Ghost Sighting: Meet Don Campbell

This week we continue with our employee spotlight series, Ghost Sighting 👻, and are spending some time getting to know Don Campbell.

Don is a member of our engineering team and has been with the Ghost team since April of this year. He resides in Orange County in Southern California with his wife and two dogs - Coco and Merci. Yes, that’s Merci as in the French word for ‘thank you’. It may seem a little unusual, but Don’s wife believed she just seemed so thankful to have been rescued so the name stuck! In the photo below, you can see Don’s wife, Ermin, with Coco (the darker of the two) and Merci enjoying a walk outside.

Let’s get into our chat with Don.

When not at work, what do you like to fill your time with?

One of the things I like to do is practice yoga. I try to practice at the studio and take lessons 4-5 times a week as well as time on my own at home either in the morning or at lunch time. Also, I enjoy being outdoors, working on our yard and tending to the fruit trees. We have about 20 fruit trees and a garden that keeps me busy. I enjoy entertaining, having our friends over, and spending time on our patio with good food, good drinks, and good times.

Let's talk entertainment. Are you currently binge watching any shows? What's your favorite movie?

A show that I’ve been binge watching lately is a show called “Forged in Fire”. It’s a time trial type competition where bladesmiths take a hunk of steel and forge something from the material. I like it because of the skill and craftsmanship displayed. As far as movies go, my favorite is “Brazil” directed by Terry Gilliam. It’s a 1980’s dystopian sci-fi movie that has some dark humor and a very different, unusual ending.

What about Ghost made you want to join the team?

First of all it was the talent that made up the organization when I joined. I’ve worked directly with some of these folks and recognize others from the cybersecurity industry. They’ve got talent when it comes to not only solving technical problems, but also in being forward looking and recognizing where the next big threat vector is and proactively addressing it. I have been in the industry for 16 years and I’ve seen it go through a variety of changes from legacy antivirus to next-gen AI/ML driven threat prevention and now with the need to reach out across APIs and secure those. I’m excited to be a part of the team that’s pioneering protection in this new area.

What’s a typical weekend look like for you?

A typical weekend is spending time with my wife and our dogs. We like to entertain so we will often have a gathering of friends with some wine, cheese, food, and maybe some karaoke - enjoying the simple pleasures that friendships can bring. I am a member of our church’s broadcast team, so on Sundays I will spend one of the services behind the camera or in the production booth directing and live streaming our services and posting it on our Church’s website.

As you look at the next year at Ghost what excites you the most?

What excites me the most is the release of our first product. I’ve worked for several start ups and that time when you go from a vision to an actual product that is providing value to customers is very exciting and rewarding. When you’re able to create something that makes people’s lives better, helps them get their jobs done better, and be better protected - that’s really fulfilling. Having customers say, “Thank you. This is exactly what we needed.”