Her Story
About Airel
Ariel Brown has been in the IT Channel for 12 years and currently serves as a channel account manager with Pax8, where she acts as a trusted advisor to managed service providers helping them grow their businesses through cloud solutions and cybersecurity services. Her expertise lies in cybersecurity, particularly spam filtering, EDR solutions, managed detection response, and managed security services, areas she has focused on for 7 of her 12 years in the field. Brown graduated from Woodmont High School in 2012 and has earned channel account manager certification with CompTIA as well as SonicWall certification. She is actively involved in the Hugh organization at Pax8, which supports people of color in IT channels and engages in community service. A notable achievement includes training Microsoft employees from around the world at a conference in Seattle on the benefits of working with distributors. Brown draws inspiration from her mother, Joy Brown, and mentors including LaTosha Fletcher, and she emphasizes her personal mantra of discipline over excuses for success. She advises young women entering the industry to never give up and not to short-sell themselves, highlighting her own ability to balance her roles as a wife and mother of five while excelling professionally. She sees opportunities in next-gen AI transforming the field and aspires to advance into management and leadership positions at Pax8.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Airel
01What do you attribute your success to?
I have a mantra for myself. And my mantra is discipline over excuses. I can complain over and over and over and over again, but what is complaining going to do? It's not going to fix the problem. It's just... I'm just going to be stuck in the same situation. So, you have to be disciplined, and that's what I have become. I have become more disciplined in my career, and that's what has been helping me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The best advice that I could give young women that's in my industry is just never give up. keep going. Even when, you know, you could have a crappy month, you could have a crappy year. never give up. Never have someone tell you that you cannot do something, because I'm doing it. I'm in this world, I'm a wife, I'm a mother of... 5, I have 2 stepchildren and 3 kids, and 3 of those kids, they stay home with me throughout the whole summer, and I'm still effectively doing my job. While taking care of my kids at the same time, so don't ever short-sell yourself. If you are worthy, you can achieve the goals that you want to achieve.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Some of the biggest challenges right now is that There's not enough. And with that being said, sometimes women, you know, that are in this field we get looked at a certain type of way... And not only that, it's the same thing for African American women. It's 10 times worse. ... On the opposite end, some of the big opportunities that I see in the field right now is the way that AI is transforming everything. Next-gen AI is a huge thing.
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