Orlando Inno Under 25: Young techie rises to team leader at cyber success ThreatLocker

Tabitha Gordon transitioned from work as a licensed message therapist to a career in the high-tech world of cybersecurity — all before she turned 21.

Today, Gordon is an application technician at Maitland-based cybersecurity company ThreatLocker Inc. Gordon is actually the application team lead, overseeing other team members at the fast-growing cyber firm.

Of course, ThreatLocker isn't just another tech startup; the 5-year-old company earlier this year closed a $100 million Series C fundraising round and was named an Orlando Inno Fire Award winner, which recognizes the top innovative companies in Central Florida.

For her work at ThreatLocker, Gordon was named to the 2022 Inno Under 25 cohort. The annual honor recognizes five Central Florida entrepreneurs and technologists 25 years old or younger who are making waves in the business community. All five honorees are recognized on Orlando Inno's website, as well as in Orlando Business Journal's Oct. 14 print issue.

Here, Gordon shares more with Orlando Inno about what her and ThreatLocker are up to:

What does your company do? ThreatLocker is a leader in endpoint security technologies, providing enterprise-level cybersecurity tools to improve the security of servers and endpoints. ThreatLocker’s combined Application Allowlisting, Ringfencing, Storage Control, Elevation Control and Endpoint Network Access Control solutions provide businesses with a more secure approach of blocking the exploits of unknown application vulnerabilities.

What were your company’s greatest accomplishments of the last 12 months? The ongoing theme has been growth and expansion. Earlier this year, ThreatLocker secured $100 million in Series C funding to assist with accelerating product innovation, hiring top talent and expanding the power of Zero Trust globally. ThreatLocker since has managed to increase its revenue as well as the number of organizations supported by its Zero Trust endpoint security solution. In addition, ThreatLocker has almost tripled its workforce within the past year and is on track to have more than 200 employees by the end of October.

What’s your top work-related goal for 2022? Following ThreatLocker’s theme of being a disruptor in the industry, I also would like to be a disruptor in the cybersecurity workspace. A goal of mine would be to keep on using innovative ideas to create radical change within the workplace by improving business processes and, in turn, business efficacy. The IT industry constantly is changing, and it is important to stay at the forefront of those changes as we innovate and adapt to the ever-evolving climate. The opportunity for growth in this field is limitless. However, I would love to keep on climbing the corporate ladder at ThreatLocker and to affect change throughout the company on a larger scale. 

Who is your best career mentor? It can be a challenge being a young woman in tech. However, I’ve never felt disadvantaged under the guidance of our Director of Technical Support Nicholas Tannous. The culture at ThreatLocker is nurturing, which was important for me coming from a non-technical background. I started my journey at ThreatLocker with Nick as my coach, and he was very helpful when it came to pointing me in the right direction, getting me to understand technical jargon, writing reports, documentation, projection management and remaining organized, among other things. 

What are your hobbies? When I am not at work, you can find me doing a lot of reading. I believe knowledge is power and, as such, I have a tendency to read a lot of informational and motivational books. However, I also enjoy indulging in some sci-fi novels. Furthermore, I also have a passion for art. I like the concept of creating something new and often do crochet, acrylic and watercolor paintings, and digital art with a focus on nature-inspired pieces. I also enjoy hiking with my dog, Marley, and my cat, Tina, on the weekends.

What is a fun fact about you? I am a licensed massage therapist-turned-woman-in-cybersecurity. In my brief tenure as a massage therapist, I was most passionate about shiatsu (a form of Japanese bodywork), thermotherapy and cryotherapy.

Tabitha Gordon

Sign up here for The Beat, Orlando Inno’s free newsletter. And be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.