Tom Newton brings integrity
to innovation

Tom has a charming dry wit - a quality that’s served him well in his career at Smoothwall. Since he joined the team in 2003, Tom’s been steadily building relationships with customers. They trust in his ability to expertly identify their business needs and offer solutions, but many have also come to know him as a friend.

“My favourite thing about my role is the customers. I’ve known some of them for over a decade now. Over the years, some have retired or moved on, but you always gain new friends. I love having them as a community. We’ll catch up for a beer if they’re in the area. It’s more than just a business transaction with these folks.”

All good relationships have their ups and downs, and Tom’s are no exception. But by building trusted connections, he’s able to navigate the difficult conversations and deliver outcomes that satisfy everyone.
“Most of our customers are really nice. Some of them prefer to have a moan, but I actually like those ones, too,” Tom laughs. “It’s a rewarding experience to meet with an unhappy customer, find out what’s annoyed them, and help fix the problem.”

Today’s young generation of digital natives might be baffled to hear that when Tom attended school, “Computer Studies” didn’t even exist! He’s always had a natural interest in computers, tinkering with software and writing basic programs as a kid. But it wasn’t until he started university that Tom realised he could make a career out of it.

“I studied Chemistry at the University of Leeds, but it wasn’t my passion. I took a Computer Science class as an elective and ended up getting better grades than I was getting in Chemistry, so I switched majors. I graduated in 2001 and got a job as a Computer Programmer.”

Tom worked for a small company building mapping software. His father was a geographer, so the work held a natural interest for Tom. But an incident in this role made him realise the importance of web filtering and protection, and his career with Smoothwall was set in motion.

“One day, I was walking out of the office when I looked around and saw all the lights on the back of the computers flashing. We’d been attacked by Code Red, one of the first major internet worms. I was already using Smoothwall on my home computer, so I introduced it to the office as well. I signed up for the mailing list, so as soon as Smoothwall sent out the job ad for a salesperson, I applied straight away.”

It’s been 17 years since Tom joined the Smoothwall team, and he’s journeyed alongside our business through all our seasons. From salesperson to product manager, he’s always been willing to fill our gaps to ensure we’re delivering the best products imaginable. And we wouldn’t be the organisation we are today without his contributions.

No two days are alike in Tom’s current role as Vice President Product, Filtering. The only similarity is that every day involves a constant stream of work, which Tom believes anyone joining the Smoothwall product development team needs to expect.

“Software is an appalling thing to have to build,” he quips with his typical wry humour. “The level of disappointment in creating software is similar to that experienced by supporters of Leeds United! Working in product means you’re particularly susceptible to setbacks. You feel it on behalf of everyone - the customer, the sales team, the executive team. You need a thick skin to be able to bounce back every day.”

At Smoothwall, Tom is encouraged to think outside the box. This means being comfortable with making mistakes.

“More often than not, we fail. We find things we don’t understand, or things don’t work how we expected them to work. Every day is made up of lots of little failures, and you have to be resilient. But you also have to have a persistent curiosity for how you might be able to make things better.”

While Tom has a passion for the products we develop, he says working at Smoothwall means so much more. The key differentiator between Smoothwall and other businesses is the strong set of values we live and work by.

“Integrity and innovation are important values to me. You can’t innovate without integrity. It’s not unusual in the tech industry to make very new and shiny and clever things, but not something anyone actually needs. Smoothwall would never peddle snake oil, and that’s why I choose to work here. I couldn’t sell something I didn’t believe in - I would be selling my soul, and that’s not something I’m ever willing to do.”

Thank you, Tom, for all you bring to Smoothwall. We’re excited to build the future with you.