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Want a peak behind the curtain into one of the best places to work in cybersecurity and the minds of the innovators behind the industry’s leading security operations platform? Tune in to The Howler podcast!
Hosted by Chelsea Lowman, People Experience Specialist, and Mary Newville, People Experience Senior Manager, the culture duo connects with pack leaders on leadership insights, mental health and overall wellbeing, and how they lead their teams to advance our mission of ending cyber risk.
Pack Gives Back Roundtable
Chelsea Lowman (00:00.192)
Okay, so we'll just jump right into it. Mary and I will do like a quick little intro about why we're here and then we'll go right into, okay everyone introduce yourself, that type of thing, okay?
Mary Newville (00:18.079)
to it.
Chelsea Lowman (00:19.4)
All right, Alex, are we ready?
Chelsea Lowman (00:26.912)
Welcome back to the Heller Podcast. I'm Chelsea. And we are here with special guests today. We're very excited. We have some of our brand new Pack Gives Back ambassadors. Yay!
Mary Newville (00:29.724)
Merry.
Mary Newville (00:42.293)
Maybe, but I don't know what to make of this around the globe.
Chelsea Lowman (00:47.264)
Yes, literally, we've got representation from all over. We formed these Pack Gives Back ambassadors back in, I want to say September 2024. So still not even a whole year in. But we wanted to bring on some ambassadors that are really like paving the way and going all in, organizing volunteer opportunities and events for their areas.
and our ambassadors are really Pack members who have stepped up in various regions to say, you know, like giving back, means something to me and is important. And so they help us plan and support different volunteer opportunities in their regions because all of our Pack members get three volunteer days off VTO. And so we're really trying to encourage.
our Pack members to use those. So we have these lovely ambassadors to really be our megaphones and our excitement around volunteerism. So thank you all for being here so much. We're excited to have the conversation. It feels like these round tables always like fly by. We never get to half of the questions because we always have such great conversations. So I think we should really just dive in because it's going to fly by before we know it. So.
And let's marry anything you want to add before we get to meet these lovely people.
Brittany Tomkins (02:15.278)
you
Mary Newville (02:16.324)
well, think we should, I think it's fitting and we got a plug. Caleb, you were an inspiration for pack gives back ambassadors. You were like the OG ambassador and we were like, we need more Caleb's. So I'm excited. when you share your intro, we'll, just, I'll leave it to you to kind of share your story. But, Caleb was doing pack gives back ambassadoring. that's a word long before we had the ambassador program. So we're so excited to have these leaders all over.
Chelsea Lowman (02:29.472)
Mm-hmm.
Caleb Menendez (02:40.6)
Thank
Mary Newville (02:45.493)
helping us make a difference in our communities. yeah, let's do it. Intros, do you want to the, the, the lay of the land?
Chelsea Lowman (02:51.732)
Yes. Okay, so if everyone could please obviously introduce your name, where you're located, and then your role here at Arctic Wolf. And then let us know your favorite thing about running with the pack. So what's your favorite thing about working here? And then finally, since this is our pack gives back episode, if you feel comfortable maybe sharing a cause that's personally important to you or
even if it's a volunteer opportunity you've done outside of Arctic Wolf, like something you're passionate about. So with that, maybe should we start with Caleb, our OG Hotbox Black Ambassador?
Mary Newville (03:27.343)
Let's do it!
Caleb Menendez (03:30.872)
Yeah, my name is Caleb Menendez. I'm in the Utah Pleasant Grove office. I'm a concierge engineer. And so what I do is really just help bridge the connection between Arctic Wolf and our customers focusing on their technical needs. And then my favorite thing about running with the pack is I would say the pack itself. I feel like everyone really cares so much and is dedicated to the cause of Arctic Wolf, of ending cyber risk. And that's kind of what got me into the company itself initially. And then I had a really hard time figuring out what cause
would be most important to me because I honestly, if I had to pick a cause, it kind of sounds like a cop out, but I'd say I just love seeing people enjoy serving others and kind of what that does. so that's initially actually what got me into this. I love the idea of VTO and I had heard about it and we have this Utah office, all hands meeting where we all meet together and I heard about it there. said, Hey, we got these VTO hours and I think nobody was really using it. And I said,
to myself, I wonder if we set up like a group opportunity that that would help kind of people want to get out because a lot of us are really introverted in the security side where we're really just focused on a lot of the technical stuff. And so we don't like talking with people as much, but I said, if we do it together and we all kind of enjoy our own presence together, it would really increase the amount of people using that VTO. And so I said, I'm going to set up an opportunity and I did it. from there,
turned into, yeah, hey, we want you to set up another one next month. And then it kind of snowballed into the packet back ambassador sounds way better than I used to call myself the vice chancellor of volunteering. so the ambassadorship sounds way better. But yeah, it's turned into, we try to do an opportunity every month and we've had some really awesome opportunities come up and I've loved it so far.
Chelsea Lowman (05:11.133)
you
Chelsea Lowman (05:16.064)
Well.
Mary Newville (05:23.401)
Caleb, I'm curious when you talk about you love seeing people enjoy serving others. Where did that come from? Was your family a big volunteering family growing up? Were you just kind of born with this heart for serving others?
Caleb Menendez (05:40.162)
think a little bit of everything. My family's always been really good about serving others. We grew up really poor. And so it was really easy to see when we were giving to others, it was like stuff we didn't have. So it was really easy to see that we were giving to others. And then my church focuses a lot on service, but I also, I was in Boy Scouts growing up and service is really heavily embedded there. And so I just, I always fell in love with it. It's the thing about seeing other people and
Even if you don't see the person you're giving to. So like one of the events we did was a giving tree. And instead of just being like, hey, we're gonna go and find some giving tree that exists, we set up our own and asked employees to submit family names that like needed help. And so it felt a lot more personal. And so we would see the stories of who needed help. And then seeing that we were sending gifts to give Christmas to people that wouldn't have Christmas at all was pretty awesome. So that it's really that.
that feeling that I've seen throughout my whole life that just helping others feel that is just really cool.
Mary Newville (06:43.763)
That's so cool. I'm always so inspired by the Utah pack. But I didn't even know about that Christmas tree. That is so sweet.
