Inspiring Leaders: A Conversation with Silka Gonzalez

“Who we are is how we lead” - Dare to Lead by Brené Brown

I recently had the honor of sitting down with Silka Gonzalez, founder of ERMProtect Cybersecurity Solutions, for a conversation about leadership, legacy, and building something that matters.

Silka started her cybersecurity firm 28 years ago when cyber was so new that people "looked at her like an alien," and even more so as a woman launching a company from scratch to compete with the consulting giants. With $42,000 from her 401k and no formal entrepreneurial training, she built it through grit, determination, and an unshakeable set of values.

Here are a few moments from our conversation that stayed with me:

🤝 Lead with empathy and accountability. Silka built a culture that's family-oriented, giving people freedom and trust. "People want to feel part of something... they don't want to feel entrapped in a job." But freedom comes with ownership. Everyone plays their part.

🎯 Hire for values first. Skills can be taught and teams can cross-train each other, but shared core values of integrity, honesty, hard work, service, are the real foundation.

🤲 Own your mistakes as a team. When something goes wrong, you don't point fingers. You sit down, get to the truth, own it, and do the right thing for the client, even if that means giving the work away for free.

📚 Never stop learning. In a field that reinvents itself constantly, she's instituted a "learn and teach" discipline: send one person to train, bring that knowledge back, and share it across the team.

🌱 Keep perspective. Perhaps the most powerful takeaway from someone near the peak of a remarkable career: "Money is not everything. Status is not everything. Life is much more than your job."

Her advice to the next generation of leaders? Do something that means something, not for money, power, or recognition, but for the deep meaning it holds for others. And lead with a sense of humanity: treat people the way you'd want to be treated.

Silka, thank you for giving me my first opportunity right out of grad school and for showing me what authentic, values-driven leadership looks like. Your impact extends far beyond any single career, mine included.