Get to Know CyberGRX: Meet Gary W. Phipps
Meet Gary, Senior Director of Solution Engineering
1. Where did you grow up?
I grew up all over the southeast. I wasn’t an Army brat, but we bounced around quite a bit. I was born in Knoxville Tennessee and was eventually graduated from Auburn University where I studied military proliferations and tactics, literature and domestic lagers.
2. What brought you to CyberGRX?
I came to CyberGRX after working in the industry as a risk practitioner and designing programs for enterprises trying to address third-party cyber risk. It was really frustrating seeing my clients try to figure out how to assess thousands of vendors with a small team of FTE’s. It was like watching Sisyphus pushing that rock up the hill. CyberGRX was solving the scale problem with a multisided market which was really exciting, and I wanted to be a part of it. I stayed, however because of the people. These days, you can’t throw a rock without hitting someone jawing about ‘company culture’. At CyberGRX, you don’t have to be reminded of the ‘corporate principles of culture’ or pithy slogans reminding you of the company mission. Every CyberGRX employee is a shareholder which seems to organically infuse a level-up mentality. I really can’t fathom being somewhere else.
3. What do you do at CyberGRX/what’s your typical day like?
I run Solutions Engineering for CyberGRX. Most of my days are spent analyzing client vendor inventories using the Exchange’s analytics and writing up the corresponding recommendations. One of the services CyberGRX provides is a vendor-inventory analysis; a process that would take months if done manually. Clients use our analysis to focus budget allocation and assessment project scope. I also help the sales team evangelize the value of automation.
4. What advice would you give to your teenage self?
I would tell my teenage self to never wear rented shoes, go to the carnival when it’s in town and always tip street performers.
5. What has had the greatest impact on your life?
Sand.
When you live on the beach, sand is unavoidable. It gets everywhere. It’s in your home, your shoes, your car. Sometimes it’s in the wind and ends up between your teeth when you’re chomping down on a sautéed scallop or other bivalve mollusk. It’s all over the place. Sand has been a life lesson for me. You have to reconcile with how irritating sand is in order to enjoy the rejuvenating benefits of sitting on a sandy beach while your fellow GRX’ers are swearing at their frozen steering wheels in Colorado. I almost forgot; the A&E drama ‘Beyond Scared Straight’. I learned a lot from that too.
6. What’s your hidden super power?
OCD. My hidden super power is my obsessive-compulsive disorder. Most of my colleagues think I just work really hard. The truth behind the mask is OCD. I can’t relax (in the sand) until all tasks are complete.