Recognition and Respect for Essential Workers
When you’re walking around our offices, how often do you run into a janitor? How often do you say hello or speak to them?
Our janitors at Palo Alto Networks are hardworking people who don’t get enough recognition.The majority of them are Latino and now is a great time to highlight their daily contributions to our company.
Sometimes, they get overlooked because their jobs seem so simple and so humble – words often used to describe Latinos. Because they also work quietly so as not to disturb anyone, there is a sense of invisibility that comes with the role.
But that means too many individuals go unnoticed. People rarely know their names or stories.
I am proud to have been raised by parents who spent their careers as janitors because of what their dedication and work ethic instilled in me. I learned that everyone in any company deserves respect and gratitude for what they contribute, and I learned to value what I have along with the opportunities I’ve been given because of the work my parents did.
I am a first-generation Latina, first-generation college student, first-generation graduate student, and first-generation tech employee. None of it would have been possible without my family and the hard work of my parents. They kept food on our table and a roof over our heads my entire life and for that, I will always be grateful.
My dad worked at a community college for 26 years and just retired this summer. He started as a custodian and was promoted to supervisor – a position he held for the last 20 years. The majority of his co-workers also stayed there for most of their careers. I know this because when I’d visit my dad as a teenager or young adult, they’d say they remembered when I was a little girl and came to see my dad on Friday afternoons.
My mom also retired over the summer after having spent 20 years working as a housekeeper at a hospital. Her manager was sad to see her go, saying his “best employee was leaving” him. During the peak of COVID-19, I saw the stress and fear my mom felt going to work, but that didn’t stop her from doing her job. She and her colleagues kept themselves safe while being essential to the hospital doing its lifesaving work.
Without both of my parents working in janitorial roles, my family couldn’t have afforded to live in the Bay Area. My brother and I wouldn’t have had the opportunities we had, and I wouldn’t be where I am today.
I probably would never have found Palo Alto Networks or the community we have here.
One special janitor I had the honor of knowing here was our beloved Yolanda, whom we lost to COVID-19 earlier this year. “Yoli” was such a sweet woman who would go out of her way to help others and she always took time to get to know people. She had a humble background and struggled to overcome obstacles to be a happy mother, grandmother, and friend.
“Yoli,” who died earlier this year from COVID-19
When news spread of her passing, stories were shared on Slack about the type of person she was and each one was full of love and admiration for this wonderful woman.
I spoke to her often and loved hearing about her family and seeing her joy when she told me there was another grandchild on the way. She once crossed the Building 3 cafe just to come give me a hug and talk for a bit.
A co-worker sitting with me then said Yoli probably enjoyed talking to me because I speak to her in Spanish and she’s more comfortable conversing in her native language. It hadn’t occurred to me that others didn’t speak to her in Spanish and I then realized how few employees around headquarters speak Spanish and are able to easily communicate with our janitorial staff.
Yet, I have seen colleagues who don’t speak Spanish taking time to try and connect with our janitors and every time I do, it brings me such joy.
As a child of janitors, I thank those who make the effort to pay attention to our cleaning staff in spite of any language barriers. I especially thank them for seeing our janitors as people who deserve the same level of respect as anyone in any other job.
During Latinx Heritage Month, and beyond, I urge all of you to reflect on these “invisible” workers who make our jobs easier. If you can, make them less invisible by chatting with them and showing appreciation for what they do.
FLEXWORK Flourishes With Palo Alto Networks Interns
Since you’ve been with Palo Alto Networks, how have the company’s values shown up in your day-to-day experience, or for you personally?
Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, securing an internship came with thoughts of shared office spaces, lunch with fellow interns, live presentations and mapping out routes for the best possible commute. However, with the changes the world has faced in the past year and a half, internships and work as a whole continue to be reimagined.
FLEXWORK is a direct response to these changes and has granted employees across Palo Alto Networks the opportunity to create meaningful work from anywhere — including interns.
This summer, the intern cohort here at Palo Alto Networks consists of 202 interns from all across the country — and the world! While many of our interns are still remote and haven’t been able to head into an office quite yet, FLEXWORK and Palo Alto Networks’ commitment to employee choice has made their summer better than imagined. Hear a few of their experiences below:
“The remote working environment gave me flexibility with timing. I met with a lot of interns through Zoom meetings and attended more intern events compared to what I could have done If the internship was not remote.”
– Keerthiraj Nagaraj, Data Science Intern, University of Florida
“I love the idea that all the graduating students and early career workers will now have the opportunity to dictate how day to day life should be run. I don’t think a generation has had the opportunity to do that in a long time. My hope for this new normal is that we can embrace change and listen to each other to build an efficient, and dare I say, enjoyable work lifestyle.”
– Kelsey Henson, Software Engineering Intern, Georgia Tech
“The fact that the internship is online allows for less interruptions and saves me commuting time. I feel these factors have enabled me to spend more time towards my project. I am currently working remotely from Iowa where I go to University. Since the time zone I am in is ahead of the rest of my team in California, I am able to start my day earlier. I can be more prepared with updates or questions by the time my team begins work.”
