Videos · Ben Baker
Get to know Sami Ridel, Partner Integrations Manager at Expel. Sami joins the conversation to:
- share insights on partnership management and team security culture
- discuss Expel’s team culture and values
- talk about combating imposter syndrome and advocating for women in security
For a deeper dive into Expel culture, check out the careers page of our website.
Introduction
Ben Baker: I’m here with Sami Ridel. Sami, tell us about what you do here and maybe just give us a brief overview of your career.
What you do at Expel
Sami Ridel: I’m Samantha Ridel, Sami Ridel, Sam Ridel—whatever you want to call me, I’m happy with. I am the Partner Integrations Manager here at Expel, and I also help with our incident response partners. I’ve been here since 2022, and I started in sales 10-plus years ago—well, I guess 11 years now. I started in sales and sales leadership and made my way into the partnership realm of things within tech.
What drew you to Expel?
Ben: What drew you in the direction of Expel?
Sami: When I was searching for a job in 2022, I was fresh from a layoff and something that I wanted to make sure I focused on was finding a place that aligned with what I valued and that actually cared about its humans. I wanted something where we could continue to build a culture that aligned with what I wanted to be aligned with. And so I found a company that genuinely wants to help its customers and cares about its humans. It aligns with my values and exceeded my expectations.
Day in the life of Partner Integrations
Ben: What’s the day in the life look like for you?
Sami: My day varies from week to week—it depends. I work with a lot of different people, whether internally or externally. I work with a lot of external humans, and they don’t all communicate via Slack like our company does. So it’s sometimes a bunch of different phone calls, lots of emails, chasing people down. It really depends. I kind of get to create my week however I see fit.
I really do love when you get to create your own thing. I had a similar role at one of my other companies where I got to work on special projects with some of the VP-level friends that were there. It was awesome. You got to figure out what was going on behind the curtains, but also build things the way you wanted and have a say in what was going on—have your opinion or voice be heard and figure out how to do some of the things that maybe people are a little intimidated by.
Dealing with imposter syndrome
Sami: It’s kind of where the imposter syndrome comes in and you’re like, “Should I be in this meeting, in this room?” But it’s empowering to be in a position where you can have some sway and say in some of the things that are going on.
Ben: I think everybody has to some degree dealt with imposter syndrome. How do you combat that?
Sami: It’s something that I think haunts everyone, and it’s not just women that deal with imposter syndrome. Sometimes we think that it’s just us, but I feel like everybody kind of feels like, “Am I the right person? Is there someone better?” But I constantly think that no matter what ends up coming my way, I’m going to be able to do it. And if I don’t know how to do it, I can ask the questions to find out how, or have the resources to learn more.
I think with imposter syndrome, it’s just being able to take a step back and explain it to yourself like, “I was chosen for this. If I don’t know what I’m doing, I can learn and be open to learning.”
Leading Expel’s Women’s ERG
Ben: You’re an ERG leader for our Women’s ERG at Expel. Talk to us a little bit about what that means to you and why you wanted to volunteer to lead this group.
Sami: I truly want women to win in all aspects of life, and I’m not afraid to climb up hills to fight for anything that we believe in or that I think should be going better. I’ve been on Women ERG boards at previous companies and have pushed for significant change within organizations to make things more equitable for women.
I don’t think there’s a lot of hills for us to climb here at Expel. A lot of those doors have already been opened by previous people that have worked here from the start. So that’s been amazing. It’s important that I’m in a position to potentially make a difference here and in security, so that we can build a better community. It’s just been a dream. We have incredible humans at Expel—we’ve already mentioned that before—but I love being able to help, even if it is in a small way.
Just for fun: the owl question
Ben: All right, so we do this thing here at Expel where before certain meetings, we will ask something that is a very important question. And it is indeed very important—it is of utmost importance, in fact. So the very important question for you is: how many owls would you have to see in one day before it was weird?
Sami: Ooh, gosh, one. I think if I hear an owl by my house—I live in a new development neighborhood, so there’s not a lot of trees—like where did that owl come from? Why am I hearing a hoo outside, and where is this owl? I want to see it. So one I think is plenty. But yeah, owls, I love them. I want to see them. I want to be a part of their world, but they’re not by me. One would be plenty. What about you?
Ben: I’m gonna have to say two. I actually was running through my neighborhood one evening and an owl swooped over my head moving from one tree to another. And it scared the bejesus out of me as you would imagine. They are extremely territorial and large, so we have owls. But if I saw two, I would be wondering if Dumbledore was anywhere around me.
Sami: That wouldn’t be the worst. I’d love to be a wizard. So recruit me, Dumbledore. I’m here. I’m ready.
Final thoughts
Ben: Sami Ridel, thank you for joining us and for the work that you do here. This was a great conversation.
Sami: Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me.
