Influential Woman · Fire and Life Safety

Kristi Stoyak

Strategic Accounts Customer Success Manager, Inspect Point

Branford, CT

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's in Industrial Organizational Psychology Degree University of Phoenix (July 2024) Degree Two years of Biochemistry studies at community college level Cert Licensed Nutritional Health Coach

Her Story

About Kristi

I support my book of business, which consists of fire and life safety providers. I work for a software company called InspectPoint, which drives fire and life safety providers' business, including their compliance reporting. A day in the life for me looks like supporting my customers so that they're getting traction and value out of InspectPoint - answering any questions, conducting workflow best practices trainings, and having strategic conversations about how they can use the product to make their business more efficient and streamlined. My days are very busy. I'm often on a lot of Zoom calls, having to troubleshoot a lot of ultra-specific use cases, and working cross-functionally with my team of colleagues, engineers, and other Customer Success Managers to support each other. One of my most significant professional accomplishments was graduating with my bachelor's in industrial organizational psychology while working full-time in the fire and life safety industry. When I was halfway through with my degree in my early 20s, I became pregnant with my daughter, and I had to put my higher education on hold. While I was working as a full-time sales executive in my early 30s, I decided to go back to school full-time, while also working full-time.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Kristi

01What do you attribute your success to?

I'm an inherently curious person, and if you could pay me to get college degrees my whole life long, I would. I love to learn, and so having this naturally curious, inquisitive mindset in wanting to learn as much as I can about my industry, and thinking critically about it - that is what has benefited me the most.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

Never be the smartest person in the room. Always be open to learning. And above all, building relationships will pay much better dividends down the road than being the one who knows it all.

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

Feel free to ask questions and take up space.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

The life safety industry is a rapidly changing world post-COVID. We're seeing a privatization of the industry across the board. Over the last 10 years, the number of independently owned and operated fire and life safety organizations has dwindled as private equity holders are now coming in and taking a strong interest in the industry. So, it's just a rapidly changing world from that perspective. Additionally, code changes within the fire and life safety industry are a hot topic right now as it relates to some key topics, like lithium ion batteries, artificial intelligence, just to name a couple, and more.

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

I have 4 pillars that I strive to adhere to every day in my personal and professional life, and those are discipline, accountability, compassion, and connection. It's funny, because I actually just wrote my first book, which hopefully one day I'll have the opportunity to publish. And, in fact, those four pillars are my mainstay and the themes that the book is written on.

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