Meet Kayla Ishisaki: Q&A With an Illumio People Ops Intern

‍In this ongoing series, get to know Illumio’s 2024 summer interns from across the org.  

We’re excited to spotlight the largest intern class in Illumio’s history! This summer, interns from across disciplines joined the Illumio team at our Sunnyvale, California headquarters for three months of career prep.

This month, we sat down with Kayla Ishisaki, a People Operations intern at Illumio. Kayla shared insights about her role on Illumio’s People Ops team, the challenges she has faced with new projects, and the valuable career lessons she has learned during her internship.

How did your perception of working in tech change throughout your internship?

My past two internships were in People Operations in the biotech and medtech spaces, so coming to Illumio has been a different landscape for me – for the better!

I initially worried that a cybersecurity company may be serious and technical. But I found the complete opposite at Illumio. Illumio is innovative, collaborative, and open to new ideas. Things move fast, and teams work cross-functionally. It’s easy to ask questions and get help from other people, even as an intern.  

I can see how this culture directly reflects Illumio’s growth and success. And it’s been a big part of my own growth this summer.  

What's a skill or practice you learned this summer that you're excited to use after your Illumio experience?

During my internship, I’ve also been taking classes on organizational design and change management. I've been noticing the best practices we discuss in class everywhere at Illumio! It’s been a great learning experience to see these practices in real life and understand how a real company is implementing them. I’ve also had the opportunity to learn a few new People Ops systems that I’ll be able to use in the future.  

I think my biggest takeaway from this summer has been a phrase I hear Illumio’s Chief People Officer, L. David Kingsley, say all the time: People First. Mission Always. That’s such an important reminder for People Ops teams.

Is there a project that particularly challenged you? How did you overcome that challenge?

In July, the interns took over creating the Illumio employee newsletter, and part of the project was creating TikToks about Illumio. I hadn’t done anything like that in a professional setting, and it was outside of my usual skillset.

Overcoming this challenge meant working closely with people and departments I hadn’t worked with yet. I also learned to be open to the process of creating content in a different style than I’m used to. I had to ask a lot of questions, but I also tried to be receptive to the direction the content took us.  

Despite my initial apprehension about the project, people around the company were very willing to help and be part of our videos. It was fun meeting so many new people and getting outside of my comfort zone with the other interns.  

Below, a TikTok blooper of Kayla and fellow intern, Salinka Dhamija, introduing Illumio intern interviews for the employee newsletter.

What was the best part about doing an in-person internship at the Illumio HQ?

The people! As someone in People Ops/HR, culture and people are vital to my professional experiences. People truly build a company’s culture, and Illumio’s reflects the friendly, helpful, and creative people working there.  

I could not be more grateful to have had such an amazing group to support me and learn from at Illumio. The connections here are wonderful, and I'm going to miss seeing everyone in the office!

Interested in joining the team as an Illumio intern? Recruitment for next year will begin soon! Learn more about Illumio's intern program.