Voice of Experience: Karen Shane, Wells Fargo Advisors

By Cathie Ericson

Karen Shane, a Charlotte, NC-based financial advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors, believes that if you are driven and passionate about your career, the sky’s the limit—no matter the industry.

She concedes that having support is an important component to one’s success. “I always tell my daughter to find what she is passionate about and then work like crazy to rise to the top. You’ll find that you won’t mind working hard if you feel you are doing what you are meant to do,” she adds.

Rising Through the Ranks

Shane started her career in 2004 as a trading assistant on an institutional fixed income desk servicing bonds for large banks. The job entailed sitting at a huge desk with 10 other people, each of them assigned a computer and a phone getting bids on bonds. She earned both experience and her Series 7 license, but after a few years decided to pivot to a client-facing role. She joined AG Edwards as a client associate and through subsequent mergers is now with Wells Fargo Advisors. In 2010 she moved to Charlotte, N.C., with her family where she became the registered associate of her current partner, Susan Brown.

The two women went through a coaching program offered through their firm called DELTA, part of which was envisioning a 10-year goal which led them to the decision to partner –their client ethos and focus on holistic advice complementing each other.

In 2014, the pilot program of Wells Fargo Advisor’s Associate Financial Advisor (AFA) program launched, so Brown encouraged Shane to enroll in the program to transition to a financial advisor role and ultimately create a partnership.

Shane is also proud of the commitment she gave to pursuing her Certified Financial Planner™ designation – having studied at 4 a.m. before her family got up and spending hours at the library on the weekend –encouraged throughout by Brown on their Sunday morning runs.

Finding Opportunities in Wells Fargo Advisors’ Next Generation Talent Program

Right now, Shane is enjoying the challenge of developing more meaningful relationships with clients and finding new ways to build their practice, with a specialization that focuses on female executives. This pivot has helped build her confidence as she has enjoyed making recommendations and seeing her ideas come to fruition.

Shane credits both the AFA program and the support she receives from Brown as helping her develop that confidence. “Most client associates are women, and without the proper support they can feel stuck in that role. The Next Generation Talent Program is very empowering, not just for me, but the many others like me who were looking for a path to transition and enhance their careers.”

She sees the value that comes from women supporting each other, and the game-changing benefits that can arise from mentoring relationships with more seasoned female leaders. Shane looks forward to paying it forward, and is currently helping encourage one of her peers from the AFA class who’s taking the CFP exam.

Outside of work, Shane stays busy with her family – a 13-year-old daughter who’s immersed in the world of theater, both performing and volunteering at the local theater, and a nine-year-old son who plays soccer and golf.

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Mover and Shaker: Cassandra Cuellar, Associate at Shearman & Sterling

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Cassandra Cuellar

By Cathie Ericson

Being inquisitive and asking a lot of questions is one of the best ways to move ahead, whether you’re working with a partner or client, believes Shearman’s Cassandra Cuellar.

In addition, she recommends that professionals always maintain a positive attitude, showing up and treating every day like a new day. “It’s a stressful job, and you have to recognize that your role is to find a way around issues, to find a solution that will meet the client’s ultimate goal whether it’s an internal or external client.”

Honing a Specialty That Always Has Emerging Challenges

After growing up in a small town in Texas, Cuellar came to Austin in 2003 to attend University of Texas – the first lawyer in her family — and has been there ever since. While attending law school, she clerked with the firm Andrews Kurth, where she received an offer to work with the Emerging Companies group. She worked there for seven-and-a-half years until this March when the group of 14 attorneys and associated support staff moved over to Shearman and Sterling LLP.

Currently she is working with companies that are exploring very cutting-edge fields. For example, she is enjoying the challenge of developing two areas in the practice — cryptocurrency and digital assets – and helping move them more into the mainstream. “We have to take them out of the hands of the fringe groups and make them more accessible so people will become comfortable with crypto and blockchain,” she notes.

Another exciting area of growth is in AI. She has a client who focuses on looking at manuscripts and movie scripts for patterns that resonate, which she says is the type of task that AI will revolutionize by applying a more systematic approach.

Learning By Doing

Cuellar describes her first two years as an “unending learning moment.” At the time, she was working with several junior attorneys who left for various reasons so she seized the opportunity to fill the gaps. While it entailed many late nights, in hindsight she sees that taking on these various extra projects was the best possible thing she could have done to propel her career. “I was able to learn from mistakes and now have a vast background which helps me recognize things that I wouldn’t have noticed before.”

While embracing those kinds of opportunities can grow your career, she also finds incredible benefits in taking advantage of mentoring, whether formal or informal.

In fact, at an earlier position that didn’t offer a formal program, she sought out other attorneys to help give her advice. “People are more than willing to have conversations with you when you show you appreciate their time,” she says.

