CEO MONTHLY / Global CEO Excellence Awards 2022 8 Kristi Alford-Haarberg is the trailblazing founder and CEO of the prestigious technology integration company, E2 Optics. Subverting the notion that women cannot be successful within the field, Kristi has built a company that has grown to over $125 million in revenue, attracted multiple esteemed clients, and won dozens of awards. ‘Being a womanowned business in a predominately maledriven industry has been the biggest challenge I have faced,’ explains Kristi Alford-Haarberg, the founder and CEO of E2 Optics. ‘This obstacle had ripple effects from securing bank funding to getting in the door with customers to establishing relationships with manufactures and partners.’ Indeed, for a woman, succeeding in a male dominated industry can often come paired with an abundance of challenges. Yet for Kristi Alford-Haarberg, such oppression could not, and subsequently, would not hold her back. As a result, E2 Optics is now on the path to reach revenues of $250 million within the next five years. It was determination combined with innovation that led to the establishment of E2 Optics in 2010. The company, which is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, specialises in technology integration. This means that the company works alongside its clients to implement solutions that guarantee efficacy through using its expertise across cabling, networking, and contemporary multi-media communications. Over the years, E2 Optics has had the opportunity to work with a plethora of clients, including enterprise and government clients within the Energy, Finance, Health Care, Higher Education, Manufacturing, Media & Communications, and Transportation industries. E2 Optics provides them with low voltage solutions which seamlessly integrate audiovisual, electronic security, structured cabling, and wireless solutions, such as DAS and Wi-Fi systems. E2 Optics approaches each project with an open mind – it endeavours to understand its clients and, ultimately, to provide them with a service that they would not be able to find elsewhere. Henceforth, its approach is holistic – based upon communication – and is centred around the client’s needs and goals as an individual entity. Trust is an integral part of E2 Optics’ method, as without trust, it will not be able to build a solid relationship with its clients. E2 Optics provides options, operates within budget, and produces results that are mutually beneficial. ‘My goal when I started E2 Optics was to be a disruptor in the industry. I wanted to show that a woman could not only enter the space but become a leader of a highly sought-after company in the space. My tenacious personality, drive and faith provided me the determination to not listen to others/outsiders who thought I would never succeed,’ Kristi notes. The Texas Tech University alum began her career with Kent Electronics Company, a Fortune 200 IT complete services company that supplied both Layer 1 and Layer 2 solutions. During Kristi’s time at the company, she began to identify the trends within the rapidly changing industry and recognised the growth that was about to take place in the cloud and data centre markets. Consequently, this information would serve as a benefit later down the line, as it would enable her to properly position E2 Optics to capitalise on the hyperscale revolution. Bringing forth a wave of women entering the industry, the formation of E2 Optics would revolutionise the opportunities given to women in the tech world. The award-winning business hires candidates based upon skill – not gender – and as a result, it boasts a highly diverse and exceptionally talented team. At the forefront of the collective, Kristi leads the company towards further success and exposure, utilising her skills to infuse the team with passion, creativity, and optimism. ‘My leadership style is servant leadership. I believe my role as CEO is to serve my employees to the best of my ability and provide them the platform they need to achieve their goals,’ Kristi adds. ‘My goals are to encourage diversity of thought, create a culture of trust, foster leadership, and have an unselfish mindset. I strive to achieve these goals through valuing my employees, having humility, listening to everyone, being Jun22290 ‘ Telecommunications CEO of the Year (Rocky Mountains): Kristi Alford-Haarberg
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