CELEBRATING MY FIRST 100 DAYS AND MY CORE VALUES AS AN INFOBLOX BLOXER
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I recently celebrated a critical point in my career as a B2B digital marketer for the coolest company in the world. It was just my 100th day as an Infoblox Bloxer.
I began my second career as a digital marketer in the B2B enterprise IT and security spaces several years ago, after teaching and directing school Theater departments and plays at the Middle and High School level. I have many people to thank for helping me navigate my way through the corporate world, and continue to grow as a marketer and as a team player in any professional setting.
I have come to a point in my marketing career where I have articulated my own marketing philosophy. I have also recently been able to identify criteria for what makes the ideal company to work with, and how to grow with such a company on a long term basis.
MY CORE VALUES AS A HUMAN BEING
My values as a marketer and human being match the values that Infoblox stands by.
Infoblox is a wonderful place to work and grow professionally. It takes its corporate values and culture very seriously, and places the the well-being of its employees, partners and customers above all else. Infoblox expects all employees to work with transparency, absolute integrity, collaboration, respect, fun, and to help delight customers.
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How does Infoblox maintain such a safe, fun, collaborative and nurturing culture?
NO JERKS ALLOWED
Infoblox has developed such a strong culture and embodying its values by embracing a “no jerks allowed ” policy across the entire company. That means more than hiring nice people. It means committing to and enforcing these values, and providing employees with opportunities to demonstrate these virtues.
Likewise, I also prioritize surrounding myself with supportive, intelligent people who will collaborate with me, be honest with me, respect me, know how to have fun, strive to help their company succeed and delight customers. I also choose to know and work with a company that makes a point to promote and retain women in tech. Lastly, I also have a personal no jerks allowed rule as a human being, and agree that every organization needs a no ******** policy.
MY CORE VALUES AS A DIGITAL MARKETING PROFESSIONAL
Furthermore, the marketing team at Infoblox supports my philosophy on the role that marketing should play in any company. I am celebrating my amazing new job and also the fact that I am able to grow with Infoblox on a long term basis.
DON’T HATE, COLLABORATE
First, marketing is all about collaboration. My favorite part about my job is that I get to work with people across all departments, such as product, field marketing and sales.
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I have developed a philosophy that marketing and sales teams in particular must operate as a single unit, and therefore should collaborate regularly. All marketers, and all employees in the corporate world are in sales whether they like it or not. My job as a marketer is to help identify the best leads, deliver them to sales, and to work with sales all the way down the entire buyer cycle to the purchase and retention phases. It’s also marketing’s job to help its company create and maintain strong relationships with customers, and ultimately to win deals and earn revenue.
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Infoblox and its marketing team regularly sets me up for success when it comes to collaboration. For instance, I spent this entire past week participating in the new hire sales training, and learned more about the corporate sales process, and what happens to the leads that my team sends to sales than I ever knew.
TAKE A MORE SOPHISTICATED APPROACH TO CYBERSECURITY
Second, working in the cybersecurity space is another non-negotiable criterion for the ideal company for me. I have worked in IT security for my entire marketing career, and I plan to commit to what I consider the hottest and most exciting industry in the world. The growing cybersecurity market reflects just how hot security is.
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Infoblox does more than providing greater core security. However, I have learned from my colleagues to take a far more sophisticated approach to IT security than I had learned from my previous companies.
I’m learning to not merely focus on being able to stop all threats all the time, for example. No cybersecurity company is capable of stopping all threats at all times. Attempting to tell that to a CISO in a sales pitch would likely get any sales rep ignored, if not eaten alive.
I’m also learning to help customers build a solid foundation for their entire organization. That means that companies must secure their networks from the very core. If the foundation of an enterprise’s network is not secure and rock solid, then it will remain vulnerable to malware and other devastating threats. Companies must invest in gaining visibility and availability in their networks first and foremost.
THINK AHEAD ABOUT CONCEPTS THAT AREN’T MAINSTREAM YET
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Infoblox also complements this aspect of my marketing philosophy. It’s a forward thinking company that educates audiences on topics that are important and trending today, as well as concepts that are coming down the pike. I’m encouraged to attend and speak at conferences focusing on marketing, Machine Learning, cybersecurity, global policies such as the upcoming GDPR, IoT and more.
I will continue to tell my story as it evolves. What’s your story?