At Shearman, she recognized the culture of mentorship and support the minute she came over. “Female partners whom I don’t even work with have reached out, which was so impressive that these busy women would welcome me and offer their support,” she says. One in particular who stands out is partner Sarah McClean, whom she notes has been very conscious about developing a team of great women and inviting her to immediately get involved.

Another option Cuellar took advantage of was getting involved with industry organizations, which she finds particularly important for minority lawyers. She has enjoyed the four years she’s been involved with the Hispanic National Bar Association, which offers avenues for professional development and advancement; for example, she has had the chance to make pitches to corporations and gleaned immeasurable professional development opportunities from sitting in and learning from other attorneys

Because she places great importance on developing the pipeline of younger lawyers, she’s also been involved with a UT group called Minority Women Pursuing Law, which works with first-generation law students to offer counsel on job hunting. Each year Cuellar presents on what they should know as college students about what law schools and law firms are looking for to help give them a leg up.

Married with two dogs, Cuellar loves to cook and barbeque at home, and she and her husband enjoy frequent visits to their families in south Texas.

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Mover and Shaker: Liliana Bauer, Marketing Director, WEX Latam

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By Cathie Ericson

“I once heard that we should listen before acting and think before reacting.

The adage is one that has stuck with me and that drives my leadership style in a significant way,” says WEX’ Liliana Bauer. “Thinking for ourselves, rather than just repeating the ideas we hear, makes a big difference in how we conduct our lives and make appropriate choices.”

And she adds, “If we seize opportunities, take our goals seriously and maintain our enthusiasm—always respecting everyone else in an ethical way—we will arrive at the destination we choose.”

A Career Built On Accepting Challenges

That ethos has helped Bauer build a multi-layered career. She attended school in Brazil, earning both a bachelor’s degree in marketing and communications from Mackenzie University and an MBA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas University.

After graduating, she began her career with Coca-Cola, holding roles in divisions including promotions, product management and customer loyalty. She then spent nearly a decade at Citibank, responding to the centralized structuring and implementation of the B2B and institutional marketing in Brazil, where she handled marketing strategy, as well as overseeing PR and corporate communications for all business units. Her last role at Citibank was as a regional marketing manager for the Latin American region’s 24 markets, reporting to Miami and New York.

In 2011, she joined HSBC Latin America as a senior marketing manager, responsible for global banking and markets, private banking and asset management. She also oversaw planning and marketing effectiveness for HSBC’s corporate segments, where together with the countries and the global team, she developed the department’s strategic and business information for the executive committees of the region, as well as results analysis and financial control. In addition, she was responsible for the Latin American marketing for the Global Banking and Markets segment, reporting directly to London.

Prior to joining WEX, she served as a marketing executive at credit card issuer Banco Bradesco Cartões, where she oversaw strategic marketing management and payments solutions studies.

She then joined WEX Brazil as a marketing director, responsible for implementing strategies to strengthen the company’s market presence through business plan and strategy execution.

A self-described “builder,” focused on getting things done in a straightforward manner, Bauer says that one of her major achievements at WEX so far has been creating a strategic marketing mindset, from building a successful team to shaping, driving and maximizing marketing activities, including focusing on analyzing results and repositioning products.

One of the projects she is most excited about right now is her role with one such repositioning of their major product—focusing on the value proposition definition and planning larger market penetration that is driven by market research and customer surveys.

That quest for data inspires her whole career, as she finds that much of her success comes from constantly questioning assumptions, both in information she hears and where the market is trending, what the target audiences are exposing and how her team is reacting. “When making decisions about the direction of my career, I try to take a high-level, long-term perspective, based not only on what things look like, but on what they really are, what is behind each scenario, and what the legacy of my decision will be,” she says.

Surrounding Yourself With the Right People and Company Culture

Over the years Bauer has been fortunate to work with many inspirational professionals, and she’s appreciated their role in patiently showing her how to meet their expectations while advancing her own career. “I’ve always paid a lot of attention to their behaviors and decisions, learning how to drive efforts in a more constructive way, while achieving the best and fastest results,” she says.

One role model who stands out is Francine Suescun, whom Bauer describes as “a great teacher and a wise leader,” adding, “She has a broad range of experience and the ability to integrate actions in an end-to-end process, guaranteeing successful delivery of every project. Besides that, she always tries to make wherever she is a better place—thinking of others rather than just taking actions that benefit herself,” an example that Bauer is quick to thank her for, telling Suescun that she is the one responsible for the professional profile Bauer has today.

In addition to surrounding herself with smart role models, she has wisely chosen the company she works for, saying that at WEX all people are seen and equally accepted—and recognized for their achievements—regardless of gender, age, department, education level or other defining elements. She finds that during business meetings, leadership summits or social celebrations, people from different locations and ages, men and women alike, interact on equal footing, listening to one another and keeping an open mind.

