Building a career in the cybersecurity sector can be a complicated matter that involves multiple fronts and fields.
Take for example Tammi Hayes, president with Capital Strategies Group. An industry veteran with experience across multiple fronts, Hayes has seen high-profile deals that run the gamut of the tech landscape and its various outcomes.
“I focus on executive-level business development, M&A, corporate strategy, structuring partnerships, financial transactions, venture capital fundraising, and cultivating both B2B and B2G relationships,” Hayes said.
“I have been instrumental in brokering the sale of several private security companies to large public firms.”
Building a career as a woman in the cybersecurity sector has not always been easy. Hayes noted that coming up through the ranks was not always easy, and sometimes breaking into the boy's club of venture capital and cybersecurity proved more challenging than it should be.
“At that time, I was the only female on the business side, and frequently the only woman in the room at company-wide sales meetings. As I transitioned into corporate development roles, M&A and financing, I was again one of the few women taking on those roles in the early years of cyber,” she said.
“As I sat in male-only corporate board rooms, at times I felt that the men in the room failed to address me in the discussions, only focusing the discussion on the other males in the room.”
For Hayes, making it in a man’s world could sometimes mean having to throw credentials out on the table. An admin of Syracuse and Georgetown University, Hayes also boasts credentials from Nairobi University and Lomonosov Moscow State University.
The end result is an impressive resume that has not only allowed Hayes individual success, but access to a pipeline of talented women in IT that can fill executive level roles and lead emerging cybersecurity roles.
Among her recent achievements are initiatives aimed at supporting women founders and CEOs as well as a backing role in “Mothers Against Cyber Crime,” a book outlining the dangers young people face online.
“I have run my own business in cybersecurity for 14 years, and in doing so have gained the trust and respect from the entire industry, whether it be corporate execs, CISOs, technical teams, private equity and venture capital teams and my peers,” said Hayes.
“I have truly broken through the glass ceiling for women in cyber!”
