June 24, 2024 • 20 mins
Join us as Tina unpacks the challenges and triumphs of transitioning from a service-based to a product-based business. From navigating the complexities of venture capital to balancing technical oversight with strategic planning, Tina's experiences offer invaluable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs. She highlights the critical importance of a strong support system and reflects on the profound impact cybersecurity has on our daily lives and critical infrastructure. Tina's dedication to empowering others shines through as she discusses her commitment to leaving a lasting legacy in the cybersecurity realm. Don't miss this heartfelt and insightful conversation with a true industry pioneer.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to this episode of Security Market Watch
, where we talk to industryleaders, ceos, founders, and we
bring their stories to you.
Very often we think about theproduct, we think about the
information in the technicalside of security.
You know, these are the storiesof the people who are making
the world go round, who makesecurity go round, and today my
(00:28):
guest is Tina Williams-Koroma.
She is the CEO and co-founderof T-Secure and SciDeploy.
Did I get that right?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yes, all right Great.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Tina, welcome to Security Market Watch.
It's great to have you on theshow.
You've been here before, soyou're not a new face to
Security Market Watch.
It's great to have you on theshow.
You've been here before, soyou're not a new face to
Security Market Watch.
And for those who are listeningor watching this right now,
check out that episode where wetalked to Tina.
I think it was maybe three orfour episodes ago.
It was last season, last year,however you want to call it, and
that was a great conversation.
(00:59):
You should go check it out.
So today we really just want toget to know you a little bit
more, tina.
We've heard of your product,cydeploy.
We've heard of T-Secure.
You touched a little bit onyour time at Lockheed Martin and
your journey from working forLockheed Martin all the way
through running your ownbusiness and your own startup,
(01:20):
and I mean it's a fabulous story.
I'm sure is dying to hear yourstory.
So with that, welcome to theshow.
And let's start before LockheedMartin, right, a young Tina
Williams-Karoma.
Maybe at that time you weren'tTina Williams-Karoma yet.
Maybe you weren't married yet.
What was that time like andwhat pushed you into the
(01:41):
direction and onto the journeythat you're on now?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, so first, thanks so much for having me
back again and I'm lookingforward to our discussion today.
So yeah, before Lockheed,certainly it was a college
experience for me, and I got tothat college.
I learned about it through ahigh school internship that I'd
(02:06):
done.
So the high school internshipwas me giving computers a second
try.
I had taken a programming classin my sophomore year of high
school.
It was Pascal, programming todate myself a bit, and I decided
, oh no, this computer stuff isnot for me, this is boring, I
(02:26):
don't want to do this, and Idecided I was going to go into
physical therapy.
But then, unfortunately, I was abasketball player and a soccer
player.
So during a basketball game Itore my ACL and I had to spend a
lot of time in a physicaltherapist's office, and that
told me that I do not want to bea physical therapist for my
life.
So when I did the summerinternship after my junior year,
(02:50):
that was me giving computers asecond try, and that's when I
actually learned about theUniversity of Maryland,
baltimore County and theMeyerhoff Scholars Program that
they had, and so that's where Iwent in undergrad and I majored
in computer science.
So my whole world started tobecome, from a professional
perspective, to be focused oncomputers.
(03:10):
So that's the origin storyleading up to my first full-time
job with Lockheed Martin afterI finished with my undergrad
studies.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
So you weren't into computers.
Then you said okay, I'm notgoing to do the computer thing,
I'm going to focus on physicaltherapy.
And then you came full circle,right back to computers.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
So how does that happen?
How do you turn off that switchthat goes, you know this is
boring, and then turn on theswitch that says this is fun.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, you know, I think a lot of it was, and this
is the value that I think thatthere really is in internships.
And then also the type ofprogram that I got into, which
was a rotational leadershipprogram at Lockheed Martin, the
ability to try stuff out right.
Even when you say computers,that's so broad, right.
There's so many differentaspects and ultimately I decided
(04:03):
that while computer programmingwasn't necessarily something
that I wanted to do my entirecareer, cybersecurity really was
, and you know even that storyfor me.
