32 01732 759725 and wanted to break into cybersecurity. I told him to go for it. Learn the basics like Cyber Essentials, get extra training, look for a sideways move within your current company. If you can get into the vendor world, there’s travel, variety and long‑term opportunity. What would make your day job easier? More hours in the day. It sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. Heimdal moves at pace, which I love, but there’s always more to do. Time is the one thing no one can buy, and we all want more of. What’s on your playlist at the moment? A bit of everything. At this time of year, I’m into Ibiza chill, always love Coldplay, and I’ve got tickets to see Dua Lipa soon. I’m heading to the Isle of Wight Festival to see the Stereophonics and Justin Timberlake. Then Coldplay, again, in September. I’ve probably seen them four or five times now. I just love live music. What’s the most used app on your phone, and why? WhatsApp. I’m constantly chatting with friends, family and people in my village. Instagram’s probably next, but WhatsApp wins hands down. How do you like to spend your spare time? I’m a big social person and love live music, but my garden is my reset button. Especially at this time of year. Being outside is where I switch off and recharge. Fine dining and good wine or curry and a pint? Honestly, both. It depends on the mood. I couldn’t pick one over the other. Favourite holiday destination? Italy, without question. We went there for our honeymoon and go back as often as we can. This year we’re planning a return trip, probably to Bologna. I love the food, the pace of life, everything. We’re lucky enough to have an amazing Italian restaurant near home too. Everything on the menu is incredible. www.heimdalsecurity.com What should resellers focus on over the next 12 months to maximise growth? Enablement. We’re investing heavily in helping our partners become more self‑sufficient. That’s running their own demos, managing their own POCs, and expanding accounts. Because Heimdal is modular, it’s not a case of selling one product and walking away. There’s room to grow with each customer. And we’re very deliberate about preserving margin. Our goal is to be a profitable and scalable choice in every reseller’s portfolio. Did you get into IT by accident or design? Total accident. I was working in recruitment after uni and wasn’t loving it. A colleague suggested I look at IT, and that led me to Websense in 2001. I learned everything there was to know about internet security and stayed for 10 years. I loved it. Which business leader do you most admire, and why? Johanna Flower. She started as EMEA Marketing Manager at Websense when I was there, and eventually became CMO. Then she helped take CrowdStrike public. She’s sharp, understands the market and was brilliant to work for. She didn’t take any nonsense but genuinely cared about her team. She now sits on several boards in the US and still works closely with George Kurtz at CrowdStrike. What’s the best bit of business advice you’ve been given? Always have a work mentor. I’m lucky to have one, a close friend, who’s worked in startups, sits on VC boards and now consults and mentors others. She’s the first person I turn to when I need perspective. Having someone outside your day-to-day to talk things through makes all the difference. What advice would you give a young person considering a career in IT? Go for it. It’s an amazing industry, with real career longevity. I’ve spoken to all sorts of people about this, even my airport taxi driver last week, who was in IT support What have been your business highlights of the last 12 months? I only joined Heimdal in January, but one of the biggest highlights so far has been working with familiar faces. I used to work alongside Ken (Yearwood) and Imran (Rai) at Websense. I didn’t report to them back then, but we knew each other well. It’s a great feeling to join a business where you already trust the people around you. What is currently having the greatest impact on your business? The business-wide shift to a channelfirst model. It takes time to embed that approach properly, but we’ve got full buy-in from top to bottom. That kind of alignment is crucial. When we speak with partners, especially new ones, we talk openly about how committed we are. Where do you see the next big opportunity for your business? North America. We’re bringing on new MSPs with our American partners, FutureSafe and Fusion. The potential for growth there is huge. That said, the UK remains a strong and strategic market for us. With Brigantia, our UK distribution partner’s support, we’re in a great position to push to the top of the unified management platform space. With Sarah Goodchild, recently appointed UK CEO of Heimdal, provider of a unified cybersecurity platform that brings together prevention, detection, access control and response to secure the entire IT estate, from endpoint to email, identity to cloud 60 Seconds INTERVIEW Sarah Goodchild
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDUxNDM=