Jackie Hermes

Growing B2B software co's w/ marketing that *actually works* | founder + CEO @ Accelity | built from $0 to 7-figures with no funding

It all started in 1986 in Lansing, Michigan.

Kidding. (Well, not really, but that’s not how I’m going to start this story.)

I started my entrepreneurial journey with cookies. Really. A vegan cookie company… and I wasn’t vegan (I gave it a shot and dang, it was hard!). I turned four cookie recipes into a business—designing packaging, finding a kitchen and making the cookies, eventually outsourcing production, then selling and establishing distribution to 12 grocery stores around Wisconsin.

The cookies taught me how to hustle. As a 24-year-old MBA, I definitely didn’t picture myself hoisting up tents at farmers markets to hand out $5 bags of cookies, or being the demo lady at the grocery store, but there I was. I still had a full-time job running the marketing department at a SaaS company, and a baby.

I’m so grateful for that experience because the money I made helped me start Accelity. What began as a one-woman consultancy blossomed into a kick-ass team of 20 and counting and a group of amazing, loyal clients all over the US.

LinkedIn has been a HUGE contributor to our growth over the past few years. I got talked into—okay, almost forced; I really, really didn’t want to do it—publishing videos about my entrepreneurial experiences in mid-2018 and have steadily grown an audience since. The LinkedIn community has given me so much love and support and I could not possibly be more grateful for the opportunities.

Outside of my professional life, I was a foster parent for two years and two of my three beautiful kiddos were adopted in Milwaukee. People always ask about hobbies, so here you go: lots of travel, fitness, exploring Milwaukee, and playing a lot of Taco vs. Burrito with my kids.

Founder & CEO

We help B2B software companies grow faster with bold sales and marketing processes that actually work—not the “push content and say a prayer” method that many agencies use.

We’re different. An agency born from software, our team has years (and years) of hands-on experience working with high-growth B2B software companies.

Want to know how we do it? Check out the links below.

Cyber Risk Advisor | Speaker | Coach | #CyberSecurityMatters Podcast Host | Positive Troll | Board Director

Your biggest customer just told you they need proof of your cybersecurity practices in 60 days or they're walking.That $5M contract? Gone. 

Or your cyber insurance renewal got denied. 

Or you're sitting in a board meeting, and they're asking security questions you can't answer without sounding incompetent.

Here's what you probably tried: Your IT guy started talking about firewalls and acronyms. He wants $200K for new tools. You have no idea if you need them. 

Or you hired a big consulting firm. They sent a junior analyst with a 47-page report. It's in a drawer somewhere. You still don't know what to DO.

The truth most cybersecurity consultants won't tell you: They're boring as hell and can't talk to business leaders.

They lead with technology because they get vendor kickbacks. 

They'll tell you everything you're NOT doing (easy), but can't tell you what NOT to do (that requires business judgment). 

They can’t explain to you which risks are worth the money. 

I do this differently:

I start every engagement the same way: What makes you money? I don't care about compliance frameworks or your tech stack yet. 

I need to understand your critical business processes first. Then what data supports them. THEN we look at technology. 

I care about the systems that generate revenue and the contracts that depend on you proving you're not a security liability.

I work with manufacturing and B2B companies (50-2,000 employees) in three situations:

→Major customer demanding security proof or killing the contract - I helped a client keep their $5M Walmart contract. My fee? $150K. Easy math.

→Cyber insurance denied or demanding new requirements - Insurers want proof of fractional CISOs and real security practices. I provide that.

→Post-breach, board wants guarantees that significant breach cost never happens again - I rebuild programs from scratch and build sustainable security teams.

What you get:→No kickbacks on tools. No jargon in board presentations. No shelfware reports. Just a prioritized 12-month roadmap focused on protecting revenue and satisfying your customer’s cyber security questions.

My background:20+ years in cybersecurity. Companies from 50-2,500 employees. Built security teams from scratch. Fractional CISO for dozens of organizations.

Speaker at industry associations. 

I work with manufacturers and B2B firms honest enough to say "we need help."

If you're facing vendor security requirements, insurance issues, or board questions you can't answer, let's talk.

 https://meet-with-dom-vogel.appointlet.com/

Dominic Vogel

We have sophisticated backups. We're covered.


That's what the construction company's IT guy told the CEO.


State-of-the-art backup system. Multiple redundancy layers. Offsite storage. Cloud replication. The works.