The same dynamic occurs on her team, where position and gender don’t matter. “If an employee is committed to doing good work, bringing relevant information or just taking advantage of an opportunity to improve their understanding about something, we respect them the same way,” she says.

Another important part of the WEX culture is the focus on work-life balance. Bauer has been able to devote time the past two-and-a-half years holding various roles for a social entity teaching English to low-income students, from ages 10 to 83. “It is such a valuable opportunity to learn from those students as they develop, and those people have played a crucial role in changing my life,” she says. “Interacting with others who have the same objectives, intensity and wishes is what makes us feel part of a society in such a special way.”

An avid traveler, Bauer has visited more than 50 cities in Brazil and 15 countries around the world. “When we interact with people from a different culture, with different points of views and experiences, we are able to rethink the prejudices we have and our previously established opinions and see how the vast resources of ideas can move the world forward,” she says.

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Voice of Experience: Agostina Pechi, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

Agostina PechiIt’s important to be patient when you are more junior and to realize that building a business can take several years.

“If you work hard and are consistent, you will get there,” says Goldman Sachs’ Agostina Pechi. Yet, she adds that you have to balance that patience with an ability to speak up and vocalize your intention to take on additional responsibility. “You have to make sure that management is aware of the work you are doing,” she says, adding that “mentors and sponsors who can vouch for your work are extremely valuable.”

Building an Expertise in Latin America

After studying economics at Torcuato Di Tella University in Argentina, Pechi moved to London to work for Deutsche Bank in their emerging markets group. Her work at Deutsche Bank took her to Mexico City and then to New York, where she worked as part of the Latin American coverage team. Through working in different environments and under different supervisory styles, she gained what she believes to be an important skill for success: adaptability.

In 2013, Pechi decided to move to Goldman Sachs. “I found it valuable to be based in the headquarters, close to leadership and decision making,” she says. She was tapped to build a Latin American institutional coverage team for the firm that has since expanded its coverage to smaller market countries.

“It was extremely rewarding to know that the firm trusted us to produce in these markets that don’t have as much access to Wall Street and liquidity in their currencies.” She says that the firm’s increased involvement in smaller markets has fostered its reputation in the region, generating new business, with revenue comparable to that of larger economies. “Direct investment is key for these economies to grow – it’s important for them to obtain financing to facilitate investments in key areas such as infrastructure, and it has been rewarding to help clients in these regions achieve their goals,” she says.

Pechi considers the growth of fintech to be one of the most important rising trends, namely due to the way the sector will disrupt existing business methods. She believes that Goldman Sachs is on the cutting edge of this change, and will be able to expand product offerings and support a greater array of clients.

“History has shown that doing things the same way because that’s how it has always been done is a disadvantage, and I believe we are at the forefront of the radical change that is coming,” Pechi says.

Sharing Her Passions With Others

At Goldman Sachs, Pechi is highly involved with two affinity networks. She sits on the steering committee of the Hispanic and Latino network, which provides tools and guidance to Latino individuals to navigate and excel in their careers. She is also co-head of the Securities Division Women’s Network, which hosts monthly meetings, events and a “Strategic Insight” series designed for women to connect with senior management across different divisions. The program has been so successful that other businesses across the firm have expressed interest in replicating it. She is currently in the midst of helping to plan a half-day seminar where network members will have an opportunity to interact with senior leaders of the firm.

She enjoys mentoring other women and recommends to others, “Surround yourself with people who believe in you along each step in your career.” She goes on to note, “Great leaders are innovative, and we will succeed when we realize we can’t all look at the world in the same way.”

Outside of work, Pechi channels her passion for improving her community into Project Art, a program that uses space in public libraries for children in under-resourced areas to meet and make art. The program has spread across the country to become the largest arts-related after-school program in the United States. Since Project Art relies on free public spaces instead of renting pricey classroom space, the majority of funding can go to hiring great teachers and acquiring materials. Pechi, who has a two-year-old daughter of her own, appreciates the chance to offer an avenue for children to stay busy after school and to learn to communicate through the arts.

“Helping communities around me is an important part of my life,” she says.

Another form of art is also important to her — dancing tango, which she learned in Argentina from her grandparents. Two years ago when she was involved in planning efforts for the firm’s Hispanic Heritage Month, she arranged for an external dance team to perform the tango – and even performed alongside them.

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Voice of Experience: Shveta Verma, Senior Director, Diversity and Inclusion, PwC India

Shveta VermaBy Cathie Ericson

Over the years PwC’s Shveta Verma has found that that the local culture can make it more challenging for women to develop the confidence to speak up and ask for what they want and need and trust their own voice.

“Women here are brought up being told that they are embodiment of love, care and sacrifice; with all this conditioning, everything else around them supersedes their own interests and what they want,” she says. With that in mind she urges younger women to take charge of their careers and make decisions that matter to them.

