Angela Gorospe

I attribute my success to the fact that I don't have the traditional background like going to college, but what I lack in a college degree, I make up with hustle. What I mean by that is that in every opportunity I've been given, I've shown up to the table and worked harder than anybody out there. I really try to go above and beyond in anything that I do, and I think that's really a tribute to my success. I started in what was supposed to be a 3-month recruiting job just to make my rent money, but every day I went in and I worked hard, and that's how I built my 20-year career. I'm a big believer that everything happens for a reason. Of course, I've also had specific people who have been champions for me that have seen that hustle I have and have been able to help push me to that next level.

The best career advice I received is to be open to change, especially now with AI. There's a big thing where everybody's so scared that AI is going to take your job, but as long as you know how to use AI, people who know how to use AI are going to keep the job, while people who don't know how to use AI are more in jeopardy. So be an advocate, be a learner, and stay up to date with AI. The other thing with change is that you have to be adaptable to change. I was scared of change at first, but if you're okay with change, you can actually help make those decisions to really drive the change. That really helped me in getting my mindset of not being afraid and sitting at the table to help make those decisions in change management.

I see this at the conference all the time, and it's really about compensation. A lot of women are afraid to ask for their worth. When you go to get a job and have those conversations about compensation, use AI, look up your resources, and come to the table and ask for what you're worth. If you don't ask, you don't know. As a recruiting manager, sometimes I can't give you what you're looking for, but you could get it in other areas. The biggest thing I've noticed after delivering hundreds of offers is that women don't even ask. So take that risk and take that ask, because you need to advocate for yourself.

The biggest challenge I would say is the disruption of AI. Everything we do, our CEO is challenging us to say, how do we use AI to disrupt what we do? How do we integrate that into our everyday? We're being measured by that. I think there's a lot of uncertainty because it's that big buzzword - what's AI going to do? But I also see that challenge as an opportunity. I've challenged myself personally to see how I can utilize it to maximize on my skills, how I take my skills to the next level, and how I build better processes within the organizations I work with. I'm constantly trying to put the tool to use and utilize it so I can educate myself. I'm going to a Latinas in Tech conference in San Francisco in a couple weeks to educate myself and see what other thought leaders have to say in this space, so when I submit my next year's proposal for a conference, I have some new ideas from hearing those thought leaders.

Values are really important to me. Honesty is key - being someone who comes with intention, being honest with your opinion, and being open to giving feedback and also accepting it. That all falls under integrity, having that both ways. Inclusion and diversity are really big for me. I am the vice president for our Juntos ERG, so everything I do, I try to advocate not only for uplifting women, but also uplifting Latinos in tech, because we need more Latinos in tech and Latinos in cybersecurity. Diversity and inclusion are paramount. And then disruption is important. In cybersecurity, every time you turn on the news, some sort of cybersecurity breach is happening, whether it's the war in Iran, your grandma being hacked via Zelle, or something else. Cybersecurity is such a huge part of what we need in our everyday life since everything is digital. We have to move fast and be adaptable to change, so disruption would be another core value.