IT Wondrous Women™ spotlights two influential leaders using leading-edge marketing and sales engagement to fuel business growth... (Copy)
January 26, 2022 • 2 Minute Read
With CQ4:21 closed, we look back at the twenty eight trailblazing, innovative, and powerhouse leaders we spotlighted in our IT Wondrous Women™ blog series. These leaders are located in Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Israel, Norway, Spain, The Netherlands, 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.
Enjoy this recap of these powerhouse leaders!
A look back at last quarter's twenty eight trailblazing, innovative, and powerhouse leaders featured in our IT Wondrous Women™ blog series located in nine 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:
Running a nonprofit for families facing eviction; a driver’s license for heavy trucks; girls’ hall of fame for high school track and field; open water certified SCUBA diver; beekeeper; book blogger; and more.
2. Before the pandemic, how many air miles/KMs did you fly annually?
Most of these women are hardcore road warriors. They average 80.4k flight miles (135k KM) annually. The highest was 220k miles (354k KM); the lowest 6k (10k KM). Collectively, these road warriors fly over 1 million miles (1.6MM 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 fried insects (China), snake gallbladder in liquor (China), Birds Nest Soup (Singapore), Balut (Southeast Asia), and goat blood (Masai Mara, Kenya).
Their Careers
4. What are the top two experiences, achievements, or failures that shaped your journey as a successful leader?
Several of our favorite experiences, achievements, or failures shared include:
“I was so eager to start a new career that I accepted a great package at a company I had not properly done my homework on. I was so miserable by month 9 that I decided to leave and allowed myself the space I needed to seek out a role in a firm that was a great match for me…” [Ashleigh Gray (Vidyard, Canada)]
“Joining Datacom as the youngest Director at 29-years-old was an achievement and a challenge. I had to build a team around me that could help to bridge the gaps in my knowledge.” [Alex Coates (Datacom, Australia)]
“… reskilling from Microbiology to becoming a certified AWS Solution Architect. This reminds me to never ask others to do something that I would not do and has helped me to shape our Internship program…” [Tia Dubuisson (Belle Fleur Technologies, USA)]
“… the collection of rejection letters/calls I have from not getting jobs I’ve gone after has made a profound impact on my journey to becoming a successful leader. Each rejection taught me important lessons about myself and helped me hone in on what great leadership looks like.” [Isabella Yani (Cisco, 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 what a few said about them:
“Yes! I am honored to have two, one of which is my husband. Both of them have encouraged me to listen with intent, ask questions, take risk, and most importantly believe in myself. Not having all the answers is part of the fun. The experience we are living today helps build who we are tomorrow.” [Deanna Davenport (ConvergeOne, USA)]
“I've never had a formal mentor, but have been lucky to work for some really inspirational leaders that lead from the front and inspire their teams. The biggest lesson I've learnt is that leadership is a privilege, not an excuse.” [Laura Bailey (NashTech, United Kingdom)]
“The manager who hired me 15 years ago was also my mentor… He genuinely cared and listened to what people had to say, but he also made important decisions and showed strong leadership wherever needed.” [Tone Sandvik (TietoEVRY, Norway)]
“I have always had mentors and I always have at least one. The biggest lesson I learned early on was that my authentic self is more valuable than any self that I could pretend to be. Life changing.” [Julie Thomas (Cisco, 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. Several notable pieces of advice include:
“Feedback is a gift, but don't listen to all of it. When you're doing things differently, it is going to make people uncomfortable at times. Filter the feedback based on the motivation for that feedback, versus trying to absorb all of it and make everyone around you happy.” [Holly Briedis (Fossil Group, USA)]
“Smart is beautiful, take your smartness for a walk and allow serendipity to nurture true innovation, sometimes we are too constrained by what is expected from us. Don´t be shy and be wildly creative when creating strategy, and obsessive when executing.” [Blanca Galletero (Splunk, Spain)]
“Don’t be afraid of setting bold targets in your career. Create your dream scenario, cut it down to bite size chunks. Don’t fear failure but learn from it.” [Therese Olafsen Mørck (Nordcloud, Norway)]
“There is a difference between being mentored and being sponsored. Many will mentor but few will sponsor and sing your praises. Find your sponsors and develop these critical relationships.” [Cindra Ford (Cisco, 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 a few of them set the standard:
“I learned early on that successful leaders love being leaders – not for the sake of power but for the meaningful and purposeful impact they create. It’s about your ability to serve others and this can’t be accomplished unless you genuinely enjoy what you do.” [Lori Cornmesser (CyCognito, USA)]
“… I believe in paying it forward and supporting others along their career journey. I founded a non-profit called “We Build Character” which is focused on building future leaders through executive mentoring programs.” [Tracy-Ann Palmer (VMware, USA)]
“Staying connected with young adults, being present and in touch with their generation, asking questions and really leaning in on listening, recognizing and sharing their positive traits. I was very fortunate early in my career to have a couple pretty awesome mentors, and love the ability to give back.” [Phyllis Waud (Syntax, USA)]