I watched the movie the Netwith Sandra Bullock and I saw
her on the beach with hercomputer and I was like, what
field is she in?
And that was kind of theshaping for cybersecurity.
(04:27):
But the internship that I hadafter my junior year in high
school was really just anothertype of exposure to computers
and technology and that, I think, was one of the first times in
which I was like, okay, thistechnology field surrounding
computers is not just one optionor just one thing that I could
(04:52):
potentially do right.
So after I did that internship,it's like, okay, this is really
cool.
Plus, I was surrounded by a lotof other really, you know, cool
high school students, if Icould categorize myself as that.
So that was a lot of fun.
Just to say, hey, you know, itdoesn't have to be necessarily
like a lonely, you know sort offield.
(05:12):
And so then I took anothercoding class my senior year in
high school and that was prettycool.
That was C++.
So even the language itself wasmore fun than the prior
language of Pascal that I took.
So you know, I think that justtrying stuff out and having the
(05:33):
opportunity to try things outthrough internships and
rotational programs is reallybeneficial.
I found it to be a great asset.
That way you're not justdumping the whole thing and just
saying, ah, I don't like it,when you haven't really given it
much of a chance.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Yeah, you got to give it a chance.
That's the key there.
I noticed you've got a coupleof posters in your background
here.
If you're listening to this youcan't see it, but if you're
watching, I'm a little bitcurious about Our Father's
Business.
What's the story behind thatposter?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, yeah.
So I authored that book.
That was probably about a10-year project where I picked
it up, put it down, picked it up, put it down.
But there's this scripture inthe book of Luke, in the Bible,
and it's where Jesus, yeshua,has stayed behind from his
parents who went on.
(06:24):
So he stayed behind teaching inthe temple, and you know, one of
the things you know that hesaid during that time is you
know, why is it that you'relooking for me, don't you know I
must be about my father'sbusiness, and so, really for me,
when I'm approaching life andwhere I should spend my time,
you know it's every time youmake a decision about how you're
(06:45):
going to spend your time,you're basically making a
decision about what you'retrading your life for and what
you're willing to trade yourlife for, and so our father's
business is really a look at thelife of Christ through the lens
.
The book of Luke really looksat Christ's life as a human
being versus, you know, hisdivine nature per se, and so it
really is like a parallel of howdid Christ conduct his life and
(07:08):
being about his father'sbusiness, and how can we as well
conduct our lives on purpose,being about God's business and
making sure we get done on thisearth what we've been destined
and purposed and assigned to do.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So that's that book.
So you take what you do veryseriously.
I do.
That's really what you'resaying in a nutshell.
I heard somebody say the otherday that I'm trading my life
force for money.
You have to trade money.
You're trading energy for money.
So whatever you're doing betterbe worth it.
Better be worth it, exactly sothat's what you're saying in a
(07:43):
nutshell.
All right, so let's pivot overto that.
What was the call to adventure?
What was the moment?
Was there something that said,tina, maybe it was the voice of
God you should get into, youshould leave Lockheed Martin and
start your own company.
What was that moment like?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
moment like, yeah, you know.
So I think it's something thatwas always.
Entrepreneurship is just alwaysbeen something that's been a
part of me.
My first entrepreneurial visionwas when I was seven years old
and that was really aroundseeing an opportunity and an
opportunity for creativity.
So when I was seven, my dad wason this military base, this Air
(08:23):
Force base, and there was thisgolf course that was on the base
and there was also this dirtylittle creek area near my house
and I was little tomboy as I was, was always playing in the dirt
, getting dirty and all thatkind of stuff, and I would see
all these golf balls and I'mlike these golfers are not
coming down here to get theseballs.
(08:44):
I was like so we could bring itto them.
And so my first businessventure idea formal one was to
wash off the golf balls and sellthem back with lemonade.
So I got my whole little crewand you know, one Saturday we
meet about $20.
And so you know it was like kidrich right at that time and I
was like, oh, this is, this isneat.
So I think just that after thatit was.
(09:05):
You know I had a babysittingbusiness, pet sitting.