– Yamini Mathur, Software Engineering Intern, Iowa State University
“What helped me was contacting a bunch of interns to set up 30-minute calls. That actually allowed me to get to know a lot of the interns. In addition, every Tuesday and Thursday, some interns in the area get together in the office to work. That has definitely helped me feel more comfortable in the internship program as well.”
– Aishwarya Golechha, Consumer Finance Intern, University of Edinburgh
The internship program here at Palo Alto Networks is growing by the year. With initiatives like FLEXWORK that make employee choice a top priority, we are excited to see how our early-in-career teams and company as a whole continue to flourish.
Interested in learning more about our internship and early in career opportunities? Visit our Early in Career Site.
Living Values Through Actions
Since you’ve been with Palo Alto Networks, how have the company’s values shown up in your day-to-day experience, or for you personally?
That was one of the first questions I asked when I interviewed with each employee on my interview panel at Palo Alto Networks about 6 months ago. Each individual shared a personal story of how the company showed up and supported them during moments that truly mattered. These moments varied from the level of support and integrity the company displayed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to Palo Alto Networks’ commitment to its people and professional development. This showed me there is a true emphasis on investing and supporting the employees at PANW.
You take that feedback at face value during the interview process and hope that similar sentiments are pervasive throughout the organization. In my short 6 months, I experienced and witnessed 2 unique moments where values were lived through actions and not just spoken words.
As many parents and caregivers have experienced throughout the pandemic, the juggle between caring for children and delivering against expectations has shown up every day. Within my first 3 months, there were 2 instances where our youngest son needed to quarantine at home due to a COVID-19 outbreak in his classroom. I was concerned with being viewed as inaccessible or distracted, but this was not the case at all. I was met with empathy, flexibility, and trust in my execution. I was reassured that being present for our son was the priority and in turn that enabled me to show up and be present for my family when they needed me the most.
Additionally, as a US Navy Veteran,I have a passion for serving our military community. In support of PRIDE month, the VetsNet and LGBTQIA+ employee groups came together to support Modern Military, which is a national organization focused on supporting LGBTQIA military, veterans, and family members.
We completed a virtual volunteer event creating “Child Comfort Boxes” for children of LGBTQIA+ service members or children who identified as LGBTQIA+or Transgender. It was an amazing event that created a safe space to share experiences, become more educated on this community, and create new support systems – all while giving back!
As I reflect on these two moments, I can’t help but be proud to be a part of the Palo Alto Networks family where #inclusion sits within our core values and shows up uniquely for its employees each and every day.
Disrupting the Future
Palo Alto Networks’ interns explain how they are equipped and ready to change the world in the #DisruptingYourFuture campaign.
Here at Palo Alto Networks, we are on a mission to disrupt the cybersecurity status quo and ensure that every day is more secure than the last. As our organization continues to configure solutions for our world’s toughest security problems and reimagine the workplace with initiatives like FLEXWORK, there seems to be no group more excited to disrupt the future than Palo Alto Networks’ interns.
The #DisruptingYourFuture campaign aims to showcase this generation of young adults and how they are focusing on challenging the status quo, both in the workplace and in the world. With the chaos of COVID-19, calls for social justice reform, and the evolution of technology, this generation is beginning their careers in a time like never before. As they continue to stand-tall in the face of adversity, those who are early-in-career are eager to make a difference.
Throughout this campaign, many of the 202 Palo Alto Networks’ interns were asked to think critically about how resilience has played a role in securing an internship at Palo Alto Networks, how they have handled remote work and stayed motivated, and most pertinent to our core value of disruption: “How do you foresee yourself and this generation disrupting the future?”
Hear from a few of our interns below:
“This generation hasn’t been afraid of speaking out about issues from toxic work cultures to systemic racism and I don’t see that changing. If there’s a better way to do things for everyone, I think this generation will have the opportunity and motivation to try to do better.”
Kelsey Henson, Software Engineering Intern, Georgia Tech
“Inequality and injustice have long been able to exist in the structure of our society, and myself and this generation are taking a stand against them. We’re taking a stand against all forms of hate and breaking down barriers. We’re the generation that grew up with the most interconnected world and we recognize our responsibility to make it better.”
Christian Brake, Customer Success Engineering Intern, Eastern Michigan University
“In the future, I hope to be a part of the creation of software products to protect businesses, organizations, schools and even governments that will safeguard the digital future. I want to be involved in creating a safe environment for the digital world to grow.”
Yamini Mathur, Software Engineering Intern, Iowa State University
“Our generation has more resources than ever and is on the rise. We’ve been through difficulties but we are ambitious and resilient. With that, we can disrupt the future.”
Yanan Lin, Prisma Access Intern, University of Southern California
Getting the opportunity to work at Palo Alto Networks, an organization that holds disruption as a core value, interns are able to gain hands-on experience on how to truly make our world a better, safer place. Navigating a new normal is not easy — especially as one begins their career — but with a launchpad like Palo Alto Networks, the sky’s the limit.