Chelsea Lowman (06:50.962)
Mm-hmm.
Caleb Menendez (06:52.194)
We had some, if you want, I could tell you later, there's some pretty intense stories among the people we were giving to. So it felt very fulfilling.
Mary Newville (07:00.415)
feel like he's doing this one.
Chelsea Lowman (07:00.425)
Yeah.
Yeah, okay, we'll maybe we can circle back to that one when we're talking about some of our favorite opportunities. Okay, Brittany, how about you gonna?
Mary Newville (07:10.645)
the clog.
Brittany Tomkins (07:15.904)
Well, good morning, everybody. My name is Brittany and I work out of the Kitchener Waterloo office here in Canada, and I'm part of the BA team. My role or job function is to basically support the S2 department, whether it's with employee engagement. I've planned and executed many S2 specific events, along with a multitude of other BA type requests that come in. And then I'm also here to
aid and support one of the site leads here in the Waterloo office. So that's me.
Mary Newville (07:53.621)
Wait, and what is VA stand for? Are you saying VA or VA?
Brittany Tomkins (07:58.882)
Business, yeah, BA, sorry, yeah, B for Brittany. It's business analyst. So our team is multifunctional and we provide multiple services to us too. Yeah, it's a great team to work with. So I'm very fortunate. As far as favorite thing about running with the pack, I actually have two. First one would be, I guess a great word would be like camaraderie.
So since my first day at Arctic Wolf, you could tell there was definitely that one team, one goal mentality. And there really hasn't been a day that's gone by where not only like one, but multiple people are available for me to personally lean on for answers or support when it comes to really anything. And then just in general, I've seen many times people offering up support.
to one another, whether it's outside of their department or within, which is really cool to see. And then the second would be really how diverse our culture is. We are very multicultural here in the KW office, and I just love how we make an effort to prioritize and celebrate those different cultures. So I think that's really cool. As far as the...
that's most important. Chelsea, you're kind of familiar with this, but we've had the pleasure of working many times with a nonprofit. They're called the 519 Community Collective, and they advocate for many types of individuals and families who are living, whether it be in shelters or transitional housing, and they provide emergency aid, different essentials. They've also developed a multitude of other programs.
They have community fridges, urban gardens. One of the cooler things I've seen that they do is they have these little free food pantries. They look like little houses with doors on them that they stock with dry goods. So people, you know, walking down the street or families that are in need of dry goods, whether it's for their kids' school lunches, whatever the case might be, they're installed across the region. And they also offer like an assortment of other emergency food programs, the list.
Brittany Tomkins (10:20.93)
really goes on. So it's been a pleasure working with them and seeing how we have been able to benefit some of the people that they've helped out as well.
Chelsea Lowman (10:33.312)
That's amazing. It's always so fun to build a partnership with a nonprofit and be able to like consistently work with them over the years and really see your impact like grow and grow each time you do something. So I know the food packing event that we did. How was that already? Two years last year, whenever that was. I think it was last year. What is time was so fun and being able. I know you.
Brittany Tomkins (10:54.531)
Yeah.
Chelsea Lowman (11:02.986)
Well, actually, they picked it up from your house. It's all coming back to me. No, we dropped them off at her house, at the woman's
Brittany Tomkins (11:07.202)
Yeah.
Brittany Tomkins (11:11.988)
We did it. Yeah, it was a combination of both. I had half of their organizers come to my house to pick up half the boxes. We had a bunch of bankers boxes, which was great. And then others we dropped off at a specific location. And then they distributed them from there. So that was that was a really fun event.
Chelsea Lowman (11:31.21)
I remember it was so fun. I just remember I was already visiting Canada. So I was like, don't know where I am. And then I was going to this like random person's house to drop off boxes. But I really loved it. Really felt like you felt the like community grassroots. Like everyone's like, we're just doing what we can to help out. So it was great. Loved it. Okay. Last but certainly not least, Sophie.
Sophie Fisk (12:00.396)
Hi from across the pond. So I am Sophie. I work in the UK, specifically in the Newcastle office. And I am a senior partner operations administrator for pretty much the whole of Amir. So just to put it in perspective, we have like a team of eight to 10 in the US and then there's just me over here. So all things partner onboarding as well as like deal bridges.
Mary Newville (12:02.431)
Thank you.
Sophie Fisk (12:29.496)
partner portal things, channel conflict, things like that, camp dates, that kind of thing. And my favorite thing, kind of running with what you guys said as well, is the teams itself. mean, personally for me, my team really just keeps me going every day. It's not great that I'm my only person in my team, but they make me feel part of my team, part of the team even.
across the pond. just a shout out to the partner ops team. But yeah, I feel really strongly about using my voice. That's just how I think that everyone should use their voice and for anything that they can help with. So particular charity, I don't really have one, well, there is one, but I like to help anyone young, old, homeless, animals, that kind of thing. But
Mary Newville (13:02.581)
you
Sophie Fisk (13:28.024)
There is a charity that I kind of want to get involved in, especially through Arctic Wolf, which is called Mind. And they do a lot of things to do with mental health, so, and mental health awareness. And so I really want to use being a Packers Back ambassador to sort of steer the way to helping that charity as well. And I feel like over here, it's just the start. We haven't really done anything in the UK.
because we are youngest out of everyone, kind of, terms of articles. And yeah, so I'm really excited to be at the forefront of pushing that through and getting a lot of charities. We've already gone through quite a few already, just in the short time since September, and making this more awareness. So yeah, we love this opportunity.
Chelsea Lowman (14:22.334)
Yeah, I was going to say, I feel like you guys have done so much. Like you were like, we haven't done that much. Literally, you're always posting in our Slack channel, like we did this this month, we're planning this for next month. Like you really hit the ground running. So you are certainly using your voice and your influence over in the UK.
Sophie Fisk (14:35.309)
Yeah.
Sophie Fisk (14:41.366)
Yeah, I mean, hard, he's got to use the voice for good.
Chelsea Lowman (14:49.064)
Amazing, amazing. Okay, well, let's keep diving in. We wanna know a little bit more about, I mean, we've gotten to know you all personally now and what causes you're kind of passionate about, but what made you specifically interested in being a Pack gives Back ambassador? And kind of more so, why do you think it's important to create opportunities to give back in the workplace? So anyone can jump in.
