Her Story
About Zoe
Zoe Hall serves as a tech seller in the public sector space for Cisco Systems, based in Washington state. In this role, she focuses on mid-market sales to state, local, and education customers within Washington. Her path to technology sales began with her graduation from Boise State University in 2018, where she earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Military Police Corps through the university's ROTC program. She then served four years as a lieutenant at the United States Disciplinary Barracks in Leavenworth, Kansas, followed by a promotion to captain and service as a criminal investigation detective commander at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. After deciding to transition from active duty military life with her wife to lay down roots in the Pacific Northwest, Zoe joined Cisco through their internship program for transitioning service members, which helped her leverage her executive presence, administrative, and leadership experience into a corporate role. She holds a master's degree in business and organizational security management from Boise State University as well. Zoe values communication and transparency highly in both her professional and personal life, using these principles to manage expectations and maintain strong relationships with all stakeholders. She is proud of her determination in successfully transitioning from a military background unrelated to technology into her current position within just six months.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Zoe
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would attribute my success to a healthy layer of perfect timing, but also to my tenacity and grit. My wife and I are deeply involved in all planning for major life changes and we war game any possible scenario. Having an unstoppable team with my partner has been the biggest contributing factor.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Always ask the question, and be okay with the answer being no. Too often we assume the answer's going to be no, and if we don't ask the question at all, then the answer will be no. But if you ask the question, you at least invite the opportunity for there to be a yes, and that can be applied to anything.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The greatest opportunity is to develop my professional sales mastery and move up in Cisco, from virtual mid-market seller to field roles. The greatest challenge is keeping up with the pace of the ever-evolving tech industry, especially with AI evolving and Cisco changing to accommodate those evolutions.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Communication and transparency are my greatest values. I use that to manage expectations professionally and personally. Every stakeholder should have all available information at any given time, and transparency and positive communication skills are deeply valuable to maintaining relationships.
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