Due to the blending of home and work life, and especially with the need to educate my three sons from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been harder to ensure some sort of separation at the end of a work day. In response, my family and I have increasingly turned to the outdoors to provide that needed reset. I’ve always loved being outdoors and did a lot of forest schools with my boys as they were growing. We now have a firepit in the back garden, and it is fabulous to sit in the evening and mellow out with marshmallows and popcorn.
We live near the Peak District in the UK, and the boys have been brought up walking (or being carried) along the trails. We’ve most recently done a lot of tree planting for a local forest, which also is very grounding and helps us all feel connected. The boys love the garden and being outside, but like all kids, they also love their console, so we just try to make sure we keep things in balance.
We’ve also just invested in a polytunnel to help us become more sustainable by growing our own vegetables. The project aspect has gotten everyone in the family involved, and it gives us all a thrill to see new life pushing through the soil. We saw the COVID lockdown as an opportunity to get outdoors as we’re really unable to go very far these days, and I thought the polytunnel would provide a focus. All of these activities are important to give me headspace after a heavy day “in the office.” It keeps me active, happy and sane!
I also enjoy my career, which has come a long way. I originally trained in media and fell into working in newspaper pre-press, which had no onsite IT presence, meaning I had to fix things myself. This led to my interest in IT, and I transitioned into operational IT after completing a master’s degree in computing (networks). I then gravitated toward information security, initially completing my CISA to get an understanding of technical audit, and that began my relationship with ISACA. I've been working in corporate travel for the last couple of years, which brings with it a whole new set of challenges around data and security. As my career evolves, I appreciate the support that ISACA provides, and I'm building many new relationships through the SheLeadsTech program, for which I'm an ambassador.
Now being in a CISO role, I get to discuss cybersecurity at the board level and really dig into the risk management piece with the senior leadership team. I’m accountable and need to make sure we cover off on everything from the physical security controls to awareness training. We run a distributed power down model and ensure we’re all working to the same vision and goals, including information security. When people report phishing emails or tell me where we could improve, that’s a win!
Stress comes into play when there is tension between agility and controls. It’s always difficult, but I’m using my recent CRISC knowledge to help work through it, so that we are making conscious, risk-based decisions as a business.
After a challenging day, it is important to do something different and take a break. That’s where the outdoors – and our new polytunnel – provide just the change of pace that I’m looking for.