“Never give the reins to anyone else to steer the direction or acceleration of your career,” she says. “There will be times where family and children take priority and work takes a back seat or vice versa, and this is natural and shouldn’t cause guilt. Above all else, love yourself immensely and choose to be happy every day of your life.”

Finding her Niche by Helping Advance Others

Over two decades in the human capital function, Verma has spent time in a variety of roles from a beginner to a leader. Her longest stint has been at PwC where she has spent almost 15 years, currently overseeing the diversity and inclusion function for both India and PwC Global.

In fact joining PwC is the professional achievement she is most proud of, a journey that began when she was working in the human capital function of Jaypee Hotels at Agra, a hotel that was a regular offsite destination for PwC. “I still remember that afternoon in 2002 very vividly… I was admiring the quality of people and at that moment I silently prayed to be a part of PwC someday,” she says, adding that she hails from a small town in India where no female from her immediate or extended family had ever gone out to work. “I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to step out and be able to attain professional fulfillment. I believe that my joining PwC was the biggest turning point of my life.”

While there she has seen multiple highs and lows, mergers and demergers, but her biggest moment was in April 2012 when she took on a new role as India human capital transformation leader. With no existing role model in place, she carved out the function herself, aligning with the global network which enabled her to focus on developing and implementing a variety of initiatives for the diversity office, including focuses on generational differences, flexibility and social responsibility.

In her current role, she finds that being part of the global team offers the ability to influence change through the length and breadth of the organization and across territories; at the same time being exposed to the multifold nuances that come to play when implementing policies, such as local legislations, cultural dynamics, workforce profile, leadership commitment, organization maturity and many more. One of her most exciting projects this year has been helping create pay equity and inclusive recruitment policies.

Overseeing a Sea Change in D&I

Her role is an exciting one because she sees a huge shift in the mindset towards D&I in India. While a lot of Indian organizations are still struggling to really understand what it means and where to start from, she finds there is an increased realization and energy to focus on creating policies and nurturing an environment that creates inclusion. This focus may lead to a variety of changes concerning D& I, including organizations defining what it means for them and then aligning their diversity strategy with how it impacts the business performance by bridging talent and skill. She also sees an increase in the use of technology and AI at every stage of talent decision-making to remove bias and then deploying analytics to create a diversity strategy and plan, assess key diversity metrics and create accountability.

While there have been many advances for women in India, she finds that there are still few powerful examples of women role models in workplaces. She urges her peers to focus on creating an enabling environment within their teams for younger women to progress and then mentor and guide them. “Let them know that someone is watching over them; there is sufficient space for all of us to move forward.”

PwC India is spearheading a number of initiatives designed to counteract this low representation of women in leadership positions. Special programs designed to prepare them for leadership roles include Reach Out, a networking and mentoring program created in partnership with four other organizations. They also connect newer professionals with high-performing senior women employees to provide them the right enablers to promote growth to leadership positions. “Towards Leadership Program”, which prepares the participants (including men and women) by providing them with key skills, to take on leadership roles.

“As the workforce of the future becomes increasingly diverse, it is imperative that we tap into the potential of our women employees, especially at the mid-management level,” she notes. This can happen by creating an environment for women to achieve their full potential, in both their business and personal lives, and thus reduce attrition.

That was the impetus behind the “WoMentoring program,” introduced for women managers to be mentored by senior leaders of the organization at this critical level where talent is experiencing personal life cycle changes and professional aspirations which impact their career decisions to stay or leave the organization. “We believe that our ability to support and mentor our managers in these stages will go a long way in retaining them and providing a nurturing and developing environment,” Verma says.

Throughout her busy career, Verma finds that her fitness regime keeps her going. A marathoner, she is also training to be a triathlete. In addition she loves theatre — although she finds it more challenging now to find the opportunities to indulge, she won various awards for her acting skills during her college days. “My best way to beat stress now is cooking with my 12-year-old son and going for my long runs,” she says.

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Voice of Experience: Debra Stabile, Managing Director and the Chief Risk Officer for Citi Retail Services

Debra Stabile

By Cathie Ericson

Don’t be afraid to take risks, especially when you’re young, says Citibank’s Debra Stabile.

“The world is changing so fast that being willing to try new things, even those outside of your comfort zone, is the key to continuing to move forward,” she says, recommending that you stay curious and always open to challenging yourself.

“It is easy to access materials that can help you self-educate on any topics you want to explore, but people also love to talk about their own areas of passion so connect with others whenever you can,” she says.

That, along with being open to candid feedback, can help propel your career. “Asking for feedback is vital – ask at the right time, and seek input from your peers as well as your boss.” For example, she suggests inquiring if there was anything you could have done better in an important meeting. “If they really care about you, they are going to give you constructive feedback to help identify blind spots,” she says. And then, she adds, accept the comments without rationalization and learn from them to always be improving your career.