To find more on the #DisruptingYourFuture campaign, follow us on social media:
Instagram and Facebook @lifeatpaloaltonetworks
Twitter @wehireleaders
Interested in learning more about our internship and early career opportunities? Visit our Early in Career Site.
JUNTOS: Latinx Employee Network Group
Originally published on: https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/blogs/celebrating-latinx-heritage-month-meet-patty-hatter/ba-p/351312
1. Q: What does inclusion and diversity mean to you?
A: Across Palo Alto Networks, inclusion and diversity is a key focus for all of us, especially in our hiring practices. We’re welcoming many diverse folks with a variety of backgrounds—including age, gender, gender expression and identity, race, and cultural background. On a global scale, we’re broadening the portfolio of what we offer to an expanding market and to our customers. That means we need to broaden our teams to be more reflective of our immensely diverse customers in how we’re approaching and solving their cybersecurity needs. It’s all about what we can bring to the table to meet them where they are and to get them where they need to be.
With the exceptional growth that this company is experiencing, we have an opportunity to make a huge difference with regard to inclusion and diversity in the cybersecurity market. Clearly, if we approach the same old things with the same old mindsets we’ll end up with the same results we got in the past. The market needs to move and the company needs to move. The opportunity is right in front of us.
From an inclusion perspective, it’s about getting everybody to understand the different biases or lenses that they look at things and to be more conscious of opening their perspective of how they see, relate, or react to people. We need to strive for active, inclusive collaboration and make sure everybody feels respected and heard when they express themselves. I want a company where everybody recognizes the value of inclusion and diversity because they feel it in their lives—in and out of the workplace. Who wouldn’t?
2. Q: How has diversity in the workplace impacted your way of thinking and leading?
A: For me, the more experience I’ve gotten the more I’ve learned that it’s great to be different. You don’t have to try and fit in, just be yourself. That brings uniqueness to the table. The more you adopt that behavior for yourself, the more you’re going to understand and accept the uniqueness of others. You learn to seek out people with different opinions because that’s where the really unique ideas and “a-ha!” moments are going to come, whether it’s from a business perspective inside the company or community perspective outside of the company. I find myself seeking out folks that are bringing those different ideas to the table because that’s where the bigger impact will be. Different is definitely better!
3. Q: What made you want to become the Executive Sponsor, for Juntos, the Latinx Employee Network Group at Palo Alto Networks?
A: In my own experience, two of my best friends are Hispanic. Through the years I’ve had the pleasure of being around their families quite a bit and forging meaningful and loving bonds. When my mom passed away a few years ago, I got very close with both of their moms—sharing stories, both joyful and sad, and looking to them for motherly advice. To this day, I continue to confide in both of them. I believe that you can pick your own family, and with both of my best friends and their families, we’ve all self-selected each other. Growing up, my friends both had very interesting backgrounds and life experiences. I was raised in Western Pennsylvania, and though my early experiences were not like theirs, I’ve grown to understand and have compassion for what they’ve gone through. Across many deeply engaging conversations, I’ve come to learn of their family experiences and tragedies and truly understand their point of view. Their life experiences. Since I’d developed a close relationship with a strong sense of caring for them — I realized that their painful experiences could have happened to any of us. What would we do? What would I do? And, most importantly; How do I help make sure they never have to go through something like that again? The point is that our relationship is a safe place where we can bring our full selves based on trust and compassion. Being able to see them, I could see myself in them and all the ways that we are interconnected. It leads me to this thought: I might be technically German, but inside I’m a Latina, given who I associate myself with.
4. Q: What values do you believe inclusion and diversity has brought and will continue to bring to Palo Alto Networks?
A: Hopefully it will enable us to collaborate even more. The more we get in our heads of opening up who we are talking to, the types of folks, and their backgrounds, that will get us thinking more from a collaborative and bigger picture perspective. To me, there is such a tie into how we need to evolve our business to not just be one product. We don’t just want one type of person with one background, from one community in this organization. It needs to be much more broad than that. We need to think of how we can actively collaborate and make sure everybody feels like they’re being respected and that they’re being heard when they have something to contribute.
When it comes to the timing and discussion around inclusion and diversity, first off it’s the right thing to do, but to me there is such a tie to the growth of our business, that hopefully, people see both sides of that. We have to open up the opportunity for everyone coming from every corner of the world. Getting us to collaborate differently is just so important as we grow from one product company to a much broader platform company. To me, it’s such a metaphor for what we have to do.
5. Q: What is your vision for the future of inclusion and diversity at Palo Alto Networks?
A: I want a company where everybody feels the importance of inclusion and diversity because they feel it in their lives and they feel it in the workplace, that this focus helps drive better results. The more we can shift perceptions in the workplace, of why being inclusive and bringing diverse opinions to the table is good for us as a company, I think that helps broaden perceptions in our communities. It gives us the patience, willingness, and desire to listen to different perspectives, which are needed right now. Maybe, if we can start that here at Palo Alto Networks—do our part in our corner of the world—by exploring different ideas and experiences with every decision, we can add significant richness to our employees’ lives and help them feel more empowered and engaged.
