Tiffany Fleming: Vice President, Client Onboarding & Trading Documentation, PGIM Fixed Income

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Tiffany Fleming“As leaders, we have to be willing to hear some difficult things and have better self-awareness, which isn’t always easy,” says Tiffany Fleming. “If we do, we can become better leaders by being open-minded to making changes based on what people are telling us. This has enabled me to take pride in the leader that I’ve become.”

Following in Her Mother’s Footsteps

Prudential runs in Fleming’s family. Growing up, Fleming’s mother worked for Prudential while raising three children as a single mom. Fleming dreamed to follow in her mother’s footsteps but wanted to pave her own way by earning a job based on her own merit.

At a career fair at 16-years old, Fleming omitted her mother’s name from her Prudential application and accepted a position in Human Resources as part of a co-op program where she worked after school. Looking back, Fleming smiles when remembering her mother’s excitement, which turned to frustration, when she found out she would not be receiving the employee referral benefits.

After graduating from college and holding various positions within Human Resources, Fleming accepted a full-time position with the Prudential Mutual Fund Investment Management department (now PGIM Fixed Income), after she became the first person in her family to graduate from college.

From Self-Criticism to Self-Encouragement

“Throughout my 33-year tenure at Prudential, I’ve held different roles that have helped me identify my strengths and areas of improvement,” she says. “We all have areas that we feel comfortable and confident in – where we’re on our A game – as well as those areas where we’re not.”

Stepping into those areas has been tricky. Especially once Fleming was asked to take on a new role, with a new manager, after working for the same one for most of her career. In this role, she was given the opportunity to take on a stretch assignment, working with the COO of Fixed Income, doing management fee work, which she thought was totally outside of her wheelhouse.

She went in feeling worried about failing. Months later, when asked if she thought she did a good job, Fleming responded that the assignment didn’t represent her best work. She was asked who told her this, and it was then she realized that the expectations that she placed on herself weren’t always what others expected.

“Even when he told me I did a really good job, I still didn’t feel like I did. However, I must have done a good job because I ended up getting promoted shortly thereafter,” she reflects. “I’ve learned that sometimes the expectations I have for myself are not the expectations others have for me, and I need to embrace that more.”

Fleming admits that sometimes she still puts too much pressure on herself and used to turn to her mom for reassurance and guidance before losing her to breast cancer when she was just 30-years old.

“My mother played a really big role in my life, giving me positive reassurance and building up my confidence. She always acknowledged when I did a good job and that she was proud of me,” she recalls.

Since her mother’s passing, Fleming has worked on reprograming herself to find that voice of self-confidence from within. “When I do find it, it tells me that I can do anything I put my mind to, which is exactly what I always tell my four daughters.”

From Productivity-Focused to People-Focused

As a leader, Fleming is empathetic and encourages the people around her – but it wasn’t always that way. In her early years of leadership, she was so tough that she found out her team nicknamed her, “the warden.”

“When I first started at PGIM, I was very demanding. I was all about getting the work done by all means necessary, and I didn’t think much about the people aspect,” she says. “I had blinders on. I was tunnel-focused on the results I could generate and how much I could do.” It was not until one of her direct reports gave her feedback that they did not feel seen or appreciated that she took the time to reflect, becoming more aware, which ultimately contributed to a change in her management style.

“This feedback made me realize that I was not the type of leader that I wanted to be. It made me realize that you’re only as good as the people that you work with and for,” she says. “I didn’t put the same focus on people as I placed on getting the work done. I wasn’t very aware of how I made other people – the ones I interacted with daily – feel. It takes teamwork, collaboration and partnership – without those things, you can’t get much done.”

The other catalyst in softening her leadership approach was becoming a mother. She notes that even her Myers Briggs personality test results, before and after motherhood, are like night and day.

“Becoming a mom was a life-changing event that required me to step back and really look at myself. It changed how I viewed work, the world and life in general,” she says. “Today, I ask how I can be a better manager, provide opportunities, coach and develop my team. People first. Work, second. When people feel supported by their managers, it tends to increase how fulfilled they are by the work they’re doing.”

Looking back, Fleming’s biggest regret is that she did not realize sooner how important it is to support people – but now it is her passion. When she moved into a new role in 2020, she didn’t realize how much her team enjoyed working with her. In fact, many members of her team mourned her departure – a testament to her growth as a leader.

Champion of Inclusivity

Fleming never appreciated how much being a Black woman in a senior leadership role inspires others. To her, it was where she was always headed.

“Although My mom would encourage me to do a good job and work hard, she didn’t stress that I had to work harder or differently than others to be recognized, rewarded and valued. She taught me to be a good, caring and kind person to get ahead, so, I didn’t have the awareness that I think others did.” Fleming added, “It was much later that I started to realize the subtleties of being a woman – and being a Black woman – and how, in some cases, I would feel excluded, not considered or given the same opportunities as my peers.”

With Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) continuing to increase in importance and visibility, Fleming has made it her mission to lead with a “people-first” mindset that is inclusive of all backgrounds when growing talent. “There are so many areas of diversity that I’m continuing to learn about. My children are teaching me things about diversity that I had not been exposed to,” she says. “I’m so motivated by feeling like I am a part of something bigger than myself, and it’s important that others have the opportunity to share that same feeling – the feeling of being part of the team.”

Currently, Fleming is a member of the Culture Council, in which she was a founder and co-head, a sponsor of PGIM Fixed Income’s Black Professional Alliance affinity group and a member of the Black Executive Leadership team at PGIM Fixed Income. In addition, she is proud to serve as an ally to other affinity groups. “I’m an ally of every walk of life. I enjoy meeting new people, learning about different cultures and forming connections about how much we have in common.”

Stretching Her Comfort Zone – Again

In January 2020, Fleming decided to step out of her comfort zone again. She accepted a role in Client Onboarding after having spent more than 25 years in Operations.

“I kept saying, ‘Why would I do this to myself? I have another eight to ten years before I retire. Why would I take on a new role, possibly not do well and risk my reputation that has taken so long to build?’” she says. “My husband said to me, ‘Why wouldn’t you?’”

It was then she realized that this role, although challenging and outside of her wheelhouse, would enable her to learn and grow. “I can’t be someone who preaches to my kids about how you can do anything if you put your mind to it, work hard and take chances, and that the worst that can happen is it doesn’t work out. How could I not take my own advice?” she says.

So, Fleming took the plunge, taking on a new role right before the pandemic hit. More than three years later, she is still judging herself for being out of her comfort zone: feeling like she always has more to learn and is not performing at her true best. Yet, she is getting the same feedback that she is doing great. She has a supportive manager and is encouraged that her team members admire how easy she makes it look to excel in her role while juggling her husband, three younger children (who are highly involved in high school athletics), grandchildren and her 80-pound super doodle, Oreo, who is the love of her life.

“I’ve realized that others look to me as an inspiration, and I have that influence,” she says. “If they see that they too can be successful as a mom, a wife and a grandmother, it makes me feel good. I am learning not to downplay my capabilities or others.”

Not Counting Herself – Or Others – Out

One of Fleming’s daughters taught her a lesson in not underestimating yourself or others. Recently, at a track meet, Fleming assumed her daughter wouldn’t make it to the finals, although she did not share this with her. After all, she was up against a lot of girls who were much older than her and had faster times –they were stiff competition. However, her daughter defied Fleming’s expectations, and not only made it to the finals, but took home bronze and won a school grant. This taught Fleming that all things are possible with hard work and when you believe in yourself.

“I tell my children not to count themselves out, so how could I?” she reflects. “I need to remember how strong that voice that I dig deep inside of me is – that voice that empowers me to accomplish my goals is the same one I am teaching my daughters to use to accomplish theirs.”

By Aimee Hansen

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Nadiya Kreynin: Chief Executive Officer, Forte DGTL and Chief Operations Office, Forte Group

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Nadiya Kreynin“Some people believe that passion will help you find what you want to do. I don’t really believe in that,” says Nadiya Kreynin. “I believe that you have to know what you want. Knowing what you want and doing something actionable towards it will bring the passion.”

Leading on New Business Development

Moving to the U.S. when she was 20, Kreynin neither anticipated to end up staying in the country nor to end up running multiple businesses in technology. Having completed her undergraduate study in Ukraine, she came to the U.S and by chance started working in the IT industry. By immersing herself in the IT industry and interacting with professionals, she became fascinated with technology and soon found herself at Northwestern University studying for a master’s degree.

For years, Kreynin has run operations for Forte Group, having previously headed up recruitment and talent. Forte Group is a privately owned and globally operated custom software development company with 900 people. Kreynin and her husband are founders and majority shareholders. In the fourth quarter of 2022, they hired an executive team to run and scale it up further. This transition has allowed Kreynin to nurture and grow another new venture that initially rapidly blossomed during the pandemic.

Forte DGTL, formally launched in 2022, is a female-owned and 120-person strong Salesforce Commerce implementations company for global clients and partners. As the CEO, Kreynin is leading the charge, accelerating its growth to new heights. In fact, Forte DGTL was the first to help clients take B2B commerce to live status on the new Salesforce Lightning Platform. Forte DGTL holds the most B2B Salesforce Commerce implementations- ahead of giants such as Accenture.

This year, Kreynin will also be launching a Salesforce based Applicant Tracking product company, providing a shared platform for managers and recruiters.

To say that Kreynin is a force of nature is an understatement.

Finding People Who Make A Difference

Kreynin is always meeting fascinating people. In her twenties, she thought that she could conquer the world. In her thirties, she really began asking, what really makes a difference in creating impact? And when she looked around, she found that in the technology industry, as with most, it was about the people.

“I realized that my goal is to make sure that I’m in touch with the people who make a real difference in this industry,” she says. “Through my life, I’ve encountered people who wanted to achieve something and they stayed steady in that. They were able to change industries and change professions and succeed.”

