In the many ways I have tried to include my network in my writing. The CCIEs who I have been working in support and the Cisco SRS initiative are a big part of my job. But there are many people whose efforts have built up my success. When I travel I have had the distinct pleasure of collaborating with Brooke Ellingworth. Brooke and I were regulars on the phone in the early days as Cisco began building the Cisco Partner Talent Portal and then the SRS (Strategic Recruitment Solutions) program. I started bumping into her at the events I have spoken at and attended and we have become buddies. She ran the Cairo HR Talent Forum I spoke at recently in Egypt and she turned up at the Egyptian Networkers dinner along with her crew for the event. I really like Brooke because she has the energy and enthusiasm you don’t often find in the workplace except from someone who really loves their work. I guess our shared workplace is quite a bit different from most and it is a great adventure we have shared in several venues. Our journey is now taking us to Africa where e vents are schedule for Channel Partners there. I am so excited about this trip I can hardly wait!
Brooke has a unique position in her work supporting the various Cisco forums around the world. We find ourselves gawking at some of the same marvelous sites and recounting some of the same stories. Yet there is serious work going on with her. So I wanted to take the time to introduce her and to ask her a few questions for the CCIE Flyer.
Q: Brooke you have been very active lately with your travels and organizing. Tell our readers a little about you. Where are you from?
A: I was born in Perth, Western Australia and moved to the UK around 8 years ago. It started as a two year working holiday and to my mother’s disdain has turned into a permanent move. At least for now! I am still an Aussie at heart.
Q: What was your favorite job before joining this effort with Cisco?
A: That would have to be when I was building short breaks for groups when I was working as an Events Manager. My job was to come up with different activity breaks that people may be interested in attending, such as ski weekends, diving trips, sailing, hiking, etc. I would go to the location and experience the holiday myself and decide whether people would like it. It was a tough life for a while!
Q: You seem passionate about your current role. Can you explain what you do for Cisco?
A: I work as a Program Manager for Africa and Middle East. My current role is to manage the Partner Talent Program across the region. This was set up to tackle the issues Cisco’s Channel Partners face around recruitment, development and retention and the ways this can affect their bottom line. Our Channel counts for over 85% of Cisco revenue, so we like to look after them. I spend a lot of time working on initiatives to support these areas. Such as, we work with the Networking Academy to support graduate recruitment, have set up a job board and best practice portal called the Partner Talent Portal, we advertise across many external job boards, we train and certify different levels of engineers and account managers, plus I run the all important HR Forums to support partners with their Talent strategies. I also am working closely with the Africa Levant Commercial team to train hundreds of partner Account Managers.
Q: Which of the venues have you enjoyed most?
A: It would have to be Dubai. The hotel was lovely, but I think it was the city that made me want to stay! Dubai is incredible, vibrant, overwhelming and really beautiful. A real surprise.
Q: The organizing is a lot of hard work. You make it seem so easy though. Who are the key people who help you?
A: I have a great team, both the local Emerging Markets team, plus my extended global Partner Talent Team. My key people are my manager Nadia di Marco, a Channel expert and a legendary manager, Germaine Eccles, my European counterpart and the person who keeps me sane, and Enas Qawas from the marketing team. Hang on, I forgot someone. Ahh, you Eman!
What I like the most is that no one has all the answers- we are an evolving, fluid team which strive for the best approach to a situation which changes constantly, and we move with it. We are tackling new ground a lot of the time and it is nice to have a team that not only is inspired and motivated to support this program but also which have a vast range of skills they bring to the table.
Q: You find yourself away from home a lot. Do you enjoy the travel?
A: I love it although it can get very tiring. I am writing this on a flight to Africa and I will be away over 1 week. But I would never complain about the opportunity to meet so many people, build so many relationships and experience the world! I try to make the most of each trip by delving into the local culture as much as possible.
Q: I have been planning my trip to join you in Johannesburg. Are there special considerations when preparing venues in emerging markets like this?
A: Mostly cultural awareness is paramount. For example, in Africa and Middle East there is a tendency for people to be late to events. This needs to be respected and the events organized around this. You cannot worry if your event begins late or if your meeting is cancelled at the last minute. This goes with the territory. Apart from that they are quite similar.
Q: As cultural awareness is key for you, have the pressures on you as a woman like how you dress or speak, been felt in any of the regions you have worked?
A: No too badly. There are the obvious places where it is tougher, but I think that travelling to the region and meeting people face to face is the best way to build relationships. Email is a very difficult path to overcome- and when you can look someone in the eye, your relationship and understanding of each other increases tenfold. I have found I need to be much firmer in my approach, and a strong handshake helps!
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: An astronaut of course! My first degree was in Aviation and the plan was to become a pilot and follow that path to become an astronaut. How things change!
Q: Do you have anything you would like to share with us I have not asked specifically about?
A: I am getting married in 5 weeks today! Arrgghhh!
Q: Do you read the CCIE Flyer?
A: Religiously!
Q: What do you think of it?
A: I think it is great. To build a community of people with a common interest is so important, and you have proven that this is a useful tool to connect the CCIEs of the world. Coming to your networking events just shows the positive influence also. It was fantastic to see the smiles of the guys in attendance in Egypt and the excitement for them to meet so many of their fellow kind. Well done Eman!
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