Why Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month Matters
In 1843, a boat containing a 14-year-old Japanese fisherman named Manjiro became America’s first Asian immigrant. Manjiro and his crew were caught in a violent storm during a routine fishing trip. The little boat was carried out to sea, eventually washing up on a desert island some 300 miles away from Manjiro’s coastal Japanese village.
After Manjiro and the crew spent nearly five months on the island, an American whaling ship finally arrived at the island and rescued them, which is how the Japanese boy became the first Japanese immigrant in America. Manjiro was eventually adopted by American Captain William Whitfield, and he went on to not only become a samurai, but also a political emissary between his home country and the West.
Since Manjiro first stepped foot on American soil, the journeys of Asians and Pacific Islanders have been synonymous with America’s journey. They have included Japanese immigrants who came to Hawaii to work the sugarcane fields, and the Chinese laborers who, in May 1869, were integral in building the First Transcontinental Railroad. They’ve included activists such as Larry Itliong, a Filipino activist who was instrumental in creating the United Farm Workers, as well as an array of artists and writers who have produced some of the greatest works of art and literature, ranging from The Ramayana to The Joy Luck Club, as well as fashion icon Vera Wang and the architect behind the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the National Gallery of Art. They include Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese immigrant whose persistence laid the groundwork for landmark legislation on birthright citizenship. And they include technological pioneers who conceived such revolutionary ideas as Yahoo!, YouTube, and the USB.
In fact, Asian and Pacific Islanders’ cultures are inextricably woven into the fabric of American life. As President Ronald Reagan once said, “In a variety of fields that span the spectrum of human endeavor — including art, dance, agriculture, the sciences, medicine, commerce, government, and philosophy — Asian and Pacific Americans have made outstanding contributions to the cultural and technological development of their adopted Nation.”
Palo Alto Networks also benefits from the tremendous contributions of many Asian and Pacific Americans, whose career journeys are a vital part of the story of our company.
They include Hien La, who escaped Communist Vietnam in a small fishing boat with his siblings and cousins, eventually making his way to America, where his determination to teach himself to fix computers helped him to begin a career in asset management. Today, he is Palo Alto Networks’ IT Asset Management Specialist at headquarters.
They include Bobo Yu, a first-generation Chinese American who took STEM courses in college as a default because she was a stereotypical “good-at-math” Asian student who wasn’t confident to speak in public. As a woman in engineering, Bobo earned an internship in Hawaii with the U.S. Coast Guard and an opportunity to participate in a rotational leadership program while at her first job. After a sabbatical, during which she traveled through five continents, she returned to the U.S. and began working as a yoga teacher, enjoying this chance to practice what she needed and do what she loved. Eventually, she returned to technology and earned a Systems Engineer role with Palo Alto Networks, utilizing her engineering skills as well as the public speaking skills she developed and her talents for putting others at ease.
They include Jerry Poon, who immigrated with his family from Hong Kong to Toronto, Canada, when he was only three. His family began their life in North America with almost no belongings of their own, finding discarded mattresses on which they could sleep. Jerry’s early love of computers led to him earning a degree in IT support services, working his way to Palo Alto Networks’ Sales team. Today, he works as a Sales Engineer for Channel Partners
They also include Yumei Peterson, Go To Market Strategic Program Manager. Born in Korea, Yumei moved with her family to New York City when she was just eight years old. After starting her career with a degree in education and experience operating a daycare center, Yumei took a risk and connected with a representative from HP at a career fair, indicating her interest in working in IT. The risk paid off. She eventually worked her way up through the organization by exceeding sales goals and joined Palo Alto Networks four years ago. Since coming here, she has earned three promotions, built enablement programs for the Inside Sales team, built the Sales Academy program in collaboration with the LEAP team for early-in-career graduates, and is now executing strategic initiatives for our WorldWide Shared Services organization.
These are just a few of the many members of the Asian and Pacific Island American community whose backgrounds, experiences, and contributions we celebrate.
Empowered To Be My Authentic Self
Upon university graduation, I was so scared of entering Corporate America because I was different. I have had internships where I have heard and seen, a Director make fun of the way I talk and even mimic my mannerisms around the office. From that moment on, I was genuinely scared that I wasn’t going to be taken seriously in Corporate America because of my age, the way I sound, or because I identify as LGBTQIA, but this was definitely not the case at Palo Alto Networks. Palo Alto Network’s vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before, starting with its people.
