The 2022 Women Leaders In Technology: Tricia Callahan

Tricia Callahan is a managing director with global consulting firm Protiviti and leader of its financial services security and privacy practice for the Dallas market. She has more than 13 years' experience in providing clients with information security and cybersecurity strategy, assessment and audit services across first, second and third lines of defense. Tricia is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Open FAIR certified. She earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration – Management Information Systems and a bachelor's degree in English, both from The University of Texas at Austin.

What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry?

The thing I've enjoyed the most about consulting is being able to shape my career in the direction I wanted it to go and in the areas that I'm passionate about. I didn't graduate from college knowing exactly what I wanted to do. I was an intern at Protiviti, and I loved the people and culture and I felt confident it would be a great place to be while I figured out my career. As time went on, I was able to experience different clients and different types of work, and I developed a passion for security and was able to dedicate my career to helping clients strengthen their security programs. I've also enjoyed and appreciated the people I've been lucky enough to surround myself with. Protiviti has an amazing, collaborative culture and I've enjoyed being able to bring the smartest people together to solve complex problems and enabling my clients to be successful.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

I'm proud of becoming a female managing director in security while also juggling a 3-year-old and 9-month-old at home, all during the middle of a global pandemic. Security can still be a very male-dominated industry, however, I'm proud that I've been able to be successful and help my clients be successful while still being true to myself and who I am. I'm also incredibly proud of the other women in security and technology that I've been able to mentor over the years. I still have many years in front of me, but when I look back over 10-plus years, it gives me tremendous pride to see new consultants that I've mentored grow into strong and effective leaders and to know that I played a small part in helping them on their way.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

I can't think of just one individual who gave me this advice, but in probably a million ways, I've been told and learned over the years to operate with integrity and to focus on doing the right thing. The people around you need to know that they can rely on you, that you care about them, and that you will be honest with them. I always strive to provide my clients with exceptional value on every project and you can't truly help people if you treat them like a transaction. I've had problems arise occasionally on projects, and those are the most important moments because it's how you address those challenging situations that shows people whether they can trust you or not.