Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh

Latinas in Cyber: Transforming the Landscape of Cybersecurity with Angela Bergsma

March 24, 2024 Grant McGaugh CEO 5 STAR BDM Season 5 Episode 30
Latinas in Cyber: Transforming the Landscape of Cybersecurity with Angela Bergsma
Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
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Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
Latinas in Cyber: Transforming the Landscape of Cybersecurity with Angela Bergsma
Mar 24, 2024 Season 5 Episode 30
Grant McGaugh CEO 5 STAR BDM

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Discover the powerful story of Angela Bergsma as she navigates the shift from naval intelligence to a cybersecurity vanguard, breathing life into the movement Latinas in Cyber. Our conversation with Angela is a peek behind the tech industry curtain and a revelation of the unique barriers Latinas encounter in the field. We traverse the landscape of mentorship, the significance of cyber hygiene, and the strategies to stay ahead of digital predators. Celebrating the strides made by Latinas in Cyber, this episode is a testament to the organization's commitment to education and setting a stage for women to dazzle in technology and cybersecurity.

Eavesdrop on a discussion that transcends typical cybersecurity dialogues, highlighting that a flair for organization and management parallels technical skills in industry significance. Angela and I dissect how to alter cybersecurity perceptions within Latin cultures to promote inclusivity and advocate for the mosaic of voices essential for formidable security. We tackle the human factor as cybersecurity's Achilles' heel and champion the crusade for cyber literacy starting at a tender age. Recognizing the influence of visible role models and thought leadership, this episode doesn't just spotlight the pathway for women aspiring to tech greatness—it equips every listener with the savvy to confront the omnipresent digital threats confidently.

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!

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Send us a Text Message.

Discover the powerful story of Angela Bergsma as she navigates the shift from naval intelligence to a cybersecurity vanguard, breathing life into the movement Latinas in Cyber. Our conversation with Angela is a peek behind the tech industry curtain and a revelation of the unique barriers Latinas encounter in the field. We traverse the landscape of mentorship, the significance of cyber hygiene, and the strategies to stay ahead of digital predators. Celebrating the strides made by Latinas in Cyber, this episode is a testament to the organization's commitment to education and setting a stage for women to dazzle in technology and cybersecurity.

Eavesdrop on a discussion that transcends typical cybersecurity dialogues, highlighting that a flair for organization and management parallels technical skills in industry significance. Angela and I dissect how to alter cybersecurity perceptions within Latin cultures to promote inclusivity and advocate for the mosaic of voices essential for formidable security. We tackle the human factor as cybersecurity's Achilles' heel and champion the crusade for cyber literacy starting at a tender age. Recognizing the influence of visible role models and thought leadership, this episode doesn't just spotlight the pathway for women aspiring to tech greatness—it equips every listener with the savvy to confront the omnipresent digital threats confidently.

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!

Speaker 1:

Welcome to another episode of Follow the Brand. I am your host, grant McGaw, ceo of 5-Star BDM, a 5-Star Personal Branding and Business Development Company. I want to take you on a journey that takes another deep dive into the world of personal branding and business development, using compelling personal stories, business conversations and tips to improve your personal brand. By listening to the Follow the Brand podcast series, you will be able to differentiate yourself from the competition and allow you to build trust with prospective clients and employers. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make it one that will set you apart, build trust and reflect who you are. Developing. Your 5-Star Personal Brand is a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. If you have any questions for me or my guests, please email me at grantmcgugh at 5-Star BDM. Be for brand, be for development and for masterscom. Now let's begin with our next 5-Star episode on Follow the Brand. Welcome. This is the Follow the Brand podcast and I am the host, grant Macal, ceo of 5-Star BDM, where we help you to build a 5-Star brand. People will follow From the studio to the digital battlefield.