Since the moment I stepped foot into this organization, Palo Alto Networks has never once made me feel different but has actually made me feel empowered to celebrate my difference. This company has given me an opportunity to scale my career as an Executive Recruiting Researcher, partnering with our top-level executives to build their next-gen teams, while allowing me to overcome my preconceived fears of corporate America. But what I am most thankful for is the opportunity to co-lead our amazing LGBTQIA+ Employee Network Group. Through the work of the Employee Network Group, we are able to foster an inclusive and safe working environment for our employees, while also building ties to the community at large.
During covid, we partnered with the Open House Senior Center in San Francisco to create 20 covid-safe care packages, for LGBTQIA+ Seniors consisting of no-sew scarves, hats, and gloves. Our Employee Network Group also hosted a Family Planning Webinar to promote our inclusive adoption, fertility, and surrogacy benefits offered to our employees and families, including those of the same sex. To further promote an inclusive culture and equal rights, PANW has also declared its support for the #EqualityAct, a federal legislation that would provide the basic protections to LGBTQ people as are provided to other protected groups under federal law.
Through our work volunteering with the LGBTQIA community, inclusive company benefits, and declaring our support for the #EqualityAct, I am excited to share that for the second year in a row Palo Alto Networks has achieved 100% rating in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) and achieved designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality. Palo Alto Networks is taking its stand for equality and letting its employees know that they have our back. With our growing accomplishments year over year, I am excited to continue to help make PANW a “safer and more secure” environment for current and future LGBTQIA+ employees.
Go Palo Alto Networks!
Reflections on a Year of Pandemic Mom Life
The COVID-19 crisis has taught us many things we never expected to learn, but perhaps at the top of the list is resilience. We’ve learned to take unexpected challenges — and frequent disasters — in stride and come back swinging. Perhaps no segment of the world’s population has been more resilient than mothers.
Achieving the elusive “work-life balance” has notoriously been a struggle for women, who often are expected to bear the brunt of the child care and domestic duties while maintaining their careers. And just as they were making big strides in the workplace, as research into the last year reveals, the pandemic came along and turned everything upside down.
Here at Palo Alto Networks, we realize that mothers bring a remarkable set of skills that make them invaluable in the workplace. Nothing about the pandemic has been easy, especially for mothers, who almost overnight had to change how and where they work, perhaps even their job titles and descriptions, while also becoming teachers, chefs, nurses, counselors, activity coordinators, and playmates.
Here you’ll meet just a few of the mothers working at Palo Alto Networks’ and discover what helped, what didn’t, and what this year has taught them.
What’s one thing Palo Alto Networks did during this time that made it easier to be a working mom?
Swati Bhosale, Principal UI Engineer
It takes a village to raise kids, and for me, that village is my employer. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) created a strong support system with a parents’ Slack channel and Connect Groups, providing a safe space to talk and help one another navigate this temporary normal. Being a mom of two kids, it was difficult for me to attend every Connect Group meeting, but when I did, just listening to other parents made me feel like I wasn’t alone and helped me become a better person/parent/employee by being more patient and empathetic toward everyone around me. These groups kept me strong and kept me going.
Sofia Dona, Manager, Safety and Security
During the first company all-hands meeting of the pandemic, some executives had their babies or children either join them on their laps or playing in the background. Being a mom of two toddlers, it meant a lot to me to see that they wanted to normalize kids interrupting meetings and becoming our new coworkers. I really felt comforted and supported.
Vickie Gladieux, Senior Cyber Transformation Leader
Palo Alto Networks cares about its employees and helped me truly excel, as a female worker, daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, volunteer, coach, mentor, and more. The people here are not just supporting women in the workplace; they are helping women thrive! Equal opportunity, rewarding career roles, a strong learning environment, encouragement and support — it’s all here. The company also has exceptional leadership, challenging work assignments, and flexible schedules, which has further helped me grow my career. As many know, maintaining a manageable work-life balance is not always easy. Palo Alto Networks supports me all the way. I love it here.
Bobo Yu, Systems Engineer 1
Oftentimes, the role of motherhood doesn’t just stop just because the workday begins. As I went into the lockdown, I took on the role of teacher, around-the-clock chef, mediator of sibling rivalry, and house cleaner, all while being a Systems Engineer in a new company, lear
ning awesome new platforms, and configuring VPN for students who need access for remote learning! Life can be overwhelming at times. I was fortunate that everyone, from our CEO (Nikesh) to my director and my manager, echoed their support and understanding of the “new normal.” There is a culture within the team of everyone being so willing to help each other. Nikesh hosts roundtable discussions, just to check in on the employees on the field, and Liane (our CPO) put words into action by creating the FLEXWORK and FLEXLearn programs. I’m so grateful to be part of this family.
What’s one way that being a mom has made you a better employee?
Dilruba Malik, SQA Manager 
Being a mother, I became extremely efficient in multitasking and prioritizing the goals to execute in a timely manner. I developed a sense of maturity in decision-making, approaching human interactions with patience, and gaining empathy while driving team members with business urgency. I became more productive in generating results.
My two daughters are likely to learn and follow my examples. It motivates me to do well in both my career and family life. Motherhood has taught me how to balance, which is an essential component to being a better employee and people manager. My work energizes me to give my best to the family.
