For Toni Yates, trying new things always excited her. Whenever a new opportunity came her way, she’d roll with the punches and was never afraid to learn.
But when she found herself working at Duffy’s in Kendall as a bartender for a few years, she was ready for a new challenge.
“Working at Duffy’s was great, it was fun, but it wasn’t financially wise. I lived with my mom at the time and only paid minimal bills. But I always wanted to do more with my life,” Yates said. “When COVID hit and all the restaurants shut down for a few months, I thought it was the perfect time for me to go back to school.”
When she began looking for a new career to focus on, Yates noticed she always gravitated toward cyber security – she’d click on every cyber security bootcamp advertisement she came across online, and was curious to learn more.
“I saw that there were so many things that I could do with cybersecurity. During COVID, I saw there was a massive tech boom – companies were now having to get tech-enabled and account for new remote workers, and there were endless scams going around that companies had to combat,” Yates said. “It was a whole other world I didn’t even know existed. It didn’t take long for me to say to myself, ‘alright, I’m going to go to school for cybersecurity.’”
When weighing her different options, Yates decided to go for the network security associate’s program at Miami Dade College. She thought it was the perfect, affordable, and local option to learn and not rack up major student loans.
“It went really well. When I first tried going to college right after high school, it was a disaster, which is why I was bartending in the first place,” Yates said. “But coming in now, I had a different motivation to change my life and do something that I know I’d be capable of, and proud of.”
Upon graduation with her associates in network security, she landed a few jobs – one being at KioSoft, a payment technology company in South Florida.
“I flourished in that job,” Yates said. “I started as an entry-level tech support. And two years after working there, I moved up from Tech Support 1 to Tier 3, then ultimately into a supervisor role.”
And, during those two years, Yates decided to go back to Miami Dade College and earn her bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity, which she earned in 2023.
“My previous employers really valued the effort I put into improving myself, and valued what I was bringing to the team,” Yates said. “That job was what opened the door for me to able to join MasterCard.”
Now, working in MasterCard’s customer success team, Yates credits the people she met at Miami Dade College who pushed her to be her best self. Not only did Miami Dade College help Yates find her footing in cybersecurity, they also helped with connecting her to different internship opportunities, with the support of Miami Tech Works’ Miami Tech Talent Coalition, a collaboration of employers, academia, and community organizations creating new tech pathways for residents and students. Miami Tech Works is funded with a $10 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
“Miami Dade College did a really great job of explaining that there’s more to the field of cybersecurity than just coding or the super heavy technical side,” Yates said. “I knew that I loved having these high-level technical conversations – I like speaking about technology and staying up-to-date and learning about it. And, I’m a people person. I think cybersecurity really gave me the opportunity because it’s such a large field, with so many different things that you can do – it felt really organic.”
Finally, in August, she found her next big career move as a senior specialist in customer success at MasterCard, onboarding demos for their third-party risk management platform. And at the same time, she’s earning her Master’s in Cybersecurity Management at the University of West Florida, with only one class remaining.
“I’m most excited about learning different things and gaining new skills,” Yates said. “There’s a confidence that comes with a certain level of competency and being in a certain room with people that maybe, five or ten years ago, I couldn’t even imagine having a conversation with.”
When asked to share advice for others who are looking to change their career trajectories, Yates says persistence is key to success.
“I would tell anyone the same thing that I’d tell my younger self – have some persistence and grit,” Yates said. “Sometimes, you don’t get the answer, the job, or the admissions letter you wanted. But time will pass anywhere, right? If you are spending two or three years improving yourself and trying and believing in yourself, a few years down the line, you’ll get what you worked for.”
READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:
- MDC students team up with startups to solve real-world challenges through Miami Tech Works and U.S. Chamber’s EPIC program
- Miami Tech Works puts focus on work-based learning to build talent pipeline
- Miami Dade College leads global accessibility conversation at Ability Innovations Workshop
- How a local company is building connections and talent with help from Miami Tech Works, BrainStation and MDC
- The future of tech came together at Miami Dade College’s first AI Student Showcase, with talent shining all night
- And much more Miami Tech Talent Coalition news here.
Refresh Miami is a proud partner of Miami Tech Works
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