Sophie Fisk (15:20.312)
I definitely got inspired by you guys and by what you told us about what you've been doing in your office. What was the office? It was Eden, not even Perry. The one that you were in, Yes, yes. When you first came up, I'm just English.
Chelsea Lowman (15:38.698)
The Utah office.
Caleb Menendez (15:40.92)
pleasant growl.
Mary Newville (15:43.221)
Thank you guys.
Sophie Fisk (15:45.016)
yeah, you told us a lot about what you've been doing with, think there's an elderly program. I remember that being like the first thing and I'm like, we could do that. Like, yeah, so definitely been inspired by you guys, for sure. And what you've been doing just generally. but yeah.
Mary Newville (16:05.429)
Sophie, what inspires you though? Like you heard the opportunity, you were inspired by us and like what compelled you to be like, I wanna be that person for...
Sophie Fisk (16:13.656)
I mean, I think it's kind of grained into me anyway. I'm kind of not a sit still person, but I'm always in the office whenever Amanda, is, know, people experience for Newcastle, whenever she's got something going on or event, it's kind of always me helping her out, like getting people involved and that kind of thing. And I think community and being part of something is so important.
you know, us as Brits kind of sometimes do shy away from that kind of thing and, you know, banding together and things like that. So just cause I don't know, it's just kind of the British way. But I've never been like that. I've always been like, come on, let's do it. So yeah, I just kind of feel like, I feel like other people do want to do that, but they don't want to be the person that steps up. And I'm fine with being that person.
Yeah, I think it just inspires me to know that there can be something done and with such a, you know, the company wants us to do something and supports us doing that. That's incredible. Like I've been in companies before that probably wouldn't, you know, support us. So, if we've got that platform to do it and they're going to support us and they're going to give us this VTO, then why would you not use it for good and get everyone involved?
Chelsea Lowman (17:34.804)
Mm-hmm.
Mary Newville (17:35.377)
That's so lush.
Sophie Fisk (17:36.6)
Yeah, and it's a lush thing today.
Mary Newville (17:40.826)
my brain for my like Geordie slang. Come on, how are we gonna do this today? Mint, okay.
Sophie Fisk (17:43.35)
Yeah.
with mint.
Caleb Menendez (17:49.496)
That's different.
Chelsea Lowman (17:49.824)
They brought us little coasters that say mint.
Sophie Fisk (17:52.504)
I mean, I'm technically a fraud because, oh yeah, because I'm from the South. So really, I should be using the Daudi slang.
Chelsea Lowman (18:04.608)
Bye!
Caleb Menendez (18:05.976)
That's definitely not UK specific though. know even here there's like people have ideas but they don't really want to share it or they don't want to like like you mentioned step up and so having that's why I really like the idea of Pag Ambassadors in each office because if you just have somebody there that you know to go to like I've had so many people reach out to me and I don't it sucks because I get the credit for it but half of the ideas that or half the opportunities we had were people coming to me and saying like hey I really wanted to get this going.
Sophie Fisk (18:12.76)
Yeah.
Caleb Menendez (18:33.698)
And I said, okay, I'll jumpstart that for you. And I try to mention whoever gets involved as much as I can so they get the credit, but it's just kind of having that catalyst to get people's ideas up and running. helps a lot.
Chelsea Lowman (18:46.612)
Mm-hmm.
Mary Newville (18:46.633)
Well, you know, it's kind of vulnerable. If you're to be like, Hey, I want to do this. Like, feel like if depending on who you are, you might be like, what if no one, what if you think that's a dumb idea? What if no one wants to do it with me? So, I mean, you all are truly leaders in creating that safe space and kind of going first so people can join with you. Like you're saying, like a lot of times people want to, but they might not, or they might just need the push to, you know,
Chelsea Lowman (19:10.944)
Yeah, or they don't go alone. Like so often it's like I want to volunteer, want to go back, I want to give back, but I don't want to show up alone. What am I going to be doing?
Sophie Fisk (19:14.381)
Yeah.
Caleb Menendez (19:14.902)
I'm gonna say
Mary Newville (19:22.165)
So sorry everybody. I have turned off.
Chelsea Lowman (19:25.888)
That's okay. So often people, you know, they want to be doing these things and they just feel so much more comfortable if they like have a friend to go with them. So being able to create opportunities at work where there's a group going together, I think really, like Mary said, creates that like safe space for people to show up and use their VTO.
Sophie Fisk (19:51.255)
Yeah, for sure.
Caleb Menendez (19:51.414)
Yeah, my, my end vision was always that the ambassador existed to facilitate and that in the end people would set up their own opportunities and would like reach out in the channel and say, Hey, anybody want to go? And people would go and then I'd sit there and be like, Hey, do you need help with that? And they'd say no. And like, it's kind of autonomous on that side.
Chelsea Lowman (20:07.455)
Okay.
Chelsea Lowman (20:10.92)
Yes, for sure.
Mary Newville (20:11.637)
then.
Sophie Fisk (20:14.444)
Yeah, I've certainly had people come up and give me ideas and I'm so thankful because I'm like, I'm running out of ideas. So yeah, it's been great. And I think it is just the fact of having a point of contact because yeah, people don't know what to do. plus, you know, we're all busy. Everyone has a role at Arts at Wolf and everyone's using their time and things. to kind of have an idea and then pass it off to one of us who, you know, making their own time.
Chelsea Lowman (20:26.922)
Mm-hmm.
Sophie Fisk (20:43.82)
to do it, it's just easier for everyone.
Chelsea Lowman (20:48.852)
But to Caleb's point too, it's like, ideally we are eventually creating that environment where it's like, okay, I have some questions, but I know who to go to to ask them. But then I can plan this because I kind of, I've done it before. I feel comfortable, that type of thing. So I feel like as we keep like working that muscle and building,
you know, this environment where people are giving back and they're using their VTO all three, all three days, they'll start to again, kind of like lead these things on their own. And you'll, you all will be more so there to like help support, help champion, et cetera. So I have faith we'll get there. But in the meantime, we obviously appreciate you all for leading and organizing because we know it can be challenging sometimes finding opportunities.
during the workday, opportunities that maybe don't have some sort of like financial element where you have to donate or do something like that. So it's not just a sign up and then show up type of thing. So it can be a little bit more complicated.
