IT Wondrous Women™ recaps CQ3:22’s nine trailblazing leaders...
October 3, 2022 • 5 Minute Read
With CQ3:22 closed, we look back at the nine trailblazing, innovative, and powerhouse leaders we spotlighted in our IT Wondrous Women™ blog series. These leaders are located in Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We have compiled highlights from their spotlights of what drives them to redefine success and lead the way in a consumption era. The nine CQ3:22 IT Wondrous Women Participants are:
Joanne Montz, Senior Global Sales Enablement Manager, Telco and Edge Cloud Business Unit, VMware (USA)
Kristine Stewart, Partner Strategy & Success Thought Leader (USA)
Mari Galloway, Chief Executive Officer, Cyberjutsu (USA)
Mattie Gullixson, Senior Cyber Analyst Supervisor, Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (USA)
Michala Hart, Director, BT Security, BT (United Kingdom)
Michelle Ayyuce, Marketing Manager - Service Provider Australia and New Zealand, Cisco (Australia)
Mrinalini Lakshminaryanan, Global Executive Director, Digital Operations and Industry Solutions, Ingram Micro (USA)
Quintana Patterson, IT Clinical and Compliance Manager, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (USA)
Susan Follis, Managing Director, Kyndryl ASEAN and APAC/MEA Growth Unit, Kyndryl (Singapore)
Below is a recap of their responses to our ten questions that all ITWW participants answer. These powerhouse leaders offer a mix of humor, pragmatism, and savvy advice! Enjoy!
A look back at CQ3:22's nine trailblazing, innovative, and powerhouse leaders featured in our IT Wondrous Women™ blog series located in four countries.
Fun Facts
1. What’s the one thing about you that your business colleagues don’t know about you?
This is an outstanding group of women with many talents. Some of the things their business colleagues don’t know about them include:
Sailed competitively, part time shepherdess, published a kids book, owns and runs a small batch caramel business with her son, trained to be an actress.
2. Before the pandemic, how many air miles/KMs did you fly annually?
Most of these women are hardcore road warriors. They average over 25k flight miles (40.2k KM) annually. The highest was 200k miles (322k KM); the lowest was less than 10k (16k KM). Collectively, these road warriors fly over 230k miles (370k KM) annually.
3. What is the most adventurous food you have eaten, and what city/location did you eat it?
These Wondrous Women demonstrate their bravery and enjoyment for local delicacies through their adventurous tastes. Some unusual delicacies of note include Cockscomb (Australia), guinea pig (Bolivia), cod tongue (Canada), pig eyes (China), and alligator (USA).
Their Careers
4. What are the top two experiences, achievements, or failures that shaped your journey as a successful leader?
A couple of our favorite experiences, achievements, or failures shared include:
“A very tough experience for me was learning when to walk away from something; it took a few hard knocks before I learned the art of stepping back, reassessing and being willing to pivot versus ploughing on.” [Michala Hart (BT, United Kingdom)]
“Failure – I once made a serious hiring mistake that negatively impacted the work my team and I were trying to accomplish, and affected the morale. That failure taught me the critical importance of culture in a team, and how much it influences the kind of work you produce.” [Mattie Gullixson (Colorado Information Analysis Center, Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, USA)]
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?
Nearly every woman had one or more formal or informal mentors who have helped them along the way. Here’s a glimpse at what was said about them:
“Sharon McGee-Canady. As a Black woman in the IT industry, she was the director of the IT teams at the college I attended. Just seeing her in that role, the knowledge she had about each department, (i.e network, database, telecom) and the way she walked with confidence, helped build my determination to be a life-longer and a good representation for those that come up behind me in the industry. I will forever be grateful to her for that.” [Quintana Patterson (University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, USA)]
Walking In Their Shoes
6. What is one piece of business or career advice you would give to your younger self?
Every woman offered valuable career advice gained on their professional journey that they wish they knew as a young professional. A couple notable pieces of advice include:
“Be kind to yourself, and then you will be kind to others. Wake up every day and tell yourself ‘I will do the best I can today’ and recognize that it is okay if that differs day to day.” [Susan Follis (Kyndryl, Singapore)]
“Trust your intuition, sometimes even if it goes against all the other advice you get. No one has had the experience that you are bound to have in your life and career. Remember, your outlook and attitude work for and against you.” [Mrinalini Lakshminarayanan (Ingram Micro, USA)]
7. As a leader, how do you remain a resource for people early in their careers?
The power of these leaders includes a strong commitment to making time and being a resource for budding professionals. Here’s how one of them sets the standard:
“You have to be willing to spend the time, and sometimes that is your personal time if necessary. It is amazingly rewarding.” [Kristine Stewart (USA)]
Today's Business Environment
8. What is the most interesting project you have worked on in the last few years?
Each woman shared notable projects they have been working on over the years. Here’s a glimpse of what one of them has been up to:
“We recently ran a large hybrid event with a partner. Building a truly inclusive and engaging program across multiple locations, provided many new challenges and required a lot of planning and out of the box thinking.” [Michelle Ayyuce (Cisco, Australia)]
9. What skills are you currently developing or refining (in yourself) that will make you a more successful leader in the digital economy?
Every leader knows skills development is a life-long process… Some of the skills they are developing for the digital economy include:
“I am currently developing skills around DE&I by enrolling in an online program at Cornell, as well as trying to shift stakeholder mindset around how sellers truly learn, retain and regurgitate information in order to grow pipeline and create incremental revenue.” [Joanne Montz (VMware, USA)]
10. What is your greatest business challenge today?
Our Wondrous Women wrapped up their blog responses with their greatest business challenges today. A favorite includes:
“Asking for what I need and when I need it. I typically just do things on my own because I know how I want them, but to be successful and grow any of my businesses I need to utilize my support team.” [Mari Galloway (Cyberjutsu, USA)]
*The nine participants from CQ3:22 are listed below with links to their blog post.
CQ3:22 IT Wondrous Women Participants
Joanne Montz, Senior Global Sales Enablement Manager, Telco and Edge Cloud Business Unit, VMware (USA)
Kristine Stewart, Partner Strategy & Success Thought Leader (USA)
Mari Galloway, Chief Executive Officer, Cyberjutsu (USA)
Mattie Gullixson, Senior Cyber Analyst Supervisor, Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (USA)
Michala Hart, Director, BT Security, BT (United Kingdom)
Michelle Ayyuce, Marketing Manager - Service Provider Australia and New Zealand, Cisco (Australia)
Mrinalini Lakshminaryanan, Global Executive Director, Digital Operations and Industry Solutions, Ingram Micro (USA)
Quintana Patterson, IT Clinical and Compliance Manager, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (USA)
Susan Follis, Managing Director, Kyndryl ASEAN and APAC/MEA Growth Unit, Kyndryl (Singapore)
About IT Wondrous Women blog series.
The IT Wondrous Women blog series showcases top and emerging technology industry leaders from around the world, all of whom are women! Some of these women are well known in the IT industry while others have “roots” in the technology market with roles in corporate customers or non-profit organizations. Each has the same thing in common: they are driving game-changing success.
Each of these women are expanding the future of the IT industry and opportunities for women through their prowess, intelligence, and impact. They are also inspiring those who will stand on their shoulders.
All participants in this blog series answer the same set of questions, which provides a glimpse into their careers and backgrounds and, more importantly, what makes them such wondrous and inspirational leaders!
