Through acknowledging and implementing the true power of marketing, Lisa Baergen, a marketing expert, has equipped a global stature for herself. She is renowned for her commitment in setting solid marketing and communications programs that align with brand goals, for delivering best results. Her unique, articulate style cuts through the noise, exemplifying her organization’s best services to appeal to its target audience.
Currently the vice-president of marketing at NuData Security, a Mastercard company, Lisa took the company to massive heights through strategic market penetration. Her ability to quick-grasp processes assisted her in achieving many milestones for the company.
In an interview conducted by CIO Look, Lisa shared her story by emphasizing her contribution in the evolving marketing industry.
Below are some highlights:
Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a proficient leader.
It’s important to me to lead by example and, when things get tough and I’m juggling a myriad of balls, I take time to laugh. It takes the edge off. I always take responsibility for my actions, admit when I’ve made a mistake and I always document lessons I have learned. This also helps show my team that it is ok to make mistakes. My dad always told me, if you never fall when you are skiing, you aren’t trying hard enough.
Hiring A-players is essential for me; A-players that fill my areas of weakness with their areas of strength, and I make sure I give them room to flourish. I always want my talent engaged, so I make sure that I am open and transparent with my team, even if it means admitting where my own areas of development are. Your team may surprise you with the skills they possess to help build yours. The industry moves so fast that you can no longer rely on your previous experience. You must keep up with the latest and greatest, but also listen to your team – divide and conquer to stay abreast of trends.
How do you diversify your organization’s offerings to appeal to the target audience?
Several ways! With 13 billion records breached since 2013, there is no sense in thinking your data is not for sale or out there for hackers to leverage. Sadly, this state of affairs is keeping us at the forefront of protecting and securing the digital world. Leveraging a fully integrated multi-layered security approach that includes passive biometrics and behavioral biometrics is one way to make stolen information valueless to the hacker and stop fraud by verifying users based on their inherent behavior instead of relying on their data. This helps to lock down online access for cybercriminals, as they can’t replicate the user’s inherent behavior. At the same time, it allows online businesses to truly know who is behind the device online, which provides a wide opportunity for diversification.
Since the behavioral biometrics market is expected to reach $3,922 million by 2025, there is a plethora of opportunity. With a lot of point solutions, organizations have a hard time navigating which are right to solve their problems. We want to make it easy for organizations to solve the issues they’re facing with the right fit in a partner.
It’s important that NuData Security be an industry leader and educator, and we are the only company offering an integrated multi-layered solution that looks at the user behavior through four layers of intelligence. The integrated layers include device location, connection, behavioral analytics, passive biometrics, and a consortium of aggregated data with billions of aggregated and anonymized data points. The industry is riddled with new and emerging start-up solutions, so it’s important to stay ahead of emerging threats as the industry leader. We also act as a partner and are well known by our stakeholders as a great partner to work with. A lot of our innovation comes from listening carefully to the needs of our clients and we evolve our solutions based on industry needs.
Describe some of the vital attributes that every business personnel should possess.
Ethics, vision, self-respect, caring, self-belief, confidence, passion, humility, work ethic, adaptability, ability to learn, ability to admit mistakes and learn from them, and persistence.
As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges are faced by women in a corporate business?
And what are your advices in overcoming them? I asked some women I work with in STEM, and here is what they say. Sarah Farquharson, Consultant, and Software Engineering at NuData Security: “The biggest roadblock I faced was imposter syndrome—even though I was top of my class in college I never felt that I was a “real” programmer. I think this is a common problem for women because the cultural shorthand for a smart coder still gives a very narrow image of who that could look like. When I moved to a new city I stopped applying to tech jobs altogether because I thought not spending all my free time hacking Linux kernels meant I couldn’t compete. After getting back into the industry and reading a lot of code by a lot of people, I came to realize that my technical skills were always perfectly acceptable, and that good problem-solving abilities more than make up for not having memorized every sorting algorithm. Curating communities that encourage learning rather than being combative and hostile to beginner questions is another way to be more accessible to all sorts of people who may be put off by many older open source communities. If you are anxious about your technical qualifications, practice the mantra “Lord, grant me the confidence of a mediocre white man” and go in with the attitude that you are capable of learning anything.”