Speaker 1:

Angela Bergman's journey is nothing short of cinematic, catching vibrant paint strokes merging with the precision of cybersecurity tactics. Today we dive into this remarkable fusion with Bergman, the pioneering force behind Latinas and cyber. She shares her incredible ship from the world of naval intelligence to becoming a vanguard of digital defense. We're getting real about the hurdles that women, especially Latinas, encounter in the tech domain. Bergman's share of life, on the transformative power of mentorship, the strength found in community and how diverse talents can redefine the technological landscape. Join us on an exploration where each keystroke encode carcals with intention. Our conversation goes deeper than the usual tech jargon, welding into the essentials of cyber hygiene the intricacies of safeguarding our digital selves and unraveling the complex tapestry of online threats. Bergman offers invaluable insight on staying one step ahead in the ever-evolving world of cyber threats, emphasizing the significance of understanding the motives behind our digital exchanges. Our episode culminates with the uplifting success stories from Latinas and cyber, showcasing how this visionary organization is breaking ground, creating educational opportunities and lighting the way for women to excel in the spheres of technology and cybersecurity.

Speaker 1:

This is the Follow Brand Podcast, where we are building a five-star brand that you can follow. Welcome to the Follow Brand Podcast. We're going to take it all the way up and I've never done a show. We're going to take it to a show in Grand Rapids, michigan, michigan. Oh my God, they want a championship in football. They've been doing some very phenomenal things. Even the Detroit Lions got out there. Yeah, we won't break that up. Tough loss, tough loss, tough loss, but they got to. I think they're on a good team going forward, but you are on a great, great team.

Speaker 1:

We're going to talk about women in technology. We're going to talk about cyber security in general, and let's talk about why there aren't as many women in tech. There's some reasons around that and we want to get things out there that people say, hey, you have skill sets that are transformative, that are needed in the tech space. It's a matter of creating those opportunities to get more visible and give you the skill sets and the different certifications you might need to participate. But, my goodness, I'm going to tell you that Angelo's credentials are outstanding and we're going to talk about this. Angelo, you'd like to introduce yourself?

Speaker 2:

Hi, grant, thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Yes, I'm from Grand Rapids, michigan. My name is Angela Bergsma. I'm based here in Grand Rapids. I am the president and one of the founders of Latinas and Cyber, and in my day job, I work for Palo Alto Networks as a senior security practice manager. As in the public sector, I work on securing the federal space with my stakeholders.

Speaker 1:

Well, let's talk about how you got there. Those are big things. You're working for a major company in Cyber in Palo Alto, but you've got back row in the servers and even previously tell us how did your journey to get to where you're at right now.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's such an interesting journey. I think I'll put a little bit on how I got into cybersecurity and technology in general. And it was just a very diverse background. I actually was an art major at one point in college and decided at some point that art wasn't a very lucrative career path and ended up getting a degree in Spanish. And during this time, 9-11 happened. So I come from a very strong Navy family and decided to join the Navy after college and ended up doing the reserves with a degree in Spanish and specialized in something called Naval Intelligence. So worked on Naval Intelligence, got my clearances.

Speaker 2:

This was all a time also in which Homeland Security wasn't even an agency. At the time we didn't have the cloud. Cybersecurity wasn't an industry. But I ended up getting clearances and moving out to DC and really having a very diverse and lucrative career in the intelligence industry or what they call the intelligence community. So I was actually exposed to all of the cybersecurity domains and that culture and protecting information and data, long before cybersecurity was actually, like I said, an industry and worked technical operations, exploited technical devices, worked in a field called or in counterterrorism.

Speaker 2:

And then I did that for about a decade and decided I was tired of that life and I got out and was able to then transfer my skills as an intelligence officer into cybersecurity, which was an emerging industry at the time that I got out. So that's a little bit.

Speaker 1:

That's a heck of a story I'm going to tell you. I mean, you go from learning art and Spanish language to doing cybersecurity intelligence for the Navy. That's a huge leap. What skills have you believed that you brought to the table that enabled you to be so successful?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I mean the skills that I had to be successful in cybersecurity. As an intelligence officer, my job was to understand information and data and a lot of what the cybersecurity industry does is protecting personal information or companies information, so you know, and also the other part of it was learning how to exploit information as well. So I was able to bring some of those skills of exploitation and just understanding how to protect or the value of information to my day job in cybersecurity and to explain to stakeholders why they would want to protect their information. Why would a nation state want your information, especially if you're in the Midwest working in, you know, various critical infrastructure industries? Just having like understanding, like why would a nation state or hackers or hacktivists want my information to sell it to a foreign service or other nefarious sources?