Kreynin looks for people who are grounded in a strong values system and looking out for others. It’s a touchstone of integrity that one can return to, no matter what is going on. When faced with challenges, such as the war in Ukraine, having core individual and collective resilience and perseverance matters and makes a difference.

“It’s about how many times you stand up and make things happen for the better. It’s not about how many times you’re being pushed or how many times something challenging is happening,” she says. “This world for the past three years has my husband and I asking, ‘what next?’ We went through Covid in the services industry and we actually grew in the process. We are going through the war in Ukraine, and we are helping hundreds of people to find a new profession and support multiple charities.

Kreynin emphasizes, “No matter what comes, resilience, perseverance, and grit are the most important. No matter what is thrown at me, I will deal with this challenge and see what’s next. A lot of people find excuses not to be present and do what’s needed. These three qualities are what made me successful and are ones that I also look for.”

Growing up in Ukraine helped cement these qualities in Kreynin early on in her life. For example, at seventeen years old, she was faced with difficult tasks and had to raise NGO funds. She turned these into learning opportunities and along the way, they reinforced her grit.

“Going through those mission impossible challenges early on helps quite a bit,” says Kreynin. “I often encourage people and tell them ‘don’t find the reason to say no. Find the reason why it’s a yes; why it’s possible.’ At the end of the day, if you want this goal, how do you make it happen throughout all of the challenges you will have? Because challenges are inevitable.”

Know What You Want and Let Passion Follow

Kreynin hated learning English as a child in the Ukraine, but she came to realize that learning it was not about liking to learn English. She needed to learn English to be successful, so knowing what she wanted brought the passion to devote herself. She even wrote prize-winning work for the National Science Academy.

“Some people believe that you have to be passionate about what you do. I don’t believe in that,” says Kreynin. “I believe that you have to know what you want. Knowing what you want and doing something actionable towards it will bring the passion.”

Recently, Kreynin wanted to hire a marketing team but realized she did not have the context against which to gauge candidates’ responses. She took a data analytics and marketing course at the University of Chicago so she could be more enabled to find the right candidate and skills that match her company’s needs. She recommends that expanding the knowledge base and diversifying the ability to work across broad teams are two important traits of leaders. While she may not have planned going to school to help her build her marketing team, she did it because she needs to grow her knowledge base and gain other perspectives.

“It’s a must to keep growing if you’re a leader, or otherwise you will always have blind spots,” she says.

Kreynin also encourages women not to be afraid to start things. We can spend too much time overthinking and over-consulting others. Create the plan and find a way to move a step forward towards what you want and then let that momentum bring the passion with it.

“I don’t have all good days. Sometimes, I have bad ideas where I think that I want to quit all of this,” she admits. “But it’s the desire to achieve something bigger, and knowing it is something that I want and where I can make a big impact on people. Going through the bad days with that thought in mind helps me moving forward.”

Standing Her Ground In Every Room

“I can be one woman in a room of investment bankers. It may even be a half hour before I notice there’s not many other women,” she says. “It’s never been an issue for me to hold myself within the room. I suspect dealing with software engineers for most of my career supports that.”

Kreynin advises that having the perspective that you are going to meet many amazing people in the world is important. Some will be fascinated with you and what you can do. Some will be less interested and underestimate you. What matters most is being okay with yourself as you go through each of those kinds of experiences and learning from them.

“Going through that experience of being the only woman in the room — just walking in and doing it multiple times; having the experience is going to help,” encourages Kreynin. “The fact that you don’t do that or don’t have the opportunity to do that – that you don’t walk in that room and own your place – is what will hinder you.”

In her early days, she recalls holding her tongue in meetings where she didn’t agree with senior leaders. She rationalized that they probably knew better, but several times it turned out that that was not the case. Her perspective would have served the discussion and decision-making well. She recommends not censoring yourself when you have a dissenting opinion. Don’t be afraid to speak up.

“When you question yourself too much, you hold yourself back,” she says. “If you have a thought on how to approach something, you should speak up, because you may end up as the senior person or the person with the most helpful perspective in the room, no matter your age.”

Kreynin notes that being a woman in tech brings its own challenges and benefits: “People tend to make assumptions, and I think those assumptions usually work to my advantage,” she smiles. “Because when they begin to work for me, they are quickly surprised and realize they have to be much better.”

She has found that regardless of her position, some people do tend to underestimate how much she knows, only to be called to attention when the opposite proves true – but that also encourages people to play at the top of their game and to check their own biases.

The Value of Honesty and Directness

Kreynin would consider herself a good judge of character with a sharp ability to read the dynamics of a room. Being in the industry has given her unique insights into the challenges and pitfalls, as well as the qualities that are required to thrive in different roles in technology. In a meeting room, you can expect directness. She manages her teams by providing clear and transparent expectations and support. She feels that it’s critical to surround yourself with people who are open, humble, and can truly support one another through transparent discussions. So when it comes to manager relationships, the ability to be frank, honest, and transparent is important to her.

“If you are not able to talk openly to someone who is your subordinate, and they are not able to tell you what they truly think, because there is fear or intimidation in the manager-employee relationship, then there are a lot of things that you cannot solve at the table,” she says. “That block will create a lot of challenges.”

Selling and Recruiting and Selling Yourself

“I think everyone always sells and everyone always recruits – ensuring our clients are successful each and every day. Those are two jobs in services industries, no matter what your title is,” quips Kreynin. “Our new CEO is selling and recruiting. Our new CFO is selling and recruiting. Everyone in the service industry should be doing that job aside from everything else. Because every time you talk to someone in the industry or not, you’re talking about your company and what you’re doing in the service of the client success.”

When interviewing people for senior positions in her company, she has developed a keen ability to observe how people sell themselves and listen between the lines.

“I like to hear stories from people. So when I hear a story once, I look for consistency. Can they tell the story consistently? I am also listening for holes and areas where I need to dig deeper. I also listen for if they talk badly about employers, as I strongly suspect that if they talk badly about someone else, they will talk the same way about this organization if we were to part ways,” says Kreynin. “I listen for if they talk about themselves from the standpoint of ‘I built it’ or are they talking about being the one to drive a team of people who, together, built it. We know it takes a village to create something better and bigger.”

Making Real Impact in Ukraine

Kreynin is proud to have built different businesses and to be working as a support system for others. She also is highly motivated towards supporting causes in Ukraine, where she has family in Kyiv and the Western Ukraine regions.

One such cause is Friends of Ukraine, a charity that funds the training of Ukrainian men and women to undertake vital de-mining work within Ukraine while also giving them paid work so they can live through the uphill battle that the nation currently faces. Another cause has been helping people in and displaced from Ukraine to reskill in Information Technology so they can earn remote income and continue building their lives. Through the Forte Group educational platform, Kreynin decided they could teach ‘quality assurance’ as a viable skillset. Within two days, they received 2,000 applicants to the program. The company even hired some of the trainees.

“If you’re helping people to change professions or gain new marketable skills, you can make a long-term impact.”

Kreynin and her husband also support LeoDoc Foundation for Doctors Online in Ukraine. Before the war started, they invested in an online telehealth platform (Doctors Online) for people in Eastern Europe. Since the war began, they have supported a fund that helps this platform providing free medical consultations to the Ukrainian people who otherwise have no access to medical help. Talking about impact, Kreynin and her family are certainly making a difference.

Kreynin cherishes spending time with her two children, aged six and ten. Additionally, she finds solace and peace in nurturing living things and has established a serene morning ritual of tending to her garden while savoring a cup of coffee.

By Aimee Hansen

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Alexandra Tyler: Managing Director, Digital Transformation Leader, Accenture Song

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Alexandra TylerRemoving my protective wall around my identity has enabled me to create deeper connections in my work and in building more meaningful relationships with my family and with my colleagues and clients,” says Alexandra Tyler. “The protective wall goes down, and it impacts everything, including being a better leader.”

Curiosity and Customer-Focused Growth

Curiosity has driven Tyler’s career. She’s come across specific job positions by asking questions. “I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been able to pave my way in making my own adventure, essentially through conversations with people about open positions they had that weren’t quite right,” she reflects, “and in which we often crafted a new position that matched the needs of the business with my expertise and interests.”

Having studied psychology, she began her career in advertising, where she learned to appreciate the power of understanding what customers want and need.

“If you understand what customers want and need at every stage of their journey and are able to fulfill those needs and desired successes, you can enable growth,” she says. “What do those customers want to achieve and how do you develop the roadmap and path to get there? That is the opportunity. That’s why I’m excited about Gen AI and other innovative capabilities to unlock and enable more insights to meet customer needs.”

Being Focused on People’s Motivations

Growing up as a daughter of first-generation immigrants and raised by a father with a disability, Tyler understood the importance of two important lessons that he imparted: in order to succeed, one must persevere and exhibit true grit. In addition, one must celebrate differences in others.

“I feel strongly about focusing on doing right by others. Ambition goes awry if you don’t have respect for individuals, and if you don’t think about what motivates them,” she notes. “I want to understand what’s important to the people with whom I work. I focus on treating individuals how I would want to be treated – including respecting their differences, talents and expertise.”

In addition to treating her colleagues and team members with mutual respect, Tyler learned the importance of inspiring them to pair their great ideas with great follow-through: “I often see people who are incredible ‘ideators’ – who come up with innovative and breakthrough ideas – but they struggle with execution,” she observes. “The devil is in the details when it comes to lighting up an idea. It takes focus, management and collaboration.”

Freeing Herself To Show Up Fully

“It took me a long time to feel comfortable as an authentic leader. Growing up in the world I grew up in, as an LGBTQ+ individual, was challenging,” she notes. Recently at a bank branch, she saw a sticker related to the LGBTQ+ community about celebrating differences. It struck her to imagine the impact that seeing that message would have made early on in her career.

