Equinix

Since joining Equinix 18 years ago, Rosalyn Ford has moved across three different roles, starting from sales rep to senior sales onboarding for the Americas and now the Director of Business Simplification. A career at Equinix means you will collaborate on work that impacts the world and be surrounded by endless opportunities to learn new skills and grow in varied directions.  And her most important message to new hires is that there’s an open-door policy at Equinix. Employees are always welcome—and encouraged—to seek help from their manager or mentor.

“It’s really the teamwork and collaboration that make Equinix such a rewarding place to work,” Rosalyn explains. “Everyone here has a seat at the table and an opportunity to grow and develop; managers and colleagues want you to succeed.”

Prior to joining Equinix, Rosalyn worked at Exodus Communications, Inc. and Cable & Wireless, Inc. for five years as a major account manager selling to Fortune 500 and other high-profile accounts. Before that, she spent seven years at Bay Networks, Synoptics, Inc. and Nortel Networks in various global account manager, account manager, channel manager and marketing manager roles.

Marsie Sweetland, a Client Executive entrusted with two of Equinix’s largest global cloud customers, is the longest-tenured sales employee at the company. She’s also the longest-tenured woman at Equinix, outside of acquisitions. Marsie joined the company in 2000 for the opportunity—and she stayed for the people.

“I was hired a couple years after Equinix was founded, and I was a strong believer in Jay Adelson’s vision of having a data center platform as a neutral place where network service providers could connect and share Internet traffic,” Marsie says. “It was exciting to be part of a young, small startup.” 

Since the early days, Marsie’s colleagues have become some of her closest friends, and Equinix continues to provide a people-centric, positive work environment. She admires the company’s focus on impact and giving back to the community, and its leaders’ commitment to diversity and inclusion.

“At Equinix we work hard, but our leadership sets the tone for a healthy work-life balance,” Marsie says. “I know my company cares about me and my family, and we all care about each other as a family. My managers have all been amazing people who made me a better person and even provided guidance and insights that made me a better parent.”

Marsie has found Equinix to be very supportive of her career growth, enabling her to shift into various sales roles that she found interesting. She joined Equinix in a senior sales role and helped bring network service providers to the company, then moved to various areas where she saw opportunity. Before joining Equinix, Marsie worked at MFS with some of the first ISPs—providing backbone connections and Internet peering connections.

Arquelle Shaw recently joined Equinix as Senior Vice President, Americas Sales—responsible for leading sales strategy and growth in the Americas.  Arquelle is an accomplished sales leader with extensive technology, operational and organizational leadership experience across global, national and regional markets.

“As we build out the sales organization at Equinix, it’s important to respect what the team has accomplished in the past, and understand what changes need to take place to get us to the next level of growth,” she says. 

One key reason Arquelle joined Equinix was its leadership’s laser focus on diversity and inclusion. “I get to be the leader I aspire to be every day at Equinix,” Arquelle says. “The company never loses sight that its people are at the core of driving strong business results.”

Prior to joining Equinix, Arquelle held leadership roles at Accenture, American Express and AT&T—where she led multibillion-dollar sales and customer service organizations responsible for building integrated technology solutions. She’s also participated in sales and leadership programs at Wharton School of Business and USC’s Marshall School of Business. 

Tara Risser started with Equinix as the leader for Global Customer Care and Experience (GCCX) and moved on to assume the new role as Americas President in 2022. When she joined the company in 2015, she was motivated by the opportunities for career and personal growth. 

“At Equinix, it’s all about how we work together to tackle this exciting, dynamic, high-growth market opportunity,” Tara says. “Our culture of inclusion means that every employee is respected for being themselves and having their own voice—which means everyone has the power to succeed and be a valued contributor to the company’s success.”

Tara is a member of the Equinix Allies council, a team of senior leaders who advocate for underrepresented communities at Equinix and explore how to improve diversity, inclusion and belonging. She also leads Equinix’s partnership with Shadhika, a nonprofit organization that advances girls’ rights and inspires a culture shift in India. 

Prior to joining Equinix, Tara spent more than 15 years in customer-facing roles, most recently at Level 3 Communications. She started out as a sales engineer before moving to various leadership roles focused on sales, integrations, scale and effectiveness, and customer care. Tara holds an M.S. in business from University of Colorado, and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of New Hampshire. 