Caleb Menendez (22:04.898)
Yeah, I think that's a great note because when I first started setting up opportunities, it almost broke me. Like before we reached the ambassadors, I almost gave up and said, yeah, we're not doing volunteering anymore as like a program. But I pushed through because the first couple I had like two or three people show up and I had this vision of like, yeah, 10 people are going to make it. And I had eight people sign up and then only three showed. And I was like, yeah, this is not going to work out. But then I pushed through a couple of months and
And it was worth pushing through because now we're seeing a ton of opportunities not only in Utah, but all over.
Chelsea Lowman (22:36.817)
Mm-hmm.
Mary Newville (22:37.609)
Yeah, never despise small starts. I know we've been working currently.
on the Pack Unity Scholarship, which is somewhat adjacent of an initiative to this. We've been doing it in Minnesota for several years, but now we're offering it in Utah, Texas, and KW as well, and with local high schools near our offices. I feel like I hear comments from folks being discouraged that they didn't have many applicants this year. I'm like, hey, the fact that we got a couple is great. In Minnesota, our first year, literally had one applicant.
But to your point, Keo, at small starts, you continue working at it. And fast forward four years, it'll be a thriving program. But you've got to start somewhere. And if you're not willing to have the harder times, you're never going to get to the great times, because they're part of the recipe, if you will, to get there.
Chelsea Lowman (23:28.032)
Okay. Well, let's transition to maybe some of your favorite VTO events, opportunities that you've put together. It doesn't even have to be, you know, your official time as an ambassador. If you did something before you were an official ambassador here at Arctic Wolf, just an Arctic Wolf company VTO event, what has been your favorite and tell us a little bit about it.
Brittany Tomkins (23:58.641)
I think for me, just like we literally brought this up a couple minutes ago, would have to be when you came down and we did those snack packs and organizing the snack kits. That one I feel will always kind of have a special place in my heart because, you know, we had the music playing, we were singing and dancing and we took turns packing the snack bags and then writing those thoughtful, uplifting notes to put in the baggies themselves and
The feedback that I received personally from the KW Wolves that participated was that they had such a good time. They were so proud to be part of such a great bonding experience with one another. you know, while doing that also feeling good about giving back to the community. And then on top of that, the feedback that we received from the families and other individuals who actually received the snack packs themselves and how appreciative they were, just...
It made me want to tear up. It was just very special. So thanks again for helping to organize all of that. was really nice.
Chelsea Lowman (25:04.672)
Yeah, you bring up such a great point, Brittany, about like the bonding aspect of volunteering together and how it really can be, yeah, like a team bonding exercise. You can make it really fun, even if you're, you know, I've done wild stuff. I've been like out shoveling manure. Like it's been weird stuff. But like, if you just, you know, you like put on your happy face and you get to do it with these people.
but maybe you don't know, but you're all doing something like warm and fuzzy together, and that does bond you in a way that's really special, so.
Brittany Tomkins (25:44.659)
Well, and it's nice too because it also provides the opportunity for people from different departments who might not necessarily have those opportunities elsewhere in a smaller, more intimate setting to be able to get to know one another and about each other's cultures and backgrounds through the process of putting whatever it is together. So I think that's a cool aspect to doing the VTO events as well.
Chelsea Lowman (25:52.052)
Mm-hmm.
Sophie Fisk (26:08.856)
Yep. When we were at our recent one for the cat and dog shelter, there was 10 of us and we had some spare arm.
slots basically and so we invited one of our partners who are local to us they came and it wasn't very it wasn't people that we would normally interact with at the partners but we got to know them they got to know us I also brought with us somebody who'd just started Arctic Wolf the last couple of months and she was saying afterwards that she would have never been there would never been a time where she would have got introduced to you know so-and-so or so-and-so it was it was a good experience for that because
Now they know each other on a personal level, not just a work level. And yeah, it just brings everyone together.
Chelsea Lowman (26:58.484)
it's making me so happy.
Mary Newville (27:00.849)
just volunteered with the San Antonio Packs. out to Maryann. She organized, or no, Cheryl Weeks and Maryann organized it, there was like 10 of us that went and volunteered at the rodeo and it was so great. And now I like have, there's like several people that I feel like I know so much better in the office just because we serve nachos together for several hours.
Chelsea Lowman (27:24.832)
Hello.
Sophie Fisk (27:28.216)
I'm gonna do a radio on, that sounds good.
Mary Newville (27:31.981)
I mean, we were in the natural corral, it wasn't like we got to see anything cool. But okay, I'm on the edge of my seat though. Caleb, I feel like you have to tell us one of these moving Christmas wish stories.
Chelsea Lowman (27:47.082)
Mm-hmm.
Caleb Menendez (27:49.1)
Well, I was trying to find the list we had. I think the one that stood out to me most was this family that their mom found out that she was going to she was terminally ill and this was going to be her last Christmas. And they had a lot of kids. so we we actually for each of the families, we decided to go in and figure out what interests each of the family members had. So when we asked for donations of presents, like they could be a lot more catered towards specific people.
And so each ornament had like the person and the interest. And it was just cool to think like, even if this is going to be their last Christmas, they didn't have to worry about a lot of the difficulties of figuring that kind of stuff out. We even had somebody in the pack donate like a whole couch to them because they needed a new couch. And so it was really cool seeing everyone kind of rally around helping someone who really this would be a difficult holiday and turned into a less difficult holiday.
Chelsea Lowman (28:45.984)
Mm.
Mary Newville (28:47.209)
That's so touching and I feel like.
I've got to imagine as a community just to know, like to come together to do something like that. It's so powerful. It makes me so proud to be part of the pack. I remember seeing the wrapping, like when you guys had the wrapping party and the pictures from that. And it just like was so heartwarming. And it's so cool to see what you all are doing. It's amazing.
