Naomi Ashlee Carmichael is an entrepreneur and high tech community organizer extraordinaire.
She’s the president of OnDeck Systems of Courtenay, B.C. on Vancouver Island.
But Carmichael became well known in the IT industry as the first-ever West coast- based president of VentureTech Network (VTN), Ingram Micro’s partner community. When she started at VTN, the partner network was under 40 organizations. After her three-year term as president, VTN grew to more than 70 channel partners, approximately 1,700 employees with more than 2,000 certifications and revenue of more than half a billion dollars.
Carmichael was also instrumental in bringing together the larger U.S. version of VTN and the Canadian chapters. A tremendous accomplishment for any executive, but when you consider her background as a local solution provider, servicing a community of 35,000 people makes the achievement more significant.
“I did grow a lot in those three years. The sheer exposure to the caliber of executives from larger VTN members and Ingram Micro was phenomenal. And you quickly acquire or brush up on skills you may not always have used before, like public speaking,” she said.
Carmichael definitely broke out of her shell when she paraded as Cleopatra in front of a thousand people at a VTN conference in Las Vegas.
Being VTN president was a great career move. Running a small business you don’t get recognized by big vendors such as HP, Microsoft or Cisco. “All of a sudden these companies were seeking me out and asking for my input on making things better,” she added.She still contributes to VTN. She’s a member of VLAN and is the current president of the Wild West Chapter.
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