You know I would use our homedot matrix printer, pull off the
perforated lines I'm datingmyself again and post these
posters all over the militarybase we'd be on.
And yeah, that was I learnedstakeholder management with the
pet sitting, my parents beingthe primary stakeholders.
(09:26):
We'd have these strangers dogsin our houses.
They'd scratch and whine, keepmy parents awake.
They were like no, no, we'renot doing this anymore.
So you know that business wasopen and shut pretty quick.
But yeah, I think I always hadlike an entrepreneurial bent I'm
, and so I've had a lot ofdifferent forays with
entrepreneurship right andreally impact.
(09:48):
Ultimately, my focus is oncommunity impact.
Being a great example, I canhelp, mentor and get people as
far as I've gone.
So throughout my career, nomatter what I've been doing in
my career, there's always thiselement of mentoring, having
conversations, letting peopleknow how they can get into
cybersecurity, how they can getinto entrepreneurship, how to
(10:10):
start a business, and so for me,I think one of the greatest
ways in which to have socialimpact is through business.
I remember a college discussionthat I had with at least one of
my college buddies and that wasaround you know, how do you
think you can impact the world?
You know greatest, and you knowthrough politics or through
business, and you know where wereally settled was business,
(10:32):
right, you have such anopportunity through
entrepreneurship and throughbusiness and providing
opportunities for others, and sothat's a big part of my why
right.
So it was always a matter oftime and like okay, of my why
right.
So it was always a matter oftime and like, okay, you know,
when am I gonna?
Not if I'm going to be afull-time entrepreneur in
(10:56):
venture, but when?
And so it was just I was bidingmy time, learning, you know,
doing really good on, uh, as Iworked for other people, so I
worked for other people the wayI want people to work for me,
right, like cause I think you,you definitely reap what you sow
.
So I always had in mind that ifI want other people working for
and taking care of my baby orventure, well then I want to do
that now.
So that was always in my mindworking at Lockheed, working at
(11:19):
Unisys, working at another smallbusiness before I started my
full-time services company,t-secure.
So yeah, that's kind of theorigin story, I guess, in terms
of my start in full-timeentrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
So the call to adventure really was the
adventure of entrepreneurship,which I'm hearing.
That call came at an early ageand you sort of just kept saying
yes to it, yes, yes, yes, yes,yes, yes.
But hey, sometimes people sayno, sometimes people say no to
the call and they have to.
like Jonah, you know, you'refamiliar with the Bible.
So Jonah refused the call andwe all know what happened to him
(11:57):
he ended up in the belly of afish.
And so, thank God, he didn'tend up in the belly of a fish.
He wound up here on theSecurity Market Watch podcast,
which I don't know which isworse, but we'll roll with it.
I'll take the latter for sure.
Great, good, good, good, goodanswer.
So it seems like you'veanswered the call and with every
(12:18):
adventure, there are going tobe tribulations, there are going
to be challenges.
So what are some of thechallenges that you faced in
starting your own business andin this iteration of starting
your own company?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yeah, I definitely.
Certainly there's a lot ofoverlap and similarities, no
matter what kind of companyyou're starting, right, like
there's some commonalities butcertainly there's a lot of
differences as well.
With regard to a servicesbusiness and a product business,
so, you know, with services,that was, you know, largely
bootstrapped.
(12:50):
No, you know investment, moneyand things like that, and so you
know, day one profitable, right, like.
So my mindset just aroundpersonal finances and around
business finances is aroundprofitability, right, and so
it's somewhat different when youthink of, like, a product where
(13:12):
it's, you know you don't have athing to sell yet to get
revenue and yet you need tospend a certain amount of money
to get and build that thing tosell, right, like.
So very different concept, avery, you know, steep learning
curve around investment.
And you know venture capitaland angels, and you know pro
(13:35):
formas and discussions ofspeaking to a future with a
specificity that it's verydifficult to have when you're
starting, like how much moneywill you be making in five and
10 years, like, oh, you know.
So certainly, you know just asteep learning curve in that
regard, right, you're kind ofgetting to know the language,
(13:58):
the flow of, you know, externalcapital and the like, while also
trying to focus on the productitself.