Soundarya Sivaramakrishnan, Senior Manager, SW Engineering
I’ve learned planning and executing efficiently! Managing both my children’s interests and activities while working as a software engineer for the most competitive cybersecurity company will not happen if I don’t plan my time efficiently. Working efficiently with the resources I have at hand makes me create wonders at home and at work.
As a mom, I have come to understand that each individual is different and special in their own ways, and there is a way to work with each of them. This makes it easier for me to work amicably with everyone. After all, I want to work in a happy environment!
(Picture from an at-home volunteer project provided by Palo Alto Networks. We made a beehive using bee pollinator kits, it was so much fun!)
Can you share one funny or memorable story that illustrates your life as a pandemic mom?
Wailohia Woolsey, Sr. Mgr, Information Security Governance, Risk & Compliance
During a company all-hands meeting, the CEO was interrupted by his 5-year-old. I have never identified with him more than I did while witnessing that moment. There’s not one meeting that goes by without one of my kids interrupting to ask me a question. My kids have been introduced to most of my teammates, and they don’t hesitate to drop in on my Zooms to share how their distance learning day is going. The kids have also been participating in Ujima (our Black Employee Network) at home volunteer projects and Black to Yoga fitness classes The pandemic has brought work into the home, and we’ve all been doing the best we can to survive. But I can say one thing: The kids are fine!
Sonal Sethia, Manager, Service Delivery
The pandemic has challenged us working mothers to be our efficient best at multitasking, juggling between our jobs and caregiving multiple times through the day, working smarter to make more out of less time.
Trust
me, this is nothing short of an extreme sport. What is most important right now is that we sometimes lower our expectations, always keep our sense of humor, and hang up that SuperMom cape from time to time to recharge!
My 5-year-old daughter, Kiara, loves to be in front of the camera. She is often found pressing herself against the glass on my office door, making funny faces, strutting around wearing her princess crown, and passing her special drawings through the door to “show to my friends from work.”
Early into the pandemic, one bright morning, I was hosting an Executive Business Review for a very important customer. I woke up extra early to get organized, fed the kids their breakfast, gave them 100% charged iPads, and got them settled. Around 90 minutes into the call, with no interruptions, I was super proud of myself for figuring this out. Just then, out of nowhere, the sassy little diva walked in. She gestured her hand to her mouth and rubbed her belly with the other hand, then pretended to faint. As if I wasn’t mortified enough and before I could hit the mute button, she announced, “You know, people, she’s my mommy first! I NEED her to feed me right now.” Thankfully, the customer executive on the call came to my rescue. He burst out laughing and announced “Time for a PB&J break.” This past year, my husband and I have had the pleasure of spending more time with our children — something that we will treasure forever. At times, when things get hard and stressful, the memories we have together as a family remind me of how lucky I am for the flexibility and support provided by Palo Alto Networks.
Thank you to all you mamas out there: We see you and how hard you work. We celebrate you, we honor you, and we truly couldn’t do what we do without you.
Found in Translation: How learning English from TV and movies helped me escape a war-torn Iraq and start a new life in America
By Fadi Fadhil, Cybersecurity Strategist
As a child growing up in Baghdad, Iraq, I developed a passion for computers from watching the American movie WarGames. I thought, “That’s exactly what I want to do!”
My family was not your average Iraqi family. I was born the same year Saddam Hussein took power, in 1979, and I knew nothing but war. But my parents, in their own way, were kind of rebels, starting when my dad married my mother, an exchange student from Jordan. My siblings and I were raised with their “free-thinking” mentality, which didn’t jive well with Saddam and his regime. The Ba’ath Party controlled everything, including what was on TV. In fact, VHS tapes containing western media content like news, talk shows, or even MTV were banned, like most other things. We grew up having our parents tell us, “What we talk about here at home, you are not to say in school,” because people were truly being executed for everything. There was nobody in Iraq who didn’t have a relative who had been executed. I know someone who had been jailed for talking about a dream he had to visit a neighboring country. People were dispensable, let alone their thoughts and dreams.
I learned English from American movies. Some people would put satellites on their rooftops and cover them with bedsheets so they couldn’t be detected by helicopters. I smuggled VHS tapes under my shirt and carried them home on my bike — I could have been executed for smuggling Hot Shot! Part Deux, in which they make fun of Saddam.
When you reached a certain age in Iraq, you were supposed to sign a paper swearing allegiance to Saddam’s regime. If you didn’t, they would execute you, so of course, everyone lied and signed it. Sometimes the papers would be sent around at school, or government officials would come door to door in the neighborhood. When it came time for me to sign, I told the school, “I signed that in my neighborhood,” and when they came to our door at home I said, “I signed that at school.” I would not sell myself to the Ba’ath Party, and nobody knew I was getting away with it, not even my family. I got my college degree in computer engineering, then my master’s degree, and I hadn’t been caught. But on the day of my graduation for my master’s, at the ceremony, someone from the Ba’ath Party was doing spot checks. That’s how I got caught.
