Level Up

Level Up is a short talk on how giving time and knowledge to the security community can shape a career. The speaker traces her own path, starting with a temporary receptionist job and a fundraiser for a family after a tragic workers' compensation case. It moves through HR, recruiting, and volunteer work that eventually led to running a car hacking village and speaking at events. Each unpaid role built skills in problem solving, coordination, and relationship building that a formal job had not provided.

The talk also draws on interviews with several well-known community members, who described giving as a natural habit rather than a tactic. Recurring themes include acting authentically, starting now instead of waiting for permission, and treating each conference as a chance to help someone, whether by answering a call for papers or offering a hand to a tired volunteer. Rejected talk submissions are presented as some of the most useful feedback a speaker can receive.

The closing message is that reputation is built from how you treat others, and that a useful network is measured by quality rather than quantity. Attendees are encouraged to notice where help is needed, share what they know, and ask for help when they need it. Several of the speaker's later jobs began with a text message from someone she had met at a conference.