By Samantha Leeman, Bright Purple Resourcing. Original article available here.

As part of Samantha’s exciting work with us all at Girl Geek Scotland, she did a fantastic job hosting the first GGS – Cyber Angels event on the 22nd of September at Codebase in Edinburgh.

Speakers at the event included Alison McAlroy – Information Security Manager; Chelsea Sievewright – Information, Risk and Security Consultant; Jamie Graves – CEO; and Laura Johnston – Associate Consultant. They all did a brilliant job inspiring the audience to consider a career in cybersecurity and put themselves out there as exceptional role models for attendees to look up to, in the world of cybersecurity.

With over 60 people attending, there was a real buzz in the room, and it was a fantastic opportunity for all attendees to meet new people and increase their network.

Chelsea Sievewright spoke about “the ripple effect” of cyber-attacks and that there is no metric to measure the impact that these attacks have on people and families creating unmeasurable stress and anxiety. Alison McAlroy from Tesco Bank told everyone her inspirational story of how she broke into the sector and secured her present role. She said, “Jump!! And the net will appear.”

Then Jamie Graves shared his experience so far as an entrepreneur, along with the business lessons he has learned as a ‘reformed academic’ in the form of cat pictures which brought some amusement to the audience. Jamie’s quote of the night was, “Luck is where opportunity meets great preparation.” To conclude, Laura Johnston spoke about the Cyber Threat landscape and her journey into cyber from a non-technical background. She left the audience with a thought provoking finish saying, “If you’re the smartest in the room you’re in the wrong room.”

The night culminated in a Q&A with the audience and the speakers, which was very well coordinated by Samantha.  She was even put on the spot with some excellent questions from the audience around recruitment in the sector, and how companies can go about attracting more women into their workforce.

Samantha said, “I would just like to thank everyone who attended and helped out with organising the event.  I am delighted that the event was such a success, and stay tuned for updates on “Cyber Angels” events we have planned next year.”