Lorra Lather

I attribute my success to being a single mother of three daughters for 19 years, which motivated me to provide them with greater opportunities and a comfortable middle-class life. Being a woman in this male-dominated industry is not easy, so I had to develop a tougher skin. When you go into a boardroom meeting and there are 14 men in the room and you're the only woman, you have to always be extremely professional, learn how to ignore some of the comments you may hear, and not get discouraged. You have to earn their trust, and once you earn their trust, it's a different situation the next time you go into that boardroom meeting. My values of empathy, integrity, honesty, and just doing what you say you're going to do and standing behind that have been critical. I also think about how everyone can give back in their industry. If everyone would think about that with their current job, there are little things you can do that brighten somebody else's day or mood. We all have an influence.

In this industry, you have to accept change. Your products are going to change, solutions are going to change, management's going to change in your organization, and in your personal life things are going to change. You accept the change as a challenge and move on. To me, that is a successful person in my industry.

Once you get into the field and start your job, my biggest advice is to first observe. Take your first month observing your peers and your leadership, because I don't want you to make a quick judgment. I want you to really take your time, get to know your team and the leadership there, and then find that one person that you do feel comfortable with and ask for mentorship. Ask them to help you be as successful as they are, because every different company is going to be a little bit different. That is how you're going to succeed at this job and be promotable, because you're showing initiative and showing that you're not there just to collect a paycheck. You are there to truly learn. It's important to take that time and not just take on a mentor because that person's worked there longer. You want a mentor that you've observed, you respect, and you know that they can help lead you.

I see both challenges and opportunities right now. It's a huge opportunity because with quantum computing coming up, it's scary, like in 2000 when everybody thought all our computers were going to stop working. With quantum, it's a bigger threat, so we need more smart people and younger people that can adapt to all the AI changes and just the changes in the industry. Everyone thinks AI is going to take away all their jobs in tech, but no, you have to have a human that is still there. AI is only as good as the information and the query that you're putting in there. So this also provides opportunities without a doubt.

The values I hold most important are empathy, integrity, honesty, and just doing what you say you're going to do and standing behind that. My family is at the center of everything. I think about how you can give back in your industry. Around 2011 or 2012, during a hurricane in New Jersey while working for Verizon, one of my VPs asked me to reach out to my customer in oil and gas to see if they could help us get a couple of tankers to New Jersey so we could keep up all our power for the generators. Within 12 hours, this Fortune 50 company had two tankers delivered to New Jersey, and they did not charge Verizon for any of the fuel - they donated it. I am so proud of it. We never lost power, so loved ones were very appreciative that their cell phones continued to work and the network stayed up. That is my biggest accomplishment and a very significant way of giving back. If everyone would think about that with their current job, there are little things you can do that brighten somebody else's day or mood. We all have an influence. In addition, I regularly participate in fundraisers for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which my best friend leads as president of our local chapter.