CyberWire Daily - Kathleen Smith: Translating the cyber world. [CMO] [Career Notes]

Episode Date: March 19, 2023

Kathleen Smith, CMO from ClearedJobs.Net, sits down to share her story as she remembers having big shoes to fill in her childhood. She strived for greatness at an early age, as her parents told her she would be going to college and would follow strong guidelines to become successful. Kathleen can remember being into the hard sciences when she was in school, which sparked an interest in becoming a biochemist and law student. Eventually she found her passion as a translator, saying that "doing the translator role, I wanted to get into international marketing and I was going on to get my degree on that." She found her way to ClearedJobs.Net and fell in love with it. She had sought to find a workplace that wouldn't burn her out, where she can also be a part of the team. Kathleen found what she was passionate about and made it a reality for herself, and now she just wants young women starting in the field to know the importance of finding something they are passionate about. We thank Kathleen for sharing her story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to the Cyber Wire Network, powered by N2K. and VPNs, yet breaches continue to rise by an 18% year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks and a $75 million record payout in 2024. These traditional security tools expand your attack surface with public-facing IPs that are exploited by bad actors more easily than ever with AI tools. It's time to rethink your security. Thank you. Learn more at zscaler.com slash security. My name is Kathleen Smith, and I am the dad's shoes and looking down at them and going, I'm supposed to fill those. And he was a dentist and also what is affectionately referred to as a slum landlord. And he did tell me later on I didn't have to become a dentist and I didn't have to be a slum landlord, but I did have to

be successful and I did have to go to college. I actually had to go to graduate school when I was in high school. I was basically told that they would pay for all the education as long as I didn't get married until I was at least 30. So there was some pretty strong guidelines as to being successful, being driven, and excelling. and excelling. I'd always been interested in science. My mother was fabulous in actually enrolling me in things that were called the Youth Science Institute when I was like 10, even though I was supposed to be 14 when I was enrolled in that. I found sort of my early calling as being an ambassador or a translator. I've always looked at a hard business or a hard technical science problem and someone's like, I don't understand. And then I turn around and I say, well, it's like this. And I usually have pretty good luck with

people understanding what I'm conveying to them. So I went on to be more of a hard science, hard math in high school and college. And people are like, what's a blonde, blue-eyed woman who's supposed to be a surfer being sort of a biochemist and law student? of a biochemist and law student. I actually was in the legal department of a large hospital supply company that was actually making prosthetics. And I was writing some of the first informed patient consent marketing brochures so that people who knew that what they were getting implanted into them, sort of what would happen. And I just sort of realized that this translator role, this explaining two sides really helped. But it was really hard to get a job in that. So I got a job being insurance salesperson.

I put together a program at the right age of 24 on how to increase that revenue. And it was successful. And then they fired me because they said, oh, we need to create a new strategy. And so I went and worked with another insurance company and did the same thing and made them more money. But it wasn't feeding my soul. doing the translator role i wanted to get into international marketing and i was going on to get my degree on that but then it was recession time and i was hit again i found my

calling in non-profit fundraising and did you know in between then I did have to do a lot of Banana Republic stints and, you know, barista stints and things like that. We all have to do that at least once or twice or four times during our careers. And I had a really great time working in the nonprofit community, but it does burn you out. It does burn your soul. I knew that I wanted to raise money for the environment, but I had to cut my teeth on health profits and healthcare nonprofits. And so several of us ended up having PTS after working there. I'm very proud that all of the phenomenal marketing professionals I worked with there are now part of my team at clearjobs.net. It was great to see some great talent and I wanted to make sure they had a supportive environment. My normal day is usually thinking out six months to 12 months, but of course the pandemic sort of threw a fly in that ointment. So I'm back to planning what do we do for the next six to 18

months. I have a phenomenal team that I'll have an idea and they're like, okay, we'll take it. Which before it used to be, I have a really great idea and now I have to work 12 hours into the night and figure out how to put it together and the graphics and everything. And now it's nice to have other marketing professionals say, it's a really great idea. However, she'll say, it's a really great idea. However, it's not going to fly. We're not going to get the Goodyear glim. I'm a big proponent of making sure team has leadership. Not that I'm a dictator. It's more of like, let's make sure that we're going in the right direction. And I also mentor a lot of people in the community, which a lot of people say they mentor, and I give them credit,

but to truly mentor, you have to be mentoring one or two people at a time, and you really have to give them their focus. I'm always fascinated people, you know, cybersecurity is so phenomenal in the sense that you can tinker around with it and find out what really you're passionate about before even taking on a career. you can find different things to break and put back together. There are so many different facets of cybersecurity. And so my advice, what are you passionate about? Find out what you're passionate about. It might be policy. It might be healthcare regulations. It may be privacy issues, but be passionate about it.

Our life is too short to not be passionate about what you're doing. I would love to be remembered, but I know that we are all just a blink in everyone's eye. So I know people won't remember me. I know a few people will say thank you for the things that I've done to help them move on in their career. And then they'll forget about me. It's fine. I'm fine with that. I know I've made an impact.

If it was different, I would just like people to remember that I helped them when they needed to be helped. And I provided a clear voice for people who didn't have a voice. Hey, everybody. Dave here. Thank you. DeleteMe. I have to say, DeleteMe is a game changer. Within days of signing up, they started removing my personal information from hundreds of data brokers. I finally have peace of mind knowing my data privacy is protected. DeleteMe's team does all the work for you with detailed reports so you know exactly what's been done. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete.me. Now at a special discount for our listeners. Today, get 20% off your Delete.me plan when you go to joindeleteme.com slash n2k and use promo code n2k at checkout. The only way to get

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