By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
A long-time partner at global law firm Shearman & Sterling, Antonia Stolper heads both the firm’s highly regarded Americas Capital Markets group and its top-tier Latin America practice. How did she achieve so much success? “I’m a great believer in serendipity in my career,” she remarked.
Certainly hard work and a commitment to her clients propelled her toward success too, she continued, but she believes it is important to be open to new experiences. “I do a lot of interviews and talk to a lot of young women, and they always ask, ‘Did you always know this is what you were going to do?’ And the answer is, absolutely not. What I do today didn’t even exist when I was in school.”
“People talk about how important it is to have a plan and I’m not so sure about that,” she added. “You can have conviction, drive and the desire to excel and succeed without knowing exactly where you’ll end up. It’s incredibly important to be open-minded to opportunity.”