Not sure which one of the two I am doing in this photo.
Looking through the Dec-Jan2020 issue of Wired UK feels.. surreal. For years (while modelling) I had to hide my intellect and not mention my education. I had to be the pretty dumb blonde. I chose it, for awhile. Now, being recognised for work with Zamna means a lot, given that when I started the business, many dismissed me as ‘that former model’. It was a fair comment at the time — last time my picture took up an entire page in a magazine was half a decade ago, during my fashion years — and to be fair, not many models go on to found cyber security companies. It’s vindicating not to have listened to the naysayers, to have backed myself and put in the work required to get to this point. And we’re only getting started!
Far from shallow, modelling taught me resilience (you get 1 yes for every 19 ‘no’s, and the rejection is as personal as can be — they’re judging you, your face, your body). It’s good prep to have to pitch 100s of investors! Modelling also taught me the value of relationships and reputation building — it’s a small world, don’t trust those stories about fashion divas.. everyone wants to work with high integrity human beings, and more than half of my fashion work came from references and recommendations. It’s the same as building any other professional network as well as your circle of trust.
This year, I had the privilege of keynoting at WIRED conference and having a feature about our work at Zamna in the current issue of the magazine. So excited for this feature about us following the rebrand and relaunch. Fun fact: the first ever article on Zamna (VChain) appeared in WIRED in a cyber security context.. back in 2016 :)
Bring on 2020.