Caleb Menendez (29:13.014)
Yeah, that one and that one came right on the heels of another like very donation heavy volunteer opportunity where I was I was kind of scared throwing them next to each other because they were both donation specific and we try and spread those out throughout the year so like every volunteer opportunity isn't donation reliant but we had a we got lucky we we had a Harry Potter event we did in the office where everyone got sorted into their own houses and everyone got really really like rallied behind that
And so everyone was really deep on what their house was and we decided, and this was actually somebody, my manager came to me and was like, Hey, I got this idea. And so I spit it off of his idea where he wanted to do a food donation, but have it be based on each house and who could donate there. And it started, it started a crazy rivalry and we ended up, we ended up getting, so I, I, have a local food bank who I really like and
Mary Newville (29:59.391)
genius.
Caleb Menendez (30:09.976)
I called them and I was like, hey, I have a donation that's coming in. Like at what point do I need to call you to like know that we're coming? And they said, if it's over 300 pounds, then that you're going to have to give us a call. So we have somebody ready there. And I was looking at it I said, it might be about 300 pounds. It's like, I was like, I'll let you guys know anyways. And we took it in and ended up being 1,848 pounds. And I was like, I realized I have no like visual gauge of how much something weighs.
So if you ever want like weight advice don't come to me because I'm off by a couple thousand
Mary Newville (30:45.397)
you
Chelsea Lowman (30:46.428)
Wow, that's amazing. A thousand pounds? That's a lot of food.
Caleb Menendez (30:52.056)
That's 838 kilograms for across the pond.
Mary Newville (30:57.253)
Honestly, that's so incredible. I was thinking about your Christmas story and it reminded me of my first year at Arctic Wolf. So this is all the way in 2020. We did best Christmas ever. And we raised money for three different families that were in need at Christmas. And same thing, like we knew their stories. They were from the Minneapolis community.
No, I think we actually chose one from each area. Were you here, Kayla, when we did that? We did one in Utah. We did one in Minneapolis. And we did one in, gosh, don't was the other one in KW, Brittany? I don't know if you would have been here at the time either, but.
Caleb Menendez (31:27.008)
I wasn't here then.
Mary Newville (31:35.635)
We only had 500 pack members and we like quickly raised over $15,000. It was just mind blowing to see people's generosity. And then there were so many people involved because it was COVID. So everyone had to online shop to themselves, wrap, and then we had to coordinate like a central dropping location and coordinate people to drop at the house. it was just, it's so cool to see.
just the goodness of people's hearts here that want to come together and are so generous and kind and go out of their way to help others. And we see that day in and day out in just like the spirit of helpfulness in like getting our jobs done, but then to see it extend beyond the pack. So that might be a good segue, but the only thing is I don't want to segue yet because Chelsea, feel like we need to hear yours. Chelsea is the force behind Pack is Back at Arctic Wolf, so.
Chelsea Lowman (32:16.83)
Mm-hmm.
Chelsea Lowman (32:28.672)
I've done a lot of volunteering in my time. I feel like I'm an old grandpa. Because for those who don't know, used my previous job, I worked in corporate social responsibility. So all I did was do this type of stuff. I think here at Arctic Wolf, I really loved the PX team. We went and helped build a house with Habitat for Humanity.
I think personally, it was just so rewarding to one, know that I was like building safety for someone, like safety and shelter. And like, we all know how important it is to have your basic needs met. So it was just special to know that like someone, a family was going to be like living in a place that like, I put up the dry wall, you know, but also then on the personal level.
It was just so empowering to like build a house. Like we were using the power tools. We were like in there doing like, I've never felt more, and it was all women on the team. Like I've never felt more girl power of like, it was a whole women group and we were just like up there on the roof. We were in there. So it was just a really cool experience. So that one really stands out to me. Yeah.
Mary Newville (33:30.899)
Yeah.
Mary Newville (33:46.055)
It's, I felt so like cool. I was like, my gosh, today I don't remember all the things I did, but all the things.
Sophie Fisk (33:51.16)
Yeah, that was really good.
Chelsea Lowman (33:55.722)
Yeah.
Sophie Fisk (33:55.82)
That's my segment.
Chelsea Lowman (33:58.4)
Yeah. What is yours, Mary?
Mary Newville (34:01.901)
gosh. If I had to pick a favorite of my time at Arctic Wolf, I would say...
I'm going to say it was I didn't even do it. It was when I went with the Utah pack to see them present Silver Wolves, which is our program to help keep our seniors safe. And when I say our program, it was designed and built by pack members in the Utah office. And then Chelsea worked with them and our marketing team to kind of put that marketing touch on it and beautify it. And with that team standardized the process so anyone can take this content to their local
senior center, nursing home, et cetera. it was just, A, I know that group was so proud of what they had built and rightfully so, it was really cool. And then to see, there was literally like probably a hundred old people, elderly people at the presentation. And it's something that's so meaningful because I wish I had the stats that's in the presentation, but.
On average, think it's like $35,000. The average elderly person loses, not the average elderly person. I'm going to have to look this up while we're talking to get the exact that, but they are targeted. And so to like do something that meaningfully helps them, um, and kind of extend our mission of ending cyber risk beyond, beyond our four walls, it was, it was just cool to get to sit there in the back and witness, um, just what the pack is doing. So I'll say that. And I've just enjoyed all the PX outings, like even
I feel like Chelsea was coming to mind is when we volunteered at the second Harvest Heartland, which is a local food distributor, food bank in the Minneapolis Twin Cities area. And I just feel like we had the best time, like, and with the retirees that were volunteering. And so we're the point of like it being a great opportunity to build connection with your colleagues. That one's me.
Chelsea Lowman (35:48.405)
Mm.
Chelsea Lowman (35:54.037)
No.
That's good.
Chelsea Lowman (36:01.02)
Yes.
Chelsea Lowman (36:06.484)
Mm-hmm.
I'm glad you brought up silver wolves, because I wasn't going to let Caleb move on until we at least talked about silver wolf really quickly. Caleb, do you just want to tell us a little bit how that got started, what it is now? Because like Mary said, it's such a special thing that started in the Utah.
Mary Newville (36:13.353)
No.