So, while I have a verytechnical background, you know
I'm trying to do fundraising,establish the vision and the
focus and do the market researchand things like that, plus keep
(14:21):
an eye on, like, the productand the development.
It just it was very challengingand I think you know, put us
behind a bit.
You know product wise, justbecause when I turned back
around to like look more closelyyou know from product, it was
like wait, what is this?
You know which, if I had been,you know more detailed hands on
(14:44):
involved, you know, in providinggreater direction, I would have
caught stuff earlier.
And so you know that was around.
You know that helped shape thedecision to.
You know, bring in like aco-founder that could do that.
So, looking back in my networkso I think that you know that's
a part of the challenge is just,you know how long and how much
(15:07):
can I do this on my own, thoughyou know I am very experienced
from a business perspective inrunning a profitable company.
You know things are verydifferent, you know, with
product and so just sort oftrying to apply what I already
know but then at the same time,giving myself enough space and
(15:28):
latitude to have to lean into asteep learning curve and knowing
when I need to bring in someadditional help and assistance.
And that support system iscritical that support system is.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I mean you need, there's a reason why in every
story, the hero has a bunch offriends that roll with them.
I mean Simone and Pumba,bagheera and what's his name I
don't know, the Panther and theBear in Jungle Book.
I mean that's your team, right.
Those are the people around you, those are your ride or dies,
right?
And so what you're sayingechoes what every other founder
(16:08):
and CEO has said it's not easyand you got to be a little bit
of a glutton for punishment, butthat's the job.
That's the job you overcome.
And so you've overcome time andtime and time again, and I have
no doubt that you'll continueto do so.
So you know, when you're alldone with your overcoming and
your successes and you've doneeverything that you want to do
(16:28):
you leave.
What is, what is the legacythat you want to leave behind?
How do you want to beremembered in this field?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Yeah, Gosh, I want to be remembered as someone that
just provided a great open doorand opportunity and set so many
other people up for success incybersecurity and in
entrepreneurship.
(16:54):
I really that's the legacy thatI want to leave.
I think that cybersecurity issuch an important field and just
protects so many importantaspects our very way of life,
right which is why criticalinfrastructure get its label
(17:15):
that is increasingly a focus ofadversaries is, you know, coming
onto our home turf anddisrupting our way of life and
the things that we rely on,right.
So when I think ofcybersecurity, I'm not just
thinking about the bits and thebytes.
I'm thinking about the peoplethat it's protecting the seniors
who have worked a lifetime forcertain retirement and savings
(17:36):
and are looking to rest anddon't want their money taken
advantage of or stolen byadversaries.
I'm thinking about, you know,older relatives that are relying
on different medical technology, right, that shouldn't have
that disrupted by hackers oradversaries that can get access
(17:58):
to these technical devices,right, that are now also
internet connected.
So, you know, I could go on andon about what comes to mind
behind cybersecurity and a lotof it, you know, includes the
faces even small business owners, right that have put so much
capital and sweat equity and thelike into their businesses and
(18:21):
making sure that they'reprotected right from these
adversaries.
So, yeah, it's great when I'veheard, you know, people come
back, that I've frankly, youknow, forgotten that I
necessarily had a conversationwith them.
You know where they've comeback and said hey, tina, I just
got my first job incybersecurity.
Thank you so much for sendingme that.
(18:41):
You know, referral or whatever.
Like gosh, like that feels so,so, so good, like I, to have
certain doors open to me,positioning me to open them for
other people and to provideopportunity.
Like I'm almost tearing up now,but that that's that's.
(19:10):
Yeah, it's worth it.
That that makes it worth it.
Yeah, and that's what I want tobe known for.
That that's how I want my lovefor others to to manifest.
Yeah, you're going to manifest,yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
You're going to get me going.
Yeah, I know right, I promisedI wasn't going to cry.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
I know that is so inspirational.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
You have always been an inspiration to me and I love
what you find inspiration inTina's story as well, because I
know that I do.
