There were lots of rejections, no’s and ghosting (In hindsight this was a blessing, as I would not want to do business with this type of person anyway) which comes with every role, however persistence, adaptation and continuous learning meant that soon numerous milestones were ticked off one by one:
There were some key areas and events that helped me settle, progress and evolve in my new career to achieve these goals, which include:
Colleagues and Culture
Everyone has their own views/opinions and I’m constantly aware everyone is correct in their ‘own story’ – even if they aren’t in reality! I’m sure we can all relate to nightmare colleagues!
My colleagues in LoughTec and our respective partners have been a breath of fresh air to work with and follow a culture I am proud to be part of. They have been instrumental in welcoming me into a new sector and career and helping me reach my current level. Teamwork really does make the dream work!
Since joining LoughTec I’ve also learnt how culture is integral to making a company a happy place to be – here we have key values and we genuinely strive to act these out every day.
Training
You can always be better, no matter how good you are and I’m a big believer in this. This mindset is common with the best people in any given field (sports or business) so I am continually learning to make myself better and to help my customers. Training included the super OPSWAT Academy, speaking with colleagues to learn from them, speaking with customers and learning from thought leaders, especially on LinkedIn, which have massively helped my ongoing training.
LoughTec
From day one I have received the support and guidance I wanted and needed from both the owners, Sean and Cathal, to perform to a high level and I’m extremely grateful. This has been very important in allowing me to grow in my role and also as a person.
New Approaches and Adaptations
Previously I had a particular style of sales, which I then discovered didn’t translate well into my current role! So I began the ‘tilt’ to learning a new approach which included starting to post regularly on LinkedIn, to add as much value as possible in my posts while sharing my own authentic thoughts. This took a lot more time and effort than my previous style had taken. The good news is that it positively translated to a much more successful sales approach – the moral of the story, being able to adapt is key as no one size fits all. A great example of adaptation is Cristiano Ronaldo moving from a speedy winger to a clinical goal machine! Or Honda abandoning their previous engine philosophy a year early to power Max Verstappen to the 2021 Formula One World Drivers Championship!
Products
You have to trust what you are selling is really the best possible solution for customers, otherwise, what’s the point? If you want to transfer files into and out of your network safely, I genuinely believe we have the best solution to do this. The same applies to our new take on PAM to prevent threat actors from using lateral movement to compromise your entire digital estate. I’m also happy to show this on a routine basis so please feel free to reach out!
Marketing
Marketing is a key aspect of a business and instrumental to Sales – people will not become customers if they do not know about a company! However, I had never properly worked deeply with a Marketing Department before. So it has been very enjoyable working with our Marketing team in both LoughTec and our partners to help define and spread the correct message, to help people with our wonderful products, whether via blogs, articles, emails, webinars or physical events.
Audi R8
Buying my R8 was a momentous moment in my career and a real highlight. 18 months of planning finally came together. Now the idea of replacing it with my Lamborghini Murciélago helps motivate me even more!
So these are just some parts of my journey into Cyber Security – I hope you enjoyed them. As I approach a year in the role, I’m just as excited now for the future as I was when I first joined. It will be exciting to see what my follow-on article (Initial Year(s) in Cyber) contains!
Contact Cyber Security Company LoughTec for a free no-obligation discussion on your business cyber security posture. Call +44 (0) 28 8225 2445 or email info@loughtec.com.
