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THE RICH CELENZA SHOW


Jun 7, 2020

RICH CELENZA and DEAN POMPILIO have known each other since 1999. They worked together on websites, films, and a clothing line named SoreLoser Wear. They discuss how they both worked on many different endeavors over the last decade. Dean founded his own cybersecurity company, SteppingStone Solutions, in 2000. He also produced and starred in a short film called Magnetic. He has been traveling all over the world teaching people about cybersecurity.

Dean starts off talking about how he is known as an international cybersecurity expert. Dean has been in the IT field since 1989 and started getting involved with cybersecurity in 1996. Dean realized that cybersecurity was going to the wave of the future and he has had the privilege to work for Federal government agencies and several international organizations. Even though Dean loved what he was doing, he started to feel burned out providing production support. He decided it was time to start teaching others what he knew.

Soon after, Dean quit his job to begin teaching. It was the best decision he ever made. Dean teaches cybersecurity mostly to government employees and the military, including the National Guard, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard. In addition to teaching, Dean also performs penetration testing and IT consulting.

Dean explains how important it is for people to protect themselves and their personal information online. Dean discusses how relatively inexpensive it is to protect your personal information. Rich thinks that no matter how much people try to regulate the Internet, it is still like the wild West… where no one has much control over what the laws and regulations truly are.

Dean talks about moving from Maryland to Tennessee and how much he loves not living in a city environment. Dean talks about how he is learning how to hunt with a gun and crossbow. He describes how he was brewing his own beer for long stretches at a time, but he’s thinking of creating his own moonshine and hard cider soon. We agree that we always felt like living a different lifestyle, even though both of us were born and raised in Chicago.

We discuss working on films in our past. Rich learns that Dean has been slowly writing a Techno Thriller screenplay, which he hopes to produce soon. Dean also talks about the short horror film he wrote and produced, called Magnetic. The film is based on true paranormal events Dean experienced while living in Richmond, Virginia. Rich tells Dean that he learned so much about what to do, and what not to do when partnering up with someone on certain projects. Rich was always very grateful for everything Dean did for him, but somewhere along the way he became very self-centered and selfish.

After Rich took a hard look at his behavior, he realized he needed to treat others with the same respect he was receiving. Rich talks about when they were working on some projects, he failed at raising funding for a slate of films. Rich explains how this really took a toll on him.

They wrap up with Dean talking about playing bass guitar and singing in karaoke bars during his world travels. Rich talks about how he likes to hang out at comedy clubs from time to time. The two plan on coming back to do another podcast regarding their current projects. You can find Dean on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanpompilio/ He is also on Twitter @DeanPompilio Dean J. Pompilio President 301-442-4352