Speaker 1:

This is so interesting and you also have started. I don't know if you founded the foundation or the organization here. We're talking about Latinas in cyber, you know. You're talking about breaking barriers we're talking about. I just talked to someone. They were doing coding at that time of thing and they went to a conference. There were 200 people in the room talking about coding and there was only like five to eight women in the entire room. I find that a little bit disturbing. Tell us about why you started your program and what your purpose is and your why.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So after I got out of the intelligence industry, I worked in the commercial sector for a little bit. I was also an entrepreneur, so I had my own business selling Microsoft security solutions and as I was delving into cybersecurity and selling these solutions to my customers, I was looking for a community, like some people that looked like me women that were in cybersecurity. I'm my racial Mexican, american, irish and there were some communities out there, but I hadn't found anything that was Latina focused and the groups that I were a part of that were Latina focused, like Latinas and tech. They were heavily invested in like the networking aspect, but I was looking for like the subject matter experts and the mentors in cybersecurity specifically and didn't see it. So that was one reason. The second reason is I had taught, or I was speaking to a group after school and was speaking to a group of students that were diverse and were looking to get into cybersecurity, and I had a teacher afterwards. Just think, thank me for like telling my story and the fact that I was an art major at one point and you know their students couldn't necessarily see themselves in that space, but that the young women in the room needed to see women like myself, talking about how they had this different, diverse career in technology and cybersecurity. So that was the second thing that preempted me to want to start an organization.

Speaker 2:

And then the last thing was in the spring of 2022, there's an organization called IC squared, which is an industry specific cybersecurity organization that kind of set standards for our industry and they put out a statistic that there were only 4% of Latinos in the cybersecurity market or in the United States.

Speaker 2:

And that was very alarming to me because Latinos is plural in Latin or in Spanish, so it can be men and women, which I then estimated it was likely two to 3% of women in this space, and I just thought it was really unacceptable.

Speaker 2:

And then the last piece was, like you mentioned, you know, maybe being in the room of 200 programmers and you're the only person of color. I also went to a function in DC when I was in my entrepreneurial stage and I went to it's called the National Institute of Standards of Technology, nist, which they said a lot of industries, specific cybersecurity standards, and I also was like the only woman of 40 men and definitely the only woman of color. So I felt isolated and not having somebody that I could turn to like myself. So I really at that time was just like I need to start this organization, and so I put out a call to action on LinkedIn and I ended up finding a community of women and slowly, for almost two years now, we've been building Latinas and cyber. We just became a 501C3 last summer, so we've got about 7,000 members across the nation and we're doing a lot of great things. So thank you for asking.

Speaker 1:

No, I'm impressed. You said you started this only a couple of years ago and you've got 7,000 members already.

Speaker 2:

Across yeah, across all of our socials about 7,000 people following us, and we've hosted a couple educational workshops today and H-of-I-cohors have over 300 applicants each time. So we're really trying to. Our focus is really to build cybersecurity pathways for Latinas and to create the next generation of Latina leaders. So we're doing that through education or curriculum, careers and community. We call it our three C's, but everything we do is centered around developing these pathways and then helping women become leaders in this space, because that margin is so small in the United States.

