Getting Excited for Cybersecurity

It’s always a positive to be passionate about the work we do. When it comes to the topic of cybersecurity, some may ask, is it even possible to be enthused about a serious topic full of risk and consequences? It’s possible for Melody Pledger.

Pledger is very passionate about enabling teams through Agile methodologies, security best practices, and cloud technology adoption. She works alongside the team at Mortgage Cadence to assist internal staff and lender IT teams unlock their unique creativity to drive business objectives and increase productivity and employee satisfaction.

“Technology is only as effective as the processes that drive it,” she says. “I look to pinpoint bottlenecks within workflows and join with process owners to eliminate these blockers. Watching KPIs improve and employee satisfaction increase through established processes and technology implementation is immensely rewarding to me.”

Those who attended the recent Mortgage Cadence Ascent User Conference saw this firsthand when Melody took to the stage to talk about cybersecurity.

Getting excited about staying secure

Pledger’s experience over the past 8 years has provided her a unique perspective, through the opportunity to wear multiple hats within a small number of organizations. This has allowed her to see the effects of technology and processes from the perspective of a process administrator and an endpoint user.

This has made her extremely valuable to the team at Mortgage Cadence.

“If we want everyone on the team to take cybersecurity seriously and not just consider it a necessary evil, we must change the way we think and talk about it,” Pledger said. “I know that when we’re dealing with tech debt and bad choices in the past there’s going to be some pain. But it’s harder if people get defensive every time we enter the meeting room.”

A new attitude to keep everyone more secure

Pledger said she enjoyed her time on stage at Ascent and feedback after the event indicated that attendees enjoyed and learned from her presentation. But unlike the typical cybersecurity expert you would expect to see at a conference, Pledger brought energy and enthusiasm to her session.

“When we talk to people about cybersecurity like it’s something valuable, it helps our whole organization have a better security posture,” Pledger said. “If you’re being forced to do something that feels unnatural, you will resist. But when everyone understands the work we’re doing is contributing to a greater good, then it becomes something worthy of our time.”

Pledger says the work she is doing, at its core, benefits from talking about security in the larger technology world, in general, and in the mortgage space, specifically, in ways that help people to understand that security is a value-added function.

“We should not forget that consumers of my generation, the Millennials, base how they feel about a company on how secure they believe the organization to be,” Pledger said. “This is true whether they understand anything about cybersecurity or not. We help lenders have stronger businesses and win over more borrowers by helping them embrace the value that a good security posture adds to their business.

To find out how Mortgage Cadence’s stance on cybersecurity can help you build a stronger business, reach out to us today.

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Media Contacts

Mortgage Cadence: 
Alison Flaig 
Head of Marketing 
(919) 906-9738