Voice of Experience: Janice Chaffin, President of the Consumer Business Unit, Symantec
By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)
Janice Chaffin, Consumer Business Unit President at security giant Symantec, knows a little something about hard work. She got her first job at the very young age of fourteen, working her way up over time from cleaning person to receptionist in a doctor’s office.
Once in college at the University of California, San Diego, Chaffin took any job that came her way, including dishwashing, bookkeeping, acting as a Spanish-speaking tour guide at Disney World, and working as a medical school admissions office staffer, just to name a few. “Whatever I wound up becoming, I always knew I would work hard to achieve what I wanted, no matter what,” Chaffin said.
Originally, Chaffin thought that her great love of the ocean would lead her to become a marine biologist. But, there was a change of plans. “I was entering UCSD to become a marine biologist, but that changed one day when Jacques Cousteau’s boat came into the San Diego harbor,” Chaffin said, “I was shocked by how small it was. I couldn’t imagine myself living in it for months at a time! During those years, the technology sector was booming and there were tremendous opportunities, even for people without core technology or engineering experience. So, needless to say, a cubicle in Silicon Valley seemed like a better bet.”
Chaffin, who graduated first in her M.B.A. class from UCLA’s prestigious Anderson School of Management, has been working in the tech industry for almost 30 years now. She spent 21 years at Hewlett-Packard in general management and marketing leadership roles before finding her way to Symantec.
Under Chaffin’s watch, Symantec has won two awards for customer support from the world’s largest organization of service and support professionals. Chaffin has played a large role in the development of Symantec’s 2009 products, which have won over 130 awards around the globe—more awards than any other products in the company’s history.
Chaffin is not resting on her laurels though. Busier now than she’s ever been, she continues to balance her career, family, and community service work. “Part of maintaining balance in my life comes from being passionate about what I do, whether at the office, in my home, or in my community,” Chaffin said, “I’m not happy or productive if I don’t thoroughly enjoy what I’m doing.”
And she’s doing a lot. Aside from being responsible for Symantec’s $2 billion consumer business unit, Chaffin (along with her husband) is raising her two teenage daughters and working to prepare them for college. She also participates in a whole host of charities and organizations.
“Monday through Friday I’m the president of Symantec’s consumer business. On the weekends, I am the president of my local chapter of the National Charity League (NCL) chapter, a mother-daughter volunteer organization whose mission is to foster mother-daughter relationships in a philanthropic organization committed to community service, leadership development, and cultural experiences. I spend most of my free time serving NCL and volunteering with my daughters for organizations such as the Humane Society and the Emergency Housing Consortium,” Chaffin said.
Women often feel as if they have to be everything to everyone, but Chaffin understands that she can play the roles of president, mother, and philanthropist, while also maintaining an identity of her own. She says she is able to do this because she takes just as much from each of these roles as she gives. She also never underestimates the importance of passion for what one does.
“I encourage all women, whether they’re entering the technology field or serving their community, to lead with their hearts, to find something they are passionate about doing and use that passion to inspire others. You don’t need a big title or lots of professional experience to do that,” Chaffin said.
