Her Story
About Candace
Candace Barlow is a public sector strategist, community advocate, and servant leader dedicated to creating meaningful impact through innovation, collaboration, and service. As a Public Sector Client Executive at Cisco, she partners with government and education organizations to help them navigate complex technology challenges and achieve lasting outcomes for the communities they serve. Her leadership excellence has been recognized through Cisco's prestigious Chairman's Club (now Club Cisco), placing her among the company's top-performing professionals worldwide. Alongside her corporate career, Candace serves as Executive Vice President of the Junior League of Oakland-East Bay, where she helps lead initiatives that strengthen communities and develop future women leaders. Candace's career path began with an unexpected discovery. After graduating from Arkansas State University with a degree in Political Science and considering law school, a sales internship revealed an unexpected passion for building relationships and solving problems through technology. That pivotal experience launched a successful career in tech sales spanning more than a decade. Throughout her journey, she has built a reputation for helping clients navigate change, adapt to evolving markets, and leverage technology to achieve their goals. Her approach is grounded in transparency, integrity, empathy, and a commitment to helping teams succeed together. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Candace is deeply committed to leadership development, community service, and creating opportunities for others. She is currently pursuing her MBA at Pepperdine University and has completed the ITSMF Management Academy leadership program. Through her work with the Junior League of Oakland-East Bay and her foundation honoring her late father and grandmother, Candace continues to expand her impact beyond the workplace. Whether leading teams, serving her community, or mentoring others, she is driven by a belief that meaningful leadership begins with putting people first.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Candace
01What do you attribute your success to?
My personal values are my true north. I practice servant leadership, lead with my heart, and genuinely believe that people are the most important part of any business. When you make people the center and ensure their needs are met alongside the needs of the business, you build an unstoppable team. The camaraderie, the way we celebrate together, win together, and lose together, has been foundational to my success. Staying true to my guiding principles of empathy, transparency, and integrity, and being the kind of leader I would want to have, has served me well. I am not afraid to challenge the norm.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I would say the best career advice I ever received was that you're in the driver's seat for your own career. You're in charge. You have to have a plan. And you have to make the moves that you need to make to get to where you want to go. You can't be sitting around waiting for anyone to give you a promotion or anyone to tell you what you should be doing. You have to be networking and building those relationships and planning those moves for yourself.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Do not be afraid. Tech is not as scary as it seems. Educate yourself, learn your industry, your niche, and your specialty. Be a change maker, but also be willing to embrace change. In tech, the industry is always evolving and always growing, so staying informed and continuously learning is not optional; it is essential. The women who thrive are the ones who show up prepared and remain adaptable no matter what.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges facing our industry right now is the volatility in the chip market and the rising cost of RAM. The unpredictability is affecting pricing and availability across the board, and no tech company is immune to that. On the opportunity side, artificial intelligence is the defining frontier. How companies adopt it, integrate it into everyday operations, and use it to drive meaningful outcomes is the question everyone is trying to answer. And alongside that opportunity comes a critical conversation about governance: how much do we regulate, where do we draw the boundaries, and what does responsible AI look like for humanity going forward. We are at a genuinely fascinating inflection point, and the decisions made now will shape the industry for decades to come
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are transparency, integrity, and empathy. Transparency builds trust, and trust is the foundation of every meaningful relationship, whether personal or professional. Integrity means doing the right thing even when no one is watching, and that standard does not change based on the room I am in. Empathy is what keeps me grounded and connected to the people I serve, lead, and love. Together, these three values guide every decision I make and define the kind of leader, colleague, and person I strive to be every day.
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