Diva Tech Talk interviewed cybersecurity expert, author, keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur, Sandra Estok. Creator of the international book series, Happily Ever Cyber, Sandra founded her own company: Way2Protect LLC, after an extensive corporate career.
Originally from Venezuela, at age 11, Sandra and family were evicted from her childhood home. They found refuge in a shack. “It had one window, one door, and no water or bathroom inside,” she recalled. She felt ostracized from other children in the neighborhood, who lived in more conventional conditions. When she tried to join their neighborhood volleyball game, “one of the kids said ‘you’re never going to make it; you’re a loser.’“ Bruised, emotionally and physically, Sandra was grateful for a teacher’s inspiration: “Happiness is a choice. No matter what, you can choose happiness.” She went on to master volleyball and life by choosing to become highly proficient at whatever she tackled, knowing that “whatever you put your mind to, you can achieve.”
“Technology was, somehow, in my veins,” said Sandra. When she graduated from high school at 16, with no money for college, she enrolled in a government secretarial training program that led to an internship at the Heinz Company. There she rotated through departments including information technology. She enrolled in night school, in a tech certification program, that led to full completion of college, and graduating as a systems’ engineer. “Throughout my journey, I moved from company to company” (Kraft Foods, the Coca Cola Company, PepsiCo and SC Johnson), “in tech-related roles, building all kinds of things.” SC Johnson, where she worked for a total of 19 years, transferred her to Wisconsin. “It was my dream,” to live in the United States.
Sandra’s success secrets? “I was able to apply what I was learning at school to my jobs” and built a “connected” fabric between her academic and work lives. She also accepted new challenges readily. Her hard work, focus, appetite for new technology created exciting opportunities along the way. Sandra advises ambitious tech women to anticipate the newest trends and evaluate them in terms of skills you must acquire. Then acquire those skills and “success will find you.”
Her final role, before leaving SC Johnson, was reporting to it’s Chief Information Security Officer, as Director, Global Information Security Business Operations. Sandra developed and coordinated overall worldwide security business functions for SC Johnson on every continent. Her leadership advice is: “Always walk the talk. Don’t try to evangelize with words. Do it with your actions.”
In her transition to the U.S. with her working visa, Sandra underwent a watershed experience. Returning from Colombia, she was detained. Her passport was temporarily revoked. A smuggler from China had appropriated personal information and had been smuggling women into the USA using her identity! Two weeks later, returning from a European trip, she was detained again. Each time she traveled internationally, before she became a full-fledged U.S. citizen, Sandra had to prove her identity incessantly. “That negative experience ‘connected the dots’ and is driving me today. Identity theft and cybercrime can happen to anyone!” Sandra’s gift for making complex tech concepts comprehensible to non-technical people, coupled with passion to make a much greater impact, outside of a single corporation, led her to become a startup founder. “Leaving the corporate world is a big decision,” Sandra acknowledged. “But I say…just go for it!” Like her 11-year old self, longing to play volleyball with kids who were rejecting her, she relied on internal fortitude, focus, faith, and fearlessness to make the leap. To transition, Sandra became a consultant in the first year of founding her company, which helped her evolve to the “entrepreneurship mindset” while maintaining cash flow.
An outgrowth of consulting is Sandra’s first book: HAPPILY EVER CYBER: Protecting Yourself Against Hackers, Scammers and CyberMonsters. Through the stories she tells, it is clear cybercrime can affect anyone, at any age or walk of life. But if you understand cybersecurity basics, on a non-tech level, you will be galvanized to take action to protect what matters most to you. Her book encapsulates a very timely, scary subject and transforms it to be both non-threatening and empowering. “It helps you pinpoint what is most important to you, that you most want to protect. You can take measures to protect it.” An extension of the book is a foundation she envisions to help orphaned and foster children. “There are 153 million orphans in the world. And we have a global shortage of cybersecurity talent. So many kids can find their way through technology.”
Sandra exhorts listeners to always remember you are the architect of your own life. And you can build anything. She advises you to find a mentor, in the space in which you want to operate. Then cultivate coaches who can guide you to become better in any area you want to tackle. Above all, marry the clarity in your mind with the feelings in your heart. “Don’t worry about the 'how.' Just get clear on the ‘why’ and act on it.” Her final advice? “Practice gratitude in everything you do in your life.”
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