“When I first started my career, I was lying by omission, often doing what LGBTQ+ people do…not using pronouns for your partner. It’s only in the last ten years that I have been comfortable enough to be honest about who I am and to bring my full self to the equation.”

What you feel you cannot say begins to grow heavy and become a burden. Tyler imagines carrying a sixty-pound barbell all those years. “When I put that burden down visually in my head, it was exceptionally freeing,” she says. “When I freed myself of that burden, opportunities in my career opened up.”

For example, at a work town hall, Tyler recently shared her personal journey and the value of bringing her full self to work. She was commended by the head of her division for showing up as her true self and was applauded for doing so, exhibiting the traits of leadership that Accenture values.

“I cannot tell you how much positive feedback I received just for being true to who I am and being vocal about it,” says Tyler. “Leaders at Accenture have been phenomenal in recognizing the power in whatever differences you bring to work and the ability to bring your full self.” And sharing her experiences of exclusion has built bridges of empathy with others who have faced challenges. LGBTQIA+ peers have approached her inspired by her authenticity and, in turn, let down their own protective walls.

Advocating and Inspiring Others

“Freeing myself up to be myself empowered me to be an advocate for others. It is important for me to pay it forward by being an advocate in my community.”

Tyler is on the Board of Be The Rainbow, an LGBTQIA+ nonprofit organization in her Long Island hometown. On their third Pride March, Tyler is excited to be opening minds and hearts to create a greater platform of equity in which all can have a voice.

In her training and at work, Tyler’s approach is comprised of experimentation and optimization. She often tests the waters, dips her toe in, tries out different messages and approaches. What she found when she ‘came out’ is that the response was much more positive than she had anticipated. She encourages others to consider who they can safely share with – a person, a group – in order to build that positivity. Tyler acknowledges that the experience of speaking one’s truth, no matter the reaction, is alone invigorating and empowering.

The Intersection of Identity and Innovation

Tyler admires that her daughter’s generation wields identity and labels quite differently. “Labels are fluid and I know that my daughter and her friends are comfortable at the same time with no labels or multiple ones: Imagine what you could do if you were not carrying the burden of the sixty-pound barbell, or invisible burden, every day?”

At Accenture, Tyler is fascinated by the intersection of innovation and identity – particularly how removing obstacles around identity frees you up to create and innovate. She considers cryptanalyst Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film The Imitation Game) who developed the ability to decode messages and the predecessor to the computer, and who was also tortured for being homosexual.

“I think about what more amazing things he could have done. He was such an innovator, even with the constraints of conversion therapy and being tortured,” she notes. “What aperture could have opened if individuals like Turing could have been safe to express their identity freely? I’m interested in that tension for any minority who is held back because of societal constraints or one they put on themselves. I’m fascinated by the intersection of how innovative you are as a thinker and the ability to free yourself up to feel comfortable to think differently.”

Why Failure Is Growth

Early on in her career, Tyler worked on developing and launching a new product that consolidated all utility bills into one billing statement. For various reasons, after two years of pretests and pilots, the project failed to launch. But her functional leader was an innovator who believed in failing often and failing fast. Instead of berating the team, he applauded the risks and innovation and threw the team a “failure party” and handed out awards. The team received their best performance reviews that year.

“I learned the importance of reinforcing that failure can actually spur innovation,” says Tyler. “I was very lucky to find leaders that encouraged failing. I know that it may sound trite but, to me, the age-old notion that failure begets growth is very true.”

As a result, Tyler encourages her teams to take calculated risks and experiment: “It’s okay to fail because you learn and those learnings bring you closer to success. Because you WILL eventually succeed. Perfection at the sake of innovation is failure in itself. You must try and also not be afraid to be curious, and that effort and curiosity are successes in themselves. ”

Tyler has two daughters, 15 and 18, a freshman in high school and college, respectively. Her wife, Beth, is a special education teacher in Queens. Recently, her oldest daughter “failed” to get into her first college choice. After the initial disappointment, she applied to an array of different schools that she would otherwise not have considered. She now feels “at home” at UNC Chapel Hill where she is thriving – an example of how failure can lead to the growth you didn’t see coming.

To be surrounded by her family and watch them grow are her greatest successes, and Tyler now embraces sharing those successes with others.

By Aimee Hansen

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Graciella Dominguez: Vice President of Investment Operations, Operations and Innovations, PGIM

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Graciella Dominguez“Lean into all experiences, professionally and personally,” says Graciella Dominguez. “Find the opportunity to grow from everything you experience, channel those lessons, and then use them to do good.”

From Numbers to Relationships

Dominguez was drawn to accounting due to her love of numbers – concepts like credits and debits that felt concrete and measurable. She began working for Ernst & Young while in college, and then joined Prudential a year after graduating. After switching to a smaller firm for a few years to try out auditing, she returned to PGIM, Prudential’s global asset management firm, where she has been for 23 years.

“That brief experience in auditing really challenged me and gave me a lot of confidence in going to different places, interacting with different people and tracking with different levels,” she says. “It was pivotal for my career, but it wasn’t for me long-term, so I brought what I learned back to PGIM.”

PGIM has grown tremendously during her career, and so has she. Although Dominguez went into accounting because of a love for numbers, her work focused just as much on supporting people as she stepped into leadership.

“You really have to push yourself in areas of unexpected growth. When I started as an accountant, I didn’t realize that interacting with people and building relationships was going to be more central to my experience,” she says. “I have been able to grow my relationships, and they are so important – and rewarding – in accomplishing greater things.”

Facing the Toughest Experiences as a Mother

“What has been most pivotal in my career, and truly in my life, was when I became a mom,” says Dominguez. When it comes to the challenge of dividing your energies between work and home as a working mother, nobody understands what that means more than she does. She lost her 11 year-old son, Alexander, five years ago. Throughout her son’s life journey, Dominguez worked, mostly full-time. One of her key motivators was providing for her son and his needs.

“I think we as women have to lean into all of our experiences. For me, that included leaning into being a mom of a child with special needs. It shaped me both as a person and as a professional,” she says. “I learned from his great strength, determination and courage in his short life.”

Alexander was born medically fragile, immunocompromised, hearing impaired, legally blind and ultimately unable to walk. While parenting a child with several medical needs, Dominguez had to find her voice in advocating for what was important when it mattered most.

“Being a mom to a child with so many medical complexities gave me the confidence to speak up and say, ‘No, I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree with how you’re going to treat my son,’” she says. “And that same confidence to speak up for what I believe crossed over into my work.”

Her motherhood has also inspired her to be a more empathetic leader. “As a leader, I’m more compassionate now,” she says. “Because I understand that people have so much more going on than you see at work. You don’t know the challenges people are facing day in and day out. Everybody has a story.”

She continues, “But at the same time I also expect a lot from people, because I saw my son, who was completely disabled, and his friends who faced the same conditions, show up for school every day with a smile and ready to work. That inspired me and really shaped me. Witnessing that has given me the courage to face anything. That is how I honor his legacy to make him proud.”

Dominguez describes her son as a social butterfly with a sparkling personality and smile that shone through no matter what challenges life threw at him. Knowing him has pushed her to get out of her comfort zone – as an introverted person – and show up more with her own voice to share her story and her son’s legacy.

“I hope sharing my story can inspire people to learn how both amazing and fragile life is,” she reflects. “We all have these gifts and abilities to do good things, so never take that for granted.”

Working with Integrity as a Core Value

Being detail- and research-oriented has supported Dominguez throughout her career, as well as her principle of doing due diligence for the work and her clients. Integrity is the most important value to her – being who you are, being true to yourself and leaning into your experiences.

As such, Dominguez is inspired by leaders who show openness and truly embody their words and what they stand for. “I admire the leaders who truly act and behave from who they say they are and who show up as their authentic selves,” she says. “I respect integrity.”

When approaching any challenge, Dominguez emphasizes process – taking the necessary extra steps and knowing the why behind every decision you make. This comes to the forefront especially when bringing junior members on board – helping them learn processes in a way that helps them appreciate each step and helping them question each decision. She aims to always rise to the challenge to do the best, most complete job for the task at hand.

Using Her Voice as a Latina Woman

As the daughter of Cuban immigrants, Dominguez prizes hard work. “My family came to this country seeking freedom, and that’s not lost on me. My family left everything and sacrificed so much. Their experience instilled in me a strong work ethic,” she says. “My grandparents and my parents (who immigrated as adolescents) understood the importance of education and hard work to succeed amidst challenges, and that drives me. I want to honor their legacy, and my son’s, with how I show up in my own life.”

Dominguez appreciates working in a culture that also values high integrity and high standards, and emphasizes diversity and inclusion. She is also co-founder of the PGIM Operations & Innovation Latinx Networking group.

“Representation is really important to me as a Latina woman. Earlier in my career I used to observe women in more senior positions. I love working for a company that really values diversity of backgrounds and perspectives, and puts so much effort into their initiatives for diversity and inclusion,” she says. “It’s really important to me to use my voice and honor all the women who paved the way for me. I am also trying to pave the way for other women. I don’t take that responsibility lightly.”

For those beginning to make their mark in the professional world, whom she also learns from, she advises, “Be yourself. Hard work and integrity pay off at the end of the day. Be yourself and be open to possibilities.”

Reflecting back she says, “I wish I would have been kinder to myself as a young mom. Challenges can look so big sometimes, but you will climb them and be successful, and it’s going to be OK.”

Kindness, More Kindness, and Service

“The more I go through life, the more I realize we do not know what challenges people have every day,” reiterates Dominguez. “So above all, we need to practice kindness towards ourselves and others.”