Speaker 1:

I agree. I love what it is that you're doing. Great social impact. You talk a lot about psychology and cybersecurity and the neurodiversity things of this nature. The mindset we had this conversation before we jumped on the podcast. Around you know certain women, women that are getting involved in the cybersecurity space or wanting to get involved. Talk to us about the mindset. What do you do? Mystify around that to help people know that they can be successful in this field.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I would say for the Latina culture, latin culture in general, the culture is very male dominated and so the man typically is the breadwinner, the man does the hard jobs, and so there's a little bit of us transforming like what does that look like in the home? Like what does the woman contribute in the home and are her skills transferable to get into a career in technology or cybersecurity? So it's educating women in our community that their skills as mothers, as teachers or other industries that they may typically be in, as, like, caregivers or, you know, medical teachers, all of that that there are skills in those other areas that they can bring into cybersecurity. Because cybersecurity industry is so large it's a trillion dollar industry there's roles in every type of domain, so you don't have to be the super technical person. You could be a salesperson. I'm a and I'm sorry I said I was a practice manager, I'm a program, I'm a senior program manager in the public sector, so I can organize and manage information to people really well.

Speaker 2:

And as mothers, you know, women can organize their families and their to-dos and, you know, manage just so many different things. There's just a lot of different those types of skills that they could bring into cybersecurity. That would be an entry into this industry, so it has at least barriers for entry. In regards to psychology, I think it's changing that narrative that you have to that cybersecurity is seen as just protective, because I think externally in Latin cultures, if you think about cyber or the police force, it's male, male dominated. We have to shift the narrative in those homes that it's not necessarily male. It's a lot of, it's a plethora of different rules and job functions. So you could be extremely good at organizing information, you can be, have a gift for a gap and can sell services. There's just so much so.

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 1:

I work a lot in the hospital world. I tell people all the time that hospitals aren't just full of nurses and doctors. There's all kinds of different roles because it's a. It's a mini enterprise, so there's all kinds of things that you can actually find yourself doing even in that field. So security is the same way. There's so many other things you can get involved in. But we need your presence because that input is so, so key, because we live on it in the planet, right On the planet, where we've got probably 50 to 51% I don't know what the exact percentage is.

Speaker 2:

There's a lot of women and there's a lot of men.

Speaker 1:

You can't be so one sided because you're not getting the perspectives of all things that will be, especially if you look to say so. We're starting to hack your, your, your company or whatever it might be. They're going to leverage where you're most negative and where you're most vulnerable, right? So if you've got populations of people that aren't cyber aware, then that technically they feel that they don't need to be or they don't feel that they're inclusive in that world. If I'm a hacker, I'm going to go after the people that aren't as savvy in that in in those areas to exploit, right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that that's where I would say that human, the human, is like the weakest link in cybersecurity and in my government career and my military or my government career I specialized in it's called human intelligence.

Speaker 2:

So our when we would exploit people, it was all about understanding the psychology of that person and why would they give us information. So there is an aspect of that I'm really concerned of within cybersecurity that is more people centric and the exploitation of people. That you know, I think cyber today is really focused on the technology and protecting the systems and the domains and all of that. But you know, self education or education awareness in cybersecurity is, I think, crucial and, to your point, educating people. That could could be the weakest link because they don't have cyber hygiene, they don't know how to you know they've never done an assessment of their environment, or they don't know how to you know have lengthy passwords or just you know not to let people follow them into spaces and things like that. So there's just a lot from the human aspect that it could be very vulnerable within cybersecurity 100%.

Speaker 1:

We are such a digitized society. Now we think about now, when people are really focused on this through time. Think about how much you were in front of a computer type device 30 years ago. You know probably not as much then 20 years ago and now 10 years ago. And now we're looking at now when we're probably interfacing with some type of digital device on a daily basis, especially with mobile computing. Right Now you've obviously got your tablets and your desktops and all these different things, but not only just that. Think about the technology that's now in the home all the time when you've got an Alexa app or some kind of other device that talks to you and get into that AI world. But it's all over the place. So if you're not aware of how most of your financial world is totally digitized, remember when you'd even go to our ATM. You know what. Any ATM, any.

Speaker 2:

ATM. Yeah, you have to use multi-factor to get into your bank. Now you know there's so many different protocols in place to protect yourself, your hygiene at home, 100% 100%.

