The 2020 Rinsing Stars of the Profession: Nick Britton

Nick Britton started with Protiviti immediately after graduating from Baylor with a degree in Information Systems. "I realized quickly during the recruiting and interview process that consulting was a better fit for me than the other opportunities that exist for IS majors," Britton says. "Although I have always had a strong desire to be deeply technical, I also wanted to understand how companies operate and help solve high level, complex organization-level issues. I saw consulting as an avenue to meet those needs and am thankful that I chose the path that I did."

Today Britton is an Associate Director with Protiviti and counts the development of the firm's Attack & Penetration Testing team in the Dallas market among his proudest accomplishments, helping clients proactively identify security issues by targeting and attacking their systems in the same way that hackers do.

"I was given the opportunity to expand on Protiviti's existing global capabilities in the Attack & Penetration Testing space starting in 2015 and, with tremendous support from my local leadership team, have been able to build a strong team and a loyal client base that understands and appreciates the value we provide," he says. "Seeing the team grow and helping clients identify and remediate very complex security issues has been incredibly fulfilling."

Ask him what excites him most about a career in technology and he'll point to the seemingly endless opportunities for growth and innovation. "I feel lucky to be leading a specialized team of security consultants during a period of such drastic innovation and change in the world," Britton says. "I am also fortunate to be with a firm that has so quickly embraced the mindset of innovation and has allowed me the latitude to research and adopt new technologies to meet changing market demands. I am genuinely excited about the work that we do and am constantly amazed at the things we are able to accomplish."

And those accomplishments have led directly to Britton being named one of Consulting's Rising Stars as he just enters his thirties. "I am humbled to have even been considered for this award," Britton says. "In additional to highlighting and validating my personal growth over the last near-decade at Protiviti, this award is a great recognition of what my team has been able to accomplish in security and privacy consulting and the amount of opportunity that lies ahead for our practice."

Q&A:  What's been the biggest factor to your success so far?

Britton: "Protiviti has heavily invested in me as an individual throughout my career.  Between trainings, certifications, security conferences, and unique project opportunities, I have always had a strong feeling of "moving forward" in my career and have never felt stagnant. I have also had several very influential mentors at Protiviti that have helped guide my career growth—without these people helping to guide my career, I would not have achieved any of what I have today."