Classically trained in piano, Dominguez has also returned to playing piano since leaving it behind in her early 20s. She is remembering how to read music again and starting out first with greatest hits.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Dominguez is passionate about volunteerism and giving back to the community. She is on the finance council and works with children at her church. In honor of Alexander’s birthday each year, Dominguez and her husband collect and donate books to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, the local hospital where their son spent so much of his time.

By Aimee Hansen

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Fabiola Gutierrez-Orozco: R&D Director, Global Nutrition Science, Reckitt

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Fabiola Gutierrez-Orozco“Learning is my passion. The roles I have held in industry have allowed me to do my job and learn at the same time,” says Fabiola Gutierrez-Orozco. “And it is not the same thing every day.”

Gutierrez-Orozco speaks candidly about the challenges she has overcome since leaving home at 13 to pursue her education, and the inner growth journey she is pursuing while stepping into a senior global leadership role in STEM. Coming from San Luis Potosi in Central Mexico to the U.S. to obtain a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition, Gutierrez-Orozco was drawn to nutrition science, gut health and the microbiome. One year before obtaining her PhD, she realized she didn’t want a career in academia. Upon graduation, she joined the business world, working in pediatric nutrition, which allowed her to stretch her scientific research foundation into applied nutrition and allowed her to continue to constantly learn.

Perspective and resilience have carried her to where she is today: “Earning my Master’s and Doctoral degrees wasn’t an easy road – coming from Mexico, moving to the U.S., being the first one in many generations in my family to earn a college degree, and then go onto graduate school,” she notes.

“It has been both resilience and the desire to do better not just for myself, but for my family. Initially, the reason I came to the U.S. was to improve my education so I could access better jobs and provide financial help to my family,” she shares.

Indeed, so many factors at a cultural level in Gutierrez-Orozco’s life have challenged her to create mental and emotional resilience. At 13 years old, she had to leave her parent’s house and her hometown in rural Mexico and rent an apartment in a nearby city to be able to attend high school. She then moved farther away for college before moving countries and coming to the U.S. for her Master and PhD degrees.

Cultural Challenges Beyond Her Peers

Incredibly, Gutierrez-Orozco took on a STEM graduate education whilst learning to express herself in English. “I didn’t speak English when I first came here in 2006. I had all the grammar in my head. I could write and read and understand what people said. But, while in class, if the professor asked me a question, I had the answer in my head. I just couldn’t say it.”

She also had to unlearn the need to hide that she was gay. “I had a relationship in Mexico that was in the closet because my family was raised strictly Catholic. So coming here, and trying to find my way out of that was another big change for me.”

While in grad school, Gutierrez-Orozco also perceived that she was not as primed for success as her student peers. “Honestly, growing up in public schools in Mexico, I don’t think I received the best education compared to other people in the same graduate program as me. I always felt a little behind and tried to work harder to catch up and do well.”

That same feeling followed her to the workplace, being self-conscious about other’s projections around her accent or when she comes across unfamiliar words at first exposure – “I can always find the meaning through context, but I often feel like I have to be paying extra attention to keep up.” She credits her wife and daughters, English native speakers, for being fluent now.

The Mindset Shift of Leaping To a Big Leadership Role

In April of 2022, Gutierrez-Orozco was promoted to a senior leadership role, managing a 24-person team of scientists, many with PhDs in chemistry, biochemistry or nutrition. While she’s held managerial roles since 2018, Gutierrez-Orozco has focused her growth on transitioning her mindset from that of an individual contributor to that of a global team leader.

“In my previous managerial roles, I still had at least 50% of an individual contributor role. However, in my current role, I don’t know everything anymore. I don’t have the time to read all the science that I want to read,” she says. “So I’m learning to be okay with not knowing everything and finishing my work day without seeing tangible results because so much of what I have to do now is strategic work. Losing that sense of tangible accomplishment has been a struggle.”

She’s also learned to separate her work-style preferences from what is needed to inspire a team: “I have never liked being the center of attention or the object of recognition,” she admits. “I’m really trying to remind myself that just because I don’t feel comfortable being recognized, doesn’t mean my team members don’t need, and obviously deserve, that recognition.”

Confronting Imposter Syndrome with Executive Coaching

Experiencing imposter syndrome led her to seek out help in confidence-
building and owning her worth – despite cultural messaging – through executive coaching.

“Working with Nicki Gilmour on my leadership journey has really helped me reflect on how these thoughts and the belief that ‘I am not enough’ are holding me back from growing, not just in my role but as a person and leader,” she says. “Coaching has also helped me reflect on ways in which I can leverage my background to help others that might have a similar experience. Lastly, coaching has given me the confidence and courage to move forward on my growth journey as a leader. I know I am not going to get it right at first, or all the time, but I am willing to try and learn.”

To dial down the voices of self-doubt, Gutierrez-Orozco also reminds herself why she took this role in the first place: to provide support and guidance at a time when the entire team was experiencing a significant lack of stability and optimism because her company had just gone through a wave of layoffs that impacted many people in her department. Therefore, when she begins to doubt, she can focus on the good she is doing serving her team. She also reminds herself that her work is not about perfection, but is rather about showing up every day and being there for others.

Modeling Authenticity and Vulnerability As a Leader

One way Gutierrez-Orozco has leveraged her background is by being open at work about who she is, where she grew up, and her life with her wife and family. She also shares when she struggles with anxiety and depression. The impact of her authenticity and her vulnerability has given her team members permission to be real, too, and it has strengthened the group overall, allowing them to work closely together more effectively, and therefore deliver on the company objectives.

“Inside my team, I’ve had an impact with people being willing to share what they might be struggling with and being able to express the need for support. Some have shared that it’s been such a change in the past year”, she says. “In the past, if someone was struggling and brought it up, especially a female, management would have thought that person was just being weak or whining. Or if a woman spoke up and shared her mind in a meeting – and this happened to me, too – she may have been portrayed as too emotional. However, when a man did it, it wouldn’t be looked upon that way.”

She continues: “So I feel there’s been more openness to really be who you are at the workplace. And I believe that when people can truly be themselves at work, they are more engaged, satisfied, and effective,” she says, “So that’s an impact I feel I have had in my team.”

Sharing Your Voice and Not Self-Sacrificing

Gutierrez-Orozco is grateful for the mentorship of a previous manager who brought her to Reckitt through a postdoctoral internship, instilled faith in her abilities and encouraged her to share the value of her voice in the room.

“I will never forget what he told me: ‘People are wanting to hear from you. You have so much to share, so make sure you’re speaking up,’” she recalls. “I often remember that phrase and though I don’t like to be the center of attention, I remind myself I should just speak up, anyway.”

Reflecting on her past, Gutierrez-Orozco would challenge her younger self on the notion that in order to advance in her career, she had to sacrifice important parts of her life, like spending four years away from her wife and daughters and driving ten hours in a weekly commute between cities. Now, she realizes that, even then, she had a choice. It’s about retaining perspective on what’s most important.

“In my team, we’re all scientists and we want to get things done and we want them to be perfect, so we give our best and go above and beyond,” she says. “But I always like to remind my team that the job is important, but so are your health and family. While there are times when you may have to work extra hours to meet your objectives, doing so is never sustainable in the long run.”

You Have More Options Than You Think

Gutierrez-Orozco has learned over the years that part of her success also results from choosing and investing time in hobbies that provide stimulation and relaxation. She lives with a family of runners, and she prioritizes time that allows her to participate in that activity with her wife and daughters. In the last two years, she’s also begun woodworking, and she’s already made a few pieces of furniture.

This same mentality of being aware and having choice applies to career paths. Her daughter Toby is graduating from high school this summer and plans to pursue a biochemistry degree in college, and her daughter Sasha will graduate from college next year with a degree in dental hygiene. “It is great to see their love for science. The beauty of science is that there are so many routes you can go,” she says.

Gutierrez-Orozco emphasizes to her own daughters, and to any young women interested in science, “that you don’t have to choose the whole PhD route. If you begin in science, there are so many options you will have on how to apply that, so don’t feel like you must have everything figured out from the start.”

As she’s learned, there is always more than one choice in any situation – if you only free yourself to make it.

By Aimee Hansen 

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Mikaylee O’Connor: Principal, Senior Defined Contribution Strategist, PGIM DC Solutions

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Mikaylee O'Connor “One thing that’s at the core of how I operate is a focus on internal versus external gratification. I tend to go above and beyond for my own satisfaction because I have very high standards for myself,” says Mikaylee O’Connor. “Everyone’s way towards internal gratification is different, but I feel that when you do things for yourself, you exude different energy and attract more of what you want.”

Moving From Her Comfort Zone

Growing up in a small Oregon town, O’Connor was put on the Montessori track with an emphasis on independent thinking and hands-on learning. She then skipped middle school, while being home-schooled and spending her time in the stables, riding horses. She graduated high school at 17 and was off to Portland State University.

As a finance graduate, O’Connor joined a local investment consulting firm, RVK, as an investment analyst. She stayed for almost 13 years, working her way up while advising clients on pensions, 401k plans, and endowment foundations, to eventually becoming Head of Defined Contributions (DC). In 2020, she craved a new challenge.

“When you feel like you’re in your comfort zone, it’s the right time to maybe see about getting outside of that comfort zone. I wanted to do more strategic thinking, be a little more creative and be part of a movement to help the DC industry forward and find better solutions for everyday people,” she says.

In the start of 2021, she joined PGIM as a senior DC strategist and, this past February, she became a principal. O’Connor enjoys the ‘think tank’ atmosphere of her team: “We’re always asking, ‘What is the problem out in the market and how can PGIM and Prudential as a company come together to solve these problems and deliver solutions?’”

Embracing the New Challenge

“In my experience, the consulting world is very much for people who like to be constantly challenged,” she notes. “Every client project provides something new – new content, new research, new ways of presenting materials, or simply, adjusting to different personalities.”

