Vicki Brakl; Senior Vice President, Marketing, Training & Development; Meredith Corporation, MNI Targeted Media

Vicki Brakl Opportunity is often dependent on timing, says Vicki Brakl.

“If you have a good idea, speak up! Good ideas come from everywhere. What’s most important is for leaders to foster an open-minded environment where all ideas are considered.”

This is something Brakl has experienced throughout her career. She knows firsthand that people (including herself) frequently defer to those in senior positions as a sign of respect. What’s important to distinguish is that respect doesn’t indicate silence. This allows for the strongest ideas to be built upon for all to benefit.

Looking for New Challenges to Stretch her Talents

Status quo is definitely not something Brakl ever sought. In fact, she has always said yes to opportunities where she felt she could learn something new. She describes her career path as “winding”—always moving forward, based on curiosity and a desire to stretch herself along the way.

Brakl says she’s been lucky to never have had to “search for a job,” so to speak, and she attributes that to the fact that she has always done what she’s said she’s going to do; while it sounds simple, this work ethic can be in short supply.

“I want to work with smart, motivated, curious people, but also precise communicators and problem solvers who bring solutions and new ideas. I like to think that I’ve been that person to others,” Brakl says.

She found her ideal career through trial and error, including stints in the legal profession and investment banking. While the culture wasn’t for her, Brakl didn’t want to give up on business overall so she went to business school. After a full-time internship, she received a great job offer and cut her teeth on the client-side at one of the largest consumer packaged goods companies, giving her nine-years of experience. She then went to the agency side where she could work with different types of clients, from retail to pharmaceutical, and then on to a private equity group. All of these opportunities allowed her to learn and hone diverse skillsets.

Brakl’s current job came courtesy of a family friend who needed someone experienced in integrated marketing. Although she’d bought media and created strategic media plans, she’d never been on the sales side, but again, she relished the chance to try something new.

Helping Others Grow Their Careers

Throughout her career, Brakl points to several business successes—from pitching for huge budgets to unwinding companies and making clients whole. But what she’s most proud of is the  personal outreach of appreciation from those whose careers she’s touched. “It could be a note that they enjoyed working with me, or that a piece of advice I gave them sent them on a new course, or that they’ve found me to be an inspiring leader. These types of acknowledgments touch me most deeply because the personal relationships are what it’s all about.”

Providing that career upskilling is now an official part of her job, as she was recently promoted and added training to her purview. “For an organization of our size, training oversight is exciting because of the ability it gives me to touch people,” she says, adding that maintaining a strong culture is particularly important given their dispersed and diverse workplace.

“I’m excited about what a formalized training process can do to make a difference in uniting a company where people sit in home offices across 43 markets.” And in her new role, she intends to focus on providing ways for all employees to expand their knowledge base beyond their day-to-day responsibilities.

Brakl sees that the work world is moving more toward valuing productivity and results versus hours and thinks that will be a benefit to all, but especially to women. “You have to find the right place where you can work on your own terms in your own way. It’s not just about balance per se, but managing your life and career over the long haul in a way that’s sustainable.”

She encourages young professionals to ask for challenges in order to bolster their career. “When you are offered an opportunity, take it and run. Don’t be afraid to ask questions because that’s where the learning happens,” she says.

And while asking questions is important, so is speaking up in general. She cautions other women not to allow others to appropriate their ideas. She’s seen it all too often: you will offer an idea only for someone else to tweak it and play it off as their own. “Say it again and don’t let them get away with it. Gracefully bring it back to you with a calm remark such as, ‘As I said,’” she suggests.

Currently, two-thirds of the workforce at her company are women, with 60% at director level, and Brakl is one of four on the executive team. While the numbers continue to grow, she knows there can always be improvement and looks forward to making a difference in her new role.

Outside of work, Brakl is busy with her 5-year-old, and not a day goes by that she doesn’t learn something new by seeing the world through her eyes. “I try to harness her viewpoint and be as non-judgmental as a child. It has really  affected my perspective.”Yoga keeps her mind and body flexible; it’s just a matter of finding the time. Brakl notes that along with family, friends and keeping yourself healthy, that’s a full plate. “It all helps you be a better professional and mom,” she says.

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Emily O’Daniel, CFA; Vice President, Intermediary and Retail Specialist; PineBridge Investments

Emily O'DanielWhen you start from the bottom and move up, it can be hard to figure out how to make your way, says Emily O’Daniel.

The best strategy is to always be willing to take on responsibilities and be vocal about what you want. “People can’t read your mind, so ask for opportunities and get more comfortable saying no to requests that no longer fit in your job description if you are spread too thin..” 

And she adds, it’s hard to know what roles are out there and “what you want to be when you grow up” so you always have to ask questions, attend conferences and do your research to  find out what other jobs are like in order to determine what suits you best. 

A Growing Company, A Rising Career

That can-do spirit has served her well.

Spending her whole career with one employer has been fulfilling for O’Daniel, if a bit unusual in her generation, she points out. However, it’s given her the chance to wear many hats and take on diverse roles, all at one firm. While she had been offered a position at PwC following an internship in forensic accounting, she liked the possibilities she was offered at PineBridge as she believed working at a smaller firm would be more fruitful and lead to more opportunities faster. 

