Everyday Heroes of Cisco Empowered Women’s Network: Denise Donohue

This post was written by Anuja Singh and Emily Griffin.

Carpe diem – Seize the day! Inspiration from everyday heroes of Cisco Empowered Women’s Network

What better way to start the New Year than with a monthly Cisco Empowered Women’s Network series about role models in the technology industry? We all make resolutions and set goals to improve ourselves– but somewhere along the way, life interrupts our plans, we find ourselves juggling different priorities and invariably things get dropped. What you will find in this segment is inspiration from ordinary people who have achieved extraordinary results. Everyone featured in this series has faced challenges and opportunities that the rest of us can identify with; let’s draw inspiration from the choices they made and aspire to the outcomes they created.

Welcome to ‘Carpe diem – Seize the day! Inspiration from everyday heroes of CiscoEWN’

To kick off our first post of the monthly series, we have an incredible guest – Denise Donohue.

Denise has worked with information systems since the mid-1990s and her expertise spans most technologies. She has authored numerous Cisco Press books and frequently shares her knowledge in webinars and seminars. Find out more about Denise.

Cisco Empowered Women’s Network (CiscoEWN): You started your career as an economist with government agencies and here you are now – a senior network architect with some of the most difficult industry certifications under your belt. What happened along the way?

Denise: Life and kids happened! I quit my full time job to be a full time mom to my three kids. But along the way I started tinkering a little with home computers and found it interesting. I also have a background in education so I started working from home and franchised a business that brought computers to daycares and schools. When my husband lost his job and I had to go back to full time work, I considered returning to my comfort zone of economics and government. But that wasn’t where my heart lay – by then, I had grown to love computers.

CiscoEWN: What were some of your headwinds and tailwinds during this difficult transition?

Denise: I’m not sure I would advise anyone to juggle that many balls at the same time (smiles)– but if you have to do something, the only way is to jump in with both feet and do it. My headwinds at the time were intense – I was very guilty about leaving the kids; I was the weird person among the neighborhood stay-at-home moms peer group; the field I had chosen was very difficult and drained me physically and mentally – there were many days that I cried because I was exhausted and I missed the kids so much. But what kept me going was that despite the challenges I really enjoyed what I was doing and felt deep down that this is where I was supposed to be. I loved the technology, the new learning and meeting new people. Following my passion and trusting my gut were my mantras during that phase.

CiscoEWN: Following your passion is a great advice – but don’t you need a support system or some motivation to actually do it?

Denise: Absolutely! My family understood that it was finally my time to do what I had to do – and they shared responsibilities around housework and cooking dinners etc. Of course, there was a fair share of whining also – especially when I came down on Christmas day just for the gift-opening and then went right back to studying. So, for all of us, despite some basic support, you have to continue to motivate yourself and keep in sight why are you are doing something. Competition also helps. I had a colleague who got his CCNA and CCIE (Cisco certifications) before I did and he was gloating about it. That really lit a fire under me and my goal was to get my own certifications within a year after his.

CiscoEWN: You are the author of not one, not two – but twelve books! How did you persevere?

“…if you have an interest, a goal that you want badly enough – you can get it. And sometimes not knowing exactly what it takes to get there helps. Then you can focus on each step.”-Denise Donohue

Denise: (Laughing) I suffer from total amnesia about how hard it is. I guess that’s why I keep going back and doing it. Some of the books took six months; some took as many as a couple of years. I considered dropping the effort many times, but then I knew I had things I wanted to say and felt this was my way to give back to my community. It was my labor of love. I find that if you have an interest, a goal that you want badly enough – you can get it. And sometimes not knowing exactly what it takes to get there helps. Then you can focus on each step.

CiscoEWN: What would you write in a letter to your younger self?

Denise: It took me a long time to understand that I should have faith in my judgment and myself. If I could speak to my younger self, I would tell her that she is good enough and smart enough and she should do what she needs to do with self-confidence. Also, I would tell her not to let resentment overcome her. At the time, I resented my husband’s job loss because it forced me out of my comfort zone. But time and my achievements have given me faith that there is a reason for the way things happen.

When CiscoEWN contacted me and asked if I was willing to be the first person featured in this series, I hesitated because I felt I didn’t have much to say that was out of the ordinary. I felt I was just doing what I do and it’s not all that special. But then my daughter said ‘Mom, you should do this. You have been my inspiration’. And that just meant so much to me – it gave me pause to look back and see how far I have come. I would tell my younger self that too.

CiscoEWN: Leave us with your favorite Carpe diem statement.

Denise: For people who are wondering what to do with their life, or are stuck, don’t be afraid to take a step. Chances are you can always step back if you need to. ‘You can only do what you can do – don’t feel bad about what you can’t do.’

Thank you Denise!