O’Connor finds that everything depends upon how you approach those challenges: getting frustrated or seeing each as an invitation to grow. Receiving the support of mentors and advocates has been critical to rolling with new challenges. As she’s become senior, providing that same support to junior associates has been essential and rewarding.

She’s also learned to stay open to what she doesn’t yet know: “If you’re constantly trying to learn new things, you have to be humble to the fact that you don’t know everything,” she advises. “It’s important to surround yourself with different voices and perspectives so that when you’re trying to solve problems or provide solutions, you have that 360-degree view instead of looking only right in front of you.”

Opening to More Possibilities

O’Connor is known to give an unfiltered view of what she is thinking and play her own part in widening the conversation in any meeting.

“I push us to think differently or to have a different view on what we’re trying to solve. I often bring the end-user to the table,” she reflects. “Let’s put ourselves in the position of the person that’s going to be using this product or solution. How would they go about doing this or that?”

Despite being in a predominantly white male industry, O’Connor had the opportunity to work under a female CEO at RVK and with many female shareholders throughout her career. But when becoming involved in industry organizations, the gender skew became salient. Her approach to being underestimated by male peers was simple: “I would feel compassion for them because, at the end of the day, that’s their own challenge, not mine.”

But mostly, she has leveraged being a unique voice in the room to help her challenge the status quo.

“I’ve always been one to point out that just because we’ve done it this way in the past doesn’t mean we need to do it this way going forward. What are we missing? What should we be thinking about differently?” she says. “Having both that fresh perspective and high conviction about thinking about problems and solutions differently doesn’t always make people feel good. But I like a good debate and being uncomfortable talking about things, because we are only going to grow more through it.”

Adapting For Your Audience and Your Team Members

“Whether it’s your boss, client or a prospect, reading the room and adjusting how you approach the situation and your communication style matters to being effective,” says O’Connor.

Being able to adapt to and apply different ways of learning and communicating has been a powerful component in her ability to meet people where they are and create the momentum that drives results. Equally, sitting on the extrovert-introvert cusp, O’Connor highly values adapting her approach to hearing all voices in the room, including considering the different ways they may need to be heard.

“You have extroverts and introverts. You have people who need more time to think and you have people who can come up with ideas right on the spot in the meeting,” she says. “In order to capture all of the different great ideas, concerns and considerations, you have to consider how to make sure that you’re getting what you need from each of them, and that you make them all feel included.”

Reframing for Confidence

Shifting her mindset to increase her confidence has helped O’Connor to take on bigger roles.

“In the past, despite being overly prepared for a client meeting or discussion, I would still feel nervous,” she recalls. “But one mentor in particular assured me, again and again, that I knew more about the topic than anyone in that room. Over time, it shifted my perspective from being the ‘victim of scary stares and expectations’ to a ‘person with important information to share.’ I shifted to see that I’m going in there as a teacher.”

Now she loves to speak in front of an audience and does so often. Another learning curve has been around the challenge of leadership.

“I can be a perfectionist and always want to do things correctly, but when you’re in charge of people and emotions, that’s a different skillset and a different realm of understanding how to deal with things,” she says. “It takes a lot of listening and stepping back to ask how you can best support each of these individuals. Ultimately, their success is also my success.”

She’s also learned to always ask for feedback and to create an environment where people feel comfortable giving it.

Meanwhile, O’Connor has recently been unlearning multi-tasking as a leader: “I’ve been working on mindfulness and there’s a huge benefit to focusing your attention on one thing at a time. I’m much more active and creative when I get rid of distractions.”

Focusing on Internal Gratification

“By focusing on internal gratification, I’ve naturally been given more opportunities without necessarily focusing on what I have to do to get to the next step or to get promoted, because those are external focuses,” she notes. “By doing what I want to do – to grow and to learn and to do it for myself – I’ve just had those opportunities come to me.”

For years, O’Connor has been doing a self-review after meetings to consider whether she could have done anything better or differently. While it can be exhausting, it helps her grow and creates internal gratification.

“I would encourage women to focus internally and not worry so much about external steps and getting to the next one,” she says, “because then you’re doing the work for someone else instead of yourself.”

Being Human, First

O’Connor appreciates how PGIM Quantitative Solutions CEO Linda Gibson shows strength in her role and humanness in her communications.

“Linda has brought a sense of ‘we’re all just people.’ We’re all trying to do the same thing and nobody needs to be on a pedestal,” she says. “She can talk to you in the office just like anybody. It’s refreshing.”

O’Connor observes that since the pandemic and remote offices, more people are breaking down barriers and hierarchy, while seeing everyone as individuals and not just as employees.

“If we want to bring out the best in ourselves, we also have to show that we’re all humans and we all have things going on,” she says. “We can normalize that. But also, how do we take that change and use it to create a more cohesive and better company? Our relationships can be stronger because I can relate to you on something I didn’t know before.”

Speaking of which, O’Connor finds travel to be good for the soul, and enjoys seeking out AirBnBs and boutique stays with her husband while getting out of their comfort zones and taking in the cultures wherever they are exploring, most recently the Swedish Lapland in the forests of the Arctic circle, with saunas and cold plunges. Iceland is another favorite. Closer to home, she likes scouting out new atmospheric spots for a great meal in New York.

By Aimee Hansen

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Tiara Henderson: Corporate and Investment Banking Head of Women’s Segment and Commercial Real Estate Head of Diverse Segments, Wells Fargo

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“It’s about making connections at a deeper level and not just transactional or at the business level. We really are on this journey together,” says Tiara Henderson. “So many of our new and existing clients are excited to know that there is a group that is solely focused on engaging and retaining diverse-led and diverse-owned firms while delivering the entire spectrum of Wells Fargo products and services.”

Diversifying The Advantage of Financing

As a psychology major at Davidson College, Henderson recalls, “What we learned in liberal arts was to think critically and the rest will fall in place. That skill is of paramount importance in every job or career, no matter the industry.”

During her senior year, Henderson interned for a developer, her doorway into commercial real estate and development, which led to her early career path, which included working for affordable property development (Hope VI) to mixed-income property development to Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS). She joined Wells Fargo ten years ago, originally in the Commercial Mortgage Loan and Securities Finance group which provides credit facilities to non-bank commercial real estate lenders.

Advancing to her current role in August 2021, Henderson wears many hats as both Head of Women’s Segment for Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) and Head of Diverse Segments for Commercial Real Estate (CRE). Her two roles have one mission: identifying, engaging and retaining more diverse bank clients.

“What drew me to this role was the opportunity to create something new while having an impact on women and other diverse owned and led firms. It’s the chance for me to bring them to the table and watch their platforms grow as we surround them with support, resources, and access, and not just access to capital, but access to information, people and ideas.”

She iterates that it’s not only her passion, but a Wells Fargo priority.

“Having the support of the leadership at Wells Fargo in the work that we do has been tremendous – necessary, but also tremendous,” says Henderson. “There is a positive spotlight on our group at all times and when people speak of Diverse Segments as an ‘initiative,’ senior leaders will quickly step in and say, ‘no, this is part of the fabric.’”

Building Relationships with Diverse Owners

Henderson spends her days finding and engaging with new clients, deepening relationships with existing clients and re-engaging previous clients – including outreach through panels, conferences and events. Her group, (led by Danielle Squires – Head of Diverse Segments, CIB) is set up to foster close collaboration with her banking and markets diverse segments partners to meet the multi-functional needs of a given customer. She says her people-oriented personality is core: really listening to what clients are looking for and what their needs are and making the right introductions for them.

“Because of our differentiated approach to client management, we are able to engage and have an immediate connection with clients,” she says.

Henderson’s team creates events that bring in a wide array of clients from smaller and larger diverse-owned firms. While she loves to golf, for example, some of her clients might not be drawn to such a traditional networking event. So, when her team put on the Women’s Leadership Summer last October, they tailored it to their audience.

“It’s hard to get people out of the office for three days to travel, especially when we’re talking about CEOs and women in the C-Suite,” she said. “We were hoping to get 50 or 60 people, but we had 90 women enrolled, because this was an event created and curated for women, and it resonated.”

She adds the biggest feedback she received from the women’s leadership conference was it should be longer and no suits or heels – only yoga clothes allowed. Wells Fargo is no stranger to hosting events that celebrate diversity. For example, Wells Fargo sponsors the Spoleto Festival, and last spring, her clients (some with their families) traveled to Charleston for Memorial Day weekend and the world premiere of the opera, “Omar” – based on the autobiography, translated from Arabic, of West African Muslim scholar, Omar ibn Said, who was enslaved in the Carolinas, after being captured at the age of 37. The opera was composed by Grammy-winning artist, Rhiannon Giddens.

“These events reach our clients on a deeper level and it’s why they are so successful,” says Henderson. “We are connecting in a more meaningful way, and they appreciate and enjoy engaging with Wells Fargo.”

If You See Her, You Can Be Her

Henderson can be trusted to bring candor, connection, and industry knowledge to the table. Being regularly in the room with top senior leaders to witness firsthand how strategies and ideas can be pulled apart has leveled up her own strategic thinking – for example how to engage with women or build up the CRE diverse segments platform.

“Keeping that leadership lens and the lens of ‘who is my audience’ at all times is a skill that I’ve had to sharpen and will continue to hone as we evolve our strategic priorities and throughout the implementation of our strategic plan,” she says.

As a woman of color in the banking industry, Henderson comments, “I’m competitive and I like a good challenge. If someone says ‘it can’t be done,’ well that is probably the best motivator for me.”