Thanks again, and thank you fortuning in to this episode of
(19:50):
Security Market Watch.
I'm your host, josh Bruning.
You can find me also onLinkedIn, linkedincom.
Slash joshbruning or shoot usan email at info at
smwpodcastcom.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Bye, all right, tina, that wasgreat, that was awesome.
Welcome to this episode of Security Market Watch
, where we talk to industryleaders, ceos, founders, and we
bring their stories to you.
Very often we think about theproduct, we think about the
information in the technicalside of security.
You know, these are the storiesof the people who are making
the world go round, who makesecurity go round, and today my
(00:28):
guest is Tina Williams-Koroma.
She is the CEO and co-founderof T-Secure and SciDeploy.
Did I get that right?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yes, all right Great.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Tina, welcome to Security Market Watch.
It's great to have you on theshow.
You've been here before, soyou're not a new face to
Security Market Watch.
It's great to have you on theshow.
You've been here before, soyou're not a new face to
Security Market Watch.
And for those who are listeningor watching this right now,
check out that episode where wetalked to Tina.
I think it was maybe three orfour episodes ago.
It was last season, last year,however you want to call it, and
that was a great conversation.
(00:59):
You should go check it out.
So today we really just want toget to know you a little bit
more, tina.
We've heard of your product,cydeploy.
We've heard of T-Secure.
You touched a little bit onyour time at Lockheed Martin and
your journey from working forLockheed Martin all the way
through running your ownbusiness and your own startup,
(01:20):
and I mean it's a fabulous story.
I'm sure is dying to hear yourstory.
So with that, welcome to theshow.
And let's start before LockheedMartin, right, a young Tina
Williams-Karoma.
Maybe at that time you weren'tTina Williams-Karoma yet.
Maybe you weren't married yet.
What was that time like andwhat pushed you into the
(01:41):
direction and onto the journeythat you're on now?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, so first, thanks so much for having me
back again and I'm lookingforward to our discussion today.
So yeah, before Lockheed,certainly it was a college
experience for me, and I got tothat college.
I learned about it through ahigh school internship that I'd
(02:06):
done.
So the high school internshipwas me giving computers a second
try.
I had taken a programming classin my sophomore year of high
school.
It was Pascal, programming todate myself a bit, and I decided
, oh no, this computer stuff isnot for me, this is boring, I
(02:26):
don't want to do this, and Idecided I was going to go into
physical therapy.
But then, unfortunately, I was abasketball player and a soccer
player.
So during a basketball game Itore my ACL and I had to spend a
lot of time in a physicaltherapist's office, and that
told me that I do not want to bea physical therapist for my
life.
So when I did the summerinternship after my junior year,
(02:50):
that was me giving computers asecond try, and that's when I
actually learned about theUniversity of Maryland,
baltimore County and theMeyerhoff Scholars Program that
they had, and so that's where Iwent in undergrad and I majored
in computer science.
So my whole world started tobecome, from a professional
perspective, to be focused oncomputers.
(03:10):
So that's the origin storyleading up to my first full-time
job with Lockheed Martin afterI finished with my undergrad
studies.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
So you weren't into computers.
Then you said okay, I'm notgoing to do the computer thing,
I'm going to focus on physicaltherapy.
And then you came full circle,right back to computers.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
So how does that happen?
How do you turn off that switchthat goes, you know this is
boring, and then turn on theswitch that says this is fun.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, you know, I think a lot of it was, and this
is the value that I think thatthere really is in internships.
And then also the type ofprogram that I got into, which
was a rotational leadershipprogram at Lockheed Martin, the
ability to try stuff out right.
Even when you say computers,that's so broad, right.
There's so many differentaspects and ultimately I decided
(04:03):
that while computer programmingwasn't necessarily something
that I wanted to do my entirecareer, cybersecurity really was
, and you know even that storyfor me.
I watched the movie the Netwith Sandra Bullock and I saw
her on the beach with hercomputer and I was like, what
field is she in?
And that was kind of theshaping for cybersecurity.
