Teresa Zobrist is President and CEO of Zobrist Consulting, a Premier IBM Business Partner specializing in IBM software and services. She believes in leveraging the power of the Internet to help companies achieve higher revenue, cut costs and compete in the Global market. She has over 30 years of experience in leading IT projects. She fosters team work and believes in achieving high efficiency through organization and planning.

Under her leadership, Zobrist Consulting has delivered several of the Top 100 Internet Retailers such as The North Face, Timberland, Lee Jeans, Wrangler and Vans. These websites exhibit the stability and scalability expected of IBM technology and showcase the integration skills of Zobrist consultants using a multitude of IBM technology in commerce, web content management, search engine, web and database servers. For the powerful delivery of its technical skills, Zobrist was awarded IBM WebSphere Commerce Leadership in 2008 for “Best B2C” and in 2009 for “Foundational Leadership”. In 2011, Zobrist created Smart Merchandiser, a visual merchandising tool for IBM Commerce and was awarded “Best of Retail” IBM Beacon Award and “Best of Show” IBM Impact Award.

Teresa enjoys growing her young company, taking yoga classes, playing tennis and cultivating a passion for customer satisfaction.

How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?

Growing up in Vietnam in the early 70’s has given me an enormous source of strength and resilience. I came to the States at 18 to attend university. I grew up with such a diverse background that I have a lot of tolerance for opinion and adversity. For example, I grew up in a Buddhist family but attended an all-girl Catholic school, so I understand the goodness behind religions. I attended a French school while I learned that my country was a colony of France for fifty years, so I appreciate the freedom of thought while I learned to live within the conservatism of Vietnamese upbringing. And I have seen my country at war for twenty years fighting between North and South for a different view of doctrine and politics.

When I left Saigon in 1971 to go study in the US, my Dad said to me, “Remember that you can be anything you want to be!” So, I felt really empowered and felt like I was the luckiest girl in the world!

How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at Zobrist?

What my Dad said was very true. I got some interesting work experience because I was seeking them out. Out of college, I went to JPL and worked on a spacecraft called Voyager. Then I worked on Burroughs and Univac and then I said to myself, “What’s the number one computer company in the world? IBM? I ought to go work for IBM to get some good experience.” I was married at the time, so I dragged my husband along and we both interviewed at IBM and we both got hired.

My fifteen-year experience as a consultant at IBM helped shape Zobrist into what we are today. I truly believe in respect for the individual, integrity and honesty.

To read the entire story, visit The Huffington Post here.