For years, Marissa Shipley did what many high performers in tech learn to do early: keep going.
Deadlines, complex systems, and high expectations were simply part of the job. From the outside, her career looked exactly how success in the ERP world is supposed to look. But inside, something was quietly unravelling.
“I didn’t hit burnout all at once — it crept in quietly, disguised as productivity.”
Marissa has spent more than three decades working in SAP security and governance, building a career across major global firms like PwC and IBM before eventually founding CompliantERP and CERPASS Software. Her work focuses on identity and access management — helping organisations make complex SAP environments secure, auditable, and easier for people to understand and trust.
But even someone who specialises in systems can find themselves trapped in one. And Marissa was.
When the Warning Signs Are Easy to Miss
Like many people in consulting, Marissa was used to pressure. Managing complex SAP environments meant juggling multiple priorities at once — clients, deadlines, technical risk, and the constant push for perfection. At first, the warning signs were subtle.
“I was overwhelmed, distracted, and running on fumes. I started missing details, forgetting conversations, and feeling like I was always behind — no matter how hard I worked.”
Professionally, everything still looked fine, but at home the cracks were beginning to show. Her family noticed something she had been too busy to see herself: she was physically present but mentally somewhere else, constantly preoccupied, exhausted, and emotionally drained. That’s when she realised something had to change.
A Diagnosis That Changed Everything
The turning point came when Marissa spoke with a specialist and received a diagnosis she had never previously considered — ADHD.
At first, the revelation felt confronting. She had built her entire career around structure, governance, and control, so discovering that her brain worked differently challenged how she saw herself. “I’d built a career around structure and control — how could I have missed this?”
But what initially felt exposing soon became something far more powerful: clarity. Suddenly, years of struggle began to make sense — the exhaustion, the constant mental juggling, and the feeling of pushing against systems that didn’t quite fit. With that clarity came permission to change.
Designing Systems That Work for Humans
Instead of forcing herself into productivity frameworks that never quite worked, Marissa began redesigning how she approached work and leadership.
“I stopped trying to fit into productivity models that didn’t work for me and started designing systems that did.”
That shift changed everything. It helped her recover from burnout, reshaped how she builds software, and transformed the way she leads the businesses she co-founded — CompliantERP and CERPASS Software.
Today, her mission goes beyond security and governance; she wants technology, and the environments we build around it, to work for people rather than against them.
“I stopped trying to be someone else and showed my authentic self.”
Speaking Up for the Quiet Struggles
Marissa knows she’s not the only person navigating invisible challenges in high-pressure technical environments. In fact, she suspects many people are doing the same — quietly.
That’s why she’s passionate about telling her story publicly, hoping to speak at industry events, workshops, and community spaces to help others recognise themselves in her journey, break the stigma around neurodiversity in tech, and build a more inclusive culture in the industry.
A Message to Those Feeling Stuck
If there’s one thing Marissa wishes more people understood, it’s that the SAP world — for all its power, scale, and sophistication — moves at a pace that can overwhelm even experienced professionals.
In SAP, the challenge often isn’t about capability. It’s about trying to keep up with an environment that changes faster than most people can realistically absorb. As Marissa puts it:
“If you feel like SAP is racing ahead of you, you’re not alone — this space moves fast, and even the best of us feel that pressure.”
Her advice is simple but powerful: pause, take a breath, break the challenge into manageable pieces, and ask for support early — not once the situation becomes unmanageable. “This isn’t failure — it’s complexity. And nobody navigates SAP alone.”
Protecting Energy While Building the Future
Today, Marissa is focused on protecting the one resource she knows is finite: her time and energy. With CERPASS expanding globally and both companies continuing to grow, she’s learning how to balance scale with sustainability — translating complex technical wins into clear, stakeholder-friendly messaging while also creating space to mentor others and advocate for people who struggle quietly in high-pressure environments.
Because for Marissa, success isn’t just about building secure software systems. It’s about building a culture where people feel seen — especially those navigating challenges others may never notice. And reminding them of something simple, but powerful: they’re not alone.
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