Her first position was as the only analyst covering the Americas institutional sales team.  After gaining some experience supporting the larger team as the sole analyst, she asked take on a specialized role within the intermediary & retail team  —an area she deliberately chose since it was a channel she knew the least about so the learning curve was steep.  That channel has grown since then, as has the company, with four analysts now on the sales team.  

Eventually O’Daniel was promoted into her own sales role and for two years has been an independent sales woman focusing on identifying new business.  In addition, she supports the firm’s sub advisory business, which she says is much like being a teacher. “You’re working with clients and helping them understand the investment strategy we’ve developed. Often it can be easy to get stuck in your day-to-day job and not see the end result so it’s rewarding to have insight direct impact as you watch people save for retirement and know you’re helping them.” 

However, in terms of the professional achievement she is most proud of so far, it doesn’t even have to do with that rapid ascension, but rather in earning her CFA designation, given the challenge inherent in the three-level test, where each level only has about a 30% pass rate. She was able to juggle that massive responsibility with working full time, but she believes that accomplishing that has made a big difference in her career. 

Strong Mentors Support and Teach

When O’Daniel began her career, she had expected that the corporate world would be far more competitive in terms of interpersonal relationships, which would make it hard to be yourself, especially as a novice. She has been pleasantly surprised to find that while there are all kinds of people, , by and large people have been friendly and helpful. “Even when I am in meetings with competitors, you get the sense that people want to collaborate and be friendly.”

She has been fortunate along the way to have had several role models—starting with her father, who was in sales and reminded her to always find the fun in what you’re doing. “If you like what you’re doing, you’ll be better at it,” she says, adding that he also taught her that cutting corners is never the way to succeed.

In addition, she was inspired by a women with whom she interned, who ran a successful business while maintaining a caring and kind demeanor. And she’s learned from many other colleagues, both male and female, informally and formally, through the robust mentor program PineBridge offers where you are matched annually with someone new. She says her PineBridge mentors have not only given her great advice, but advocated for her. “It’s been a great way to gain exposure to people outside of my group,” she says. 

O’Daniel is also active in a recently developed PineBridge Women’s Network, which is an internal resource group to network and talk about challenges in professional and personal development. And, she’s a member of an external group, the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA), that is currently focusing on diversity and inclusion.

Since her role is largely numbers driven, outside of work O’Daniel enjoys exercising her creative side, from knitting to painting, making jewelry and handling any number of DIY projects. In addition she enjoys spending time with her family, frequently traveling to visit them in the Washington D.C. area.

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Voice of Experience: Raquel Rosenthal, CEO of Digilant

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Believe in yourself, be hardworking and tenacious, advises Digilant’s Raquel Rosenthal, but never forget that determination is a big part of success.

“Don’t let the little stuff get to you, but keep looking at the goals with your eye on the prize,” she says, an attitude that she attributes to her sales background.

“When you’re young and on a superstar path, you want to get there quickly, but you need to continue to work on yourself. With any blip, I kept focused and realized that even if my time wasn’t now, it was coming.”

Riding the Wave of Transformative Technologies

That determination has given Rosenthal a front row seat to the transformation of the digital world over her career. In college she worked at her campus radio station as a sales manager, then got a position at a local publication called the Advantage where she worked for a year before starting her own publication, which she ran for four years. “While I started on the traditional side, I focused my career on the digital advertising industry and emerging markets. I have always been entrepreneurial, which has shaped me and how I’ve grown my career,” she says.

While she loved advertising and selling, when she started her career at DoubleClick, a company acquired by Google, she realized she had found her passion. With the digital industry just emerging,it was an exciting challenge to work with large companies to convince them to pivot their marketing budgets. She held management roles at other tech companies, including Belo Interactive Media and dataxu, and then seeking a new challenge, she joined Digilant in 2011, ascending from Senior Vice President of Sales and Chief Revenue Officer to CEO.

“I feel very fortunate to have been part of this emerging field,” she says, adding that while she is proud that she’s been able to switch gears from being a contributor to becoming a CEO, even more so she considers herself a “turnaround” CEO. “I was able to leverage my revenue mindset and take the company from where it was losing money to today, where we are headed into our third consecutive year of growth,” she says.

Always on the forefront of emerging trends, Rosenthal closely watches the current landscape within the advertising space, where there’s been a merger of adtech agency services and consulting. “It’s significant when companies with that financial prowess enter the space, so we have been focused on retooling our company to ensure we can compete alongside the larger companies.”

Along with that, Digilant is focused on eliminating siloed data within organizations and the industry to help create a seamless customer experience. Rosenthal states, “we are shifting to a single source of truth to help understand how the consumer is looking to get their data and how analytics can help us improve the consumer journey.”

A Growing World of Opportunity

Looking at the talent landscape, Rosenthal sees many more opportunities for women in middle management and leadership positions than when she started, and although there are still fewer women than is ideal, she feels optimistic about what lies ahead. Using her own company as an example, Digilant has four women in executive leadership positions, attributed to recent growth.

With a focus on diversity of gender and culture, they have implemented “Women and Wisdom”,a monthly discussion group that covers a diverse array of topics, from gender roles to climate change, all chosen by women. A robust mentorship program is also key to helping elevate women.