They put a bag over my head, to make a spectacle out of me, and I was taken to political prison to be executed. There was no trial in court or anything, I just got a number and waited to die. We called it the meat grinder. My family and I gave up hope for my survival.
But this was 2003, the year U.S. forces invaded Iraq. After two weeks in prison, on the morning of April 9, I awoke to silence. The guards were gone. American troops were in Firdos Square in Baghdad, toppling the statue of Saddam. This was my moment — I got a second shot at life. I escaped prison and began running, saw American tanks on the streets for the first time, found someone to give me a ride, and I made it home. Still today I can’t believe I was this fortunate.
A few weeks later, on a busy street in Baghdad, I came across American soldiers and their commander trying to communicate with the local people; they had no interpreter. Here, at this point, I was angry at the world from the injustice of it all, and I saw a way to thumb my nose at the regime. A U.S. soldier was yelling at a local Imam, or cleric, “Where is your power plant? America is trying to help you!” and the Imam was yelling in Arabic, “Don’t raise your voice, this is still my country!”
Here was my chance. Drawing on the English I knew, I spoke my first English words ever to a foreigner: “Dude, I can help. I can translate.”
The soldier was shocked. “You speak English? Did you just call me dude?”
I quickly explained that I knew some English from movies and TV, and when he saw I could help, he immediately let the other Americans know, and they took me with them.
I was fortunate to develop a good relationship with them. Although most translators working with the Americans covered their faces, to protect their identities, I saw that as having no integrity, so I never covered mine. But others like me were being executed one by one by the insurgency and the foreign Jihadists who came to Iraq seeking a “holy war against the crusaders.” One day I came home from the army base, and my dad showed me a threatening note that had been left at our house. “Don’t worry about the family,” he told me. “Just go. Do what you need to do.”
That was the last time I saw my family for 10 years. I moved to the U.S. Army base, so they wouldn’t pay the price for my “calling,” and they moved to a safe house. Soon after that, our family home was bombed.
In 2005, a production company came to the base to make a documentary about the invasion of Iraq, and when they learned my story and realized they needed a translator to help subtitle their film, they offered me the opportunity to come to New York. So with a special visa, only $700 in my pocket, and instructions from the military guys to “eat at Subway,” I came to New York. (Unfortunately, they never told me it was a sandwich shop, so for three days I starved because I kept going to the subway station looking for food!)
I eventually figured things out, and when my work in New York was through, I went to Fort Hood in Texas for reunification with the military unit I had worked with last. I also got to connect again with an Army colonel with whom I had worked as a personal interpreter back in Baghdad. He was originally from Minnesota, so after my six months of working with the unit were finished and he was preparing to retire, he said to me, “I’m about to start a new life as a civilian. You’re about to start a new life, too. Have you seen snow before?”
I told him I hadn’t, and he said, “Well, there’s a football team there called the Vikings, and they’ll keep letting you down. We survived a roadside bomb. Let’s go survive Minneapolis.” So in 2006, I was given political asylum and followed the retired colonel to Minnesota, and was lucky enough to get my first job at Saint Paul school district working with computers: unboxing and imaging them for schools. In 2013, I officially became an American citizen. It was one of the happiest days of my life, similar to the day I got out of prison.
Before long, someone realized I had a master’s degree in computer systems networking and telecommunications, and I was given a promotion, and then another. I worked my way up to IT Services Manager for Saint Paul Public Schools, then to Director of IT Services Management at Minneapolis Public Schools, then to its Chief Information Officer (CIO). And in 2019, I became the CIO for the City of Minneapolis, where, in 2020, when Covid hit and the death of George Floyd sparked riots, I first worked with Palo Alto Networks to secure the city’s information infrastructure. I was so impressed with the company’s cybersecurity work and its impact that when a position came up at the end of the year, I applied and was eventually hired.
I’ve never had a bad day since I came to America. Every morning, when I wake up, hear people speaking English, and see the snow falling outside, I realize I’m an American, and I’m safe. I feel gratitude every day for this. Although my mother passed away from cancer and I never got to see her again, I’m happy to say that my father, brother, and sisters all managed to escape Iraq, settling in Sweden and England. We are all safe.
I don’t think people truly understand how fortunate we are to be Americans, or what many of us who have immigrated here have experienced. To explain what Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month means to me, I’ll share a story. The other day, I was in an Uber, and the driver was from Mexico. We got to talking about many things, particularly the corruption in the governments of our home countries. We had a conversation about how this doesn’t happen in America, and we started wondering what makes Americans different from people elsewhere in the world.
Then we started thinking about this country’s history, all it has gone through to become what it is today, and eventually we came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as Americans. What makes this country special is that it is made up of people from everywhere — Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America, Africa… This month is important because it’s one way in which we can celebrate the contributions of every immigrant in helping to make America what it is today.
Turning the Tide: How I sailed away from Communist Vietnam to begin life as an American.
