Describe yourself in 3 words:
Authentic, fun, humble.

How has your career shifted from the 2020 pandemic impact?
The pandemic actually helped narrow my focus because nothing else mattered at that time other than the safety of employees and the security of customers. After all, our mission is Leading Hawai‘i to a Safer Place. We quickly moved to a virtual world and had to change our long-term plans. I learned the value of communication during this time as well—emailing staff daily during the upswing of the pandemic and then switching to weekly.

How do you manage stress and self-care?
As a business owner, this is a difficult one because I could just work all the time. Recently I’ve picked up two new hobbies—golf and SCCA (this is where you race around the stadium in a car through cones). In addition, every year I take a trip—just me without anyone else. I let my team know and I completely disconnect. I use that time to work on myself. I’ve been to yoga retreats, on cycling adventures, and hiking expeditions.

What are your favorite virtual tools to use currently in business?
I use all the traditional virtual tools like Microsoft Office, Teams, etc. But one of the coolest virtual tools I’ve been using is Traction Tools. If you know me, you know my undying dedication and commitment to EOS Traction. There is now a virtual tool that tracks your Level 10 meetings. I don’t like technology for technology’s sake, but 15 days into a 45-day trial I was sold. It makes our meetings quick, efficient, and productive. There is even a tangent alert—where anyone in the meeting can click on it to signal to the group that they feel someone is squirreling off-topic. It makes our meetings more fun for sure!!

Did you always want this career track?
Absolutely not. I had a goal in college of working for Microsoft and moving my way up to a parking space next to Bill Gates. No one grows up and wants to be in security. We all just kind of fall into it and realize how interesting of an industry it is. The video analytics of old have given way to data analysis driven by machine learning. We are mining metadata from security applications to become a business solutions company—solving not just security problems but also using that information for improving customer service, ensuring job-site safety, and continuity of operations.

If you could look into a crystal ball, what would you want to know about your future?
Nothing. If I knew my future, it wouldn’t be as fun to find out. I like the mystery. I like not knowing. Keeps me on my toes and always striving.

What are two of your proudest accomplishments of your career?
I am very proud of being a 10-year Best Places to Work company because it isn’t about me saying we are a Best Places to Work company—it’s our employees saying we are Best Places to Work company. And that third-party validation means everything. We are celebrating our 25th business anniversary next year. That is no joke and something to be proud of. The time has flown by and while it hasn’t always been easy, it’s been extremely rewarding. Even the difficult times have contributed to my learning and ability to be resilient.

Best leadership advice?
Hire great people—foster a psychologically safe environment—delegate based on competence and appropriateness—and then let your team go!

Biggest sacrifice for my career.
My introversion. It died in 2015 when I took on the face of the company. Prior to that, my husband/co-owner managed sales and was seen as the face of IST. Once we received our woman-owned 8a Certification, I decided that I needed to take a more active role in networking and engagement. I’m not natural at it and it took a lot of work. I get most of my energy from being alone. So along with my “presidential” duties, I need to ensure there is plenty of alone time in my schedule. That relates back to my self-care comments but when I can’t get away, it translates into full-tilt trail runs with IST’s employee engagement manager, Hunter. You can check him out on our website.

If you could tell your younger self some advice, what would it be?
You cannot have success without failure. Be bold, just go for it.
Chance ‘um!