Building Teams and Solving Problems Keeps Her Engaged

A willingness to try new things underscores a career path that Stabile calls “interesting and fulfilling,” encompassing fields from consulting to government and finance. Each role presented new challenges and insights; she appreciated her experience in consulting firms for the birds-eye view it gave her into a wide variety of companies, and her early experience with the City of New York made her a better citizen as she realized that you really can make a difference even in a city as big as New York. For the past 20 years she has been in financial services, 13 of them at Citi.

Despite all her professional success, she says the achievement she’s most proud of so far is the teams she’s built and the people she’s worked with. “When you look back at what matters, it’s not only about making a difference in your job, but also about enjoying the people you work with every day. I’ve been very fortunate to build and nurture successful teams and launched many of them to bigger roles and seniority in their respective organizations,” she says. In certain fields, she notes, such as being a teacher or doctor, you know you’ve made a difference, but it might not be as obvious in a corporation until you realize the impact you have. “You don’t impact just your employee, but also their families, and if they can come to work and feel respected and successful, you can feel that you’re contributing in a larger role.”

With a background in math and economics, Stabile loves problem solving so she finds it an amazing time to be in the industry, where analytics and quantitative methods have become even more foundational to everything they do in risk management. She says the environment today is a quantum leap from where they’ve been before, with the access to a more granular and diverse set of data — a plethora of information about consumers that enable them to make better decisions in real-time.

Stabile and her team at Citi Retail Services leverage these data sources to develop advanced analytic models and other capabilities to more effectively identify, assess and manage risk for their retail partners and customers.

Women Supporting Women

As more women enter the industry, Stabile hopes that the focus on STEM fields will continue to help make women today more comfortable and eager to take advantage of this vibrant career path. “It’s critical at all levels for women to support each other and share opportunities when they see them – to be inclusive,” she says. “Women are becoming much more proactive in recognizing we need to pull each generation up.”

Stabile has benefited from the Citi Women’s Leadership Development program which is attended by middle and upper management and provides coaching by external career development experts as well as internal senior executives. She has also been fortunate to be part of a supportive women’s network outside of Citi — the MIT Sloan Women of New York. A board member since its inception, she has helped organize a number of women’s events, including the first MIT Sloan Global Women’s Conference which was held in New York last October.

With three daughters, two of whom are engineers and one an economist, there is no doubt Stabile is doing her part to help build the female pipeline. The family loves to travel, especially to areas that have a historical or cultural bent.

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Voice of Experience: Susan Brown, Wells Fargo Advisors

Susan BrownSusan Brown keeps a quote from Marianne Williamson on her desk that says, “There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you…. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”

Those words, which have helped Brown grow her team and business at Wells Fargo Advisors (WFA), remind her that women must be bolder than they might have been conditioned and pass it on to others.  “We need to learn our own value and expertise—and speak to ourselves just like our best friend would,” she advises.

Building Her Business, Helping Others Build Their Wealth

As Brown puts it, she “fell” into the career she loves 35 years ago, when she was working in Hilton Head, S.C., and married a manager at her current company, which meant she ultimately had to find another job. At her side gig teaching aerobics, a class member suggested she interview at Prudential Securities—where she was quickly hired.From there, Brown transferred to Charlotte, N.C., as a client associate for the firm. Her next move was to transition to a financial advisor role, where she spent eight years in a positive mentoring relationship with a senior financial advisor. Prudential Securities was acquired by Wachovia Securities and then Wells Fargo Advisors—where Brown is now a financial advisor, managing a $170 million-AUM practice. She’s proud to oversee an all-female, multi-generational team of four, which includes her partner, Karen Shane, once Brown’s client associate. Both participated in Wells Fargo Advisors’ DELTA Program, an intensive coaching and consulting process based on proven business development and practice management strategies—and realized how well they work together.

In addition to building and developing her team, Brown acknowledges her proudest professional achievement as being able to keep 100 percent of her clients in the market during the 2008 collapse. “There are only so many ways to tell people to hang in there, but they listened, and I’m pleased to say that they were all able to recover.”

Brown’s team remains focused on its mantra of “women helping women,” and is working to attract additional female corporate executives as clients. “This is what we’re passionate about, and we’ve had proven success in this space over the years,” she says.

A Program that Helps Women Grow

Brown advises women to be patient with themselves as they hone their skills, something that she feels is reinforced through Wells Fargo Advisors’ Next Generation Talent Program—of which she encouraged Shane to participate as she progressed from client associate to financial advisor.

The innovative program, which includes training and mentoring as well as a salary throughout the program before transitioning to base plus commission, has an 80 percent success rate. In contrast, Wall Street’s traditional sink-or-swim training programs garner only about a 20 percent success rate. “Being a client associate used to be a place where you got stuck,” Brown says.  “However, WFA’s program provided Karen with the training, support and development to become a financial advisor—and I gained a partner and an eventual successor for my practice in the process.”

