Women in VoIP: Vibrant VanDerHorst-Larson
The next Woman in VoIP, Jennifer VanDerHorst-Larson, has over 10 years experience in the VoIP world and heads the controls as the CEO of Vibrant Technologies. Located in the Midwest, but selling worldwide, Vibrant provides consumers with quality used IT hardware and upgrades.
What is it like working as a woman in the VOIP world?
On a day to day basis, I don’t imagine being a woman in this industry is that much different than it is for a man. Individually, as CEO of Vibrant, I do have tendencies to communicate with my team and clients on a personal level…I often speak with every one of our 40 employees each day.
How did you become interested/introduced to VOIP?
Vibrant started out as a refurbished server reseller, and we would get these large lots of equipment from auctions and liquidations. We were increasingly coming across packages of Cisco routers, switches and telephony equipment, so we became more and more involved in trading networking and Telco hardware. We realized there was a big market in voice and networking and started to dedicate personnel to develop that market for us.
What are some of your networking/marketing methods?
I love to meet others in person at conferences and industry gatherings. Often the people you meet at these events may not have a direct business synergy with you but they have great insights and will link you up to new partners and clients.
How is it working with men in VOIP?
I enjoy working with the men in the industry. Of course I’m glad to see more and more women entering the VOIP world, but the men in the industry are great to work with. Successful people in IT sales have to possess a mix of intelligence, wit, toughness and integrity that it makes them such a great group to work with, no matter which gender they happen to be.
What do you see for the future of women in VOIP?
I hope to see more and more women take on a variety of roles from sales to technical positions, and of course more women heading up their own companies. Although currently male-dominated, women absolutely have the skills to thrive in this industry.
