New Release: Email Security Awareness Training- Empower your team to proactively combat email threats with easy-to-launch phishing simulations and assessments Learn More
New Release: Email Security Awareness Training- Empower your team to proactively combat email threats with easy-to-launch phishing simulations and assessments
Are you the highest-ranking channel executive in your organization?
Yes. If not, who is?
To whom do you report in your organization?
I’m the chairman.
Does that individual report to your organization’s CEO/president? If not, how far removed?
I’m chairman.
Bio and Background
Antoinette “Toni” Chaltiel was born in Dublin, Ireland, and relocated to the United States in 1988. She settled originally in Los Angeles, California, and moved on to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1997. Before moving to Las Vegas, she was president of Total Insurance and Planning Corp, a Torrance, California, insurance brokerage firm then specializing in health, life insurance, and estate planning. She has degrees from both the Dublin City University, bachelor of Business Studies and the Institute of Personnel Management. Toni is chairman and founder of Trustifi LLC, a SaaS company specializing in cyber security and email encryption.
Provide a brief synopsis of your key channel-related accomplishments over the last year.
I’ve always made it a goal to provide forthright guidance and drive the company in a profitable direction, as I have with many companies that I’ve been involved with over the years.
How have you personally helped advance your company’s channel business over the past year?
I was involved in the hire of two new Trustifi executives in the past 12 months, including a new CEO and CRO. We’re confident that we have effective leadership in place to increase our presence in the marketplace, creating greater recognition and differentiating our solutions from the competition.
What are your goals for your company’s channel business over the next year?
We’re looking to increase both the breadth of channel partners and the average number of seats per sale. We want to make the channel aware of our unique approach to encryption, giving the user far greater abilities when revising sent messages. Our solution encrypts messages before they reach the recipient’s gateway. Sent emails reside on Trustifi’s proprietary cloud storage platform, allowing the sender to go back into those correspondences to remove or add recipients, swap-out attachments, or completely recall the message. It’s a breakthrough concept, and we want to make more partners conscious of it as a differentiator.
What honors, awards or commendations have you won over the past year?
The work is its own reward.
What’s the key to success for your channel partners in 2021?
Channel partners need to reevaluate their approach to cyber security. The massive breaches of this year are proof that even the largest channel companies can be compromised. Email encryption is a crucial part of a layered and comprehensive security program, yet it has to be easy to use and unobtrusive in order to achieve wide-scale adoption. Partners who can implement effective cyber security and encryption stand a better chance of mitigating these risks of BEC, or business email compromise.
What’s your favorite way to de-stress?
To de-stress in Vegas, there are great hiking trails with beautiful scenery. I love exploring new trails. Pickle ball is my new hobby. It’s easier than squash and a preferred sport and outdoor activity since COVID-19’s restrictions.
What goals have you set for your own professional development this year? What new skill sets have you added or training are you taking or plan to take?
We’re working to expand Trustifi’s marketing and social media initiatives and are developing deeper relationships with the channel media. This has also been a year of focusing on personal well-being and family during the pandemic, which plays into my ability to better run the business. I’m always striving to keep that work/life balance intact.
What’s one workplace rule that you always break and why?
I never just tell people what they want to hear — that’s a bad rule. Never BS. If you don’t know what you’re talking about then keep your mouth closed. My first job when I moved to LA was selling Toyota cars. When someone asked about the engine or mechanics, I walked them straight to the service department and had them ask the guys in that area. This helped make me a pretty successful sales rep, for the short time I worked there.
How did you adapt to the extra work-related stresses that stemmed from the pandemic?
I am a big believer of rolling with the punches and adapting, no matter what the circumstances. I’ve worked hard throughout my life to juggle life and business, taking care of the family’s commitments and investments while running a company and raising three children. I’m doing the same with the pandemic. I keep active with outdoor activities and I apply an attitude of facing obstacles head-on.
Describe a time during your career when you doubted your abilities or qualifications and how you overcame that challenge.
When I moved to the US before the Celtic Tiger economy, Ireland was depressed. I studied nights, learning German and French in order to work with the EU and companies with subsidiaries in Ireland. When I couldn’t import the couturier company I started to Los Angeles, I began working for Prudential, eventually starting my own brokerage. By 2014, I had to take over the family venture capital business after my husband passed, while raising three teenagers. For sure, I doubted my abilities then. But life goes on. If you don’t take the bull by the horns, it’ll run you down.
What advice do you have on how to make video calls/virtual events a more effective sales tool?
It helps to be conscious of your physical surroundings and background during video activities so they’re not distracting during virtual meetings and presentations, even if these days many of us are working from our kitchens or bedrooms. But more importantly, you have to be yourself, whether you’re collaborating virtually or in person. Being genuine is a good way to instill trust and create personal bonds that help combat the isolation of the new remote workplace.
What tips do you have for boosting your professional social media presence this year?
Trustifi is looking to expand its social media presence this year with more relevant content for MSPs and channel partners. We’ll be working to engage more with customers, and provide more material to help them make savvy decisions about securing their clientele. We’d like to boost engagement with more video content and germane sound bites, providing easy to digest and effective content.
What show that you recently binge-watched was your favorite and why?
I recently binge-watched “The Good Wife.” It reminded me a little of myself — without the scandals and dirty politics! I was a widow and mother who assumed full responsibility for the family and re-entered the workforce. As a young graduate in Ireland, I beat the competition to get the prized jobs and built my confidence. I always thought I would have been great at anything I put my mind to. I was confident but never overly confident. When I saw something I didn’t know, I was curious to learn and read up on it. A curious mind isn’t to be wasted.
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