Cybersecurity and wellness initiatives don’t ordinarily go together. But then Jothi Dugar is no ordinary cybersecurity leader.

A longtime expert in cybersecurity, mostly in the healthcare industry, Dugar is the author of “Chaos Loves You: So Let’s Love It Back,” which teaches us to embrace challenges and grow from them. And she’s the driving force behind numerous wellness and mentorship initiatives in her organizations, especially for women.

In honor of Women’s History Month, we spoke with Dugar about the unique gifts that women bring to tech, her own journey as a woman and single mom, and how to create better work environments for all.

 

Thank you, Jothi! In your book, you talk about embracing chaos and finding strength through life’s uncertainties. How has your own journey — navigating chaos and growth — inspired you to empower other women? 

Thanks, Kevin. I came up with this book because we all face chaos. Most of us, including me, have generally tried to avoid it; or they are disgruntled as to why it’s happening to them. But I learned early on that it's something to embrace. Because without the chaos, you're not going to grow and evolve and expand. If you're living in a comfort zone, it doesn't give you the opportunity or even the need to expand and evolve. So, I started looking at chaos in a different way.

So, embrace the chaos and grow from it.

Yes, you can't invite in the new without letting go of the old. So, I talk in the book about how to embody and embrace the chaos and then get to a state of clarity. Once you go through the chaos, you're a lot clearer: “Oh, that had to happen that way for me to go on to this next level and do bigger and better things.”

This applies to pretty much everyone, but you have a unique message for women.

Yes, for women and especially for the moms out there — and even more so the working moms or single moms that are trying to do it all — I would say, it's not selfish to take care of yourself first and prioritize yourself. As a single mom myself of three children, I used to make the mistake of thinking that since they are my No. 1 priority, I will put my own wellness aside. But you know what they say on airplanes: Put the oxygen mask on yourself before you can help others. If you're in a state of burnout and overwhelmed, it's going to be really hard to be the mom that you want to be for your children. But also, the woman that you want to be for the world.

So, prioritize yourself, and everyone around you will benefit.

Yes, make sure that you're prioritizing yourself on a daily basis, not just waiting for that vacation down the line. Take like five minutes out of every hour and focus on turning yourself away from the computer and doing something that really enhances your mind, body, and energy.

You've had an impressive career as a cybersecurity executive, often being the only woman in the room. What were some of your biggest challenges?

It has sometimes been challenging to be my authentic self and feel accepted. I am a cybersecurity leader, but I’ve really focused on the people side of things, the human-centric side. Especially where I see low morale or people who aren't working well together or have a sense that leadership doesn't care, I’ve tried to make a difference. And I've been lucky enough to have some very supportive leadership that gave me the freedom and flexibility to do that while focusing on cyber as well. I always believe in the principle of, if you don't see something being done or implemented, you could be the first person to be the catalyst for that change.

“Focusing on cyber” is obviously a full-time gig. But you added a lot more.

All the programs that I started at different organizations started small in my quote-unquote free time. I wasn’t looking for compensation or recognition, but little by little when you're doing things for the people, it starts to carry a bigger weight, and others start volunteering their help and support. Eventually it becomes much bigger than just yourself.

Every study ever has shown that diverse teams are stronger. You embody that with the different perspectives you brought to your roles.

I think it's also cultivating the skill sets to tell the story in a way that resonates. A lot of my experience has been in healthcare where you're dealing with nurses, doctors, clinicians. And cyber is not what they're thinking about day to day. They're concerned with patient safety. But if you link cyber safety with patient safety, you can speak to their language. I feel like a lot of the cyber experts out there are very technical.

Diversity can include different disciplines and talents as well, can’t it?

I firmly believe that cyber is not just a technical role. It is a pretty comprehensive field now. You need all kinds of people and all kinds of skill sets. You need the communications people. You need people who can think differently, even artists, who function with a different part of their brain than analysts.

Mentorship is a key theme in your journey. Why is that so important for women in tech?

When I started first learning about cybersecurity, I was like, wow, there's not a lot of people that look like me, if any, so who do I reach out to? But I wanted to make sure that when I got to a certain level in my career that I would open doors for other women. So, I became a certified coach to help others navigate the space, to navigate a male-dominated environment.

Do you have any guiding principles behind the initiatives you’ve started that might help others with similar visions?

People are my passion, so I just came up with some ideas around what I thought the organizations needed. And I try to make things easy for people. I know people may not have the time to do forty-five-minute meditations or one-hour yoga sessions. So, I started coming up with two- or three-minute techniques that people can use throughout the day. That has a cumulative effect on your body. And if you do that throughout the day, you can be in that high vibrational mode — even if there’s a major crisis going on. Physical exercise as well. Emotion is actually energy. So, if you want to change your emotions when you're not feeling great, then do something physical, some jumping jacks or a quick walk.

Looking ahead, how do you see women's roles evolving in technology, and what can organizations do to foster more inclusive and supportive environments?

As you mentioned earlier, women just being our authentic selves bring a whole diverse perspective. Working moms are already multitasking and dealing with like 20 different things at the same time. And they’re able to do all of that gracefully. That’s a skill set that we need in the work environment!