Corey White Of Cyvatar On How to Go Beyond Your Comfort Zone to Grow Both Personally and Professionally
An Interview With Maria Angelova
You have to fail at it without a backup, because it forces you to find a solution. If you don’t have a plan B and if there is nothing to go back to, you are more likely to continue to go forward. You’ll have to keep going and get it done. Failing is a way to get it done. You have to keep going until you get it right. When you nail it, then you will be hugely successful.
It feels most comfortable to stick with what we are familiar with. But anyone who has achieved great success will tell you that true growth comes from pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. What are some ways that influential people have pushed themselves out of their comfort zone to grow both personally and professionally? As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Corey White.
Corey is a proven entrepreneur focused on innovating and creating new paradigms in the security industry and life. His leadership style is focused on an employee first approach because of the positive impact of happy employees to their customer relationships. Corey has chosen to take a people-centric approach to life and to let all outcomes be driven by that philosophy.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
Of course — thank you, Maria. Bringing it back to my childhood… I grew up in Louisiana. Growing up, my Dad always had at least two jobs. 1- he ran his own construction company, and 2 — during the day, he was a high school teacher. Because he had his own construction company, that meant my brother and I worked construction while the other kids were outside playing. Being kids, we obviously hated it, and wanted to go play like everyone else.
I never understood why my dad made us work so much, until I because an adult. What he built was a work ethic that served me well throughout my career. It instilled in me my ability to figure things out and build something from nothing. In construction, we were remodeling older homes not built to spec. It certainly wasn’t a perfect construction scenario, and we were forced to figure things out along the way. So, I have the mindset that whatever is thrown at me, I will eventually figure it out. So, I am not afraid of adversity. I truly believe I can figure things out and I thank my Dad for that.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I love this question, and depending on the day, my answer will always be different. Right now it’s from Nelson Mandela, “Everything’s impossible until someone does it.” The type of business we built in cybersecurity has never been built before but it is absolutely what cybersecurity needed. We did what was impossible and has never been done before. Many people said we couldn’t actually do it, but here it is — we did it.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
I have a long list of books that have impacted me but the one that stands out the most is Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World by Peter H. Diamandis.
Before I started this business, this book inspired me to take a leap of faith further beyond what I was originally thinking. It helped me not just change the cybersecurity industry but leverage my expertise to change the world and change how cybersecurity can help change the world. Once I read it, I could not go back. I was forced to go big, create wealth and impact the world.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Let’s start with a basic definition so that all of us are on the same page. What does “getting outside of your comfort zone” mean?
Sure, so I was inspired about 15 years ago when I heard a quote from Dr. Joe Dispenza. He said that the average person stops growing new synaptic pathways at the age of 35 because they typically stop doing new things. When I heard that, I was roughly about that age, and I was like “oh my God my brain’s going to stop growing!” It blew my mind. I was like, “okay, I have to do different stuff, I have to keep challenging myself because I don’t want to be that way.” We’ve all seen that older person stuck in their ways and they don’t do anything different. I didn’t want to become that person. So since then, I’ve always forced myself to challenge the world, do things, different jobs, and just do things differently.
Can you help articulate a few reasons why it is important to get out of your comfort zone?
If you don’t get out of your comfort zone, I truly believe you literally started dying. And I don’t want to die.
I think the purpose of life is to get better. As we get older, we learn and we grow so we get better physically, emotionally, mentally, etc. It’s all about growth. That’s why I’m so focused on this mindset.
Is it possible to grow without leaving your comfort zone? Can you explain what you mean?
I think it’s absolutely impossible to grow without leaving your comfort zone. All over the world people are taught that we are supposed to have this easy life. You grow up, you go to college, get a degree, get a good job, and then you live this happy, wonderful life. That’s not actually why we’re here; we are here to grow. We are here to expand. We’re here to get better. And so, if you look at it from that perspective, the adversity, the challenges you run into, THOSE are the things that make you better. As you take each step, as you go through every challenge, you get better.
Can you share some anecdotes from your personal experience? Can you share a story about a time when you stepped out of your comfort zone and how it helped you grow? How does it feel to take those first difficult steps?
For me, I’ve lived an entire life of stepping out of my comfort zone. I tend not to blend in, I’m not comfortable blending in. So, I’m always in an uncomfortable spot because I’m not blending into whatever professional situation I’m in. It’s a continuous cycle of being uncomfortable, but I’ve gotten comfortable being uncomfortable. So, this is just the state of mind I’m always in.