Recently, she wrote an internal piece: “If you can see her, you can be her” – highlighting the importance of having diverse leaders who blaze the trail since it encourages others to envision themselves as future leaders too. She notes that it has traditionally been harder to find diverse representation in banking, and cites seeing more diverse representation on the Wells Fargo CIB operating committee (eg. Kara McShane, head of CRE, the largest real estate platform in the country and her own boss, Danielle Squires), as a sign of measurable change.

“That motivates different people to envision a career in banking, because now they see the path to leadership,” says Henderson. “That can change the mosaic of our future leadership.”

But she admits she’s catching up to seeing herself as that person who others will aspire to be: “Many women in leadership roles still don’t give themselves enough credit that we are, indeed, leaders. We feel like we never get ‘there’,” she observes. “The first time someone reached out to ask for time on my calendar, I had to take a step back and realize I have gone through this 25+ year career path and people are interested in connecting with me as a leader. But I also know it’s a two-way street. There is always something we can learn from each other, no matter what your level is within an organization.”

A Personal Board of Directors and Ownership

Through experience, Henderson has observed the leadership traits she seeks to emulate, as well as those she doesn’t. She prefers the calm, confident, strategic thinker as a leadership approach, which she identifies with. One suggestion she received from a mentor was to have a personal board of directors, people who you trust and can consult for advice.

“I want the disruptor. Somebody who is always thinking of the antithesis and they’re not going to give you the answer you want to hear. They’re going to shoot it to you straight and play devil’s advocate. I also want the people who have lots of lived experience and are highly competent, who can provide the guidance that helps you stay grounded in the decisions that you make,” she says. “Also, for me, having a spiritual person is important because that helps you stay centered. Depending on what I’m contemplating, I may also need someone industry specific. Your personal board can help shape goals and strategies.”

Henderson advises her mentees to be their own best advocate and take control of their career, because no one else is going to do that for them. In her view, this has become more important versus 20 years ago in Corporate America, when people-focused middle managers would meet to talk about career paths. Now, she notes, managers tend to be product-specific experts over a product group, but that doesn’t always mean they are experts at managing people.

“I think, because of that, the onus is now on each individual employee to think through their career, their path and trajectory and bring that to their manager, whereas in the past it was more of a team effort,” she observes. “I have had some great managers who I would absolutely invite to my board of directors.”

Networking – Whether It Comes Naturally Or Not

“Networking comes naturally to some people and for others, it doesn’t. The first step is to understand which bucket you’re in,” she advises. “If you are a natural networker, find as many chances as you can to put that to use because it’s only going to be to your benefit. If you are not a good networker, you need to recognize that, number one, and focus on growing that skill.”

She points out various ways to do this for those it doesn’t come naturally to. Perhaps its networking with people in your industry, where you have more confidence. Then, perhaps expand to network with people in banking, covering different industries. But find your niche and focus on growing the skill from there.

Henderson considers herself somewhere in the middle. But she’s learned networking hacks: “If there’s an event that evening, I try to reserve some energy so that I am prepared and charged for the networking that will come into play.”

She also knows that she must be mentally prepared if the networking involves working her way around a room of 500+ people, but she’s noticed an exception to that rule: “What I’ve found is that if I speak on a panel or I’m introduced as a sponsor, I am very comfortable tearing through the room and meeting everyone afterwards,” she notes. “I can take it from there!”

A Personal Board of Supporters

One hard truth that Henderson has learned to accept is that not everyone has a vested interest in your success: “Some people are not going to be a cheerleader,” she says. But focus on the bright spots. Along with a board of directors, you also need a board of supporters and hopefully they are one in the same. Once you have shaped your strategy and goals, you need those people who are going to continue to support you and push you forward.”

As a wife and mother of a 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son, she’s very focused on her children’s school activities and sports. Her daughter is a “retired” competitive gymnast turned tennis player, while her son excels in any sport that ends in the word “ball” and lacrosse. He’s following in his dad’s footsteps. His dad is in the Davidson College Football Hall of Fame and, interestingly enough, also has had a long career in commercial real estate. Henderson loves going to the beach, playing golf, and sharing moments with friends and family.

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Reshma Saujani: Founder and CEO of Moms First

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Reshma Saujani“I realized I’m never going to finish the fight for gender equality for my girls if I don’t finish the fight for their moms. That’s what led me to step down as CEO of Girls Who Code and start Moms First, which I had never intended to do,” says Reshma Saujani. “The reality is that the pandemic played a huge hand in that. But what was happening for women in the pandemic wasn’t going to start and end with the pandemic.”

We interviewed Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, the non-profit organization launched in 2011 with the mission to close the gender gap in tech. For over ten years, she served as CEO, leading to change the face of programming as we know it. At the end of 2020, and spurred by witnessing the impacts of the pandemic on women’s lives, Saujani also became Founder and CEO of Moms First (formerly Marshall Plan for Moms).

Through Moms First, she is leading the campaign to transform our workplaces, our culture and our government to enable moms to thrive. Her fourth book, Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different Than You Think) proposes clear and necessary structural and cultural changes to support women in the workplace, and puts a halt on telling women to change.

Saujani was a recent keynote ‘fireside chat’ speaker for the 2023 Catalyst Awards Conference, the premier gender equity conference for advocates of diversity, equity and inclusion. With the conference themed Accelerating Equity on All Fronts—So Women Thrive, Saujani emphasized the need to drastically change the discussion around women and the workplace. She also iterated key actions that policy makers and organizations need to take, such as family-friendly policies, paid leave, and childcare to support equity, engagement, retention and advancement among women.

Saujani spoke to us about how changing the workplace to work for women – as Catalyst has researched, advocated and reimagined for over 60 years – is really not a women’s problem.

On women in the workplace:

“At the conference, I spoke about the core shifts that need to happen in the workplace to support women in leadership. The idea of supporting women in their roles as mothers is really new for Corporate America. It’s a different conversation than the one we’ve been having, because the conversation we’ve been having is really what I call the ‘big lie of corporate feminism’: that if we just raise our hand, if we lean in a little harder, then we can ‘girlboss’ our way to the top. But that leaves out the fact that two-thirds of the caregiving work is being done by women, and that women come to work already doing two and a half jobs. So this idea of ‘having it all’ is just a euphemism for ‘doing it all.’

We have to stop trying to fix women and fix the system. We need to accept the fact that workplaces have never been built for moms, so let’s redesign them for moms now. In my book, Pay Up, I lay out some strategies that companies can actually do to support working moms.

One, it begins with supporting moms with childcare. Childcare in this country is unaffordable and unavailable. 40% of parents have gone into debt because of the cost of childcare. The reality is that childcare isn’t a personal problem that you or I have to solve. It’s an economic issue. Women cannot work without childcare. So companies, for the first time, really need to step up and start providing childcare benefits – whether that’s a subsidy or back-up care. They have to start providing that support.

The second thing is paid leave. Many companies still don’t have gender-neutral paid leave policy. In a heteronormative relationship, whether a man takes paternity leave has huge consequences for women. The more men, quite frankly, that are taking paid leave, the better for the equity in a family. Right now, the vast majority of men take fewer than ten days off after having a child. So companies need to not only offer gender-neutral paid leave policy but also incentivize or mandate it.

The third thing is the motherhood penalty. The mom bias is contributing to a huge pay gap between mothers and fathers. Studies have shown that men earn 6% more when they become a dad whereas women earn 4% less when they become a mom.”

On her shift from Girls Who Code to Moms First:

“During the pandemic, I had a new ‘pandemic’ baby and I was homeschooling my six-year-old. My entire leadership team were working moms with young children, and we were barely making it. I saw so many of my students had to stay at home and take care of their siblings, instead of going on to major in computer science at college, because their mothers were essential workers. The fact that we had a broken structure of childcare in our country was continuing the generational cycle of poverty.

Moms have really been in crisis for decades – even the fact that the United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn’t have paid family and medical leave. The fact that we’ve never made childcare affordable or available for moms. The fact that we’ve always paid mothers less than we pay fathers for doing the same exact work. If we didn’t actually solve those three things, what’s the point of even telling girls to go to college? What’s the point of even telling them they can be everything or anything when we’re just again perpetuating them in this cycle of oppression and inequality?

So I stepped down from Girls Who Code, and I’ve built Moms First, over the past year and a half, up to a grassroots movement of over half a million moms and supporters. We’re fighting for three things: childcare, paid leave, and equal pay. And it’s not just about a single piece of legislation or a workplace policy or about getting equal pay. It’s all three. They’re all interconnected.”

On the broken narrative of success:

“I think the big lie is essentially that if we only fix women, we can have equality. So again, what we keep telling women is that if you just raised your hand, if you just leaned in harder, if you just ‘girlbossed’ your way to the top… Just think about the whole conversation about equal pay. What we tell women, usually, is you’re just not negotiating well enough.

But that’s going one woman at a time rather than saying the entire structure of how we compensate women is wrong, and we actually have to build an algorithm or audit our pay policies. Those are the structural changes that we have to make instead of telling women, ‘The problem is you. You just didn’t negotiate for yourself.’

Everything around ‘the big lie’ is about making women feel like they’re the problem. They’re not the problem. The structure is the problem. Workplaces are the problem. And, even basic things like workdays are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and school days are 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. We’re just setting women up to fail by having these structures in place that are leading to us, again, never being able to truly succeed. We’re not set up to succeed. We’ve never been set up to succeed.”

On how the future of women and work will be different than we think:

“Why it’s different than you think is that I’m not going to tell you how to fix yourself. I’m not going to tell you, yet again, how to just get a mentor, get a sponsor, or learn how to negotiate.

I’m going to walk you through the history of how workplaces have never been set up for women. And I’m going to give you strategies that are radically different than the strategies that you’ve been given. The vast majority of women that participate in an ERG are not taught how to ask for childcare. They’re not taught how to take your paid leave and not feel guilty about it. They’re taught how to learn another skillset. Get a sponsor. Be more confident.