(04:27):
But the internship that I hadafter my junior year in high
school was really just anothertype of exposure to computers
and technology and that, I think, was one of the first times in
which I was like, okay, thistechnology field surrounding
computers is not just one optionor just one thing that I could
(04:52):
potentially do right.
So after I did that internship,it's like, okay, this is really
cool.
Plus, I was surrounded by a lotof other really, you know, cool
high school students, if Icould categorize myself as that.
So that was a lot of fun.
Just to say, hey, you know, itdoesn't have to be necessarily
like a lonely, you know sort offield.
(05:12):
And so then I took anothercoding class my senior year in
high school and that was prettycool.
That was C++.
So even the language itself wasmore fun than the prior
language of Pascal that I took.
So you know, I think that justtrying stuff out and having the
(05:33):
opportunity to try things outthrough internships and
rotational programs is reallybeneficial.
I found it to be a great asset.
That way you're not justdumping the whole thing and just
saying, ah, I don't like it,when you haven't really given it
much of a chance.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Yeah, you got to give it a chance.
That's the key there.
I noticed you've got a coupleof posters in your background
here.
If you're listening to this youcan't see it, but if you're
watching, I'm a little bitcurious about Our Father's
Business.
What's the story behind thatposter?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, yeah.
So I authored that book.
That was probably about a10-year project where I picked
it up, put it down, picked it up, put it down.
But there's this scripture inthe book of Luke, in the Bible,
and it's where Jesus, yeshua,has stayed behind from his
parents who went on.
(06:24):
So he stayed behind teaching inthe temple, and you know, one of
the things you know that hesaid during that time is you
know, why is it that you'relooking for me, don't you know I
must be about my father'sbusiness, and so, really for me,
when I'm approaching life andwhere I should spend my time,
you know it's every time youmake a decision about how you're
(06:45):
going to spend your time,you're basically making a
decision about what you'retrading your life for and what
you're willing to trade yourlife for, and so our father's
business is really a look at thelife of Christ through the lens
.
The book of Luke really looksat Christ's life as a human
being versus, you know, hisdivine nature per se, and so it
really is like a parallel of howdid Christ conduct his life and
(07:08):
being about his father'sbusiness, and how can we as well
conduct our lives on purpose,being about God's business and
making sure we get done on thisearth what we've been destined
and purposed and assigned to do.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So that's that book.
So you take what you do veryseriously.
I do.
That's really what you'resaying in a nutshell.
I heard somebody say the otherday that I'm trading my life
force for money.
You have to trade money.
You're trading energy for money.
So whatever you're doing betterbe worth it.
Better be worth it, exactly sothat's what you're saying in a
(07:43):
nutshell.
All right, so let's pivot overto that.
What was the call to adventure?
What was the moment?
Was there something that said,tina, maybe it was the voice of
God you should get into, youshould leave Lockheed Martin and
start your own company.
What was that moment like?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
moment like, yeah, you know.
So I think it's something thatwas always.
Entrepreneurship is just alwaysbeen something that's been a
part of me.
My first entrepreneurial visionwas when I was seven years old
and that was really aroundseeing an opportunity and an
opportunity for creativity.
So when I was seven, my dad wason this military base, this Air
(08:23):
Force base, and there was thisgolf course that was on the base
and there was also this dirtylittle creek area near my house
and I was little tomboy as I was, was always playing in the dirt
, getting dirty and all thatkind of stuff, and I would see
all these golf balls and I'mlike these golfers are not
coming down here to get theseballs.
(08:44):
I was like so we could bring itto them.
And so my first businessventure idea formal one was to
wash off the golf balls and sellthem back with lemonade.
So I got my whole little crewand you know, one Saturday we
meet about $20.
And so you know it was like kidrich right at that time and I
was like, oh, this is, this isneat.
So I think just that after thatit was.
(09:05):
You know I had a babysittingbusiness, pet sitting.
You know I would use our homedot matrix printer, pull off the
perforated lines I'm datingmyself again and post these
posters all over the militarybase we'd be on.
And yeah, that was I learnedstakeholder management with the
pet sitting, my parents beingthe primary stakeholders.
(09:26):
We'd have these strangers dogsin our houses.