Speaker 1:

I want my kids, especially like I have a daughter, a red child, two of them but they need to be aware of the digital world, not only. If you don't even get it to the industry, it's like, oh, that's only for the IT people. No, not anymore, it's for everybody. It's like driving the car we all need to know how to operate a vehicle in our society so that people are knowing how to get to somewhere. You know what I'm doing, you just need to know these things. I like what you're doing because you're educating people like hey, these are things you need to know. And you nailed it about the human factor in cybersecurity, the social engineering that's taking place.

Speaker 1:

I don't know how much software you got out there with all these little locks and somebody gets in there to give away all the keys to the mansion, you're still going to get hacked.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I was actually at a conference this last week and that is the biggest, like I work in public sector and they talked about how businesses and people are the target of nation states from a cybersecurity perspective, and they don't understand why or how, and the reality is, though, is that people have relationships and they have information that they themselves might think is not important, but to somebody that is targeting them it could be important, and they might be a way to get to the end person or data or system that they're trying to get to.

Speaker 2:

So, depending on where you work and the relationships you have, if you think about it, I'm sure you have so many connections Could I get to grant and then get to my ultimate target If I knew grant and befriended grant? That's usually what nation states or our adversaries overseas they do have targets here in the United States. They have operations that happen like in the clandestine aspect, so, no-transcript, you very well could be that threat. So, having operational security, which we call OPSEC in the military, knowing your surroundings, recognizing when people are asking you questions that just seem a little bit why would they be asking me about my company and these very in-depth kind of questions, like just having that awareness and then going through, I think cybersecurity awareness training as well will help prevent some of those types of activities from happening.

Speaker 1:

I think everybody should have some cyber awareness training. Every single person I've noticed lately, especially on LinkedIn. I love LinkedIn, love the platform. When I'm starting to get more and more, I'm seeing what I call these AI bots. They're pretending to be people. A lot of times they're young Asian female with only a few connections, but all of a sudden, like Brent, I just love your profile. You're doing such wonderful things. Let's connect. Then they start in with these unbelievable things that they're doing. They want me to participate. Usually, your spidey sense will go off like I'm not that good looking.

Speaker 2:

I don't think.

Speaker 1:

I wore that kind of activity, but you've got to be aware of all these different things that are happening to get your attention. Now, I always go by this what are they asking you to do? You said it right. What is the ask here and does that make sense? And what is the nature of this relationship and does it align with what it is? The why you're having this conversation in the first place? There's so many people. We're in a worldwide community now, much closer than it ever was before COVID, so it's not unusual to have conversation with somebody in another country, but you don't really know that person or what they're involved in or what their connections are. But you do have to look at yourself. What is the value that I bring to this person and why do they feel that it's valuable? And you've got to do some due diligence there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I think I've linked them too. Make sure you have certain settings turned on. Don't allow them to see your connections. Don't allow them to export. There was a function in there at one time where you could export your connections, so make sure you turn off some of those features. I would even say any personal information, like a phone number or a personal email. Don't have that connected to your LinkedIn if you don't want these people targeting you.

Speaker 2:

And I do advocate for using LinkedIn and to target people for work and to build networking opportunities and connections. I mean, I use it all the time and I help our members understand the value of networks and building your network on LinkedIn. But be purposeful, be safe with the information you put out there. Like you said, are these people connecting with me from countries that are not friendly to the United States? There are like five or five to eight countries, I believe, that are considered, you know, not friends with the United States. I would advise blocking connections from those countries. Just because you are a US citizen and you have US relationships, you're likely connected to fortune 500 organizations with powerful people as a CEO, and so those are valuable connections to somebody that might be targeting those organizations.

Speaker 1:

Exactly and I'll still. I'll go back to what I said. What are they asking you to add to your? What kind of information that you've got there? And understanding that public information is public, certain things should be private, and if you put something out in a public forum and it's public, that means just anybody has access to it. So be aware of those things. We're gonna circle back to original conversation, which is women in tech. We're doing this series because I know there's a lot of women in technology, but you don't always, it's not always that visible or they're kind of scattered throughout. And I still go back to what you said earlier. Wow, you started this two years ago. You got 7,000 people that are like yes, I wanna be a part of this organization. I want to have people that look like me to understand what I'm doing and have that mentorship and have the opportunity for someone to advocate for me. And then I have all these different things that can have this conversation, because women in technology is a big thing. I think it's big business.

