From working on cattle stations to global cyber security organisations, Darumbal man Robert Carloff's career has taken flight in the United States of America.
As a cyber-security expert, Mr Carloff has worked with many organisations including several Australian universities, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Citi Bank, and American International Group (AIG) including several White House initiatives.
Born in Cowra, the self-proclaimed country boy spent his childhood on a small farm near Young in New South Wales, before moving to the Australian Capital Territory as a teenager.
He spent his formative school years immersed in sport, unsure what he wanted to do career wise.
After finished school in 1998 Mr Carloff worked at a station near Mogo in New South Wales.
He shared fond memories of mustering up cattle whilst surrounded by river and creek beds and swimming on a hot summer's day.
"We'd jump off the horses or motorbikes and you know, just hit that refreshing fresh water. You couldn't beat it," he said.
"I was making approximately $200 a week, the lifestyle was amazing but everyone was talking about information technology, there were all these stories of people making a lot of money. Everyone was talking about it."
Mr Carloff said he remembers walking into an employment agency, and was asked what he wanted to do, to which he responded, "IT seems to be pretty cool at the moment".
He sat a computer test and typed only 28 words per minute with 50 per cent accuracy.
"I was like, wow, that's great!" he laughed.
Mr Carloff was then placed in an entry level role where the majority of his time was spent physically moving IT equipment.
"I was just a paid labourer to move computers around, but I slowly moved up the ranks," he said.
"I provided the hardware changes, replaced motherboards, memory chips, CPUs, monitors and such. And before long I was that level two services desk guy, the ones that do a lot of software installs, troubleshooting. Around 2004, I was like, okay, this is fun but I feel like I'm really stuck at this level without university education. So I joined the University of Canberra in 2005 as a mature student aged 25."
Mr Carloff first started studying "pure information technology" before realising that this was not the right area for him.
"I couldn't really understand it. It was all about programming, programming languages. You know what, it took me three times to fail that one unit to know it wasn't for me," he said.
"I moved into doing a Masters of Business Informatics, and the simplest form of that is taking business and technology just to make your business better.
"Similar to an arts degree, it touches on a whole conglomerate of units but it didn't specialise in one. Realistically, we were looking at how we can use technology to make business better."
Mr Carloff said that in 2012 there were only two universities that offered cyber studies in their curriculum, the University of News South Wales Australian Defense Force Academy and Macquarie University.
"I ended up going to Macquarie - it was less technical - I did a Master's in Policing, Intelligence and Counterterrorism, specialising in Cybersecurity. And that obviously really helped with my government work as well."
Mr Carloff said that during this study period, he was also experiencing a marital separation and was required to juggle full time work, single father duties, and his academic commitments.
"We'd share custody which meant week on week off, right. So when I had my daughter, it was all about family, making sure that, you know, the dinners, breakfasts, the lunches etc were ready, clean clothes for kindergarten... And, when I didn't have my daughter the following week, that's when I'd be at the library until 12:30 am. At night, you know, making sure that you're doing your research, writing your reports and everything the university demands of you.
"So the journey, it was a rough journey, but it's something that no one can take it away from you. I accomplished it."
Venturing on from studies to the workforce, Mr Carloff worked for the government where he "hit a glass ceiling where they weren't very quick at adopting the new technologies".
"I end up working with Citi Bank in Sydney for a couple of years."
Mr Carloff was an integral part of Citi Bank's Cyber Intelligence Centre, he said: "We were looking at cyber threats from around the globe, reverse engineering malware and extracting indicators of compromise and adding those to our perimeter devices."
His career seemed to take a big jump when an industry connection offered a role with American International Group (AIG).
He packed up his life in Canberra/Sydney and ventured to the United States of America.
Now in his seventh year residing in Reston, Virginia, Mr Carloff works at a satellite office for the organisation whilst bootstrapping his own Cyber News Live business after hours.
"They've been a great company. They've allowed me to expand my knowledge and work on my tradecraft."
He shared that life in the United States in the area that he lives and works is dominated by IT tech specialists and highly famous people.
"It's a surreal feeling. Especially coming from a small country town and starting my IT career by physically moving a computer from one desk to another.
"You're approximately 30 minutes to Washington DC, on a good day. Now, Washington, DC, if you haven't been here, it's also a designed city, very similar to Canberra. I feel like home."
Mr Carloff describes being 15 minutes to an international airport as a positive aspect "because I really love to travel and experience new and different cultures and foods. So many countries are within hop leap and a jump".
"I can be in the Caribbean this Thursday, relaxing, drinking a cocktail and listening to reggae music," he said.
On returning to his motherland one day, Mr Carloff referred to high level security strategies in the United States and said: "I'd love to get back to Australia. I feel Australia's... and I can say this, is 10 years behind."
On tips for succeeding as a working parent pursuing studies, upskilling or changing career course he said: "I made the sacrifices of, you know, removing myself from, the comforts of my house, I'd be in the University of Canberra library, or I'd be going into the National Library of Australia."
"Honestly, you just can't beat the National Library. It's an amazing building. And, you know, it motivates you. And you've got to use those little things that motivate you, when you study it can be a lonely journey. Just keep up the momentum. But it's also knowing the big picture, you have to be accountable to yourself."
"Make sure that you're organised, your calendars are up to date, prioritise your workload and commitments, and consider what your top three priorities are.
"You hear a lot of people say, hey, write down your goals daily. And if you write down your goals, do you end up repeating and accomplishing your goals."
Reflecting on his time in the United States, Mr Carloff said: "The people I met in my first week of arriving in the United States are still some of my closest friends today."
"Through those friendships it has allowed me to access various circles. I still go out to the countryside camping, fishing and hunting. I enjoy visiting wineries and breweries. All these activities can be a lot of fun. But I love to jump on my motorcycle, having a motorcycle in the United States of America. I know this might be a cliche, but that's liberty and freedom. It takes my mind off things."
Mr Carloff is currently writing a children's book called Cyber News for Children which is being designed to educate children on Cybersafety.
