Women in Cyber: Anne Nielsen

In celebration of Women's History Month, we're spotlighting the incredible women of Cobalt throughout March. Each feature will share their unique cybersecurity journeys, insights, and career lessons they have learned.

How long have you been working in cybersecurity? How did you get started in the field? 

I have been working in cybersecurity for fifteen years. Like so many people, I found myself in this industry completely by accident and fell in love with it. Before joining Cobalt I had an opportunity to move into a different industry, but ultimately the pull of security was too strong.  

My first “real” job out of college was with a research associate at an analyst firm. While I worked on collaboration software such as Yammer and Jive, I physically sat with the security analysts and reported to the head of the security research practice. I also managed our database of startups which meant I manually classified our reports and categorized the software vendors we covered. This got me a lot of exposure to security software companies and I ended up at Rapid7 soon thereafter working on Corey Thomas’ marketing team. We were in a tiny office above Bruggers bagels. We didn't have enough space to sit, so I would sit at any empty spot. This meant I ended up sitting with the pentesting team quite a bit and got to listen to their hilarious exploits (pun intended). I also sat with tech support and used a Nexpose box as a footrest for a while. This was a great learning experience to understand how different teams operate.

What has been the greatest reward of your career? What do you love most about your job? 

I get a lot of personal satisfaction and pride from a job well done. A well-organized Jira board. A nicely framed battle card. A well-executed product launch. These all spark joy for me. But the greatest reward is setting others up for that same satisfaction and success. I like to help people find what they really enjoy. I have this belief that if you like what you are doing, you will naturally become good at it. So I want to align people so they are doing as much of those joy-sparking activities as possible. You ultimately can’t change people. If you can't align them to what they love - which will always have a gravitation pull for them - everyone suffers. I learned this from Jonaki Egenolf and Jim Grundner and couldn’t be more grateful.

What has been the greatest challenge you faced in your career? 

The greatest challenge was getting laid off the first time. That was tough. I was young and had very little on my resume. It was so hard to find that first job and while I didn't love it, it was a job that paid me for my time and gave me health insurance. I was terrified of not finding a new job. Thankfully my nascent network of colleagues helped immensely and I learned the importance of meaningful connections. I didn't really know what I could do or what skills I had that would be useful for another company, but the recommendation from my colleagues at least got my foot in a few doors. I am forever grateful for their kindness and support - Paul Roberts and Nick Selby, I’m talking about you! THANK YOU!

What impact has female mentorship had on your life? Was the impact in a personal or professional setting? 

Early in my career, I just focused on getting one foot in front of the other and doing a good job. Getting laid off early was scary and I never wanted to go through that again, so I just focused on getting stuff done. I never thought of myself as particularly smart or clever but I could and would outwork anyone. At some point, someone (a man) received kudos and a promotion that took advantage of my work. My boss saw it and said something to the effect of “that should be you”. She continued to push me and ask “why not you?” for more aggressive work and activities. Despite having previously worked for exceptional managers, her simple questions opened my eyes to opportunities and potential futures I had never considered. I now try to return that favor. As a leader, you see a broader scope and so it is easier to ask “why not”? Without this kind of push, so many of us would just keep on with what we have always done and miss out on having a greater impact.

What is your advice to young female professionals coming into the workforce or into cybersecurity? 

Maybe the women’s bathroom isn't as crowded at RSA or BlackHat as we would like, but there are many women in this industry and space. We take up room and have a right to be here. 

On the flip side: when evaluating a job opportunity, look at the leadership team. If you don’t see women or diversity in leadership, that is a bad sign. It's probably not intentional, but it's a sign that consideration isn’t happening at this company.

What’s your biggest inspiration or motivator when you are down? 

I like pink. I like making jokes. I like using mixed metaphors and referencing sportsball that I don’t understand. I also like using super weird idioms that I picked up over the years - “fill you boots!” (I love this one, Connie Stack). This all makes me laugh, and sometimes it makes the people I work with laugh too.

At some point, I realized that I am who I am and I am not going to waste time and energy suppressing that. When I was leaving a job that meant a lot to me, a younger colleague of mine told me she always appreciated how I wasn't afraid to be girlie even in an industry like ours. This thought lightens my mental load. When I have a lot on my plate, I try to find the fun aspect to it and focus there to get me rolling. 

Is there a moment in recent memory, where you felt empowered by female representation?

A few years ago, I was in a conference room with a few engineering managers, a product manager, and a distinguished engineer. We were digging into a technical challenge with our data architecture - it was a complex problem. At some point, one of the engineering managers said, “hey, did anyone notice the girl power in this room?” She was right, there were half a dozen of us, all impressively smart, nerding out about security data. All women. All leaders at our company. That was a pretty cool moment. It didn't make solving that data challenge any easier, but it did make me pause and appreciate what we had. Thank you Colleen Tartow for that observation!

I have been lucky to work at a few companies with strong female leadership and where diversity of background was actively sought. It permeates the organization and you see a culture of leadership and ownership - both women and men - develop as a result.

Learn More About Anne

What are your favorite hobbies?

Celebrity gossip. I also live for the MET Gala, seeing how people implement the theme, the fashion, and the DRAMA. 

Who are your favorite musical artists? 

Taylor Swift - she truly is a gift to everyone who hears her - and she knows her security stuff. You know she really is SwiftonSecurity. She pretends that is a pseudonym, but let's be real, she is l33t. I gotta love Megan Thee Stallion; her style is on point and her lyrics are so funny. Also Cardi B - our kids are the same age so I feel like we have a connection. She just doesn't know it.