Caleb Menendez (36:31.776)
Yeah, we actually, we have an elderly Pack member here who was the one who started it he's very passionate about it. And it was funny because when they brought it to me, it was in the very thought inception stage and the slides were honestly pretty bad. And I was like, man, we need to clean this up. But the ideas there and the, were pulling it from the FBI fraud report. Like all the data there was, was really like harrowing and you see it and you're like, man, this is, this is something that needs to be taken care of.
Mary Newville (36:49.461)
you
Mary Newville (37:00.565)
Wait, Caleb, so what's the data? Like, do remember that one stat you always share? Like the average loss is like $30,000 or something. Do you remember?
Caleb Menendez (37:00.694)
And so we cleaned that up.
Caleb Menendez (37:10.488)
It's up now. The average loss is $39,000. And that's from what's reported. And so they say that what's reported is $3.4 billion annually lost. that's just stuff that people have... Because a lot of people don't know... Like, I can report this to the FBI. the expected loss, in factoring in those numbers and for what people think is being lost, is about around $38 billion annually.
Mary Newville (37:14.708)
Wow.
Mary Newville (37:23.997)
No, I think.
Mary Newville (37:39.869)
It's horrible, so sad.
Caleb Menendez (37:42.326)
I mean, it's a very lucrative market. I don't know if you've seen the... There's a Jason Statham movie they made called Beekeeper, and that's the whole premise of the movie is stealing from the elderly. And so it's not something that's just security information related. Like it's breaking out and it's something that needs to be taken care of.
Chelsea Lowman (38:01.448)
Okay, so you had a pack member super passionate about it and you all started with some questionable slides, but you went in there and you helped them out. And then you all partnered, right, with some orgs in the Utah area and that's how it got started.
Caleb Menendez (38:20.866)
And you know what? That pack member, he's amazing. He reached out and found an organization who did something similar already. And so they, they worked with, their insurance and like helping elder fraud and they're the people that you would report to. And so they were a perfect contact to have and they helped us set up opportunities and we'd go in and present. And it was, don't like throwing them under the bus, but it was really cool because we'd go in and they'd give their part and everybody was kind of used to that. Cause they they've done that every year. And then when we started presenting.
Everyone got super quiet. We do it over their lunch period usually. And so everyone just stopped talking and it got really quiet in the room and they got really engaged. So we start with a really cool video that was put together by Arctic Wolf. And we'd like to start with those numbers because it helps them realize like this is something that's happening all over and it's going to impact you. And what's sad is the 39,000 that is the average loss. That's because there's a lot of people that lose a little.
But there's some people that lose a whole lot, like their whole life savings, the whole rest of their life plan, and then they have to go start going to work. And the first one we did was in Heaver City, Utah. And so it was quite a drive. And I went down there and I got to participate in that first presentation. And it was really cool to see how, like Mary mentioned, how involved people were. And there was a ton of people there. And it was kind of sad, but also fulfilling. At the end, we had a little question and answer. And there were so many people that said,
Yeah, this happened to me or they said, hey, this happened to me. Almost everyone in the crowd had a story where they had some fraud involved in their elderly life. The last portion where they've kind of retired and now they have all this money that they need to survive and that kind of stuff is getting stolen. And so it was fulfilling because we saw, yeah, this is something that is actually important and is helping. But it's also just very sad to see this is hitting everyone. There's nobody that's safe.
Chelsea Lowman (40:16.427)
It's horrible, but to your point, I'm glad that we are able to do our part in the small way that we can. And if you are a Pack member, everything you need to do a Silver Wolves presentation can be found on the Silver Wolves confluence page. There's the presentation deck, the printout materials. There's even a walkthrough video that tells you exactly how to give the presentation.
So you can bring this to your local community. And if you're not part of the pack, we also have our free cybersecurity awareness training videos that can be found on our website so that you can learn some basics to keep yourself safe online because we all get targeted. And so it's great to learn some of these techniques and then hopefully you can share with those that are more vulnerable like the elderly.
Okay, we are almost at time, unfortunately, before we get to our rapid fire questions. Was thinking maybe we could end with with what excites you the most about the impact that we can make as a company through Pack Gifts Back.
Mary Newville (41:31.925)
I'm so glad you chose that as the last question because that's what I was hoping. was like, so when you were like, I was like, oh no, we're on.
Chelsea Lowman (41:41.683)
Okay.
Mary Newville (41:42.421)
same page. So anyways.
Chelsea Lowman (41:44.308)
Yeah, so what excites you most about the impact that we can make through Pack Gives Back?
Brittany Tomkins (41:52.155)
I can go first. I feel like since I've started, especially within the past year, Arctic Wolf is just growing and expanding within so many different departments, as well as within different countries and regions. And we have a wonderful opportunity to harness our growth and produce more volunteer opportunities because
we have more people with more ideas and more can be brought to the table and just provide different ways to contribute. And then through these new wolves joining the pack, we can learn about different needs in these different areas and potentially support different organizations that we might not have even thought of before. So I think that this could really prove to be an exorbitantly beneficial.
situation for us and provide new areas of opportunities and just make ourselves more well-rounded in that way. So I think that's kind
Chelsea Lowman (42:56.736)
Love that.
Sophie Fisk (43:01.176)
So my answer was pretty similar for that as well, just the pure volume that we can reach out to. For example, with the cat and dog shelter that we did last week, we raised �600 for them. And that would be something that they wouldn't have had before if we didn't do that. So they are 100 % donation and volunteer.
That's all they go by. don't, they don't have any help at all. So just to see that, you know, impact them, even though it's a small amount, that wouldn't have happened if it, if we hadn't kind of got involved. And on top of that, there's now people reach out that want to do that, do that again and, and volunteer. So just the word of mouth that we can reach just like putting something on LinkedIn or in our Slack channels.
There's so many people that do want to help and that know other people and then so on and so forth. For example, as well, I said last minute, by the way, if you've got any unopened treats or anything like that, or blankets or things like that for the dogs and cats, like bring them along. And we got a load of stuff that they wouldn't have had before. So yeah, I definitely think just being able to raise awareness with our name of Arctic Wolf behind us is definitely.
a privilege. So thanks.
