Cybersecurity Career Q&A: 5 Questions with Rochelle Maher, Director, Sales Enablement at Armis

Note to readers: This blog post is part of the Armis cybersecurity career Q&A series where we explore how people advance their careers in the industry by spotlighting some of the talented people that make Armis the leader in unified asset intelligence and security.

In this Q&A blog post, we meet Rochelle Maher, Director, Sales Enablement at Armis. Rochelle has worked in the technology industry her entire career, which includes stints at two cybersecurity companies. After living in the Bay area for several years, she moved back to Oklahoma to be closer to her family and help balance out the human versus cattle populations (she notes that there are more cattle than people in Oklahoma). When she’s not working remotely for Armis, Rochelle enjoys hiking, taking cooking classes and spending time with family.

Question 1: How Would You Describe Your Role at Armis?

I am in enablement, which is really the best role at any company because you get to be in the middle of everything. So, if you like people and to be in the hub of information, then enablement’s the role for you. I love it because I get to interface with sales, I get to interface with product and know what’s coming out, and I work with pricing and the legal team. I mean, every part of the company comes through enablement, and it’s really fun.

Question #2: Tell Us a Little About Your Career Path. How Did You End up in Enablement?

I actually started out in sales. And I don’t know that I was bad at it, but I literally cried every month when my quota renewed. I was just so stressed. And I remember talking to my husband, and saying, “I don’t think I can do this anymore, because I’m crying every month. So what can I do next?” And he was like, “Well, what parts of your job do you like?” I said, “I really like to help people. I really like to know things. I really like to advise and really enable.” My first first job outside of sales was in training, and it was really fun. And then from training, I moved into enablement. So enablement’s the perfect set of activities for what I like to do, and that’s how I got there.

Question #3: What Advice Do You Have for People Who Want to Get Into Cybersecurity?

For anybody interested in cybersecurity, I would say don’t wait because from where I sit, I feel like it is the future. Everything is affected by cyber. Everything all technology, up into warfare. There’s cyberwarfare now. So everything’s touched by it. So if you want to be on the cutting edge of where we’re going, and you want to guide that and make it better and more positive, then get into cyber. And if you want to know what’s the latest and the greatest—definitely get into cyber.

There’s a stereotype though about who is in cybersecurity. You envision somebody who is wearing a hoodie and is typing on a laptop in a really mysterious way in a coffee shop, and they’re hacking and doing all this stuff. And stereotypically, you don’t think about women in that role. But there are a million ways that women will thrive in cybersecurity, and a ton of opportunities. Think about the roles in any normal company that you are going to go work for; those roles exist in cyber as well.

So you don’t have to write code. Although female code writers are really smart and very organized and they do really well, so don’t shy away from that either. But there’s a ton of opportunity so don’t dismiss cyber because, it’s compelling—and it pays really well. So I say come on in, the water is warm. There is absolutely no reason women can’t thrive and be wildly successful in cyber.

Question #4: What Does Armis Mean to You?

Armis means opportunity and growth to me. One of the things I love the most in my job is I get to stand things up and build them from scratch. And as I look back over my first year at Armis, there are things that are in place that didn’t exist until I stood them up, and that is so satisfying. I really love that sensation of building something.

I also really love all the problem solving I get to do at Armis…I get to look at the landscape and what is it that we need to accomplish, and figure out how we’re going to solve that problem. And sometimes I misstep, and it’s okay, you learn. We’re learning and we’re moving on, and we continue to grow and I like that. I like to own things, I like to lead things, and I like to build things. So Armis is all about growth and opportunity for me.

Question #5: And finally, What Have You Been Working on Recently?

“Recently I have been working on creating an Armis Asset Vulnerability Management (AVM) enablement program.  This includes Roundtables with AVM Experts, Customer Win Stories,  and building out a certification that issues a digital badge upon completion.  The fun with this enablement initiative is watching the Armis Team post their certification badge on social media then seeing the amazing support they get from team members, partners, friends, and customers.  Armis folks work hard and I love that they are getting recognized for being leaders in vulnerability management.

The Armis platform provides a single source of truth, so you have visibility into every asset in your environment, including hardware, software, operating systems, applications, physical location, users, and more. Find out more about Armis and Asset Vulnerability Management.