Rosenthal believes it’s important to stay focused on your work, but in order to bring your best self to work and position yourself for success, you also have to focus on yourself. She says, “it could be walking the dog or reading a chapter every day, but you have to have something that helps you decompress and get away from work to bring that fresh mindset that breeds creativity.”

She definitely takes her own advice, including a daily three-mile walk with her dogs and setting aside time to read books on managing, such as Radical Candor and Good to Great. “People are in constant evolution, including myself, so I love to focus on those topics that will help both myself and the company.”

 

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Voice of Experience: Lisa Atlas Genecov, Partner, Katten

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Trust your instincts and let them guide you, advises Katten’s Lisa Atlas Genecov.  Her instincts lit the way to a path that has allowed her to have a fulfilling career and simultaneously raise a family.

Finding Success Through Forging An Alternate Way

Genecov began her law career in Dallas as a Mergers and Acquisitions attorney, with stints at several large regional and national law firms.  After her youngest child, now 26, was born, she decided it was time to downshift for a period, and she began to work three days a week for a smaller firm. 

“I didn’t want to miss all those important milestones that my kids would have, but I didn’t want to stop working completely,” she notes, echoing a common theme among many working moms.  At the smaller firm, she found herself handling numerous healthcare transactions, along with her general M&A work, and realized how much she enjoyed it. She pivoted to the health care space, and it soon became 100% of the focus of her legal practice.

When Genecov decided to return back to a larger firm and a full-time practice three (3) years later, she maintained that specialty, eventually becoming the firm’s Health Care Practice Group leader.  Looking back, she has come to appreciate the fact that transitioning to part-time status led to the most rewarding shift for her career—not only did she have more time with her kids, but it allowed her the opportunity to try something new which propelled her practice into a different and very busy direction, just as health care reform came into focus and the Affordable Care Act was later signed into law, dramatically reshaping the country’s health care landscape.

About eight months after Katten opened its Dallas office in February 2018, Genecov joined the firm as Co-Chair of its National Health Care Practice Group. She came to Katten with two female lateral partners – Cheryl Camin Murray and Kenya Woodruff – both of whom she has respected and known for years but they hadn’t practiced together.  They established Katten’s first Health Care practice in Dallas, counseling health care providers in connection with major transactions and regulatory issues while working closely with the firm’s white collar attorneys on health care litigation matters. 

“I’m proud that I came together with these other partners to grow our complementary practices,” Genecov says.  “It’s exciting to be working at a growing and successful office of a well-respected national law firm and health care practice where I enjoy working with my colleagues every day.  And along with that, I’m proud to have been able to maintain a robust and satisfying career while raising two awesome kids who have become two awesome adults.”

Succeeding in the Balancing Act

In fact, Genecov believes that one of the biggest issues for women when choosing a place to work—whether it’s a firm, public service or in-house position—is to make sure you are well supported at your workplace, but also at home if you are planning to raise a family. 

It’s important to proactively find mentors and sponsors at the start of and throughout your career, she said.  “Look for mentors who are good at helping you in particular aspects of your career. If there’s a job that’s not working, find one that better suits your needs, and don’t be afraid of making a change,” she says, pointing to her own experience as the catalyst for a positive new path. “I wasn’t afraid to take an opportunity if it seemed like the right one.”

Along the way she has appreciated the people who have helped her, and for that reason Genecov says she always tries to be a good mentor to other women lawyers, some of whom are now in the C-suite in-house or in legal departments of large companies, of which she’s very proud.  

Diversity has always been a key value for Genecov. In fact, at her prior firm she was chief diversity officer, where she felt she was able to make a positive impact on retention and advancement.  She’s also invested in helping ensure the success of the next generation and pleased that Katten recently moved its Dallas office to the Uptown “Park District” area. “We are always looking for ways we can appeal to what younger attorneys value, and our high-tech, flexible office that focuses on green space will help us to successfully do that.”

In addition to her busy practice, Genecov is president of the Executive Committee and a founding member of the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas, which helps to advance women at all phases of the legal profession.  For many years, she has also been an active volunteer and Board Member with the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas.

Now that her children are adults, she and her husband continue to find meaningful ways to spend time together; often traveling to places, including Europe and Colorado, as well as enjoying sporting events and music closer to home.  “I’m so proud of my kids, and the best part is that we really enjoy one another’s company,” she says.

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Andrea Mygrant; Managing Director, Major Accounts; FIS Global

Andrea Mygrant While hard work is important, there’s another key predictor of professional success, says FIS Global’s Andrea Mygrant, and that’s the importance of your network.

“I saw that it was vital early in my career to make sure I had a great mentor who guided me  to prioritize meeting everyone I could—both within my firm and externally with clients—and then to keep in touch.” As she notes, it’s a small community and industry, and she has frequently seen people who have circled back into her life. “They have helped me build new relationships and boosted my progression,” she notes, adding that not everyone realizes how important it is to focus on building that strong network early on to help open doors throughout your career.

Client Service at the Core

Although Mygrant was pursuing a pre-vet track in college, she changed directions after an internship at financial services firm Brown Brothers Harriman which was her first time working in fintech and with clients.