Caleb Menendez (44:31.244)
Yeah, I've been doing this long enough that I have a few reasons. Like the first one, I went out, I was doing this podcast itself and preparing for it. I had to search through a bunch. Like you said, what's your most exciting opportunity that we've done? I had a ton to pick from and I had a hard time picking which ones were the most exciting. So that, that was really cool to see like, yeah, there's just so much going on that it's, hard to select down to one. Another, I know the local food pantry we have here.
They, they recognize us by name and they recognize a lot of our faces. And so it's cool to see that kind of like you were mentioning that, that we're known there and that we're making such an impact that they know us personally. And then they even asked us to set up an account there so that we can track, when our employees are going there, because we have so many people going. And I thought that was really cool. And then just kind of like silver wools. I love silver wools. I'm glad you brought that one up because our goal there is to that number that we talk about. We want to drop that number personally.
Chelsea Lowman (45:16.992)
Mm-hmm.
Caleb Menendez (45:26.584)
We want us to be putting out enough Silver Rolls presentations and helping raise awareness enough that that number drops significantly in the next coming years. that's kind of setting goals like that are really exciting to us.
Chelsea Lowman (45:38.334)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Mary Newville (45:39.689)
that vision. Okay everybody go and schedule your Silver Wolf's visit.
Chelsea Lowman (45:44.288)
Yeah, I those silver rules for this. But I love I love to Sophie something you mentioned about, you know, it's only 600 pounds, but like that 600 pounds they wouldn't have had. And I know from working with so many nonprofits, like every single dollar counts. And even outside of the dollar, like every volunteer hour matters, because these orgs are literally running off of
volunteers and donations. So even though it can feel really small sometimes if you're looking at like what other big companies are doing or whatnot, but truly like I know you all can probably speak to like when you work with these orgs, they are so appreciative. So nothing is too small. Even if it's, have 30 minutes to pop over and help sort food or I've got $20 this month.
it all adds up and it all matters. So, okay. Well, thank you all for sharing your experiences as Pac gives back ambassadors. We truly are like so thankful for you all and the way that you champion Pac gives back VTO, all the things. And we hope that other Pack members listening will be inspired by the three of you.
to either reach out to you or to get more involved and start to plan things in their own regions as well. If you are a Pack member and you're curious who your Pack Gives Back Ambassador may be, you can find all of our ambassadors listed on the Pack Gives Back Ambassador Confluence page. So it has their name, a little bit about themselves, and then what office or region they're in so you know who to reach out to. But with that,
We are gonna end with our rapid fire questions that we ask every single podcast guest. These are just fun questions. First thing that comes to your mind. So we'll just kind of keep the order, Brittany, Sophie, Caleb, because you gotta be quick. Okay. All right. First question, best concert of your life.
Mary Newville (47:54.375)
you
Brittany Tomkins (48:00.051)
Okay, for me this is easy and I'm not going to tell you what year it was because I really don't want to date myself. But it was a benefit concert years ago. There was ACDC, the Rolling Stones, the Guess Who, Justin Timberlake made an appearance along with like multiple other talented artists. It was just magical. So that would be mine.
Chelsea Lowman (48:21.728)
Wow, and how fitting it was a benefit concert. Perfect.
Brittany Tomkins (48:24.817)
Right? I know. It was meant to be.
Mary Newville (48:25.006)
Yes, my gosh.
Sophie Fisk (48:28.652)
Okay.
Chelsea Lowman (48:29.554)
Okay, love.
Sophie Fisk (48:31.96)
Mine was a toss up between Beyonce and Harry Styles, which are two very different, but it was both very fun.
Chelsea Lowman (48:42.506)
Yeah, okay, awesome.
Caleb Menendez (48:44.278)
And then we got to take my dad last year to see Greta Van Fleet and they're a new rock band based out of Minnesota. And that was pretty awesome. Just seeing, cause he is his first time seeing them live and kind of getting to show up in that as well as that concert was amazing. Those guys are really good.
Mary Newville (48:50.869)
What?
Chelsea Lowman (49:00.362)
Wow, okay, I've never heard of them. I'll have to look them up.
Caleb Menendez (49:03.714)
They're bringing old school rock back to life.
Chelsea Lowman (49:07.114)
Okay, okay. What did you say the name was?
Caleb Menendez (49:10.242)
Greta Van Fleet.
Chelsea Lowman (49:11.808)
Greta Van Fleet. Okay, love. All right, what is your favorite word?
Brittany Tomkins (49:20.243)
So my first favorite word is probably not appropriate for this podcast. My second favorite word I would have to say is kerfuffle.
Sophie Fisk (49:24.567)
I'm sorry.
Chelsea Lowman (49:30.514)
Okay, fun.
Sophie Fisk (49:33.491)
Mine's spontaneous.
Chelsea Lowman (49:35.68)
Ooh, okay.
Caleb Menendez (49:38.72)
And the first word that came to mind was Charterous.
Chelsea Lowman (49:42.464)
Okay, think that's of the funnest words we've ever gotten. Like they're all very unique.
Caleb Menendez (49:43.992)
I don't know why.
Sophie Fisk (49:49.912)
My team, I said to my team, like, what would you say your favourite word would be? And they wanted me to say something that was maybe meaning something different in the US.
Caleb Menendez (49:51.713)
Hey.
Chelsea Lowman (50:02.432)
okay, okay.
okay, love. All right. A place on your bucket list.
Brittany Tomkins (50:12.915)
So for me, there's multiple places, but I think mainly it's a toss up between like Italy and Greece. They just have such a fun culture and I could just see myself eating my way through both of them and dancing and just having a grand old time.
Chelsea Lowman (50:28.53)
Okay, manifesting that for you to happen soon.
Brittany Tomkins (50:30.567)
Thank you. Yes, please.
Sophie Fisk (50:32.928)
Italy was my favourite place to go. you should definitely go. My bucket list is Zanzibar or somewhere that I can do Safari.
Chelsea Lowman (50:42.373)
okay, okay.
Caleb Menendez (50:46.008)
and then mine would be Japan.
Chelsea Lowman (50:48.576)
That's mine, Caleb.
Caleb Menendez (50:50.424)
stolen.
