Women in Technology - Kristy Webster

This blog is part of our ongoing Women in Technology series.

Kristy is a Director in Information Security for Consilio. She leads the IT risk management vertical which includes the IT risk register, manual risk assessments, vendor risk assessments, change management, and the business continuity and disaster recovery programs.

Kristy’s background in the financial services and legal industries helps her understand client requirements and how to apply them to Consilio best practices and standards.

How did you get into this industry?

My career has taken quite a winding route to get to where I am today. I started out on the implementation team of a payroll/human resources software company. I moved to technical training and technical writing from there. I did a brief stint in product management, and then I moved to the help desk and server support. From there I was asked to take on disaster recovery, which led to the addition of business continuity responsibilities. After that, change management was added, which led to IT risk management. Most of my career has been with business continuity and risk management.

What were some pivotal moments in your career that helped to get you to where you are today?

I have had a lot of small yet significant moments throughout my career. I have often been asked to take on a new project or type of responsibility because I have a logical approach and a strong documentation background. I chalk most of my career moves up to being at the right place at the right time. If I had to pick a single moment that greatly impacted my career, it would be the 9/11 attacks. At the time I worked for a small, but major bank in Chicago. I was already doing business continuity/disaster recovery, and as you can imagine that day catapulted that industry to a different level.

Have you ever noticed a time in your career where your gender proved to differentiate you?

When I was first starting out this happened much more frequently than it does now. I have been faced with many sexist comments throughout the years. Many times I would hear comments that alluded to females as an afterthought. I firmly believe that having different perspectives on projects only makes the outcomes stronger. With each perspective, there is a slightly different approach that allows a different idea, or the uncovering of a gap, which allows a stronger work product as a result.

What is your advice for someone working in a predominately male workplace?

Be unapologetically yourself. Always be respectful but do not apologize for having a different opinion. Be firm in your beliefs and do not let others push you to the side.

What do you think companies could do to motivate more women to pursue careers in technology?

I think that your career path starts long before you enter the workforce. Girls need to be encouraged to participate in STEM classes at young ages to get them into the right classes in high school, creating the interest and aptitude to go to college with a STEM related major. If companies want to encourage women in technology, they may want to consider supporting internships and programs for girls before they get into the workforce.