It’s also a win for the firm, as the program yields confident and educated advisors for the next generation, as well as clients who will be served by them. Brown hadn’t realized her clients were worried about her eventual retirement until she introduced her new, younger partner, and they expressed their relief in knowing there was a great succession plan in place.

“My clients’ concern about my succession plan is simply because the relationships we’ve built are so personal—some of them already stretching to a fourth generation,” she says. “We understand their challenges and family dynamics and these deep relationships are invaluable.” In fact, she finds that her work and social life are almost inextricable. “If you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work,” she says, adding that most of her travel and exercise groups include many of her clients.

She is also imparting the importance of relationship-building to her 28-year-old daughter, Anna Berger, who joined her team four years ago. Anna graduated from the University of South Carolina with degrees in finance and marketing and had started her career in New York, when she told her mom she wanted to move back to Charlotte. Anna has her Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor designation and focuses on client review preparation, trading, social media and other duties but has plans to participate in WFA’s Next Generation Talent Program, as well. In 2017, Kelly Walker joined Brown’s team as a practice manager and handles scheduling appointments, managing the team calendar as well as coordinating client events.  She is also working on obtaining her securities licenses.  “Kelly is extraordinary at running the team and making sure everyone is executing on a daily basis. She’s a star,” adds Brown.

“I was taught that I’d be recognized for hard work and merit, yet I’m telling my daughter that while hard work is important—it’s not enough. I tell her that she has to be bold and go after what she wants because no one is going to just serve it to her,” says Brown. “However, I believe that if you’re passionate about your career, like I am, everything else will naturally fall into place.”

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Voice of Experience: Sarah McLean, Partner, Shearman & Sterling

Sarah McLeanAsking questions is one of the best ways to grow both personally and professionally, finds Shearman & Sterling’s Sarah McLean.

“I wish I had known when I was first starting out that most people don’t mind when you ask them questions about their work or request feedback on your work — and the more direct the question, the better,” she notes. “Specific questions lead to better discussion and ultimately lead to better information for you.”

An Early Pivot Leads to a Rewarding Career

With an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, Sarah assumed she would become a research scientist or go to medical school. But in her last year of college she took a business law class that intrigued her with how problems and solutions are presented so differently than in science. That, coupled with the three years of research she had been doing on the pea aphid genome, led her to decide to pursue law school rather than research.

Her first job out of law school was with a Texas-based firm where she initially practiced health law — at the time still considering medical school—but ultimately didn’t find it challenging and switched to oil and gas private equity. She practiced with the same firm for almost 20 years, in both Houston and Austin, along the way closing more mergers and acquisitions deals than any other lawyer in Texas in 2017, according to the records of The Texas Lawbook. She then started thinking about making a change, to find a new challenge that would energize and excite her. She moved to Shearman & Sterling in April 2018, where she currently practices private equity and oil and gas upstream and midstream mergers and acquisitions.

Building the Business One Relationship at a Time

While Sarah is currently working on a number of complicated, interesting deals and transactions, what she’s most excited about is her role in business development—going out to see clients and contacts and introducing them to Shearman & Sterling. “We’ve put together an impressive team of oil and gas deal lawyers in Austin and Houston, and it has been great to get out of the office and talk to people,” she says.

She’s built an impressive array of contacts over the years, primarily because she figured out soon after starting her career that every person you meet is a potential future business contact. “I realized that reaching out to people you’ve met through business deals is a great way to grow your network of contacts, and the newer associates working on your early deals will be decision makers in 10 years,” Sarah says. “Developing long-standing relationships helps tremendously when you are asking for referrals and work.”

She often tells young women that an important trait to help build fulfilling relationships is getting over any shyness. “I was always hesitant to reach out to contacts for lunch or coffee because I thought they would be too busy or they wouldn’t really want to get together with me or a hundred other excuses. But ultimately I’ve learned that most people do want to form relationships and do have time for a quick check-in meeting,” she says. And, furthermore, even if they don’t have time or want to meet, they won’t be rude about it. “They just don’t respond, and someone not responding is not tragic or embarrassing at all,” she points out.

Taking Charge of Your Own Career

Sarah advises her peers of the value of sticking together and supporting one other, along with taking the time to nurture as many younger women as possible. She urges those in a position of authority or power in an organization to use it to dispel stereotypes and promote diversity.

While she recommends young women find good mentors and sponsors, she makes clear that often you have to make your own opportunities, rather than relying on them coming to you. “This means getting out of your office, meeting people and looking for ways to make yourself more valuable to your firm or company,” she says.

Women especially need to spearhead their own careers, because in her experience big law firms, along with the specialties of private equity and oil and gas, are male-dominated industries, which can offer some barriers.