Chelsea Lowman (50:51.784)
Yeah, I want to go so bad. Okay, what is something that people often get wrong about you?
Mary Newville (50:52.5)
Okay.
Brittany Tomkins (51:00.627)
For me, this is anytime I meet someone new, Chelsea and Mary, you're both aware of how tall I am. And it is just a normal assumption for people to think I am coordinated enough to play some kind of sports, basketball, volleyball, whatever it might be. And that is so far from the case. I am the most uncoordinated, clumsy individual you will ever meet in your life. So.
Sophie Fisk (51:15.735)
Yeah.
Mary Newville (51:15.989)
Thank
Brittany Tomkins (51:26.523)
I usually stay clear of organized sports, but I will be there and be everyone's biggest cheerleader.
Chelsea Lowman (51:32.829)
Okay, that's.
Mary Newville (51:33.685)
second you were gonna say that everyone that meets you on zoom is surprised that you're tall because I definitely I remember when I was like whoa, Brittany's so tall zoom did not throw that to me
Brittany Tomkins (51:39.699)
Okay, that's, yeah.
Chelsea Lowman (51:44.436)
same.
Brittany Tomkins (51:45.275)
Yeah, that kind of ties into like the long legs and clumsiness. So.
Mary Newville (51:48.521)
Thank you.
Chelsea Lowman (51:49.152)
I will say Brittany the first time I even saw you in person I didn't know it was you like we were passing each other like I think you were like running somewhere in the office and I had just gotten there and then someone was like did you see Brittany and I was like no because I didn't even know that you were that tall. Okay that's a fun one. Sophie?
Brittany Tomkins (52:04.019)
You
Yep, surprise!
Sophie Fisk (52:13.016)
I'm really shy. No, I actually didn't, I can't think of one because I'm kind of a pretty open book. kind of, you know, I'm loud. I'm chatty. That is pretty much me. So.
Chelsea Lowman (52:21.311)
and
Chelsea Lowman (52:28.53)
Okay, Caleb.
Caleb Menendez (52:31.297)
Probably my last name my last name has an extra set of en so it's like Mendez but with an extra en in the middle Menendez and everyone I always get Mendez and I just kind of gave up at one point and said yeah, whatever you say I'll take it
Chelsea Lowman (52:45.992)
It's Menendez, everyone.
Okay. weird. Okay, last one. Give us a snapshot of an ordinary moment in your life that has brought you joy.
Brittany Tomkins (53:01.299)
So this was recent. When my son was little, just a very quick backstory, we'd always play music in the car, we'd have dance parties, and then all of a sudden he decided he was too cool to have dance parties with his mom. I don't get it. I'm very fun. And then all of a sudden this past weekend, I don't know if it was the song that came on or he just felt bad for me. Either way, I will take it. He was like, mommy, let's have a dance party.
Mary Newville (53:17.909)
you
Brittany Tomkins (53:31.533)
and i was just so happy i almost cried it was my husband was making fun of me but it was a very joyful moment for me
Mary Newville (53:41.461)
awesome.
Chelsea Lowman (53:41.464)
Cute! my gosh, always have dance parties everyone. Never stop.
Brittany Tomkins (53:45.831)
Right? Yes, shake it.
Chelsea Lowman (53:49.168)
Yeah. Do you know what time were you, what times were you dancing to?
Brittany Tomkins (53:54.471)
I don't even remember it. We have such an array of different songs and genres on my playlist. The Wellerman song was one that I know we had on repeat. I'll send it to you. I will not subject you to my singing. But it is, I mean, it's kind of catchy, but you know, not 20 times in a row. But that might've been the one that did the trick for Oliver.
Chelsea Lowman (54:00.805)
Mm-hmm.
Chelsea Lowman (54:21.478)
Okay, okay, cute.
Sophie Fisk (54:24.632)
Um, so mine's anything to do with my nephews. I have three nephews who are eight, five, and just born, well, November. Um, and pretty much anything with them, I saw them all this weekend. Um, and they have agreed to be my, instead of page boys, like have it a wedding, they're going to be my ring security. So they're going to wear like little, um, like men in black kind of shades and they're to have a little security ring box and.
Mary Newville (54:46.389)
Sophie Fisk (54:54.68)
Yeah, they're going to come down the aisle as my ring security and they were very excited and I was showing them videos of what they were going to do and yeah, that brought me joy.
Chelsea Lowman (55:03.62)
so sweet. Ring security, I love
Mary Newville (55:03.669)
So.
Caleb Menendez (55:09.752)
Yeah, mine would be everybody in the house. So I have two kids and everyone getting so excited to sing along to the Pokemon theme song. They just recently started watching that show and they've learned all the words and it's really exciting.
Mary Newville (55:22.793)
Ha
Chelsea Lowman (55:23.482)
Yeah, can you give us a little rendition here?
Caleb Menendez (55:27.776)
Ooh, you don't want that. You don't want that. The kids sing it better.
Chelsea Lowman (55:29.317)
You
Sophie Fisk (55:30.782)
Chelsea Lowman (55:33.618)
I don't even know the Pokemon theme song.
Mary Newville (55:36.905)
for sure don't.
Sophie Fisk (55:37.165)
Is the phone coming on? Good, right? You've got to catch them all. Yeah. Yeah.
Caleb Menendez (55:40.46)
Yeah, yeah.
Chelsea Lowman (55:40.686)
how to catch them all, Pokemon. I only know the end, but I don't know.
Sophie Fisk (55:45.816)
That's what I knew.
Caleb Menendez (55:46.169)
That is the end.
Chelsea Lowman (55:47.89)
I only know that you. Okay, well those are all such lovely moments in your life and manifesting more of them for all of you. Okay, well thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. We so appreciate everything that you do for the Pack. Again, volunteering yourselves into these positions and leading our Pack gives back initiatives in your areas.
Mary Newville (55:49.589)
amazing.
Chelsea Lowman (56:16.39)
We truly couldn't do it without you. And again, yeah, we really appreciate you. If you're a member, use your VTO, learn more about Pack Gives Back on Confluence and find your ambassadors and go out and make the world a better place. All right. Thanks, everyone.
Brittany Tomkins (56:35.187)
Thanks for having us. Bye.