Speaker 2:

Yeah it is, and Latina's and Cyber. We're really creating that or we're bridging the gap for that divide that's there, by providing the pathways in cybersecurity and education. Like, we're very focused on programming and the type of educational outreach that we can provide to our women so that they're educated and they know the industry that they're getting into, and so we do that. We offer a full life cycle of programs from a cohort perspective where we bring in industry experts to speak to them as they're learning about cybersecurity in the different domains. We've partnered with Google and IC squared and also Fortinet some major organizations in the cybersecurity industry to deliver education, and I think that's really key is providing the education so that these women can get into this industry. And we're creating that workforce and we're adding to the workforce rate. We're gonna change that 2% so that it's 10% today here in the United States, because it's really unacceptable, to be honest, and it's dangerous.

Speaker 1:

We've got to educate our communities around. If you're operating in a digital ecosystem all the time, you've got to be cyber aware and we've got to. And I love how you've gotten these other companies too, like you know what. Let's jump in here. Let's educate, let's get people familiar, so everyone's familiar with each other, and when you have familiarity, you can get things done. You can be more open, like, okay, this is what you need to do to get to where you want to go. Let's take what your passion and your purpose is all about and see where we can get you to, where you will fit into this organization and do great work, and I just wait till you're in college or early careers. This line of this should be starting in our K through 12, because how many kids now have a cell phone in their hand and they're only like seven or eight years old oh my gosh, my nephew is now how to handle an iPhone other than I did.

Speaker 2:

But the other thing, too, I think that is important for women in tech and in cybersecurity is not only providing the pathways, but also giving them visibility. So another area that we're focused on is thought leadership and providing that exclusive networking opportunity at the senior, mid to senior and executive level. So we do have a series where Pee-Pee actually one of your guests. She was on a couple episodes ago. She's one of our hosts for a series called La Jepha and it's a speaker series for RC Suite, where we highlight Latina leaders and other women of color in the space and cybersecurity and they get to talk about their subject matter expertise. So we're giving them the platform as well to be seen as leaders and as thought leaders in the United States as well, because there isn't a lot of those platforms available for us to have that presence, and we want the little girls K through 12 to see women speaking about what they're doing and their expertise in cybersecurity or AI and giving them that voice. So that's really also another crucial element of Latina's and cyber as well.

Speaker 1:

This is great. Now you've got I'm assuming you have YouTube channels, how can people access your site, your information, how do they get involved?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I would say the first way to get involved is we have a website, latinasandcebracom. You can follow us on our socials. We're on LinkedIn, instagram Is it? Twitter? I'm not actually huge on social media, just a couple of platforms but really the base of our followers are on LinkedIn and then on some of those other platforms, and we do have a Discord channel.

Speaker 2:

So if you are a woman of color and you want to connect with your community for Latina, we have a Discord channel that you can find on our website and also on our LinkedIn page, and that is actually very an amazing community. We have over, I think, 700 members in that Discord channel now, where women are connecting all over the United States in different regions and just introducing themselves, offering to connect with each other. On LinkedIn. I actually just had somebody who posted that she is in cybersecurity, but she just got her PMP. So I'm a cybersecurity program manager, pmp certified, and has offered to connect with her and guide her if she's looking for opportunities. So it's just a great place to meet others. So those would be primarily the places I would say they can connect with us.

Speaker 1:

Well, that's wonderful. These are all good things that you're doing in the community. Are there cost associated? Is there basic packages that are involved?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean primarily the founders. We have an executive team now with an executive director, myself as president and VP, and then we have a leadership team underneath us. We are driving everything with our volunteer workforce right now, but we've been operating a little bit, like I said, under two years and there are financial costs associated with it. So we are looking for donations and sponsors. So we do look for organizations to sponsor some of our series. We do have a dinner suite series where it allows executives to network with each other at that executive level. So it's kind of an exclusive opportunity.

