#careerpath

“To do anything, you have to take risks. ”– Conor Cotton

Conor Cotton (@_conorcotton) is the Commercial Director of Not Going to Uni: one of the UK’s leading early careers companies that gives job opportunities to school and college leavers who are not wanting to go to university. Their providers include the Ministry of defence, the Royal Air Force, and IBM, to name just a few. 

Conor left school at 18 and made a conscious choice not to go to university, despite getting the grades he needed. After numerous twists and turns, he came to fall in love with the Early Careers sector and has worked his way up to run the day-to-day operations of Not Going to Uni. Aged 26, he now manages a team of seven, many of whom are far older than he is!

In our wide-ranging conversation, we discuss how a lad’s holiday turned into a job celebration; the challenges of managing a team remotely; Conor’s tips on how to manage effectively; hiring mistakes; and so much more!

You can find Conor at the following:

• Instagram: @_conorcotton 
• LinkedIn: Conor Cotton 
• Notgoingtouni.co.uk 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Work Rules! (Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead) by: by Laszlo Bock

iamsober.com

milanote.com

canva.com

My Udemy Course on How to Hire a Virtual Assistant

Key Points:

Conor’s roles 16 onwards, inherent fears and learning different skills while at it (2:51)

How a lad’s holiday turned into a job celebration (8:30)

The role of a digital marketing sales executive and Not Going to Uni (10:26)

The role as a commercial director (16:19)

The challenges of managing a team remotely(18:58)

Conor’s tips on how to manage effectively (21:11)

Talking about transferable skills (23:54)

Dealing with imposter syndrome (26:00)

Hiring mistakes (30:47)

Conor’s Future Plans (35:00)

You are the five people you surround yourself with (40:12)

Take risks :) (48:42)

Be sure to follow me on Instagram @entrepreneurscanparty

Want to create your own podcast? Sign up with Buzzsprout and get a free $20 Amazon gift card!

If you haven't already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode Chandra McMahon, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer for Verizon, speaks on her career journey and insights she learned along the way. She touches on key decisions, hurdles, and the role of mentor-ship for building a successful career. She also shares her thoughts on the challenges women in technology face, and advice on navigating the industry.

Guest: Chandra McMahon

Chandra McMahon is a Senor Vice President and CISO for Verizon. She is responsible for setting information security strategy, policy, standards, architectures, and processes.  She and her team work with an across Verizon’s business units to protect its customers and its leading network. Prior to joining Verizon, Chandra help leadership positions of increasing responsibility at Lockheed Martin, including serving as the company’s CISO  and most recently as Vice President of Commercial Markets.  She holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Tech, as well as  Masters Degree in Engineering Science from Penn State University. 

Host: Audrey Gonzalez

Audrey Gonzalez is an Information Technology Analyst in the Ignite Digital Leadership Program at the World Renewable Energy Company NextEra Energy. In her role she rotates between various IT assignments with leadership and technical training along the way. Her diverse assignments have included IT communications and employee programs, cybersecurity strategic projects and process and improvements, automated database testing, and cybersecurity phishing awareness.  She graduated from the University of Florida with a Masters degree in International Business and a Bachelors degree in Business Management. She also holds a Six Sigma Green Belt Certification.

In this episode Meredith Harper, CISO, discusses her career journey and pivotal roles on her path to CISO. Meredith speaks about her passions that have led her to where she is today and what drives her to keep challenging herself. She also shares tips on how she has navigated new roles and organizations to be successful as a leader. Tune in for an insightful discussion!

Guest: Meredith Harper, CISO
Meredith Harper serves as vice president and chief information security officer at Eli Lilly and Company. She is responsible for the company’s global information security program.

Prior to joining Lilly in 2018 as senior director, deputy chief information security officer, Meredith served as chief information privacy and security officer at Henry Ford Health System, where she had ultimate responsibility for the protection of Henry Ford’s provider, insurance, retail and research businesses.

Meredith is an active member of the Health Care Compliance Association and the International Association of Privacy Professionals. She holds dual certifications in healthcare compliance and privacy. She is certified as a HealthCare Information Security & Privacy Practitioner through the International Information System Security Certification Consortium Inc. and a Certified Information Security Manager through the Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

She earned a master’s degree in health services administration and a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from the University of Detroit Mercy. She also earned a master’s of jurisprudence in health law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Meredith serves on several advisory boards in support of empowering women and minorities to embark upon careers in technology, especially in information security. She has also served her community for 28 years through her Diamond Life membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

Host: Betsy Hackl
Betsy Hackl is a Senior Associate Information Security Assessor at Eli Lilly and Company. During her time at Lilly, Betsy was instrumental in creating the Information Security Third Party Risk Management program to combat one of Lilly’s top risks, “Insecure Third Parties”. In this role, Betsy works with business stakeholders to identify the highest risk Third Parties working with Lilly and determine the actions necessary to ensure our data and connections are secure. In addition to assessing third parties, Betsy also works on Merger, Acquisition and Divestiture deals, and is in the process of standing up an on-going monitoring program to continually monitoring third party organizations post-assessment. Prior to arriving to Lilly Betsy was a Senior Auditor at EY where she led the IT component of several SOX audits and created numerous SOC2 reports. She holds certifications in CISSP, CISA, GCED, GISP and CTPRP.