Naaz Bax
Title: Head of Marketing
Company: Seaborn
Education: Bachelor’s degree in child development, human services, and religious studies from California State University, Fullerton. Graduate program at the University of Gloucestershire and University of East London.
Organizational Affiliations: Member of Pacific Telecommunications Council, The SubOptic Association, Telecom Infra Project, and the Infrapedia Board of Advisors.
Achievements/Awards:
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Shortlist for Capacity Media’s Global Women in Telco & Tech Awards 2020 in the category Best Woman in Subsea
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Featured in the 2020 and 2019 editions of Capacity Media’s 20 Women to Watch
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Participated in an ITW 2020 presentation about inclusion and global women in tech
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Participated in the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging SubOptic Working Group Panel at Subsea World 2020
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Participated in Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging SubOptic Working Group Poster Session at PTC’21
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Participated in the SubCable Regional Roundup Session representing the Americas at PTC’21
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Co-founder of the Women in Subsea initiative
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Co-founder of the Youth in Subsea initiative
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National Advocate for the Lupus Foundation of America
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President of the Parents Advisory Council at Clark School
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Received the Lifetime President’s Volunteer Service Award in June 2014 for completing more than 4,000 volunteer service hours at Royal Palm Beach Elementary School
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Received Gold President’s Volunteer Service Awards in 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011 for volunteering more than 500 hours during each school year
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Named co-volunteer of the year in June 2014 as well as volunteer of the year in June 2012 on behalf of Royal Palm Beach Elementary School
What made you realize you wanted to pursue a career in technology?
Technology changes rapidly — that made me realize tech was a great career choice, since nothing stays the same for very long in terms of what we can achieve in this industry. We are always striving for what is next and what can make us and the world better. When I joined the industry more than 20 years ago, we were still using dial-up and modems to access this “new” internet thing. I was fortunate enough to be hired by a company that was growing fast in the subsea space, and I learned on the job exactly how interesting the submarine cable industry was. We literally build the internet and the cloud under the sea.
What three adjectives would you use to describe your journey in the industry so far?
Challenging, rewarding, and enlightening.
What is your personal mantra?
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.
Describe the highest point in your career so far and how you got there, including all the hurdles you had to jump (and the ones you tripped over too).
The highest point in my career is where I am now — I am head of marketing for a company I’ve been with since before its official inception. So many exciting things are happening, and we are connecting regions and places that desperately need help to access the things that many of us take for granted because we have reliable internet connectivity.
I have overcome many hurdles — the key one being a woman in the technology industry, and the very small submarine cable industry at that. That hurdle alone has brought its own set of challenges and mini hurdles along the way. Saying that we want equality is not enough — we have to live it. Proving my worth has been an ongoing struggle in the technology field. Thankfully, we are seeing positive change in that aspect now with recognition of the problem being the first step.
What is your most admirable quality?
My loyalty.
What aspect of the industry do you think has the most potential for growth, and, on the other hand, which aspect do you think needs the most improvement?
In terms of what we see as growth opportunities in our market and specifically in the Americas, it’s largely going to be driven by product type. In the transport or traditional capacity space, we see a deeper adoption of 100G technology across the customer base and, with that, a growth in demand and reach in the wholesale space. On the IP side of our business, we see huge and exciting opportunities for growth with nontraditional content delivery networks (CDNs) and content owners reaching further into developing markets. At the same time, we also see great opportunities with an ever more sophisticated and educated ISP customer base that demands greater quality of service and the flexibility to configure their service to suit their own customer bases.
When you imagine the future of the technology industry, what does it look like?
After 2020, technology has become an even bigger part of our lives than it was before with the explosion of connectivity needs and demand that was generated and met by those in the industry. I see the future of our industry moving in the direction of expanding that connectivity to those who don’t have access to it in the same way that most of us do today. I anticipate a focus on giving back to the community — connecting rural communities intra-regionally or connecting islands together to build infrastructure and expand their futures. I think we will see infrastructure as a service becoming the norm, which is a good thing.
What is the most valuable life lesson you have learned so far and how has it helped you in your career?
There are a couple. The first being that no one is indispensable — that is key to remember not only as an employee but also as part of a leadership team. The second is more specific to my particular industry, and that is, relationships are key. The subsea space is a small group where everyone knows everyone else, and building relationships based on trust and mutual respect are very important to happiness and success.
What three adjectives come to mind when you think about your future path?
Inspirational, exciting, and ambitious.