, he keeps talking about what is important is not the example of your power or the power of your example. He's absolutely right. You're on. Show spot on with, you know, it aligns very much with you know what what you're saying.

24:10 What's really important is the power of your example. And yeah, 7 leaders are always the best leaders right from time immemorial. Jesus Christ, Prophet Muhammad, Mahatma Gandhi, name any great leader. What has always been powerful is the power of their example and their service to humanity. We'll talk about collaboration.

24:36 You know, what role has collaboration and community played in your growth? And how do you recommend leaders building intentional network? When I think about collaboration, right, collaboration and community have been instrumental in my journey that has, I mean the hands down, I think what kind of is important to me in the growth of it is mentorship or partnerships and shared knowledge have shaped my path. Like without that, I don't know if I would not have given up. I recommend leaders building intentional networks right today.

25:18 It's about being intentional, inviting in those again that are going to be authentic, offering you value and seeking A diverse perspective is important. It's so important because it gets you out of that comfort zone. It gets you thinking, it gets you engaged. It gives you more than just a relationship.

25:38 And that relationship needs to be rooted in trust and mutual growth, right, To create those opportunities for everyone involved. So I think for me, that's kind of what I would add there as far as collaboration, my community, community we're trying to build like one of my journeys is with my mentor is build a community for cybersecurity specialists, right, to learn and grow. Like we don't see much of that out there. So it's important to do that today. You mentioned earlier about how male terminated the cybersecurity space is.

26:15 There are women like yourself who are making strides. So what's your message to the young women out there who are trying to break into that space of cybersecurity? My first and foremost message is you belong here, right? You belong here. Don't let stereotypes or self doubt hold you back because that's in your mind, right?

26:41 Don't let the doubts fear you and your unique perspective is your strength. Always know that, right? Seek mentorship, stay curious. I think for me, never stop learning, right? Constantly learn. You know, the tech world needs more women. I I truly believe that who are ready to be innovative, lead and inspire the next generation, you know, but believe in yourself.

27:09 You got it. Follow what you have. That's what I was saying. I'll just say one more time, you belong here, you know. But you have beautiful career around protecting what matters the most, and that is data, people and purpose. So how do you see cybersecurity evolving over the next five years? You know, I think cybersecurity will become more proactive and AI driven with advancements and machine learning, right, enabling real time threat detection and response.

27:38 That's kind of what I say. I think the focus is going to ship shift towards predictive analytics, right? Automation, more zero trust or architects to counter increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. You're going to need it, right? The next element of that, it's going to be quantum computing, right?

27:55 I think that's going to play a pivotal role like both as a challenge, but as an opportunity. I was just at the cybersecurity Summit 2-3 weeks ago and then we're talking a lot about quantum, right? It's going to be driving the need for quantum resistant encryption while opening doors to faster and more efficient data processing, right? We see it today.

28:16 It's incredible, right? So I think that's what you're going to say, right? I think innovation and trends that excite me and a lot of it is the things that you can do today. The technology is so advanced that it's a game changer, right? You know, it's can automate anything. You can automate anything today.

28:41 Think about that where it took maybe 30 people to process filing your taxes, I don't know, right? You know, you press a button and it's done in seconds, right? So think about the revolution and the encryption, the data, you know, the transformation of that, right? The evolution of it all. You know, how we, how are we going to data? How are we going to resolve, I guess, you know, problem solve, you know, at an unprecedented scale? I think that's where it really is. You know, I think that's what excites me and what I'm going to see and evolve to, right?

29:14 I think that's tremendous actually. Yeah. The capacity of AI is really, really massive. We'll see what the future holds, you know, Speaking of what the future holds looking ahead, right? What do you think you want to achieve with your company in the foreseeable future? You know, every year as a company, he sits out and you say, OK, what's my strategy for next year, right?

29:40 That's, that's very important to do now where you want to go? So that question, it's one that I kind of contemplate very hard. But I think for Cardinals bites for the company, right? The focus on community education, you know, we're committed to giving back to the community by mentoring young women. And I think that's going to be my drive this year, right? Even more so than it was last year. And driving cybersecurity education, I think, you know, aiming to educate small businesses one at a time, one at a time, right, on proactive cybersecurity measures is another focus that I have for the future, you know, and then obviously engaging in podcasts like this, right, Putting it out, creating webinars, you

30:19 know, getting more information out. Yeah, getting the information out like, you know, on social media and leveraging and raising awareness is really kind of what I want to do. And sharing actual insights and then AI driven initiatives, right? We're developing AI powered programmes to enhance risk assessments by utilising the models that you know, in the frameworks of Nast, ISO 7 hundreds and the MITRE attack to identify those gaps. And the programme will automate compliance reviews and streamline those protocols, right, ensuring businesses remain aligned to regulatory compliance. So it's another focus that I have this year, But again, I think my biggest focus will be building cyber awareness through the communities, right?

31:02 And then my next book. Ha ha ha. Yeah, definitely. We can't wait for that. But we know you're a very busy woman and we have less than 5 minutes with you and we are gonna take you through 5 quick fire round questions. Are you ready to rumble? Hey, Sam. Just a quick. Just a quick answer number 11 mindset mantra that keep you going. This must be quick, right on your choices, embrace resilience and live with a purpose.

31:36 OK, that's cool #2 favourite cybersecurity myth you love to bust? Small businesses aren't just targeted cyber criminals love easy wins. I like that number. 3A book that changed your thinking, your mindset. Basically book. I want to say Atomic Habits by James Clear, right? It's all about. Small Tito, you're the 2nd guest. You're the 2nd guest measured in that book. Good book.

32:07 Whoa, it's a great book. Yep, it's about small changes, right? Creating big results. That's what it's about. Wow, that's great. 2nd guest in the span of I think a week or two #4 what's what's something you wish every small business owner knew about risk? I think for me it's probably ignoring cybersecurity risk that can question everything, right? Prevention is always cheaper than recovery, right? Be proactive, not reactive.

32:35 You don't want to be in that space. You don't want to. You don't want to turn on your computer and have a black screen or your websites go down and I'm going to just share it. I don't. It's supposed to be a quick round. I had a client of mine when known web host was attacked last year. 300 of his websites went down for four days.

32:55 He was four days of business. So think about it. Right, that sounds stressful. Stressful. Yeah. I'm sweating already if you're in that. Yeah. You know what the 5th and final one is? One word to describe your legacy in the making. I have a word on my mind. I I have a word but I don't know if that's the word I want to use.

33:23 I'm trying to describe it best I guess. Empowerment, right? One word would be empowerment. Empowerment. Know my word. What's your word? Impact. Impact. Nice. I'll take that one. It's a good word. Whoa. So you take my word away. Why not? It gets your word. Yeah, well, I'm going to disagree. Literally, literally, it's my word, I guess your word.

33:51 Wow, wow, wow. It's it's it's been quite a a great session today. I always love to see an attitude of gratitude is good attitude. And if someone shares their time with you means to sharing their life with you. So thank you very much for sharing your time and of course, your life with me and my audience.

34:11 Love and respect to you. Absolutely. We're from the other side of the point. Thank you very much. And of course, to the viewers, please, like, subscribe, share, you know, just make this the, the, this podcast go right to the faces, the eyes or the people that need to see it. And of course, I'll keep working tirelessly to bring in fantastic, tremendous, wonderful individuals like Michelle Novak. Because remember, Michelle Novak cannot go back. Love it, It's by Harvey.

34:48 Yeah.