Detroit-born, San Diego-based since 2021.
I’m a cybersecurity professional with a passion for team building and safeguarding critical assets. Over a decade of cybersecurity experience, including leadership roles at prominent organizations such as General Electric, Dynatrace, and General Motors.
I run a cybersecurity consulting company called We Help You Secure with a proven track record in building and leading high-performance security projects, developing cutting-edge security tools, orchestrating penetration testing, and executing covert red team exercises.
I also run a nonprofit called Build Skill Foundation where our mission is to empower individuals with the knowledge and resources they need to excel in technical fields.
About Xavier D. Johnson
Q: Please tell us a little bit about your family.
I come from a very loving and supportive family. They are largely responsible for my success in many ways.
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. What do you love most about what you do?
In the past, I was a bottle counter and pizza boy. I started my first company, which was a skateboarding company, in 2004 as a teen. Through many years of dedicating myself to my technical craft, I was able to start my first tech startup company in 2010. Since then I have had multiple exits and looking forward to many more. What I love most about what I do is the constant impact I get to bring to the world through the challenges of my customers. Working as a security researcher I’m up against the most secure and notable systems in the world and 100% of the time we hack them and deliver findings, keeping the world safer one system at a time.
Q: What advice would you give to people?
Find people that are where you want to be in life and model your approach to success after them, you don’t have to copy 100%, but having a sense of where to start and what to do next can be comforting.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
In the next decade I will be responsible for increasing the tax bases in all of the markets we will hire in. My plan involves training the masses and helping them interact with secure systems. I’ll be running the We Help You Secure and Build Skill Foundation, providing a pathway to skilled certification, and providing opportunities for people to help secure systems.
Xavier D. Johnson & Our Community
Q: What are a few of your favorite restaurants in our community?
Myst, 3n1, Breakfast Republic, Tacos El Gordo, Javiers, LaValencia, The Marine Room
Q: How long have you lived or worked in our community?
2.5 years, Since May of 2021
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?
Terry “Mr. Black San Diego” Spears
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
I love the 70 miles of beach and the different vibes each beach brings.
Q: If you could choose anyone alive today and not a relative, with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would you meet for this lunch?
Steve Woz, co-founder of Apple. He is a piece of computing history and we are aligned in our ethos of training and providing affordable training. I would meet him at 3n1 and hope to enjoy a cigar with him.
For Fun
Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
Hackers (1995) and Suits
Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
I don’t know how to swim but I walked on the bottom of a bay in St. Marteen as fishes swam by.
Q: Who inspires you to be better?
My entire tribe! Everyone that’s ever supported me, makes me feel worthy and inspires me to attain greatness.
Q: What community organizations and/or local nonprofits do you admire/support?
Black Panthers. They have been instrumental in helping black people survive in a time we may not have without them.
Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Dream Big; dreams cost nothing.
Q: What Neighborhood do you live in?
East Village
What I love about my Neighborhood:
It’s a mixture of street life and high life. It’s close to the freeway and has great food.
Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend:
Walking the boardwalk at Pacific Beach and Mission Beach. Going to 3n1 to have a good cigar. Finally going to Del Frisco for good salted butter bread, great wine, and the trio dinner (don’t forget the butter cake!).
Q: Finally, what three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
Motown, Hockeytown, America’s greatest comeback story