By Hien La, IT Asset Management Specialist
This May, which is Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month, marks an important anniversary for me. It was this month in 1975 when my home country of South Vietnam ceased to exist, and Vietnam became a unified country under Communist control. And it was in May of 1982 when I fled the communist regime, becoming a refugee.
After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, many people in democratic South Vietnam made plans to escape the grip of communism, which had made our living conditions unbearable, with starvation, loss of livelihood, and even re-education in camps where torture, starvation, and hard labor were common. To escape, I would become one of the thousands of Boat People who escaped by sea to freedom.
Boat People
Boat is similiar to mine which was 7m (21 ft) which carried 45 of us
I was 16 years old when my sister and brother and I, along with several cousins, left Vũng Tàu in South Vietnam in a tiny, rickety, open fishing boat, with 44 other refugees. Our parents stayed behind because if you left your house for longer than a day, the government would confiscate it and the family, if they were not successful, would have nowhere to go. Leaving would give my siblings and me a chance at a better life.
We had to escape at night, illegally, hiding in people’s homes until we reached the beach. Every person on the boat was supposed to bring a 20-liter can of either water or oil, for just over 20 cans each. But as we approached the beach, rumors reached us that the police were chasing us, so we all ran to the boat.
In our rush, many of the escapees dropped their cans. As we began to sail for our destination, Malaysia, we realized that we only had 22 cans total, and 20 of them were oil. We only had two cans of water for 45 people on what was a 10-day journey by sea, and much of it had already been drunk. We began to ration our water by the spoonful; each person would get a teaspoon of water a day, just to keep our mouths wet. At first, we felt strong, but soon the seasickness came over us, and that made the lack of water worse. Our bodies began to deteriorate after several days at sea. At one point, I felt so thirsty that I tried to drink some of my cousin’s urine — it tasted terrible!
Pirates were the biggest concern for those sailing in the Gulf of Thailand, as they had been known to slaughter innocent people, so we took the long way to avoid them, meaning that our journey took 10 days instead of the three we’d expected. And we frequently saw ships that we hoped would save us, so we waved at 65 of them (yes, I counted personally), but only one saw us — it turned out to be from the U.S.S.R., one of communist Vietnam’s allies, so we had to turn away from the ship. But I also saw one of the most beautiful sights of my life during the two-week voyage. The sun was setting and a school of dolphins began racing our boat, jumping out of the water, almost close enough to touch.
Our journey took place right before monsoon season, and we suffered a massive storm that tossed us around so much we had to wrap the boat in a fishing net to keep us from falling out. But we were so happy because it was raining; we used ponchos to collect water, so we had enough to drink until we reached land.
Bataan picture was taken in Bataan Refugee camp
Smoother Sailing
An army ship on the island directed us to the refugee camp in Malaysia, where we would find out where we’d end up next; only a few countries were accepting Vietnamese refugees. Because one of my brothers worked for the U.S. government before the war, we were allowed to go to the United States. In two and a half months, I transferred to a transitional camp for several months to learn some basic English and American culture, and then we were sent to Tucson, Arizona, where there was a family who was willing to take us in. After two months there, we received refugee aid money from the U.S. government, and my brother left Texas with his family and picked us up, and all of us relocated to Silicon Valley, California, where I have lived ever since.
Because we didn’t have much money, we had to move every couple of years, but I was lucky to be able to attend a local city college, where I studied electrical engineering during the day. At night, I would work from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. as a semiconductor tester. I also really loved music and wanted to learn how to make music. Of course, I really wanted a Macintosh computer for this, but I couldn’t afford that, so instead, I bought a cheap computer with one megabyte of memory and 40 megabytes of hard drive. But it broke all the time, so I had to learn how to fix it because I couldn’t afford to pay anyone else to do it.
Because I had taught myself to fix my computer, I applied for a job at a company called Digital Equipment Corporation, or DEC. I told the hiring manager, “Just give me a one-week trial. If I don’t cut it, and if I can’t serve your computers appropriately, you don’t even have to pay me.” So he did. One of the site managers, Joe Dixon, was so happy with my work that years later after he’d left the company, he gave me an opportunity at his new company. After that, every couple of years, I was given opportunities to continue moving forward. I was officially granted U.S. citizenship in 1987, and I eventually grew in my career to become an Asset Management Specialist at Palo Alto Networks, where I have been very happy!
In the last couple of years, I have been frustrated, angry, and sad to see what’s happening at America’s borders, where immigrants have been refused entry, despite the horrific conditions in their homelands, and separated from their families, robbed of their dignity and basic human decency. I think about my difficult journey by boat, surviving dehydration and storms, and I think about the opportunities I’ve received that they are being deprived of. That’s why I’m so happy to see us celebrating Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month, because even when immigrants succeed as I have, we can’t forget the people we leave behind. I’m honored to be able to tell my story and look back to see that I have achieved success and am happy. We need to work to make this a country that celebrates its diversity so that others have the same opportunities that I had.