Working at a global custodian firm like that provided an important perspective on how the entire industry worked, thus kicking off her new career path. Ever since, she’s been focused on client relationships, up to her current role where she builds those relationships at an executive level.

With an insatiable curiosity, Mygrant has always looked forward to the next big thing as there’s always something innovative happening in this space. Just recently she helped a large client she’s partnered with over the past two years successfully launch a complex, integrated solution.

“It had very high visibility in the organization.They were looking for a solution of different products to link together using tools that hadn’t been deployed in conjunction before,” Mygrant explains. “We were able to jointly put together the pieces, thus fulfilling a complicated deal with a lot of moving parts and unknowns.” They achieved a successful go live in January 2020. “I’m really proud that we were able to build something brand new that was important for them to be successful, resulting in such a satisfied client.”

In an industry that’s always changing, she’s currently observing the new “blurry lines” separating pure technology firms that are veering into territory occupied by financial institutions. “I’m watching big companies like Amazon or Google and seeing what they will do going forward. It’s vital to be quick to market, and they have the resources to do that.”

Giving Women the Support to Be Successful

As a new mom, Mygrant has been particularly focused on new challenges she’s encountered by being a working mom in the finance industry. Of course, she realizes that many things have improved over the past decade, from extended maternity or paternity leave to funding for IVF to the ability to ship milk when you travel. But here are still disparities—such as the fact that there might be a space set aside to pump, but it’s not always comfortable or convenient. And while some states are improving laws and implementing steps forward, she believes that it’s up to senior women in the workforce to help get the message heard throughout organizations. “Having key programs and options in place makes people want to come back,” she notes. “Support your employees and they’ll be loyal.”

Another way Mygrant sees that companies should support their employees is through robust mentorship programs. “I can’t emphasize enough how much my mentors molded and shaped me in the right way early in my career.” She now pays it forward to other women in her organization but is well aware that in a cost-cutting environment, formal programs may become downscaled or vanish. And that’s a shame she says, since helping guide young professionals is a huge win for companies.

Her advice to newer talent is to never be afraid to ask for what they need or to take chances. “The worst that can happen is that someone says no.” You will never feel 100% confident about something new and so you have to go for it.”

Baking as Relaxation

While free time is at a premium with a young child, Mygrant is still able to indulge in one of her biggest passions—baking. She is a member of a cookbook club and a baking club, and every year around the holidays, which also coincides with her birthday, she takes two days off and bakes upwards of 30 items for a huge holiday party and as gifts for friends. “Baking is a fantastic way to relieve stress and remove yourself from a job that today is a 24-hour endeavor, given all the ways we are connected. It’s a huge relief to do something I enjoy, and at the same time, it allows me to give back to my friends.”

 

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Kacy J. Gambles, SVP Regional Manager of Investment and Fiduciary Services for the East Bay and San Jose California Regions, Wells Fargo Private Bank

Kacy J Gambles“Be bold, be brave and just be you. Don’t shrink to please the people around you,” says Wells Fargo Private Bank’s Kacy J. Gambles.

Kacy always had an interest in two things: people and numbers.  When she thought about career choices she wanted to marry these two interests together.  The discussion of finances was not exactly dinner table conversation, however through the perseverance and ‘scrappiness’ of her mother, Kacy was exposed to different job functions within the financial industry.  Ultimately she was led to wealth management when she stumbled upon an advertisement to study for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM designation.

Kacy started her career at PNC Bank in Pittsburgh, PA in 2003 and held a number of positions in the company’s wealth management division, from an associate trust advisor & portfolio manager to a product manager covering the separately managed accounts and alternative investments platforms.  Ultimately, she knew she enjoyed the client-facing side of the business and made the decision to obtain her MBA at The Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College.  In 2009 while finishing her MBA at Tuck, and attending the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) annual conference, she crossed paths with one of Wells Fargo’s senior leaders who invited her to join his California based team in the Private Bank in an investment management development program. She has served as an investment strategist managing high-net-worth clients’ portfolios and then moved into management as a regional investment manager.  This path led to her 2017 promotion and her present day role as SVP leading a team of experienced financial professionals who help clients work toward their unique goals by providing investment management, trust and estate services, as well as specialized wealth services including legacy planning, real estate asset management, philanthropic, and business advisory services.

Being an African American executive, Kacy discusses her journey in the financial services industry and how proud she is to be navigating the journey as a woman of color every day, and acknowledges the power of sponsors who have advocated for her along the way.

“There aren’t many individuals who look like me and I have been able to navigate this industry with the support of great individuals of all types who took an interest in my career and my success.”

Gambles is keen to distinguish the difference between mentors and sponsors and urges people to understand the power of a sponsor who can truly advocate for you at the table where you are not seated. She believes more courageous conversations are the key to seeing change in the industry and in the need to advocate for hiring people with non-traditional backgrounds. And, that people should raise their hands to be matched with mentors and sponsors. She opines that Wells Fargo has a great programmatic approach to supporting women in the firm that she feels she has benefited from along the way.

“There is so much value in mentoring as it is a two directional relationship where both sides get to learn and address unconscious biases.”