But when you do those things, and you still feel like you’re barely making it again, you think something is wrong with you. No. Something is actually wrong with the system as it’s been set up.”

On the cultural change necessary to begin to support working moms:

“We do not value what we do not aspire to be. And being a mom, in America, is often times not something so many people aspire to be. Because, too often, motherhood in America is not seen as something that is respected and valued and dignified. Consider even the fact that we have countless school shootings and every day mothers, like me, have to drop off our children at school and not know if we’re going to see them again. That we continue to allow that to happen in this country just shows the lack of value and respect we have for the role of mothers and for our children.

So, to me, that’s cultural. Culturally, we have to become a society that says, we need to support mothers and we need to support children. Well, that means that one in four women should not have to go back to work less than two weeks after having a baby when they’re wearing an adult diaper. That means that we shouldn’t have daycare that’s not safe or that’s not affordable. We shouldn’t have parents piecing it together because, as a society, we want people to have children. Innovation dies in a nation when you have a declining birth rate, and, right now in the United States, we have a declining birth rate.”

On what women can do:

“I think that we have to fight. I think that we need to ask for what we need. I think we need to stop apologizing. I think we need to not think something is wrong with us and instead see the system as broken and demand for it to change. Right now, we’re in the middle of doing a Moms First Challenge. I joke that when we went on godaddy.com to get the URL for Moms First, it was available, because the idea of putting yourself first is very radical.

So, how do you teach that? In the first week of our challenge, we did that by having women write down all of the tasks of unpaid labor that you do. This week, we said to do something for yourself. In my case, I’ve had a horrible stomach virus where I need to be on a pretty extensive set of antibiotics, and I put it off for four years because it was never the right time. This week, I’m doing it. I’m canceling my week if I don’t feel well, and the world will be okay. So many women put off their doctors appointments and the things they need to do for themselves because we don’t live in a society that allows us to put ourselves first. We’ve been conditioned to think that that’s selfish.

Also, statistically, a lot of women will quit rather than saying ‘I can’t get on a call at 6 p.m. because that’s dinner time for my family.’ Or ‘I’m not going to travel three days a week because I have a young child.’ But they would rather quit than say, ‘hey, this is what I need.’”

On the impact she wishes for it all to add up to:

“I want to finish the fight for gender equality. And I will tell you that the most ambitious thing I’ve ever done is Moms First. It is so hard. It’s so hard and a lot of people have tried and have been trying.

But I cannot tell you how much, I believe that this – childcare, pay equity, paid leave – is central to women’s equality. I literally say, ‘why am I even bothering to tell my students to get educated when they’re going to get into the workforce and just get pushed out the minute they choose to become a mother?’

At the same time, getting these changes in place is not rocket science. So, it’s ironic. It’s not climate change, but it is climate change. It’s not as hard to move and shift behavior. It’s a policy change, but it’s so challenging for this country to move along and say, ‘yes, we must do this.’”

On the necessary cultural pivot:

“We’ve been indoctrinated to think that women are the problem or even men are the problem. Men are not even part of this conversation. They’re not the ones standing in the way of us getting our benefits or getting these support mechanisms. It’s a cultural change that we have to make. It’s the shift to seeing that childcare is an economic issue, not a personal issue – that in and of itself. If we started to say that childcare is not a personal problem that we have to solve. It is literally an economic issue that the country has to fix. If you made that one change, it would move mountains in terms of women’s economic freedom.

I think we have to decide, though, are women in the workforce a nice to have or a must-have? Nearly 60% of Americans still believe that one parent should stay at home with a child. So, that’s the cultural impediment that you’re trying to move. I always say a perfect world is where women have the choice to move in and out of the workforce with freedom. But it’s not even possible anymore to live in a one-income household. We’re almost living in the 1950s with that idea, when it was, but it’s not possible anymore.

So, if it’s not possible, knowing that, if we were to create society from scratch today, we would create a very different society. I was talking to a behavioral economist who was saying you would create more options for part-time work that was satisfying and fulfilling that paid well. You would think about this differently.

But it’s almost like we’re refusing to think about this differently. Even with the pandemic and how much society refused to accept remote work. I think something like 66% of employers are now back in the office even though we learned that flexibility was actually good for families. But the resistance towards doing something new is radical. That’s why what I am trying to do right now is so ambitious – because the headwinds against change are so strong in this country. But that has to change.”

To read more from Reshma Saujani, follow her on social media @ReshmaSaujani

Interviewed by Aimee Hansen

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Kelley Conway: Head of Corporate & Digital Strategy, Northern Trust

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Kelley Conway“Part of a leadership vision includes incorporating a learning curve in how you get there. None of us are always right and we’re all going to make mistakes as we go along,” says Kelley Conway. “But the objective is still the right objective. You’ve got to move and learn along the way how to best make it where you want to go.”

The Reward of Impact

With a love for science and math, Conway studied chemical engineering before opting against a PhD and career path that she feels wouldn’t have fit her. Animated by interaction, problem-solving and dynamic impact, she found herself drawn to consultancy in tech strategy. Picking up an MBA, she then moved into digital transformation in financial services.

After twenty years of consulting a wide variety of top-tier clients, Conway was ready to steward her strategic work through to impact, recruited to lead the charge on accelerating digital strategy at Northern Trust in Chicago in January 2021. She appreciated the ability to sit down with Chairman and CEO Michael O’Grady and co-create the vision for her role: “That’s how it ended up a as a corporate and digital strategy role. Because we saw that you can’t really separate those anymore.”

Conway considers the move her best career decision to date and a culmination of everything she’s done so far.

“Nobody can look at their life and say every single day they get up in the morning radiant, right? That’s just a lie,” she half-jokes. “But even if I’m in a funk, I feel better going to work. I can feel the excitement, movement and momentum in leading impact with the talent all around me.”

“Digital For a Purpose”

With her consulting background, Conway has put a framework around the amorphous concept of “digital” to create “digital for a purpose” and drive outcomes. She defines the five layers of digital as the user experience, insight & analytics, the data that serves as the linchpin to everything — the underlying platform including cloud, and the ways of working. The challenge is ensuring all these components work together to drive real outcomes.

Conway says that when Google Maps points out the “world’s biggest potato” when you’re on a road trip, that’s an outcome of AI insight built on massive data collection, making user specific connections to know you might want to see that potato. While we benefit from the end-user experience, most of us don’t understand all the invisible – and extensive – work that has created it.

She is specifically excited about leading the charge on a data modernization program that is “democratizing” data across Northern Trust. By applying a data mesh construct, she is helping make data accessible to end users where it can drive significant business outcomes. Now, more people are also thinking and talking the language of data in effective ways that will transform the business and help to partner with clients on the innovations that matter to them.

“One of the things I have learned during my career is that communicating progress to senior leadership is a key component of this journey, and candidly I’m still working on that,” says Conway. “You have to show people iterative outcomes so they know you’re building a vision that will take us to the future.”

Humility and Passion

Growing up outside of Pittsburgh, Conway’s parents were blue collar workers in the steel mill. She learned the value of hard work, being practical and moving with humility as you put energy behind your vision. One form of humility she learned was maximizing the resources at your disposal while you have them.

“Consider the macro-economic environment we’re living in right now – high inflation and recession. Resources are always limited or going up and down,” notes Conway. “So how can you be practical? How can you actually prioritize to get the most out of the resources?”

Another form of humility is staying surrounded by people that are more knowledgeable than you in their field of expertise.

“I want people around me who know more and can see different things. The amount that I know is a lot less than the amount that I don’t know,” says Conway. “That diversity of thought and knowledge gets us to better solutions.”

Conway is genuinely passionate about tech, and conveys a sincere belief in the power of technology to transform organizations.

“Sometimes leadership requires seeing a path, charting the path and having the confidence to take that path. Sure it might be risky but we’re convinced it will accelerate our progress,” says Conway. “As a leader, my job is to communicate that vision with enthusiasm and authenticity, supported by leadership and an amazing team.”

She’s a big fan of taking measured risks amidst uncertainty of outcome, because the alternative is not learning and not growing: “You may not know if this is going to work, but you can see it’s the best thing you can try. And if you don’t try, you don’t get anything,” notes Conway.

Leveraging Your Difference

When Conway made partner at the consulting firm years ago, a junior woman told her she was an inspiration, which both surprised and emboldened her.

“I’ve now taken that in two directions. One is I recognize the broader responsibility and think about how to help individuals succeed. And secondly, I take advantage of that uniqueness in the room, and that confidence is something that has come with experience and wisdom.”

Conway has three children, 17 and 15 year old sons and a 2 1/2 year old daughter. With a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, her oldest son is 4’6”. She’s always told him that he will not go unnoticed in the world, so he can futilely try to blend into the woodwork or he can leverage the opportunity of his uniqueness to move forward. Early on, she was also the woman in tech in the corner trying to blend in, when that was always impossible. Now, she’s embraced owning her difference to get her message across stronger.

On the note of leaning into your voice, Conway says her little girl has “a will on her like nobody’s business” which she takes pride in: “She’s impossible and stubborn and I refuse to squash that,” says Conway, “because I know exactly what she’s going to face in her life and I want that to be there.”

Her approach to working motherhood has evolved. When her sons were little, she put her career above everything and their dad was highly supportive. At that time, she believed she had to choose family or career. With her little daughter now, her approach has changed.

“I prioritize making time with her more, yet I still have the same passion for my career. I’m still making the change I want. I realized you can actually find balance,” says Conway, who comes into the office early and leaves early. “There are trade-offs, but it’s not that you can either have this or that. I have an incredibly supportive team and I’ve learned to take a much more balanced view of my life.”

Leadership that Inspires and Empowers

“I am very much a believer in leaders who empower their teams versus control their teams. I don’t appreciate command-and-control leaders. That stifles innovation and digital and everything I love,” says Conway. “I’ve had managers who are caring and give you all the room in the world and that helped me.”

