Emily Cohler

Background

About Emily Cohler

In job interviews, I typically introduce the background of my IT career as beginning in college, however, in reality, it started much earlier. When I was in the fourth grade, I was selected as one of four students to join a program in which we would learn how to use PowerPoint, present our presentations in a technology fair (on floppy disks inserted in old Macintosh PCs!), and also teach several elementary school teachers how to use PowerPoint. I believe that time in my life built the foundation of my passion both for technology and also sharing that passion through training others on the technology that can positively impact their career. Fast forward 20+ years to today where I have built a career as an IT systems administrator and honed my PowerPoint presentation skills. Outside of work, I spend much of my time rock climbing, a sport which provides immense physical and strategic challenges to those who choose to partake. As I approach the crag and choose a climb, I spend a few minutes at the base of the wall planning a precise sequence of climbing moves using the natural features of the rock wall as hand and foot holds. Once I begin climbing the route, I may find a hold that looked good from the base doesn't provide as much support as another nearby hold, and I quickly adapt my plan to incorporate new moves to successfully reach the top of the climb. I can relate this strategic approach to my experience creating solutions as an identity and access management engineer. I can plan an implementation approach based on the available systems of my client, but as I move along in the implementation, I may need to adapt the plan and incorporate new systems or ideas based on new requirements or newly discovered details surrounding the systems in place. I seek to continue honing my passion for creating solutions in the identity and access management sphere to ensure the continued security and success for my clients. I invite you to join me in climbing to the top over the obstacles set by an ever-expanding cybersecurity landscape.