Kate O’Loughlin, Senior Analyst, Information Security Operations at NuData Security:
“There’s a double-standard when it comes to knowledge in an industry saturated with men, but it says a lot about your intelligence to be able to keep up and evolve along with the technology. Security engineering as a whole has a way to go before it has true gender equality, but some companies are really at the forefront of change for the better in this respect. It’s nice to not feel disparaged here, just because I’m a woman.”
Karla Wakefield, Manager, and Software Engineering at NuData Security:
“Getting past the stereotypes of who could be in tech was one of my biggest challenges, and one that women still face in the industry. Fortunately, I had awesome champions early on who mentored and supported me. Now we’re seeing attitudes starting to change for the better and we’re in a position where we can now mentor the women who have joined after us.”
Have you in any ways contributed towards the cause of women empowerment.
As a single mother of a child with a mental disability, I am very vocal to all women that anything is possible if you keep your voice and fight for what is right.
Right from my college days, you would find me leading parades, organizing winning floats, speaking to thousands of women that have survived abuse, organizing professional conferences led by women of all ranks to push themselves past and their comfort zones. I encourage female peers to get their accreditations. For example: I have mentored and volunteered for years for the CPRS accreditation Program (APR). It is a test and testament of professional expertise, ethics and dedication. I encourage women to continue to challenge themselves.
I am proud to work for an organization that values and empowers women every day. They stand behind the inclusion, opportunity and empowerments considered as global priorities, and are inspiring the next generation through the Girls4Tech program that is encouraging women in STEM careers.
What are your insights on the necessity of ’Women in position of power’? And, how could it bring out a change in traditional male dominated industries?
Gender balance is crucial to the success of our business, as well as the personal and professional development of our teams. According to the 2017 Women in Cybersecurity Study, a joint venture between the Center for Cyber Safety and Education and the Executive Women’s Forum on Information Security, women only make up 11 percent of the total cybersecurity workforce.
My advice, for women leaders everywhere, is to go for what they want in their careers and not to give up. Hone the skills that are necessary to give you opportunities such as communication skills, leadership development, and emotional intelligence. Raise your hand in meetings. Speak up and be heard, and support and empower each other, starting with the basic principles of which we stand on—our morals, values, integrity. Also, keep your focus on the bottom line and let revenue drive the growth.
How do you strategize your game plans to tackle the competition in the market?
My job is made easier as we have the leading solution in the market. It’s a matter of ensuring solidified messaging to stand out and prove the value of your solution. Ensure you maintain and establish market share, stay ahead of the curve and trust in the value you provide.
How do you upgrade yourself with volatile technological trends to boost your personal growth?
To enhance my personal growth, I believe in:
- Accreditation!
- Conferences such as GRLC, MRC, CNP, KNOW etc.
- Online courses through Mastercard, and externally.
- Stay involved in professional associations such as CPRS, which I have been involved in for over 15 years and volunteer with them e.g. grading Accreditation papers.
- Lean and rely on strong, empowered, knowledgeable mentors that I count myself lucky to have.
- Networking with some of the brightest.
- Talk to everyone no matter where they are in their careers. The things you learn would surprise you.
What are your future endeavours/objectives and where do you see yourself in the near future?
We create tools and provide real-world intelligence needed to understand the digital user behind a device, so I will continue working with my team to diversify and protect the digital payments sector. In online security, the human is the weakest link. We will continue to make it the strongest by using natural human behaviors to continuously authenticate identity. Our mission is to make the digital space safe for all.
As the leading behavioural biometrics company, what is your contribution in the evolving security sector?
I don’t just see my individual contribution here. Evolving in the sector takes my whole team and beyond. As we have an extensive PR program, all the NuData spokespeople play a part in contributing to the sector. Daily, we’re asked to comment on breaking news stories and other security issues, giving NuData execs the chance to air their opinions and have a voice in the industry.
