Esther Ayorinde ─ Passionate about technology and transforming roadblocks into cutting edge victories...
September 30, 2021 • 3 Minute Read
Updated September 15, 2022
Esther Ayorinde
Founder
GrowthQ
Are you looking for a technology founder with proven innovative GTM expertise, dedicated to closing the wage and wellness gaps in technology sales? We know the person — Esther Ayorinde-Iyamu!
Esther Ayorinde-Iyamu is Founder of GrowthQ, the online talent matching platform for mentors, diverse interviewers-aaS, and tech sales talent. Prior to GrowthQ, she spent 16 years at Cisco as a Global Leader in Sales, Business Development, Emerging Markets, and Product Management. She is a world traveler, visiting 6 out of 7 continents. She proudly serves as a Board Member for the Silicon Valley Education Foundation focused on empowering underrepresented youth in STEM. She’s an early-stage investor, guest lecturer at Stanford and UC Berkeley, and was recently named on both the “Top 40 Under Forty Achievers” list by The Network Journal as well as Diversity Women Magazine’s Power 100.
Please meet this IT Wondrous Woman™, Esther Ayorinde-Iyamu!
Our 10 Questions for this IT Wondrous Woman.
Fun Facts
1. What’s the one thing about you that your business colleagues don’t know about you?
I am a retired athlete who spent 7 seasons dancing professionally in the NFL and NBA, 5 while working in tech. I represented the San Francisco 49ers, the Los Angeles Clippers, and lastly the New York Jets where I was named the first ever black Dance Captain (Group Leader) in NY Jets history in 2013.
2. Before the pandemic, how many air miles/KMs did you flying annually?
About 450,000 miles annually.
3. What is the most adventurous food you have eaten and what city/location did you eat it?
Whale in Iceland.
Your Career
4. What are the top two experiences, achievements or failures that shaped your journey as a successful leader?
Best Experience: Having a pregnant woman as my manager when I was a first line manager. Watching her balance being an executive, advocating for others in her organization, AND bringing life into the world truly invigorated my sense of purpose.
Greatest Failure: As a multipassonate business athlete, I’ve had various roles: from landlord, to board member, to Senior Leader of a global organization, to dance coach. In every role, my greatest failure was ever assuming the skills that made me successful in one role would be the same skills that would make me successful in any new role.
5. Did you have a mentor in the early part of your career and, if so, what is the biggest lesson you learned from your mentor or influencer?
A great influencer for me was Carla Harris, and in her book “Expect to Win” she outlines the difference between a mentor, coach, and a sponsor which when confused can be damaging but when understood can act as GPS systems to your career journey.
Walking In Your Shoes
6. What is one piece of business or career advice you would give to your younger self?
Remember Patrick Lencioni’s “5 Temptations of a CEO”, especially #2: Choosing being “liked” vs “being respected”. Work to earn respect with constructive feedback and accountability. They won’t like you anyway if working with or for you means they will fail.
7. As a leader, how do you remain a resource for people early in their careers?
I passionately spend 10-20% of my time mentoring, volunteering, sharing my learnings, and serving on boards focused on opening doors for underrepresented groups to advance in the technology industry. Representation matters, so as a Woman of Color and “millennial” Business Leader, I work hard to sit in business decision-making seats at any table in order to afford me the platform to open doors for others.
Today’s Business Environment
8. What is the most interesting project you have worked on in the last few years?
Being asked to take on a six-month assignment to build our company’s Growth Strategy for Africa changed my perspective personally and professionally. Along with a small cross functional team, the research and subsequent deliverables not only motivated the company to launch a security software product in-market, which otherwise would have disregarded the continent’s SaaS potential, driving over 160% growth with that offer in 2 Qtrs. Personally, this ignited a focus on business development on the continent and further unifying the African Diaspora globally.
9. What skills are you currently developing or refining (in yourself) that will make you a more successful leader in the digital economy?
Being a better listener, both to my own authentic, intuitive voice as well as others; Reprogramming my subconscious mind; and clear communication and honoring the balance between “quality” vs “speed to market”. Waiting that extra hour or day can make a huge difference.
10. What is your greatest business challenge today?
I strongly believe the US healthcare system is a data science problem waiting to be disrupted by technology. Health tech innovators like Lumen, Oura Ring, MyFitnessPal, and Vessel will leverage smart consumers to force some exciting disruption in this industry, putting preventative healthcare back in the control of the average American.