She recounts recently going to a Tesla showroom and servicing shop and finding herself surprised at the number of female engineers; an example whereby we can all be caught unaware of the unconscious bias that can lurk in our brains if we are honest with ourselves in recognizing it.

Being a good manager is important to her and creating a team where people can be themselves is a continual goal of hers and she works to create space for all people to be themselves.

“When someone says thank you for listening and letting me be my authentic self and to be visible, I feel very proud. Diversity and ultimately inclusion means people can come to the table and feel like they are heard and this goes for ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and even mental health diversity which is increasingly recognized.”

Change Agent

Inspiring and humble, Kacy is clearly motivated by being “the voice and the change” as she puts it “within the community and internally within the team”. She explains that a village helped raise her and she believes that coaching, inspiring, mentoring, developing and giving back is important to her in the work that she does inside and outside the firm.

“I am excited to be a change agent as how we (Wells Fargo) are seen in the community is important both in doing the best work to meet the wealth management goals of clients, and in solidifying an organization with great team members so that people can continue to believe in the organization.”

Kacy energetically talks about the increase of women owned businesses and within that the number of African American and Latinx women who are changing the lending culture by virtue of being the job creators and the product leaders in communities. She is excited by millennials and how they approach their careers and what their wealth needs will be in the future.

Tenacity on the Journey

Kacy reiterates tenacity as a trait that is helpful in building a career recounting that she got a lot of “no’s” but she chose to hear these as “not now” instead. She emphasizes the importance of being the owner of your career and figuring out the pathways to get more “yeses”. She believes that some barriers are organizational and can change with processes such as panel-based decisions in hiring but is forthright that individuals can self- impose their own limitations and believes that a “can do” attitude is crucial for success.

Kacy relays her advice that she would give to her younger self, “I tended to be quieter in meetings and I wish I had taken more chances.  I was once advised that  when someone thinks you are ready for an opportunity don’t insult them by saying you can’t. Now I realize that my advice to others is that you always can. You have the skills, resources, and examples.  If you don’t see it then you can become the light for the people behind you.”

Outside of work she offers that her spiritual side is her foundation and that she was raised by strong women who remind her where she came from and keep her humble and that she has to “pull people up with me”.

Kacy enjoys travel with a philanthropic twist as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.

“I always leave feeling that the people building the houses get more than we give on these trips as it is the human side of connecting that matters and love still abounds and we as humans are resilient. It is very humbling.”

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Melandee Jones Canady, Delivery Executive, AARP

Melandee Jones CanadyOver the years, AARP’s Melandee Jones Canady has learned that if you’re not upfront about letting people know your accomplishments, it opens the door for others to create your narrative on your behalf.

“I wish I had been more vocal early on; I was a doer quietly performing my work, until someone pulled me aside and said I needed to start broadcasting more of my achievements.” That helped raise her profile, which is paramount to success in any career.

A Career Based on All Paths Taken

The unifying thread behind Canady’s career is that she believed in seizing opportunities and seeing where they could take her. The result has been a successful marriage of technology and business skillsets, aligned toward making life easier for the customer.

An IT executive with 20 years of experience, she follows in the footsteps of her father, who sparked her interest when he would discuss his work with data centers and mainframes at the dinner table. She studied law and technology, and subsequent internships at IBM, Lockheed Martin and Allstate solidified her interest in technology, while opening her eyes to all the different opportunities in the field.

She started her career with Enovia , which had a rotation program that exposed her to a wide variety of skills, from client/server development to software testing.  It was testing where she discovered “that she was great at breaking things and handing them off for someone else to fix them.” Eventually she left for the world of consulting, then worked on an international project for a reinsurance company and finally settled into financial services.

Canady joined Ally Bank, where she was impressed with the innovative ideas they were launching. She was part of its rebrand as a direct bank, where she was able to use her skills to create seamless and secure technology, which she realized was the only chance to make an impression on customers when there’s no brick-and-mortar presence.  While there she earned her MBA and moved from systems analysis to a business-oriented role that bolstered her understanding of voice of the customer as she partnered to find out their needs and desired outcomes.

Soon she was recruited by a consulting company to support TIAA (then TIAA-CREF) which also wanted to set up a direct bank, as she was one of the few with the skillset. Eventually she decided to move to Washington, D.C., and worked with Deloitte Consulting specializing in systems integration, which she says was among her most satisfying work stints, given the many new experiences and opportunities to adapt what she had learned over the years in a client-facing role.

Almost four years ago, she was recruited to AARP where she interfaces between the technology departments and business partners to bridge gaps. “Working for an association gives you a fascinating view into how you can serve your 37+ million members, compared with working for shareholders,” she says, adding that it perfectly combines her background in voice of the customer and business outcomes as she serves its members and the community at large.

Today she is helping launch programs around artificial intelligence (AI), specifically working on the first level of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to help make AARP more efficient. “With almost 38 million members and only 2,400 employees, it’s a puzzle to figure out how to support everything. RPA can automate rote tasks to allow staff to work on more exciting projects,” Canady explains.

While she’s had a number of satisfying professional experiences, she also counts among her achievements some of the programs she’s been involved with outside of work, such as testing software with the United Nations, along with a wide variety of mentoring and training efforts she’s helped with, including both formal and informal affinity groups.

