Me
My name is Travis Lishok, and I’m a security practitioner who loves to learn.
Born and raised in Orange County, CA. I previously started a blog called EP Nexus back in 2015, but I later realized that the focus of that blog was wayyy too narrow.
Why this site…
After 10 years in the security industry, I realized how little I really know about all the sub-fields of security…and how little the “experts” in our field actually know when it comes to broad security issues.
This inspired me to start this new podcast + blog. My goal is to educate security practitioners (myself included) about the range of security sub-fields and roles across the security risk management spectrum, how our fellow practitioners in these unique roles are protecting life and assets, and how we can become well-rounded practitioners to better uphold our responsibility to protect all the things.
Where I’m coming from
My career / education / life experiences look like this (in this order):
- Birth
- Get average grades in school for 12 years
- Join USMC Reserve as an MP
- Get a poli sci degree and an EMT license
- Work graveyard shift as a security guard at Disneyland
- Work in corporate executive protection
- Go to a bunch of EP and OSINT courses and read tons of books
- Start a blog
- Work for a private investigative firm
- Work for a security technology startup (investigations, GRC, SaaS, etc.)
- Finish my applied psych MS program
- Finally earn my blue belt in BJJ (but still don’t know anything)
- Kill old blog and start this one w/ podcast
- …Currently doing physical security consulting
Interests and activities
I love learning (if I haven’t already mentioned that).
Topics of interest include psychology, all things security, human-computer interaction, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and stoic / existential philosophy. (Send me book recommendations so I can be less ignorant)
Also, getting outside and doing things that are difficult is a passion too. Running, hiking, lifting, etc.
Current project: studying for the PMP.
Life view
Instead of boring you, I’ll just leave a few quotes that interest me:
“It is for this reason that every good example is a fateful challenge, and every hero, a judge. Michelangelo’s great perfect marble David cries out to its observer: ‘You could be more than you are.’ When you dare aspire upward, you reveal the inadequacy of the present and the promise of a future.” — Jordan Peterson, “12 Rules for Life”
“If you’re a saint living in a world full of murderers, it’s not going to work out well for you.”
— John Danaher, 6th degree black belt under Renzo Gracie
“Yet had he not gone a hundred steps, when there stole a man up to him and whispered in his ear! He that spake was the buffoon from the tower. ‘Leave this town, O Zarathustra,’ said he, ‘there are too many here who hate thee. The good and just hate thee, and call thee their enemy and despiser; the believers in the orthodox belief hate thee, and call thee a danger to the multitude. It was thy good fortune to be laughed at; and verily thou spakest like a buffoon. It was thy good fortune to associate with the dead dog; by so humiliating thyself thou hast saved thy life today. Depart, however, from this town, or tomorrow I shall jump over thee, a living man over a dead one.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche, “Thus Spake Zarathustra”
Reaching out
I’d love to hear from you whether you find this podcast + blog useful, whether you think it sucks (and how to improve it), recommendations for guests / topics, or just to say hello. Reach out to me on LinkedIn, the “contact” form, or my email / phone if you’ve got it.