Luxy Thuraisingam ─ Global partner marketing leader fueling partner pipeline and success across the customer journey…
November 9, 2021 • 3 Minute Read
Luxy Thuraisingam
Head of Global
Partner Marketing
Cisco
Are you looking for a global partner marketing leader to drive pipeline and success for partners across the customer journey? We know the person—Luxy Thuraisingam!
Luxy Thuraisingam is the Head of Global Partner Marketing at Cisco. As leader of the Global Partner Marketing organization, she drives impact for Cisco partners on a global scale by fueling pipeline across the customer journey and expanding partner success. Luxy is also on the board of several organizations, including the Canadian Marketing Association, and teaches digital marketing at York University, when she can. When she isn’t leading a global organization, she enjoys discovering local and global gems during her travels with her husband and twins.
Please meet this IT Wondrous Woman™, Luxy Thuraisingam!
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 have a science degree and planned to be a dentist when I was growing up.
2. Before the pandemic, how many air miles/KMs did you flying annually?
Actually, not that much because I didn’t have a lot of global travel for business. Most of my travel was personal, so probably only about 10,000 kilometers a year.
3. What is the most adventurous food you have eaten and what city/location did you eat it?
I took a trip to Japan and went to the fish market in Tokyo. Of course, I had to have fresh sushi right there, and I ended up trying a few exotic seafood, including fish that can kill you if not prepared right.
Your Career
4. What are the top two experiences, achievements or failures that shaped your journey as a successful leader?
Top experience: Learning just how much harder I had to work to have my voice heard as a result of being a female, or a minority, or even a marketer in a sales-dominated space.
Top achievement: Creating an open space, where everyone can have an active voice. I watch people in our meetings and observe who is leaning into the conversation versus who is having a hard time getting their opinion heard and ensure they get to contribute.
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?
I did have a female leader, Linda Craenen, in the tech industry early in my career. She believed in me, saw my potential even before I did and pushed me out of my comfort zone, giving me a platform to really set me up for success.
Walking In Your Shoes
6. What is one piece of business or career advice you would give to your younger self?
I would tell myself, “You will be in situations where you’re going to feel unheard, so don’t be afraid to lean in, use data/insights to make sure your ideas are heard”.
7. As a leader, how do you remain a resource for people early in their careers?
I teach post-grad for the most part, so people are already in the workforce, leading to an interaction more like mentorship. Mentorship allows me to share the things I’ve learned and pass them forward to a new generation.
Today’s Business Environment
8. What is the most interesting project you have worked on in the last few years?
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.
Helping the industry set up mobile clinics, triage patient care, and make mental health care accessible to patients from their homes. Exciting work, and we were empowered to get it done in a hybrid work environment. Just a really fulfilling project with real impact in our communities.
9. What skills are you currently developing or refining (in yourself) that will make you a more successful leader in the digital economy?
I have been getting to know extended team members interests outside of work, and actively checking in with individuals at the start of a meeting to give us all a little human connection we’re missing right now.
10. What is your greatest business challenge today?
Cisco is transforming. Buying models for customers have changed, and continue to change, and we need to “be where our customers are.” We have set a high bar in marketing with Cisco Partners, and we must maintain that while evolving to work in new buying models and new routes to market.
