b'Story Behind the Story: Interview with Quiessence PhillipsD F:Tell me how your boss counter-offered, giving you both a promotion D F:How did you grow at each job to take on the responsibilities you haveand lifelong financial advice.now?QUIESSENCE: QUIESSENCE:She asked me, Is it about the money or the work? For me it was both. I felt I needed a change. I neededIn each of my jobs, Ive developed different sets of skills and different ways of thinking about risk management to shake things up. My boss said, We can give you a different type of work, and in this instance, you can fulfilland working effectively. Ill learn on the job.Its one reason more women arent applying for top jobs in cyber. both needs, and you dont lose vesting. Resist the urge to leave now. Next year you will be in a better position.Federal Reserve, July 2007January 2013, Operations Supervisor & InfoSec Analyst, National Incident I really appreciated that type of information. She didnt have to share that with me. It made me reconsiderResponse Team:I amassed knowledge and discipline, monitoring threats, incident response, managing a certain choices and affected how I make decisions. I decided to stay, and I carry it forward. I always want24-7 operation. I got my feet wet in all areas.people to make the best decision for themselves, and they have to be happy with the decisions they make. Dont settle with short-term fixes. LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, LLC, January 2013September 2013:I worked for several financial D F:What are the top three things you While the work isinstitutions dealing with client relations, understanding different environments, providing cyber threat intelligence, third-party oversight, etc. Theres so much data available to be consumed. But proper use cases bring as a woman in cyber? important, the journey for the data, identifying logging requirements are important pieces prior to ingestion, let alone analysis.QUIESSENCE: is just as important. Barclays, VP Cyber Security Operations, Incident Response, Sept 2013Oct 2017:At Barclays, I worked Perspective:I bring a different perspective to the table. Iwith colleagues in different parts of the world. This provided an interesting perspective, not only from a feel diversity is important because of the unique opinionscultural optic, but also from a regulatory one. and perspectives people bring because of their own upbringing. Think about emojis. There were no black emojisCity of New York, Deputy CISO, Threat Management, October 2017Present:Coming to the City of until 2015. If there were more diverse groups making decisions that affect a wide range of people, differentNew York opened my eyes. I look at everything differently. I appreciate the work that goes into running a decisions would be made.Also, words matter. When you use the word female, it almost loses its edge.city, especially one as large and dynamic as NYC. When were Why cant I just be a boss? Not a female boss. A boss. investigating a cyber event, were not just thinking about the technology, the money that could be lost, or the brand Inspiration:I assume other people know what I know. My mother used to say, Just because you know it,reputation; the most important thing is the potential impact It is rewarding to help doesnt mean others do. As I began to break out of my shell, I got an overwhelming response from otherit could have on the people who live here. Think about the others achieve their women: You inspired me to go to school for this, pursue a career in technology, in cyber, both men andservices the city provides like clean drinking water orgoals while we make women. I would get so many different messages about the impact on their lives and how I made themautomated benefit checks to underprivileged parents. think about things differently or forge into areas they wanted to pursue. If those systems are tampered with, the outcomes canstrides together to be life-impacting. achieve the mission.Mission-driven:I am blunt. I am mission-driven. I like to cut out the fluff and focus on mission. WhileD F:What is your biggest achievementthe work is important, the journey is just as important. We want to make sure were having fun, making progress, and setting the stage for people coming behind us. personally and professionally? D F:Mentoring is a big part of your life. You created the non-profit JOURNi. QUIESSENCE:QUIESSENCE: I never really look at it like the biggest achievement. I do a lot of small things that add up to something My co-founders and I met at an event teaching kids to code and exposing them to different areas ofgreat. Although I live in a response kind of world, I focus a lot of time on preventative work. If you dont technology. We wanted to bring a program to Detroit, specifically to educate and create exposure for theprevent, then you will be stuck in a cycle of responding to the same events. under-served demographic. Im the first in my family to graduate from college. If you have two parents inThe biggest achievement from a leadership perspective is to help people see and be the best versions of your household and they are both engineers, you will likely be an engineer. Exposure is key.themselves. It is rewarding to help others achieve their goals while we make strides together to achieve Were teaching entrepreneurship, programming and other foundational elements that add to success,the mission.and everyone is eating it up; but there are fundamental issues that create challenges our communitiesPersonally, and within this industry, I would say my Securing-Your-Path initiative is pretty important. Ive dont necessarily face. Instead of starting with technology fundamentals, we had to start with accessibilitybeen able to touch women who are interested in the field and secure their path and make it a little and transportation. There are students who are incredibly smart, dedicated and willing to do this work,bit easier for women coming after me. Id like to see more women in the field. Those are my biggest but are unable to get to a learning center from one side of Detroit to the other because they have no busachievements, besides my son!Page 19 Page 20'