One barrier in big law firms is what she terms “compassionate discrimination,” which manifests itself like, “I know Sarah is busy so I’m not going to include her on this pitch for new work because she has kids, and I don’t want her to have too much on her plate.” She found that this happened on a number of occasions, including client pitches where the client specifically asked for her. “I felt that men were making decisions about my career, my availability and my workload without even asking me, and this would not have been the case if I were a man.”

Despite this devotion to her career, Sarah seeks a balance with her personal life. As a mother of four children, ages 5 to 15, she spends much of her time participating in their activities or just hanging out with them. One thing she is especially proud of is all the volunteer work they do together. Sarah and her family are active with Generation Serve, an Austin-based family volunteering organization whose goal is to develop kids into community-minded leaders. This past April, they received the Wally Pilcher Family Volunteering Award for their work with the organization. She and her daughters are part of the National Charity League, and they also work directly with Austin Pets Alive.

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Denise Wyllie, Partner, Goldman Sachs

Denise WyllieWhen Denise Wyllie joined the financial services industry, it was even more heavily male-dominated, but she believes progress has been made.

“When I initially joined the sector, there were very few women in leadership positions,” she says, but notes this did not hold her back from achieving her goals.

“As women strive to become more senior, they need to embrace their career and remember they would not be in their current role if they were not good at their job, and they also need to trust the process.” She adds that success in many ways is more an attitude than a skill. “You have to embrace your role with 100 percent energy, passion and commitment – take risks and if they don’t pan out then try something new.”

Wyllie also notes, “You also have to accept that you can’t have it all, all of the time, therefore at points in your career something may have to give – that’s ok but make sure it’s your decision.”

Advancing Her Career by Approaching Challenges Head On

As a “STEM student” before it became a common acronym, Wyllie studied biochemistry at university. While she initially considered a career in the sciences, she decided eventually to pursue a business career. Her first role was as a graduate trainee at the largest brewing company in the UK – the first female ever hired to train as a brewer and production engineer. In this role, she was able to leverage her biochemical degree and received fantastic managerial training, overseeing an all-male team on the brewing production line.

After nearly three years in this role, Wyllie decided she wanted to pursue a new challenge. She scoured the Sunday Times’ career section and was intrigued by an ad for Citibank in London, searching for people with engineering or manufacturing backgrounds to work in their Foreign Exchange & Treasury Division. Wyllie went on to work at Citi in a number of management and project roles across Europe for four years. She ultimately joined Goldman Sachs after she was recruited by a former coworker.

Wyllie spent the majority of the past 24 years in operational roles in commodities, derivatives, and as co-COO of the global Operations Division, with specific responsibility for Europe, India and Asia Pacific. In 2016, she transferred to Hong Kong, where she now serves as head of the Federation for Asia Pacific, operating as the COO for the region. In this role, she supports all of the firm’s business activities across the region, which she calls “massively exciting,” due to daily challenges and curveballs.

However, what she finds most thrilling is the opportunity for Goldman Sachs and the broader finance industry to potentially expand in China in the coming years. “Although it can be frustrating that markets aren’t opening up more quickly, we are on the cusp, and long after I’m retired I’ll look back and see the impact my team and I had to help move the firm forward,” she says.

In fact, building her team is one of the professional achievements Wyllie is most proud of – along with becoming one of Goldman Sachs’ female partners.

She notes that observing the number of people she’s hired and mentored, who have grown from analyst to Managing Director and even Partner, is extremely rewarding. “When I see my team flourish personally and professionally, it is very gratifying to think that I may have had a bit of an impact on them along the way.”

Balancing Outside Interests: 72 Countries & Counting

Wyllie is proud to be involved with Goldman Sachs’ affinity networks, including those serving women, military members and the LGBT community. She also is currently working with colleagues in London on “Music in Mind,” a charity that uses music to help promote wellbeing in people with Alzheimer’s as well as provide support for family members taking care of those with the disease. She has also worked closely with Opportunity International, which provides small loans predominantly to entrepreneurs in Africa, with the aim of pulling them out of poverty.

Wyllie is a firm believer in the importance of taking every vacation day you’re given to maintain both mental and physical health, as it will allow you to enjoy your job more as well as give you sustainability and longevity to your career. “As much as we love our careers, we all need a break!” She encourages others to “take advantage of down time to reflect on your career and your business. Often, it’s only when you have some time off that you really have ‘space’ to think.”

She also loves to travel, having visited an impressive 72 countries. Her favorite sojourns include going on safari – either Africa or India – to see wildlife. She also visits the UK frequently to see friends and family, and she stays active by going to the gym regularly and loves weight lifting as well as skiing, scuba diving and horse riding.

By Cathie Ericson

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Voice of Experience: Diane Gabriel, Wells Fargo Advisors

Diane Gabriel“Say yes,” recommends Wells Fargo Advisors’ Diane Gabriel.