One that she has particularly enjoyed is Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), along with a Women in Technology group set up by her former boss at AARP. “As a female CIO, her goal was to show how others can follow in her path, which has opened doors and created conversations that otherwise wouldn’t have happened,” she says.

Helping Others Grow

And that often leads her to give advice to younger professionals. One of the first things Canady tells them is that it’s OK to stand out. “I’ve been on numerous teams where I’m the only woman, the only African American, or even the only American.” She finds there is still a persistent perception of what a “technologist” looks like. “People expect you to look a certain way or have a certain background, so I work to dispel that myth and emphasize we are all different,” she says. And she adds, that’s important for business success, too, since the more diverse teams are, the better the outcomes.

She also thinks it’s important for women to realize that career pivots are not just normal, they are often better. “It’s fine to remember what you wanted when you were first starting, but it’s wise to realize that your end game might change—and it might end up even better than you expected.  The key to that is perseverance: Don’t let others discourage you; if there’s an assignment you want, raise your hand,” she says.

With her husband and two small children—a two-and-a-half year old daughter and nine-month-old son—Canady stays busy on the homefront, traveling and just being together. But she still finds time to give back, participating in a Giving Circle where they pool money to make more of an impact for local charities, and as a member of the Junior League.

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Claudine A. Chen-Young, Partner, Katten

Claudine A. Chen-Young“What drives me is the impact I can have on other people,” says Katten’s Claudine Chen-Young. While she notes that there are very few people like her—a woman of color—who have achieved the rank of partner at a large law firm and in the male-dominated financial sector, it wasn’t until her appointment was announced that she grew to realize the significant impact she had on others.

“It was remarkable how many young female associates even from outside of my group sent emails or called to congratulate me. It was really an ‘aha’ moment because I hadn’t recognized just how much of a role model I was for them,” she says.

That led her to focus her attention toward mentoring and sponsoring women associates in meaningful ways on a broader scale, an emphasis she continues today.

Ability to Pivot Leads to Success

Currently a structured finance and securitization partner at Katten, throughout her career Chen-Young has successfully navigated industry highs and lows—from surviving the financial crisis to developing and executing sophisticated deal structures and innovative transactions. She credits her professional resilience and ability to thrive during economic downturn to the personal relationships she had built and her track record for providing valued counsel, combined with a willingness to reinvent the types of transactions she could handle.

“Very quickly I was able to provide different services that were broader in scope than what I’d been doing before, and that ability to adapt and reinvent myself was critical to my success,” she says.

As partner, Chen-Young has extensive experience with securitizations of all types of residential mortgage loans and mortgage-related assets. In addition to securitizations, she advises issuers and underwriters in connection with a range of asset financings as well as asset purchase and sale transactions.

Looking at Diversity Through a Broader Lens

To Chen-Young, diversity means cultivating a culture of inclusion and empathy, which starts by looking past similarities and differences in one another. “We can understand others’ experiences without them being exactly like ours,” she says.

To that end, she says there is a propensity to try to get matched with a mentor who’s just like you, but that’s not always necessary. Instead, she believes that others should follow in her footsteps: “I wanted the mentor who would take me under his or her wing and champion my development substantively and professionally, regardless of our other similarities.”

She acknowledges that while having mentors and sponsors is important, she says that women should go a step further and search for a “champion.” Chen-Young said, “Especially at a large law firm, it is critical to have someone with a high profile either internally or externally facing with clients who takes an interest in you—that’s the type of person who will propel you forward in ways that others cannot.”

Community Outreach Enriches

Chen-Young is proud to be a 2019 Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), an organization of more than 300 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners committed to diversity in the legal profession. In her involvement with LCLD, she also mentors first-year law students in their 1L LCLD Scholars Program, underscoring the value of pairing more experienced legal professionals who can share their advice and help aspiring young lawyers avoid pitfalls.

Among the wisdom she shares with younger professionals is the importance of speaking up, rather than waiting to be asked. “It might seem safer to stay under the radar rather than taking a risk, but you elevate yourself by being proactive,” she says.

And she adds, it’s not just what you say, but how you say it. “Your delivery alone can change whether someone perceives you as competent or skilled. Unfortunately often we think we’re being polite when we apologize or take ownership of a mistake, but we’re really just highlighting it in a way that men wouldn’t,” she says.

Chen-Young is an avid supporter of Katten’s participation in The Mansfield Rule, a program that aims to increase representation of female and diverse lawyers in law firm leadership. She is also an active member of Katten’s Women’s Leadership Forum, which supports the advancement and retention of female attorneys by offering mentoring, skill-building opportunities, external and internal networking, and career development programs.

Outside of the firm, she sits on the nonprofit board for the DC Youth Orchestra Program, which is primarily focused on providing access to music education across the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

“I find that networking within your community is very valuable,” said Chen-Young, adding that she’s learned a great deal from meeting professionals in various industries. “Community service gives you a different perspective and keeps you engaged with the underserved beyond the field of law,” she says. “Ultimately, it’s important to be a citizen of both my legal and geographic communities.”

