Travis Nichols
Director of Information Security
Shelter Insurance
Travis Nichols leads Information Security at Shelter Insurance. He has held roles in software development, cybersecurity and management while fueling a passion for leadership and learning. Multiple college degrees have been part of his lifelong learning journey. Travis looks for ways to grow, help himself and those around him find their best selves, and enhance lives including those of his wife and two grown children.
Learn more about the St. Louis CISO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
After discovering that driving a tractor trailer was not the career for me, I decided to attend night college to transition to IT. Carfax gave me the opportunity to get started as an Agile software developer and later as a project manager. After several years, Veterans United Home Loans offered me the opportunity to be a Team Lead of project managers and then Agile Coach. After developing the IS Auditing program and getting a master's in Cybersecurity, I was promoted to an Information Security Manager. After a few more years, the CISO approached me about the opportunity to head the Information Security Department at Shelter Insurance and told me "You're ready". I was and here I am.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
How can I help this person be their best?
What is the greatest challenge CISOs face today, and how are you addressing it?
Information Security is changing rapidly along with Privacy and Compliance. People, sometimes based on past experiences, can think we are just waiting to say "no." Modern Information Security departments want to help find solutions to reduce risk. Today, we try to talk about risk in financial terms or other contexts that people are more familiar with to make joint decisions based on risk appetite.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CISO?
Helping each person in the organization to understand what their role in securing the organization is and helping each person in the Information Security department to understand how what they do is critical to the success of the organization.
How do you measure success as a leader?
How happy and successful are the people that follow you? Kim Scott talks about "rock stars" and "shooting stars" and we often oscillate between these two poles. Does your team know how to be great at what they do, grow, and still maintain a work/life balance that suits them?
What is the value of being a member of the Evanta community?
Evanta offers the opportunity to connect with others and gain perspective and ideas on how to live life (both at work and away) in a better way.
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
by CISOs, for CISOs
Join the conversation with peers in your local CISO community.