Voice of Experience: DiAnne Calabrisotto, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, The Williams Capital Group, L.P.

By Elizabeth Harrin (London)

DiAnne Calabrisotto wanted to be a graphic designer or a paralegal when she grew up, but reluctantly settled for a job as a receptionist at Prudential Securities in 1984. Since those early days, Calabrisotto has risen through the ranks to the C-suite, and is now Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at The Williams Capital Group, L.P., a leading boutique investment banking firm in New York.

“Working at a boutique firm allows me, on the one hand, to have creative input on challenging special projects. On the other hand, I deal with a lot of legal and regulatory issues, working closely with top-notch attorneys at prominent law firms,” she says. “I never thought I could combine my two passions on Wall Street.”

The Importance of Taking Risks

After her initial hire, Prudential quickly promoted Calabrisotto to sales assistant to a group of ten brokers. They recognized her talent immediately, and within two years of joining the company she was retained by Prudential’s top rainmakers. “During the summer of 1989 my bosses decided to relocate to Florida,” she says. “Being very young, and fairly new to the industry I had to make a tough decision, and I chose to remain in New York. They were very disappointed; it took them a year to replace me.”

While she appreciated that the people she had worked with valued her highly, Calabrisotto decided to explore other opportunities at Prudential. She interviewed with several other brokers, and evaluated her options in New York.

“During those interviews, one person’s words changed my life,” she explains. “I was interviewing for a position as a senior sales assistant. He told me the job was mine if I wanted it, but he was afraid I would be bored. He then asked me if I had ever failed at anything. I thought about it and I really couldn’t say I had. He then said, ‘You need to fail at something in order to know what you are really good at.’ Those words rang true and ultimately had a profound impact on my life.”

Taking Advantage of New Opportunities

Calabrisotto didn’t set out to fail, but she realised that only by trying new things and taking risks could she really explore her skills and her interests. So she spent a couple of years in the retail side of the business. It was not for her, so she moved on.

“I joined Tucker Anthony in the fall of 1991 and by the first quarter of 1992 a rare opportunity presented itself,” she says. “A marketing executive at the firm received a call from a client whose husband was starting a new division at Jefferies & Company. The managing director was looking for an assistant vice president with extensive knowledge of operations and who could also administratively support the division. The marketing executive thought I would be the perfect candidate because of my knowledge of the brokerage business and my operational and administrative capabilities,” she adds.

Shortly after, Williams Financial Markets, a division of Jefferies & Company, offered Calabrisotto the job. “By the end of 1993, the managing director made the decision to start his own broker dealer and in January of 1994 The Williams Capital Group, L.P. was launched,” she explains. “I recently celebrated my seventeenth year with the firm. As a founding member of WCG, I’ve seen the firm grow from three employees to more than 70 employees to date. Over the last sixteen years, we have added several new departments, began offering additional products and have enhanced our technology to be just as competitive as the larger firms.”

Challenges for a COO in the Wake of Dodd-Frank

Today at Williams Capital, Calabrisotto is Chief Operating Officer, a role she has held since 2004. She’s also Chief Compliance Officer, a position she seems to take in her stride. “My daily compliance task is basically the same,” she explains. “However what is more challenging is wrapping my arms around and implementing the new requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act, an extraordinarily complex new law covering Wall Street reform and consumer protection, among numerous other things. I have always been dedicated to learning as much as I can, doing jobs no one else wanted to do and doing everything to the best of my ability. And I have never been afraid to ask questions if I do not understand something,” she adds.

Calabrisotto’s role has given her the opportunity to get involved with many interesting projects, and she has a lot to be proud of. “It’s hard to pinpoint a specific initiative,” she says. “I have worked on many successful projects. For example, complex mergers and acquisitions, arduous due diligence processes, and seeing strategic ideas ultimately come to fruition. I believe making projects successful, if they merit success, is simply part of my strategic planning responsibilities. I don’t gloat over them,” she explains.

Although achieving the level of COO is certainly something to be proud of, Calabrisotto does not revel in that accomplishment either. “I am most proud that I can share my knowledge and experiences with others and add value to their careers. Watching some of my colleagues attain their professional goals has been very rewarding to me personally.”

Calabrisotto, a married mother of two, strongly believes that working women with children need to focus on a work/life balance. “I believe in having routine and structure, both at work and at home, to maintain proper balance,” she says. “I think it is important if possible, to have your children visit the office regularly and see what you do and what other people do. They need to be involved and understand the concept of work and compensation at an early age.” Achieving this balance is challenging for a COO/CCO, but Calabrisotto believes it is always important to make time for school activities and functions. “My husband and I spend almost all our free time with our two children to ensure a balanced active family lifestyle,” she says.

In addition to her work ethic and supportive and structured family life, Calabrisotto came across a quote a while back that she lives her life by: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” She explains: “Success occurs when you have a definite purpose for your life and you take the initiative to follow through with action. You may make mistakes occasionally – everybody does – but any action is far better than doing nothing.”