Leanne Joined Equinix in 2018 as Regional Vice President for the Americas where she led the sales and client relations for the Northeast US and Canadian markets with over 900 clients, $1B in global annual revenue.   In April of 2021, Leanne was promoted to the role of Senior Vice President – Global technical sales and is currently leading the 320+ person technical selling team for AMER, APAC and EMEA.  Under Ms. Starace’s leadership, Equinix has worked with key enterprise clients in the Financial, Healthcare, Insurance, Retail, Manufacturing, Media and Entertainment and Service Provider verticals to improve their digital infrastructure globally to enable efficient and optimal access to cloud and SAAS environments as well as create new revenue lines of business via private connectivity to partners and customers at Equinix. To Leanne, it’s the collaborative, fun and kind culture that makes Equinix a rewarding place.

“I was drawn to the company’s 70+ consecutive quarters of growth, but what also stood out were the people who interviewed me for this job,” Leanne recalls. “Everyone on the leadership team was intelligent, confident and charismatic—and they were also thoughtful and kind. At Equinix, it’s not just about what you do—it’s about how you do it. There’s an emphasis on integrity and teamwork—about feeling connected and being generous to help everyone achieve their goals.”

Leanne has a distinguished career in the high-tech industry. Before joining Equinix, Leanne served as Division Vice President at Verizon leading a high growth and new logo acquisition sales force representing a full complement of connectivity and technology services. During Leanne’s 19 year career at Verizon she had a demonstrated history of success working in digital transformation including Private and Public Networking, Managed Services, Data Center Services, Mobility and 5G services.

In addition to her business results focus, Leanne is a committed Diversity Inclusion and Belonging leader and is dedicated to the advancement of underrepresented groups in the technology sector. 

Leanne graduated from George Washington University with BA in International Business, currently in Graduate program at University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School.

As a Network Service Provider (NSP) Account Director for Equinix, Vicky Allen manages, grows and creates new demand-generation opportunities for the company’s network vertical sales team. She joined Equinix as a sales executive focused on network, cloud and mobility solutions in 2011—and hopes to stay at the company until she retires.

“I’ve spent 30 years in the tech industry, and Equinix is a very rare company in Silicon Valley,” Vicky says. “The men I work with treat me as an equal. I always feel appreciated, valued and respected by my manager and colleagues.”

Vicky believes in the power of networking and building connections. She’s a mentor at Equinix, LinkedIn and her alma mater. She’s also a member of the Equinix Women’s Leadership Network (EWLN) and enjoys helping other women in the workplace. She recently invited her financial advisor to speak to the group about how women can take charge of their finances. 

Vicky’s advice to anyone seeking a career at Equinix is simple: “Come to the interview and show people who you are,” she says. “Bring your skills and experience, but above all be genuine and human.” 

Before joining Equinix, Vicky was a senior sales territory manager for VeriSign/TNS. She’s also held sales and business development roles at various technology companies, including Polycom, Nortel Networks, Netscape and Micro Focus. Vicky earned her bachelor’s degree double major in Business Administration and Computer Science from the Fox School of Business at Temple University. 

Amelia Chantarotwong was promoted to sales engineer, and now the Senior Product Manager with our Equinix Metal Developer Relations team. She is responsible for listening to business needs and identifying Equinix solutions to help customers achieve their IT performance goals.  

If Amelia could share one piece of advice with young women looking for a tech career, it’s this: “Don’t be afraid—just go for it and know you’re capable of being successful. Study the vocabulary and show you’re a fast learner. Don’t worry about being a woman in an industry that’s traditionally attracted men. You can be a pioneer and you’ll be welcomed.”

When Amelia first joined Equinix, she felt like she was “drinking from the firehose” as she learned the technical materials and processes, but she stayed the course and reached out for help from her manager and colleagues. 

“I was enthusiastic and ready to learn,” Amelia says. “Equinix is a great environment for new college hires because we have a tribe mentality and authentic culture that’s all about helping people succeed. There’s always someone willing to help you make connections or learn what you need to know.”

Amelia attended Saint Mary’s College of California, where she earned her Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) with a concentration in Digital Media.

Since joining Equinix 18 years ago, Rosalyn Ford has moved across three different roles, starting from sales rep to senior sales onboarding for the Americas and now the Director of Business Simplification. A career at Equinix means you will collaborate on work that impacts the world and be surrounded by endless opportunities to learn new skills and grow in varied directions.  And her most important message to new hires is that there’s an open-door policy at Equinix. Employees are always welcome—and encouraged—to seek help from their manager or mentor.

“It’s really the teamwork and collaboration that make Equinix such a rewarding place to work,” Rosalyn explains. “Everyone here has a seat at the table and an opportunity to grow and develop; managers and colleagues want you to succeed.”

Prior to joining Equinix, Rosalyn worked at Exodus Communications, Inc. and Cable & Wireless, Inc. for five years as a major account manager selling to Fortune 500 and other high-profile accounts. Before that, she spent seven years at Bay Networks, Synoptics, Inc. and Nortel Networks in various global account manager, account manager, channel manager and marketing manager roles.