Brynne Qualley (left) and Ayana Weissenfluh, who both graduated from the University of Missouri–St. Louis in May 2024, have used their skills in marketing communications and graphic design to help Kansas City-based cybersecurity firm Tenfold Security earn national prominence in a prestigious competition through Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School. (Photo submitted by Aaron Weissenfluh)
Cybersecurity companies spend a lot of time thinking about how to protect their customers. But explaining exactly what they do, and why it matters, requires a different kind of expertise.
That’s where University of Missouri–St. Louis graduates Ayana Weissenfluh and Brynne Qualley have made their mark at Tenfold Security, a Kansas City-based cybersecurity company. The two were the first full-time hires beyond founders Aaron Weissenfluh – Ayana’s father – and Jon Broek, bringing marketing communications and graphic design skills to a company built around technical cybersecurity services.
“They really helped us refine and standardize the business across multiple platforms,” Broek said. “Before they came on board, it was kind of all over the place. Aaron and I were trying to do that on the side while we were running the business and doing all the technical work, but they just brought that to a whole other level.”
Both graduated in May 2024, Ayana with a bachelor’s degree in international business and minors in psychology and Japanese, Qualley with a BFA in graphic design. Ayana, who had interned with the company in the summer of 2023, was hired shortly after graduation, while Qualley joined full time in January 2025 after a few months working on a part-time contract basis.
Their contributions have helped Tenfold Security strengthen its public presence and make its services more accessible to potential customers. That work took on added importance as the company pursued national recognition through Pepperdine Graziadio Business School‘s prestigious Most Fundable Companies competition, a program that identifies emerging businesses deemed to have strong growth and fundraising potential.
Tenfold Security had applied to the competition in previous years but had not advanced beyond the semifinals. This time, the company earned a place among the top 25 finalists from more than 2,100 entrants nationwide, a milestone for the growing business.
Ayana helped sharpen the company’s message and explain its mission of protecting small and midsize businesses. She and Qualley also prepared materials and produced video submissions, while helping Aaron refine his presentations through practice sessions and candid feedback.
Aaron credited their time at UMSL with developing that willingness to offer constructive criticism, giving them the confidence to evaluate an idea, communicate their perspective and help make the finished product better.
“Whatever UMSL is doing with peer review, I’m very encouraged by that because that’s big,” he said. “I would present to them, and they would pick it apart, fix it. They are also really good at listening to me talk and correcting everything without fear. It is so great.”
The competition involved several rounds of evaluation, interviews and presentations. Tenfold Security ultimately did not advance to the final 14, but Aaron said the experience helped the company clarify its mission and prepare for future fundraising efforts.
“We weren’t seeing it as a win-or-lose thing,” he said. “It was just a good exercise to get us focused and prepared for raising funds next year, so we can continue to expand.”
It also demonstrated how much the UMSL alums had injected into the company since joining the team.
Tenfold Security launched in 2020, with Aaron and Broek handling most of the work during the company’s early years. Both brought extensive technical experience to the venture, but they recognized they needed help with the promotional side and presenting the company to potential customers and investors.
“We were doing pretty well on building a business other than marketing and the PR piece, and really formalizing even our pitch decks and everything we did for fundraising,” Aaron said. “It was, should we say, rudimentary at best.”
Ayana and Qualley helped put structure behind those efforts. Ayana leads marketing communications, including social media and content, while also drawing on her business background to help with bookkeeping, finance and other company needs. Qualley’s work focuses on graphic design and marketing, from the website and brand guidelines to promotional materials and graphics, and she has also taken on some HR duties.
Their ability to simplify technical information into language that resonates with customers has been especially valuable.
“They helped us iron out our message and make it very consistent,” Aaron said. “And they could translate it from highly technical to appealing to everyone, from corporate executives down to just the end user.”
The results have not gone unnoticed. Broek said people outside the company have often assumed Tenfold Security has a marketing team of three or four people based on the quality and volume of its work. Customers and partners have also praised the company’s social media presence.
“I’ve had people ask us what firm we’re using for advertising,” Aaron said.
The range of responsibilities at Tenfold Security has given both graduates opportunities to apply their education while continuing to develop new skills.
Ayana’s time at UMSL, which included a semester abroad in Japan and involvement in the Pierre Laclede Honors College, allowed her to take classes on a wide variety of subjects and meet a vast array of people that introduced her to different perspectives. Those experiences, along with project-based coursework, helped her develop communication, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills that she now uses in a workplace where priorities can change quickly.
“It’s not just one thing over and over,” she said. “I get to learn something new every day.”
Qualley found a similar connection between her UMSL education and her work. The graphic design program’s small classes and collaborative environment gave students opportunities to share ideas, critique one another’s work and learn through hands-on projects. Those experiences helped prepare her to work with clients and colleagues, incorporate feedback and develop a consistent visual identity for a company.
“It was very much like a community in that department,” Qualley said. “Especially when we got to senior year with our capstones, we were very reliant on each other. If somebody had a question, needed help or wanted feedback on something that was due the next day, there were always people willing to talk and help each other out. It was a very tight-knit group because we went through the entire program together. And that’s what I like about Tenfold Security. It feels like what it did in college, like a collaboration.”
The founders immediately reaped the benefits of that UMSL background. Aaron said the graduates arrived already familiar with many of the applications and tools used in their fields, allowing them to put their classroom experience to work rather than starting from scratch.
“They walked right in and they were like, ‘Well, I use this technology in my class. Let’s do it right now,’” he said.
Broek also praised UMSL’s emphasis on hands-on learning, noting that Tenfold Security takes a similar approach with its own employees and interns.
“We want to get them as much hands-on training as possible,” he said. “We believe that’s what it really takes to just be successful day one in their new position.”
For Ayana and Qualley, that preparation has translated into the opportunity to take ownership of meaningful work and see how their contributions affect a growing company.
“It’s gratifying to know we’ve shown that what we’ve done is important,” Ayana said.