Speaker 2:

We are looking at someday putting out a summit so we can bring all these women together. So they're operating costs around that. And in regards to some of our education programs, some of them have been donated to us in kind by some of the organizations we're working with and there are others. We do have a CISSP program that we're working on, but we are requiring some funds for that. So there are anybody out there that's interested in donating for our cause, who would like to be a sponsor of some of these educational programs so that we can hire the program managers and pay for vouchers and pay for books. Those are some of the things that we're looking for as a organization.

Speaker 1:

No, I love that. That is a call to action. I'm involved with so many different cyber companies, just like yourself in Palo Alto, the foreigners of the world, the Treliks of the world, the Cisco's of the world, and there's a lot of them. They would benefit from this type of organization because they get the exposure and they're an awareness and the wide and it actually helps the whole community to become stronger together. I really really like that. Now I'm going to ask you one last question, and this is curious to me because it makes me smile that I look at your journey where you were before you had Latinas and cybersecurity and you started as a person of one and where you're at now. Talk to me, how do you feel about that?

Speaker 2:

Honestly, I like to do things selflessly. I was a patriot. I fought for my nation for over a decade. Giving back and helping our community and women in general is just a passion project for me. We had an event in the beginning of the year where we kicked off a goal. We did a vision board exercise with our members and one of the members that was in our session she ended up telling me that she joined because she heard me speaking at an event a year before and she wasn't in cybersecurity, she had some other insurance or something like that, and totally switched careers and now has certification from Google and is working on some others and has even offered to become a volunteer.

Speaker 2:

It honestly made me want to cry, because it's knowing that we're making that type of impact. It's not just me. There's a team of women behind me that were led by Latinas and we're all making that difference in giving back to our community and women like ourselves. We're a very loving organization and it's almost like a sisterhood, but not a fraternity or sorority or anything like that. We really do care about the women that are joining and we want them to have a great experience, we want them to be educated and we want to help them find work. I would say we're all everybody that's involved. It feels just humbled by the experience.

Speaker 1:

I'm humbled that you're on the Follow Brand Podcast. This has been a wonderful experience with you and I'm looking forward to you sharing that with your community because this is so important. I'm just thinking about how many people are going to now hear about this program that they were not aware of it and it's going to change why. I think that's so, so important Now, if they want to look you up on LinkedIn, tell us about where your social handle is so they can get a hold of you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I am on LinkedIn, I'm on Instagram. Those are pretty much the only places I'm at. On LinkedIn it's Angela Bergsmoth I just got married, so it's actually saying that name out loud is new for me. And then on Instagram, and I can send you the handle for my last name, because it's a Dutch. I still forget how to spell it sometimes, but on Instagram it's I am and B A-N-G-E-B, so if you'd like to follow me there, I'm actually on a fitness journey right now, so I'm going to be competing soon. But so if you follow me there, it's a lot about sharing stuff in our community, but it's really about my fitness journey, but more the merrier. So, happy to connect there and happy to connect on LinkedIn.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. This has been wonderful. I encourage your entire audience to connect with Follow Brand at 5-star-B-M. That's number 5. That's star B for Brand, b for Development Informasterscom. This has been wonderful, angela. I cannot wait to see you grow and blossom. You're going to do a summit. I hope you choose Miami as one of your destinations?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that would be great. I think we're looking at doing some of our dinner series out that way, so I'd love to meet you in person.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. We're going to make that happen. Thank you for being on the show.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for having us and thank you for letting me share the story of letting us in cyber.

Speaker 1:

You're most welcome. Bye-bye.

Speaker 2:

Bye.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for joining us on the Follow Brand podcast. Big thanks to Full Effect Productions for their incredible support on each and every episode. Now the journey continues on our YouTube channel. Follow Brand TV Series. Dive into exclusive interviews, extended content and bonus insights that will fuel your success. Subscribe now and be a part of our growing community sharing and learning together. Explore, engage and elevate at Follow Brand TV Series on YouTube. Stay connected, stay inspired. Till next time, we will continue building a five-star brand that you can follow.

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