They'd scratch and whine, keepmy parents awake.
They were like no, no, we'renot doing this anymore.
So you know that business wasopen and shut pretty quick.
But yeah, I think I always hadlike an entrepreneurial bent I'm
, and so I've had a lot ofdifferent forays with
entrepreneurship right andreally impact.
(09:48):
Ultimately, my focus is oncommunity impact.
Being a great example, I canhelp, mentor and get people as
far as I've gone.
So throughout my career, nomatter what I've been doing in
my career, there's always thiselement of mentoring, having
conversations, letting peopleknow how they can get into
cybersecurity, how they can getinto entrepreneurship, how to
(10:10):
start a business, and so for me,I think one of the greatest
ways in which to have socialimpact is through business.
I remember a college discussionthat I had with at least one of
my college buddies and that wasaround you know, how do you
think you can impact the world?
You know greatest, and you knowthrough politics or through
business, and you know where wereally settled was business,
(10:32):
right, you have such anopportunity through
entrepreneurship and throughbusiness and providing
opportunities for others, and sothat's a big part of my why
right.
So it was always a matter oftime and like okay, of my why
right.
So it was always a matter oftime and like, okay, you know,
when am I gonna?
Not if I'm going to be afull-time entrepreneur in
(10:56):
venture, but when?
And so it was just I was bidingmy time, learning, you know,
doing really good on, uh, as Iworked for other people, so I
worked for other people the wayI want people to work for me,
right, like cause I think you,you definitely reap what you sow
.
So I always had in mind that ifI want other people working for
and taking care of my baby orventure, well then I want to do
that now.
So that was always in my mindworking at Lockheed, working at
(11:19):
Unisys, working at another smallbusiness before I started my
full-time services company,t-secure.
So yeah, that's kind of theorigin story, I guess, in terms
of my start in full-timeentrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
So the call to adventure really was the
adventure of entrepreneurship,which I'm hearing.
That call came at an early ageand you sort of just kept saying
yes to it, yes, yes, yes, yes,yes, yes.
But hey, sometimes people sayno, sometimes people say no to
the call and they have to.
like Jonah, you know, you'refamiliar with the Bible.
So Jonah refused the call andwe all know what happened to him
(11:57):
he ended up in the belly of afish.
And so, thank God, he didn'tend up in the belly of a fish.
He wound up here on theSecurity Market Watch podcast,
which I don't know which isworse, but we'll roll with it.
I'll take the latter for sure.
Great, good, good, good, goodanswer.
So it seems like you'veanswered the call and with every
(12:18):
adventure, there are going tobe tribulations, there are going
to be challenges.
So what are some of thechallenges that you faced in
starting your own business andin this iteration of starting
your own company?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yeah, I definitely.
Certainly there's a lot ofoverlap and similarities, no
matter what kind of companyyou're starting, right, like
there's some commonalities butcertainly there's a lot of
differences as well.
With regard to a servicesbusiness and a product business,
so, you know, with services,that was, you know, largely
bootstrapped.
(12:50):
No, you know investment, moneyand things like that, and so you
know, day one profitable, right, like.
So my mindset just aroundpersonal finances and around
business finances is aroundprofitability, right, and so
it's somewhat different when youthink of, like, a product where
(13:12):
it's, you know you don't have athing to sell yet to get
revenue and yet you need tospend a certain amount of money
to get and build that thing tosell, right, like.
So very different concept, avery, you know, steep learning
curve around investment.
And you know venture capitaland angels, and you know pro
(13:35):
formas and discussions ofspeaking to a future with a
specificity that it's verydifficult to have when you're
starting, like how much moneywill you be making in five and
10 years, like, oh, you know.
So certainly, you know just asteep learning curve in that
regard, right, you're kind ofgetting to know the language,
(13:58):
the flow of, you know, externalcapital and the like, while also
trying to focus on the productitself.
So, while I have a verytechnical background, you know
I'm trying to do fundraising,establish the vision and the
focus and do the market researchand things like that, plus keep
(14:21):
an eye on, like, the productand the development.