“There will be lots of risks and challenges, but embracing them brings opportunities and rewards.”

She finds that women tend to be more risk adverse and turn down opportunities because they don’t think they’re ready for them, but that can be counterproductive. “If you turn something down, you might not get the chance again.”

In fact, one of her favorite sayings is “Leap, and the net will appear.”

Words she lives by herself, based on her career trajectory.

Succeeding as a Woman in a Man’s World

Gabriel launched her career in 1982 – a time when only 10 percent of advisors were female – as a 21-year-old only female advisor at a branch full of men. Having grown up with older brothers and a supportive family, she was undaunted by the male-dominated, competitive environment, and in fact, thrived.

She became the company’s youngest officer at age 25 and then was asked to open a branch at 26. They sold the branch to a predecessor firm to her current organization, and she continued as a producing branch manager. Based on her success, she was tapped to help launch the firm’s independent broker-dealer. From there, she managed the online brokerage channel, and their phone-based advisor teams.

Seeing the Opportunities in the Next Generation

In 2017 Gabriel was asked to lead Wells Fargo Advisors’ Next Generation Talent Program, overseeing four financial advisor programs and one branch manager leadership program.

Being part of this groundbreaking effort is the professional achievement she is most proud of so far, parlaying her passion into having a hand in attracting almost 1,000 talented financial advisors to the brokerage industry.

“Leading our efforts across the Next Gen advisor and manager programs means ensuring that we are truly changing the face of the financial advisor workforce and ensuring its diversity,” she says. She is proud that today the program is about 40 percent “diverse,” not only in ethnicity and gender, but encompassing different ages, abilities and experiences.

The reason the program has been able to attract such a diverse group is because it takes an industry standard – a variable based compensation model — and modifies it to allow for a longer runway with salary and bonus-based compensation, while advisors learn about the industry. That, combined with the program philosophy of teaming and mentoring, has resulted in an overwhelming 82 percent retention rate.

“Because we eliminated the sink-or-swim mentality the industry embraced for so many years, our program is encouraging a wider swath of those who can bring a myriad of advice and viewpoints to clients,” Gabriel says. “It also allows us to address client needs too; for example, it will allow our team to nurture the next generation of clients, as surveys have found that an overwhelming number of children of existing clients prefer a financial advisor closer to their age.”

It also allows the transfer of clients from seasoned advisors whose book of business has grown too large to adequately service them to a newer advisor with more capacity for developing the relationships needed for ongoing success.

In addition, the firm continues to expand its use of technology. “It enhances how we interact with clients and specifically attracts that younger generation who wants to work with us in a different way.” And by bringing in younger advisors, the firm have the chance to reverse-mentor the more mature advisors and help them embrace this technology too, she notes.

Attracting younger advisors is a key goal of the program, and Gabriel says outreach to the next generation must start early. She has recently started the Community Champion program as a new means to create and maintain a pipeline of talented and diverse prospects for the Next Generation Talent roles. This program encourages financial advisors and leaders to engage with diverse organizations in their communities in an effort to educate diverse job seekers about Next Gen talent opportunities.

Although the industry has changed, it is still largely male-dominated, and women who are going to succeed have to be ready to stand shoulder to shoulder in an environment of men. However, Gabriel adds, “Studies show that the majority of women have said they would prefer to work with a female advisor so gender could be advantageous in this instance.”

Gabriel recommends finding mentors of both genders, identifying professionals you admire, creating your own “board of advisors” and then spending time with them to help build the qualities and standards you want to emulate.

Additional Programs Focused on Women’s Needs

In adding to the Next Generation Talent efforts, Gabriel has been active with Wells Fargo Advisor’s multiple programs designed to reach women. Eleven years ago, she started and has since served as co-chair of the National Women’s Summit, where between 300 and 500 top female financial advisors and managers from around the country are invited for personal and professional development. It’s a breath of fresh air for many of the women who are the only females in their office, yet male “allies” are also invited to the event.

She also helps to spearhead the firm’s Best Practice Forum where its leaders visit 10 -12 markets annually for all-day events for local advisors and managers, along with clients and prospects, that feature meaningful presentations and provides other networking opportunities.

Another program is the Women’s Business Exchange, which consists of monthly phone calls in which female team members share about a variety of topics and best practices.

And finally, Gabriel is also involved in the Women’s Team Member Network, which features speakers from across Wells Fargo’s enterprise and also includes mentoring and community service activities.

Outside of work, Gabriel continues to share her passion for the industry by acting as an executive sponsor of a program at Harris-Stowe State University, a historically black college in St. Louis with mostly first-generation students who may not have had exposure to job searching and interview skills. “I help students with everything from formatting a resume to cultivating a firm handshake,” she says. “If we want a more diverse and younger generation to join the industry, we have to help them be prepared.”

A passionate animal lover, she also spends time at shelters helping get pets ready for adoption.

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