So when ransomware hit, they weren't worried.


"No problem," the IT guy said. "We'll just restore from backup."


Then they tried to restore a critical file.


A contract document they needed to close a $2 million deal. Time-sensitive. Client waiting.


Nothing happened.


They tried again. Nothing


They called me. I started digging. 


Hours passed. 


Then the truth came out:


The backups had never been tested.


They'd been running for two years. Generating reports that said "Backup Successful" every night.


But no one had ever tried to actually restore anything.


The sophisticated backup system was useless.


By the time they figured it out and recovered the file through other means the $2 million deal was gone.


Here's the brutal lesson:


Having a backup system and having a working backup system are not the same thing.


If you're not testing your backups regularly, you don't have backups. 


You have a very expensive false sense of security.


It's like having a fire extinguisher that's never been checked. It might work when you need it. Or it might not. And you won't know until it's too late.


Here's what I told them needed to happen! 


✅ Test your backups. Once when you set them up. Quarterly at minimum. Monthly is better.


✅ Test the full restore process. Don't just verify the backup ran. Actually restore files and make sure they work.


✅ Document your recovery procedures. When disaster strikes, people panic. You need clear, tested steps anyone can follow.


✅ Time your recovery. How long does it take to restore critical systems? Can you afford that downtime?


This isn't optional. It's fundamental.


I've seen this scenario play out too many times:


"We have backups."
"Great, let's restore."
"Oh… this isn't working."


And suddenly, what should have been a minor inconvenience becomes a business-ending crisis.


Here's what I told that construction company CEO:


"Your IT guy didn't lie to you. He thought you were covered. But he made a critical mistake: he trusted the system without validating it. In cybersecurity, trust but verify isn't just good advice it's survival."


We rebuilt their backup strategy from scratch. But more importantly, we built a testing cadence into their operations.


Now? They test quarterly. They know their backups work. They know how long recovery takes. They've practiced the process.


And they sleep better at night.


Who I am:
I'm Dom Vogel—the Dopamine Dealer on LinkedIn. I help manufacturing, construction, and B2B organizations build security that actually works—not just looks good on paper. I provide fractional CISO services that focus on validation, testing, and real-world resilience.

I Help Manufacturing & B2B Avoid Million-Dollar Cybersecurity Losses | Fractional CISO | 20+ Years Protecting Revenue, Not Networks | No Jargon, No Kickbacks | Proud Dad & Beard Grower

I put a picture of a luxury yacht on the screen.


Dead silence in the boardroom.


Finally, the chairman spoke up: "What does this have to do with cybersecurity?"


I smiled. "How many of you spend time on one of these?"


Several hands went up. This was a well-to-do board. $250M+ manufacturing company. 


Luxury lifestyle wasn't uncommon.


"Great," I said. "Now let me ask you this: How attached are you to keeping this lifestyle?"


They looked confused.


"Because if this company suffers a data breach and the board is found to have failed in its oversight duties around cyber risk management, you could be held personally liable."


"Personally. Liable."


I let that sink in.


"That yacht? Your vacation home? Your retirement accounts? All of it could be at risk if you're not fulfilling your fiduciary responsibilities when it comes to cybersecurity."


The room got very quiet.


Suddenly, cybersecurity wasn't some abstract IT issue they could delegate and forget about.


It was personal.


Here's what changed after that conversation:


They started asking the right questions.


They stopped deferring to "the IT guy" and started owning cyber risk as a board-level issue.


They brought me in as a fractional CISO to help them build real oversight, not just check boxes.


Not because I scared them. Because I made it relatable. 


These were smart, successful people. But cybersecurity felt distant technical jargon, compliance frameworks, things that happened to other companies.


A yacht? That's real. That's tangible. That's theirs.


And once they understood the personal stakes, everything shifted.


If you're presenting to a board and they're not engaged, you're speaking the wrong language.


They don't care about zero-trust architectures.


They don't care about penetration test results.


They don't care about compliance frameworks.


They care about what's at risk. And sometimes, you have to make it personal to get their attention.


I do it with kindness but also with clarity.


Because board members sometimes are only motivated when they understand their real personal stakes. 


Organizations need boards that actually lead on cyber risk instead of deferring it.


Because sometimes, all it takes is a picture of a yacht to wake people up.

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Jackie Hermes

Dominic Vogel

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The Battle

Jackie Hermes

Dominic Vogel

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dominic Vogel's LinkedIn Performance

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