“I love to brainstorm and collaborate with people. A key characteristic of my leadership style is creating a safe place for people to feel comfortable to use me as a resource for advice or a just a sounding board.” [Patty Gray (Weston-Comstor, 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 a few of them have been up to:
“I rolled out a technical enablement team to run workshops and trainings for customers and partners. It started as a side project with one individual working towards technical certifications for a partner and turned into team-wide initiative to enable our ecosystem to become smart on these products. It’s now one of my largest pipeline producing teams.” [Rebecca Brennan (Carahsoft, USA)]
“Right now is one of the most interesting times. We’ve seen our world upended and tossed around. As a communicator, I love the challenge of discovering new ways to communicate the crazy shifts and the accelerated digital transformation we have seen over the last couple of years.” [Elizabeth Perlin (Hewlett Packard Enterprise, USA)]
“Public WIFI heat map, analysis and install for low income kids in the Bay area.” [Dao Jensen (Oak Rocket, USA)]
“Leading Americas Healthcare here at Cisco when the pandemic first hit. It was a fabulous team with a greater collective purpose. We were supporting the healthcare industry in a time of need.” [Luxy Thuraisingam (Cisco, Canada)]
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:
“In Dutch we say standing still is going backward, and learning is a constant activity. I am now working on operationalizing a new experience and opportunity with routes to market, including agencies, managed services, and market places, and how our partners will best work digitally with Cisco.” [José van Dijk (Cisco, The Netherlands)]
“Things move extremely fast in the digital space so if you stop learning you fall behind extremely quickly. So I try to ensure I spend enough time with our technology partners and agencies to keep abreast of the latest and greatest in the industry.” [Andromeda Booth (Just After Midnight, United Kingdom)]
“I’m an avid learner and I’m currently completing a Certificate in Adaptive Strategic Execution from Duke Fuqua School of Business.” [Yolande Abeling (Cisco, Australia)]
“One of the skills I learned and practiced last year was patience and acceptance that certain things are out of my control. I also learned how to deal with unexpected changes like my children doing remote learning while I was on zoom calls with my clients.” [Muna Khurshid (VMware, USA)]
10. What is your greatest business challenge today?
Our Wonderous Women wrapped up their blog responses with their greatest business challenges today. A few favorites include:
“It is definitely the transformation of our industry and the needed change in behaviour, in the mindset, in the way we work, how we communicate etc.” [Sabine Hammer (Lenovo, Germany)]
“The rapid pace of technology change and ensuring that our knowledge and capabilities stay relevant to our customers.” [Denise McCutchen Grace (Concentrix, USA)]
“As a leader of a fast-growing company, my greatest challenge is to maintain the company's values – professionalism, loyalty, and responsibility for customers' success…” [Vera Shulman (ProfiSea, Israel)]
“My greatest business challenge is centered around people. At the end of the day, I’m in leadership to help people achieve their goals and desires, so making sure I’m doing everything I can to challenge myself each day to bring something new to do that is my top priority.” [Hope Galley (Cisco Meraki)]
*The twenty eight participants in CQ4:21 are listed below with links to their blog post.
CQ4:21 IT Wondrous Women Participants
Alex Coates, Managing Director, Australia, Datacom (Australia)
Andromeda Booth, Marketing Director, Just After Midnight (United Kingdom)
Ashleigh Gray, Vice President Strategic Partnerships, Vidyard (Canada)
Blanca Galletero, Group Vice President, Channels, Alliances, and GTM Europe, Splunk (Spain)
Cindra Ford, Director Strategy, Planning and Operations, Cisco (USA)
Dao Jensen, Chief Executive Officer, Oak Rocket (USA)
Deanna Davenport, Senior Director, Lifecycle Services, ConvergeOne (USA)
Denise McCutchen Grace, Group Vice President, Customer Interaction Technology, Concentrix (USA)
Elizabeth Perlin, Head of Executive & Employee Communications, HPE Compute, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (USA)
Holly Briedis, Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer, Fossil Group (USA)
Hope Galley, Global Channel Leader, Cisco Meraki (USA)
Isabella Yani, Chief of Staff and Director of Business Development & Sales Operations, Cisco (USA)
José van Dijk, Vice President of Operations & Partner Performance, Global Partner Organization, Cisco (The Netherlands)
Julie Thomas, Director, Global Partner Organization, Strategy & Partner Experience Team, Cisco (USA)
Laura Bailey, Strategic Account Director, NashTech (United Kingdom)
Lori Cornmesser, Vice President, Worldwide Channel Sales, CyCognito (USA)
Luxy Thuraisingam, Head of Global Partner Marketing, Cisco (Canada)
Muna Khurshid, Vice President, Worldwide Networking & Security Solution Engineering, VMware (USA)
Patty Gray, Vice President, Global Vendor Management, Weston-Comstor (USA)
Phyllis Waud, Senior Director of Channels & Alliances, Syntax (USA)
Rebecca Brennan, Sales Director, Carahsoft Technology Corp. (USA)
Sabine Hammer, Director, Channel Sales Infrastructure Solutions Group, Lenovo Global Technology Germany GmbH (Germany)
Therese Olafsen Mørck, Head of Sales, Nordcloud (an IBM Company) (Norway)
Tia Dubuisson, President & Co-Founder, Belle Fleur Technologies (USA)
Tone O. Sandvik, Head of Sales Cloud & Infrastructure, TietoEVRY (Norway)
Tracy-Ann Palmer, Vice President, Partner Experience, Programs and Distribution, VMware (USA)
Vera Shulman, Chief Executive Officer, ProfiSea (Israel)
Yolande Abeling, Head of Marketing Strategy, Service Provider APJC, Cisco (Australia)
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!