Finding Longevity in Finance

When reflecting on her legal career, however, Chen-Young is most proud of how she makes her business clients feel like she is part of their team—not an easy feat in the world of “Wall Street” finance. She accomplishes this by taking the time to understand her clients’ business and objectives from their point of view. She said taking this approach makes her more successful and efficient at the negotiating table.

“My advice to women looking to advance in traditionally tougher fields is to turn yourself into a strategic partner to your colleagues, your clients, and everyone you come in contact with professionally,” said Chen-Young. “But, above all, deliver high-level, solid, superior quality work.”

Chen-Young knows she is a testament to the fact that if you rise above, stay focused and work hard, you will ultimately be judged by your substantive skill and overall professional service.

“In that regard, I am lucky to say that my clients view me as a valuable, critical and strong business partner to the team,” she said.

 

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What’s Your New Year’s (Career) Resolution for 2020?

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Happy New Year 2020 featuredLast December, Goldman Sachs named nearly 1,500 individuals vice presidents and executive directors, in recognition of their leadership and contributions to date. As they embark on this next step in their careers, the firm’s Human Capital Management Division is hosting Vice President Orientation in February across regions – a one-day immersive program to accelerate their transition and increase their impact in their new roles.

Since theglasshammer is the online community designed for women executives in financial services, law and business, we asked new members of the Vice President and Executive Director Class of 2019 to share their New Year’s “career resolutions” in advance of the start of orientation:

Kristen Askin, Securities, New York: My career goal in 2020 is to empower my client base of institutional investors to be connected to Goldman Sachs more holistically, by introducing them to new parts of the firm and helping them to achieve their business objectives. To do this, I am excited to work together with my peers in other businesses by strengthening our relationships and learning from their expertise in other areas across the firm.

Natalia Barrey, Tax, Sao Paulo: My resolutions as a first year vice president are to continue to develop my management skills and leadership, and have a more strategic corporate viewpoint to help keep all members of our team informed and engaged, as well as to expand my contributions as a part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Network.

Maya Bradshaw, Services, London: I’ve never really been one to set New Year’s resolutions (previously they have been too lofty to be attainable), but this year I have challenged myself to commit to a number of micro-habits designed to strengthen my mental and physical resilience so that I am well positioned to meet the challenges of being a newly promoted VP. These resolutions include goals such as taking the stairs to meetings on other floors, making time to be “mindful” and setting (and sticking to) my non-negotiables.

Elsie Cheng, Global Investment Research, Hong Kong: I hope to ride the frontier of technological innovation in China, continue to generate impactful ideas that align with the firm’s goals, add value to the franchise, and aim to have fun at the same time.

Kiley Colston, Controllers, Dallas: As I step into my new role this year, I plan to focus on two things: making a maximum impact and maintaining a work/life balance. These seem so simple, but showing up to work every day with an open mind, eager to step out, stretch yourself, build up others and develop new skills, all while prioritizing and carving out time for family and friends, comes with clear intentions, persistence and dedication.

Johannes Hahn, Investment Banking, New York: My career resolutions for 2020 are twofold: On one hand, to grow our risk management business, with particular focus on middle market clients in the context of the Investment Banking Division’s ‘Cross Markets Group’ initiative as well as across a variety of products, including the firm’s new transaction banking platform. On the other, to use the learnings from my own progression at GS from analyst to vice president across different teams and geographies to mentor our junior bankers as they develop their careers.

Archa Jain, Investment Banking, Mumbai: I would like to take complete ownership of execution of the projects I’m working on, expand my existing network and deepen client relationships to be able to source new business opportunities for the firm. In addition, I want to play a meaningful role in team-building and mentoring junior individuals.

Anna Jeschke-Chin, Corporate Treasury, New York: In 2020, I am looking to share knowledge beyond my immediate team. Information is currency, and sharing relevant information with people in other parts of the firm will keep you on their radar and might just lead to being included in exciting new projects.

Kahena Joubert, Merchant Banking, New York: My 2020 resolutions are to maintain the high levels of energy and strategic focus that I had last year, identify and excel at opportunities to be a leader, and give myself the time I need to successfully plan and enjoy my October wedding.

Christian Manion, Corporate Treasury, Salt Lake City: In 2020, I want to focus on long-term career ambitions and align my short-term responsibilities and goals towards those. I want to pay it forward by making a conscious effort to share my perspective with the team, help align goals, and pass along the lessons I continue to learn.

Leslie Odamtten-Addy, London, Internal Audit: In 2020, I will be moving to our Frankfurt office from London. A resolution of mine is to assimilate into the culture and environment of the Frankfurt office (which also includes learning German), while also maintaining connectivity to regional headquarters. Another goal is to invest in relationships and provide mentorship. I have been very fortunate to have had a number of wonderful mentors throughout my time at Goldman Sachs, and have learned the value of investing in key relationships across levels of seniority and the benefits of mentoring others on your own thought process and ability to be a more effective people manager.

Jade Trusty, Compliance, London: This year, I hope to accomplish the following:

  • Learn to code – given the increasing importance of technology and automation in everything we do both inside and outside the workplace.
  • Be uncomfortable – challenge myself to step outside of my comfort zone more frequently. In Shonda Rhymes’ words, make this the “year of yes.”
  • Increasing my connectivity – grow my network within the firm and across the industry by interacting with individuals outside my immediate circle. This will help develop my communication style and strategic thinking.