Aspiring to lead that way, she also looks for the traits of humility and empowering others in the people she will work with. Conway recalls she had the opportunity to inspire and empower her team.

While there was hesitation around whether they had the talent in place as they set off into data modernization, she could see the potential in the talent already there. So she focused on bringing the team into the vision, animating them in learning and developing team passion around it. She saw her job as removing the roadblocks and then watching as her team moved faster than she had imagined. In general, Conway has many times heard from others that the problem is too complex, but she’s not one to “pack her bags and go home” just because things are difficult and it’s going to take innovative team approaches to navigate the terrain.

Climbing Higher

Conway underlines the importance of agency amidst requests for support: “I’m a big believer that you control your own destiny. People will support you, but you have to also take those opportunities and drive your career. You have an onus to take responsibility for your career as much as the onus on those around you to support you.”

Conway is an avid mountaineer, although she is pausing on that activity until her daughter is a bit older. She’s climbed Mont Blanc, Mount Ararat and Mount Kilimanjaro. She’s ice-climbed in Patagonia and broken 20,000 feet in Nepal, having gone to Everest base camp and Mount Mera. She is eyeing the challenge of Aconcagua in Argentina.

When climbing, she says, “everything shuts off. You’re working towards a goal. Sometimes it’s a slog, but you pick your head up and it’s this amazing spiritual sensation,” she muses. “That’s what rejuvenates me. A career can provide that same experience. Digital modernization can be a long, incremental process, so you have to stop sometimes and appreciate the amazing progress you’ve made.”

By Aimee Hansen

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Geneviève Piché: Head of Sustainable Finance and Advisory, Corporate & Investment Banking, Wells Fargo

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Geneviève Piché - feature“Many people have idea ‘sparks,’ small or large, and too many people squash their sparks. But it’s with those sparks that you can improve organizations and improve yourself,” says Geneviève Piché. “It could be as small as a change in process or as massive as complete transformation. Being able to embrace the spark is the essence of organizational and personal development.”

After studying economics and international studies at Macalester College, Piché joined Wells Fargo. That was 23 years ago. As a French Canadian who briefly lived in Australia growing up and chose a college with an international bend, Piché cultivated a wide world lens. At Wells Fargo, her international passion was flamed as she moved into emerging markets and finance. It’s become critical in her sustainability work, where ethics, global and regional dynamics are inextricably linked.

The diversity of opportunities and organizational culture at WF have supported her to stay inspired and grow. She recently returned from a two-week trip focused on understanding sustainability and energy transition in the Asia-Pacific region.

From “Idea Spark” To New Strategy And Role

“Embrace the sparks because they can catalyze organizational progress and develop careers,” iterates Piché. Back in May of 2020, she experienced an idea spark “that turned into a raging fire.”

Piché was leading the asset management coverage team and many of her clients were changing the way they allocated capital – moving towards ESG integration in the investment process and raising funds for specific thematic objectives – such as green infrastructure or circular economy.

“I could see there was a business need for a financial institution like ours to support those growing flows of capital, but simultaneously there were some interesting socio-economic developments happening,” recalls Piché.

Covid had revealed weaknesses in the supply chains and laid bare the unequal access to healthcare. Social justice themes had been brought to the forefront. Massive fires had been burning in Australia, consuming millions of acres of eucalyptus forest and wild lands, reminding Piché of a childhood experience at a farm where she was tending to the burnt paws of baby koalas who were fleeing or rescued from the fires.

“That was the first time I witnessed the interactions of climate change and biodiversity in my community, and it stuck with me. Now, the effects of climate change are spread way beyond Australia,” she says. “So it was a galvanizing moment for me that occurred at the same time as a call-to-action on the part of Wells Fargo leadership, when many leaders were saying we needed to do something differently and that they were all ears for ideas.”

So with the momentum of her spark and a receptive context, Piché developed a business strategy for Wells Fargo’s Corporate & Investment Banking division (CIB) around sustainable finance within ten days. Next was nurturing that spark.

“Having been at Wells Fargo for so long, I understood how things work intuitively. But for those who may be newer to an organization, knowing who understands the unwritten rules is an important part of networking,” she says. “Observe those people sitting at the right tables who communicate in a way that you like and get looped into email discussions. It’s important for career development to identify those strong and competent organizational players, even if you don’t exactly know the ropes.”

Along with knowing how things work, utilizing sponsors and mentors was also essential to fueling the spark. Piché ran the strategy across a sponsor who had organizational savvy but was not in her direct reporting line.

“First, it gave me the confidence that my idea was directionally correct because that person did their own research, too. It also allowed me to navigate our organizational structure to get the idea in the right place in the right way to build buy-in among leadership teams,” she notes.

After a couple of months and some refining, she received the call to leave her role as head of asset management and begin the new role she’d proposed.

Sustainability is a Win-Win

When it comes to a legacy of impact, and especially on Earth Day, Piché wants to convey the message that sustainability is a win-win for organizations, not a win-lose or compromise.

“Sustainability and climate efforts are about value creation. They are not check-the-box exercises. It’s about developing strategies that can drive value for companies while making the world a better place,” she says. “With a financial institution like Wells Fargo, we have a very big megaphone because we talk to so many different constituents and millions of customers, so I want people to be able to acknowledge and understand that developing strategies around environmental practices and social practices are extremely beneficial to companies in the long-term and in the short-term.”

She continues, “Once we are able to understand that, we will be more able to effectively unlock impact, drive large-scale change, support the industrial transformation that’s underway, and elevate and provide opportunities to those who have historically had fewer.”

Aligning Your Personality to the Role

Piché prefers to be a generalist who does many things at once – even picking two majors instead of one, and realizing that has helped.

“There are certain jobs that require you to be focused and narrow. Today, I know those jobs do not suit my personality. Roles that are broader and more entrepreneurial do,” she says. “One of the reasons I love my role now is that it’s rich in content, themes and opportunities and has many facets to the work. It allows me to juggle many things all at once and play to my strengths.”

Before she realized what job roles matched her, Piché would often supplement more narrowly-focused roles with side initiatives and projects or looking to travel to provide diversification. Perhaps only with the benefit of hindsight has she realized this, because when in a less-suited role you may normalize the feeling.

“But when you have the right job, you look forward to waking up in the morning. You’re excited about the people you’re working with and the work,” she says. “I often encourage people to think about their personalities and learning styles in finding the right role. Are you drawn to multiple threads of thoughts and projects? Do you like to travel far and wide but more shallow, or to go deep and seek real expertise in one particular area?”

Piché has further compatibility advice for people evaluating their first job or next opportunity: “It’s really important that you choose those opportunities based on the people that you will work with more so than the job itself,” she says. “Because I find the people that you are surrounded with are the defining characteristics of your experience. Developing a particular job skill is cumulative, but you want people who will support you on that journey and who inspire you.”

Piché also warns against burning those bridges. “I have found that my career path has wound in many different directions and people keep coming back into my life professionally. We say ‘don’t burn your bridges’ but really what that means is always be respectful and kind to the people who you work with. Be transparent and authentic and do your best,” she says. “When you do that, you manage those relationships and it can be that they keep on giving and building upon themselves as you progress in life.”

The Power of Storytelling

As she has become more senior, Piché’s love of writing, ability to communicate powerfully and storytelling have become greater strengths. It’s what helped to create her role. Another expression is the quarterly newsletter she sends to all Wells Fargo CIB employees to inspire and engage them in the sustainability initiative.

“Storytelling in a business context can be extremely compelling in driving leadership buy-in. It’s a great leadership skill when you can tell stories that are relatable and demonstrate expertise and thoughtfulness and authenticity,” she says. “On the flip side, great storytelling is also important in our customer relationships. What is the client looking for and what is the most compelling thing they are interested in? It’s really important to tell a story that is both quantitatively and qualitatively justified and compelling.”

Choosing to Plant Where You Can Thrive

“In the first ten years of my life, I had a very strong impression that organizations were meritocratic. Now, we understand there’s a tremendous amount of unconscious and institutional bias in all organizations, and it’s perhaps not so meritocratic beneath the surface,” she says. “There’s a lot that is challenging women’s careers and the careers of people of different backgrounds.”

At various times in her life, Piché has seen entrenched social networks that permeate professional life and make it challenging to navigate. She never doubted her competence, but it was evident some situations were more conducive to her success than others.

Those experiences underlined the importance of DEI, because breaking down institutional social barriers does not happen overnight, even in an organization where it is happening. These days, she is absolutely thriving in the broader context of sustainability where she interacts with all walks of life, geographies, races and ethnicities, while enjoying the work and feeling empowered.

Positive Impact in Every Sphere of Life

Piché wishes to impact positively in five areas: work, motherhood, partnership, self and friendship.

From weekend art challenges to bike rides to trips to school and bedtime stories, she loves creating special moments with her eight year old son. She intentionally nurtures her relationship with her husband through regular date nights. As a family, they enjoy collecting junior ranger badges through visits to U.S. national parks while building experience and knowledge around the natural and historical patrimony.

To care for herself, she does things she loves to do – whether playing music (the piano), cooking, reading or taking hikes. Also while she may have less to extend at times, she values being a thoughtful friend to the people in her life that need support.

Similarly, Piché leads her work teams authentically and transparently while demonstrating passion, enthusiasm and competence. And laughter.

“I think when you demonstrate those traits, it empowers teams and individuals to do the same. Then you have much higher performing teams and make a greater impact on people’s individual careers and sense of feeling inspired,” she says. “As leaders in the corporate world, if we can have positive impact on people’s well-being and joy and have a positive impact in the world, then I think we’ve accomplished something pretty awesome.”

By Aimee Hansen

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