Summer Boone

I would say learning from other women who I've talked to, reading different types of books, but really just understanding how everyone else works and taking their little stuff and building it into my own. I've gone to many conferences and stuff, and I've been able to learn how people speak and talk, and how they understand one another, and what it means to talk in technical versus in a casual conversation. I think that, as well as my charisma, and I've tried to build up my confidence and be like, hey, don't be scared, you just gotta go for it, has really put me in a more successful spot than if when I used to be timid. I used to be scared to go up and talk to people, I used to think everything was awkward, and once I broke through that boundary, it's really helped me take off.

I would say probably that making mistakes and failing is part of the process, and you can't be scared to do it, and it builds confidence. I was so scared early on that making mistakes ruins a reputation, it ruins how people know you. It just makes you human, and that's what we all are. At the end of the day, you can't be a robot, you can't just always know the answer. You're gonna fail and you're gonna make a mistake, but pick yourself back up and learn from it, and do something to make up for it. No one's gonna remember their mistakes, so they're gonna remember the achievements you make along the way.

Never give up, 100%. In the cyber industry, there's a lot of men that are very successful, like in any other industry. Especially when you see those Fortune 500, the founders, the CEOs, they're all men, you don't really see women. Never give up and strive for more, because eventually, we will take over it. I know other women that I have and friends, just do it. Connect with as many women as you can on LinkedIn. They'll be there to help you, because they want you to succeed. Look for those groups. I'm in Women in Cybersecurity. It's an amazing group, foundation, all of us coming together to help out one another. I just would say never give up and strive for more, because men get compliant and complacent. You don't want to be like that.

Professionally, as well as in any type of work, it's really just staying on top of everything and not getting distracted, and sometimes being lazy. In the work environment of working at home, although I love it and it gives me a lot of opportunity, like I have a dog, I like being able to take her on walks, I'm around my family so it's nice to be able to go and see them for a couple minutes a day rather than being in an office, it's kind of just hard to always be focusing being at home. There's a lot of distractions. So I feel like I find that as a challenge for me day-to-day, but once I get on it, it's great. It's the same thing when it comes to school and studying. I feel like I can study for 2 hours, but my brain's roaming and distracted. I'm always thinking about new ideas, so it's kind of being like turning it off.

I would say, obviously, I value being motivated and always having something to look forward to, and always being hungry for something more, never being complacent and staying in place. I mean, it sounds dumb to say being like a good person, but just doing that, you can make the right amount of connections and knowing people gets you to a better spot in your life. Teamwork, always being there, being coachable. Like, you might have someone that knows more than you, learn from them and grow from it. Like, they're there for a reason to help you, they came into your path. They're not there to be rude to you, they're there to help you out. I would say that: coachable, teamwork, being a good person, being motivated. And then, something I've worked on is just trying to stay on top of things. Like, you don't want to get behind in slack and realize I have so much to pick up. If you're on top of it from the jump, it's going to be so much better in the long run for you.