It just it was very challengingand I think you know, put us
behind a bit.
You know product wise, justbecause when I turned back
around to like look more closelyyou know from product, it was
like wait, what is this?
You know which, if I had been,you know more detailed hands on
(14:44):
involved, you know, in providinggreater direction, I would have
caught stuff earlier.
And so you know that was around.
You know that helped shape thedecision to.
You know, bring in like aco-founder that could do that.
So, looking back in my networkso I think that you know that's
a part of the challenge is just,you know how long and how much
(15:07):
can I do this on my own, thoughyou know I am very experienced
from a business perspective inrunning a profitable company.
You know things are verydifferent, you know, with
product and so just sort oftrying to apply what I already
know but then at the same time,giving myself enough space and
(15:28):
latitude to have to lean into asteep learning curve and knowing
when I need to bring in someadditional help and assistance.
And that support system iscritical that support system is.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I mean you need, there's a reason why in every
story, the hero has a bunch offriends that roll with them.
I mean Simone and Pumba,bagheera and what's his name I
don't know, the Panther and theBear in Jungle Book.
I mean that's your team, right.
Those are the people around you, those are your ride or dies,
right?
And so what you're sayingechoes what every other founder
(16:08):
and CEO has said it's not easyand you got to be a little bit
of a glutton for punishment, butthat's the job.
That's the job you overcome.
And so you've overcome time andtime and time again, and I have
no doubt that you'll continueto do so.
So you know, when you're alldone with your overcoming and
your successes and you've doneeverything that you want to do
(16:28):
you leave.
What is, what is the legacythat you want to leave behind?
How do you want to beremembered in this field?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Yeah, Gosh, I want to be remembered as someone that
just provided a great open doorand opportunity and set so many
other people up for success incybersecurity and in
entrepreneurship.
(16:54):
I really that's the legacy thatI want to leave.
I think that cybersecurity issuch an important field and just
protects so many importantaspects our very way of life,
right which is why criticalinfrastructure get its label
(17:15):
that is increasingly a focus ofadversaries is, you know, coming
onto our home turf anddisrupting our way of life and
the things that we rely on,right.
So when I think ofcybersecurity, I'm not just
thinking about the bits and thebytes.
I'm thinking about the peoplethat it's protecting the seniors
who have worked a lifetime forcertain retirement and savings
(17:36):
and are looking to rest anddon't want their money taken
advantage of or stolen byadversaries.
I'm thinking about, you know,older relatives that are relying
on different medical technology, right, that shouldn't have
that disrupted by hackers oradversaries that can get access
(17:58):
to these technical devices,right, that are now also
internet connected.
So, you know, I could go on andon about what comes to mind
behind cybersecurity and a lotof it, you know, includes the
faces even small business owners, right that have put so much
capital and sweat equity and thelike into their businesses and
(18:21):
making sure that they'reprotected right from these
adversaries.
So, yeah, it's great when I'veheard, you know, people come
back, that I've frankly, youknow, forgotten that I
necessarily had a conversationwith them.
You know where they've comeback and said hey, tina, I just
got my first job incybersecurity.
Thank you so much for sendingme that.
(18:41):
You know, referral or whatever.
Like gosh, like that feels so,so, so good, like I, to have
certain doors open to me,positioning me to open them for
other people and to provideopportunity.
Like I'm almost tearing up now,but that that's that's.
(19:10):
Yeah, it's worth it.
That that makes it worth it.
Yeah, and that's what I want tobe known for.
That that's how I want my lovefor others to to manifest.
Yeah, you're going to manifest,yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
You're going to get me going.
Yeah, I know right, I promisedI wasn't going to cry.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
I know that is so inspirational.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
You have always been an inspiration to me and I love
what you find inspiration inTina's story as well, because I
know that I do.
Thanks again, and thank you fortuning in to this episode of
(19:50):
Security Market Watch.
I'm your host, josh Bruning.
You can find me also onLinkedIn, linkedincom.
Slash joshbruning or shoot usan email at info at
smwpodcastcom.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Bye, all right, tina, that wasgreat, that was awesome.
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