Here is the central question of our discussion. What are your “five ways to push past your comfort zone, to grow both personally and professionally”?
Here are the 5 ways to get out of your comfort zone:
Number 1: I totally believe you have to know yourself. You cannot get out of your comfort zone if you don’t know who you are. For me, I’m a visionary and I love building and creating new things. I know I’m good at that but maybe not as great as implementing the details. So, I have people around me to do the implementation of the details. I know where my strength is and that’s where I play, and I have complimentary people to do the rest and we all do it together as a team. So, if you don’t know who you are, then you don’t know what role you play and how it relates to getting out of your comfort zone.
Number 2: The second piece is you have to continuously learn. You have to learn something new. The world evolves every 6 to 12 months with new AI based tools and new solutions. So if you’re not learning something new and you’re stuck in the mindset of 5 or 10 years ago, your knowledge levels are obsolete. You have to continually read, learn, educate yourself, learn something new so you can apply it and be a part of the new world that is continuing to evolve, because again, that ties to knowing yourself.
Number 3: The third step I’ve taken from Steve Harvey; you have to jump. There are so many people who are afraid of taking that first step and taking that jump, taking that leap of faith, because you don’t know where you’re going to actually land. But you won’t ever get anything accomplished unless you actually jump.
Number 4: The fourth step is you have to fail at it without a backup, because it forces you to find a solution. If you don’t have a plan B and if there is nothing to go back to, you are more likely to continue to go forward. You’ll have to keep going and get it done. Failing is a way to get it done. You have to keep going until you get it right. When you nail it, then you will be hugely successful.
Number 5: The last piece ties into the previous but you have to understand that failing is your path to success. You fail to succeed. Think about anybody who is really successful. Take Michael Jordan: see how many times he failed, but he’s the greatest basketball player of all time. Take Tom Brady: he had to fail, he had to throw interceptions. He had multiple injuries. But he ultimately succeeded. A lot of people hit that failure and they think it’s over. No, it’s just a process. Failure is a process to success.
From your experience or perspective, what are some of the common barriers that keep someone from pushing out of their comfort zone?
I think it’s a few things.
Number 1: If you’ve got a backup plan or if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, and you’re like “okay, if this doesn’t work out, I got this,” well, you’re never going to put in all your effort.
Number 2: You actually have to enjoy what you’re doing. If you have a job just to have a job, then you’re not going to be passionate about it. What I encourage people to do is figure out what they’re passionate about and work doing that thing. It should bring you joy.
There is a well-known quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt that says, “Do something that scares you every day”. What exactly does this mean to you? Is there inherent value in doing something that pushes you out of your comfort zone, even if it does not relate to personal or professional growth? For example, if one is uncomfortable about walking alone at night should they purposely push themselves to do it often for the sake of going beyond their comfort zone? Can you please explain what you mean?
For me, being a startup founder, I’m afraid every single day. And so that fear is what motivates me. I can lay here and be afraid, or I can get up and work my butt off and make a difference. Obviously, I choose the ladder.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I’m doing it now. I am one of the very few black founders in cybersecurity. That motivates me because I want every young black kid to see me and know that it’s possible… To see that there is a cybersecurity founder that is black and is successful and has influenced and changed the world. I want to make sure people know I’m out here and I’m helping people along the way. If there’s an opportunity for me to help someone, to help make their life better, to influence them, share some of the wisdom I’ve gone through, I’m right there doing it.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Robert Smith. I love his philosophy in business, which is to reverse engineering processes, make them more efficient, and then build a business around it. In cybersecurity we’ve figured out the whole process and automated in a one stop shop. His book inspired me to go harder and make sure we’ve taken all the hard steps out and allow the SMBs to actually have enterprise grade cybersecurity.
How can our readers follow you online?
They can find us on all the socials (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube), on G2, and our website!
https://www.facebook.com/CYVATAR
https://www.instagram.com/cyvatar.ai/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyvatar-ai/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu9QAWsnGSh2W-GX-g0vuDg
https://www.tiktok.com/@cyvatar.ai
https://www.g2.com/products/cyvatar-ai/
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
Corey White Of Cyvatar On How to Go Beyond Your Comfort Zone to Grow Both Personally and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.