Anne Shapiro, Consumer and Investment Management, Washington, DC: As I begin 2020 with a new title and additional time demands, my career resolution for the year is to build time leverage for myself. From taking advantage of new firm technology, to delegating more, to drawing on the Eisenhower Matrix for organizing priorities (and applying any other tips my colleagues might recommend!), I aim to maximize my productivity to serve clients better and grow my commercial impact.

 

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Intrepid Women: Carol Evans, CEO, SHARE

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“Failure will help you advance in your career if you examine it carefully and accept it as an important teacher. Failure never lets up. It’s not about doing things wrong. It’s about learning and re-learning all the lessons that a challenging career offers.”

Carol Evans, Intrepid Woman, Pioneer and Advocate for working women shares her insights on what she wished she knew early on in  her career journey. She continues, “Failure will always be with you. Be not afraid of it.”

Carol started her career in advertising in 1976 and worked on the test issue of a new magazine called Working Mother. Evans loved the idea of this  magazine because her own mom went back to work when she was 12. “ It was the best thing that ever happened to my mom and to us, her children! Working mothers were the fastest growing segment of the workforce, and I knew how to help this new demographic because of my own mom’s career.” In her 10 years as publisher Evans took Working Mother magazine  from a test issue to a full blown  success with over 2 million readers.   Ready to move forward in her career, she left Working Mother to join Stagebill magazine for the performing arts in a bigger role as President.

“Stagebill was amazing: Lots of opera and Phantom of the Opera, meeting famous singers, dancers and actors.  I was a partner to the executive directors in the challenge to print programs nightly for 110 arts organizations.”

In 1996 Evans joined  Chief Executive magazine as COO.  “Meeting all these Fortune 500 CEOs made me feel that I could take on that role. They were just people–not gods!  They were almost all men, which made me mad!”

Six years later Working Mother magazine came up for sale and Carol decided to put her career to the test.  She went to 35 possible funders to acquire Working Mother, getting turned down 35 times. Then she met the CEO of MCG Capital and made a deal to buy the magazine and form Working Mother Media. It was August, 2001.  Evans relays how the first order of business was to survive the terrible days after 9/11. She adds,

“We then built Working Mother Media into a powerful for-profit advocacy organization that took on the advancement of women as our guiding cause. We focused our magazine and websites, conferences and research  on the needs of working moms, women lawyers, women of color, executive women, hourly workers and other segments of the female workforce. “

In 2015, Evans  retired from Working Mother Media to co-found Executive Women for Hillary, which grew to a force of 2400 women nationwide working on Hillary’s primary and then presidential campaigns.

In late 2019, after 38 years in the media business, she joined the non-profit sector as CEO of SHARE, an organization started in 1976 by breast cancer survivors that now helps 200,000 women every year. SHARE brings women newly diagnosed with breast, ovarian, uterine and metastatic cancer together with women who have survived or are living with these cancers. Through group meetings, helplines and webinars SHARE  creates a giving circle of support, knowledge sharing and community. She states,

“I’m excited about starting a new career!  Leading a non-profit focused on the women who are so often overlooked in the battle against cancer as money flows to research but not to human beings is deeply meaningful to me.”

She continues that the non-profit world is new and fascinating to her..

“ The sense of purpose is exhilarating and the work is rigorous. Non-profits have had to navigate the digital revolution as much as for profits, and have come out stronger in most cases. SHARE combines digital savvy with face to face support for women who have entered a club that no one wants to join.Many of the volunteers at SHARE had big careers that they had to or chose to leave because of their cancer. SHARE gives them a challenging and deeply healing way to give back to new members of the terrible cancer club.”

The new thing  she is working on now is fundraising on Facebook through individuals taking up SHARE’s cause on their birthday or their mother’s birthday.  “We are excited to reach out to the millions of women whose lives have been touched by female cancers to support our organization.”

Risk, Reward and Achievements

When asked about achievements that she is most proud of she cites her new job as well as saving Working Mother magazine from certain death in 2001.

“Launching it (the magazine) in 1979 and being a successful CEO in a world where few CEOs are women is a great source of pride to me.   Having the foresight to launch Best Companies for Working Mothers in 1986 and the bravery to launch Best Companies for Women of Color in 2002 is my most enduring contribution to women.”

Carol has certainly taken calculated risks and she recalls that when she left her very wonderful job as VP Publisher of Working Mother in 1989 to work for an entrepreneur it was because she wanted to become an entrepreneur. She states,

“ It was a gamble but it paid off when 12 years and 2 jobs later I was able to acquire Working Mother and form my own company, Working Mother Media.”

Outside of Work

Carol states, “My family is everything to me. Robert was born 9 years after we launched Working Mother and Julia was born just after I joined Stagebill.  I loved being a working mother, with all the challenges and all the ups and downs.  My husband Bob made it all work by encouraging my career at every twist and turn. He still doesn’t fold laundry the way I like but he’s been a great dad and partner.”

We congratulate Carol in her new venture and proudly bestow her theglasshammer mantle of being an Intrepid Woman.

 

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