Voice of Experience: Eu-Lin Fang, Partner, PwC Singapore

Eu-Lin FangWelcome to The Glass Hammer’s Celebration of Asian Heritage Month! All month long we will be profiling successful women here in the US who have Asian heritage as well as spotlighting some amazing women in Asia and discussing what it means to work there.

According to Eu-Lin Fang, a Partner at PwC Singapore, the professional world can be demanding, and in order to persevere, you cannot lose sight of you who are at the core. “It is important to continue to ask yourself, ‘Who am I, how do I live my life purposefully?’” Fang said.

“A rewarding career can consume your time, but it is good to devote some time for yourself to regroup and spend time on areas that bring balance to your life,” noted Fang.

Career Path

With a degree in accounting and finance, Fang naturally decided to pursue a career in accounting. Fang was drawn to the firm because of its reputation for being one of the best and biggest global accounting firms. “I came to PwC because I wanted to qualify as an accountant,” recalled Fang, “like others, I was fortunate to be given opportunities by the Firm to develop myself professionally”

An auditor by training, Fang was able to work on several bank audits and regional audits, as well as audits in the oil and gas, property and retail amongst others. “In my earlier years as an auditor, one was able to cover a few industries, but now given the complexities within each industry including increased regulation in those industries, there is inevitably more specialization”

Before she made manager, Fang had the opportunity to be seconded to the PwC London office in 2005 until 2007. “It was a different business environment,” said Fang, “and I had a very steep learning curve which I overcame quickly.” When she returned to Singapore, Fang observed many positive changes as a result of the demand for more specialization occurring in the profession. Soon after returned from London she joined PwC’s Financial Services Industry Practice (“FSIP”) to specialize in financial services and made partner in FSIP.

“Making partner was a surreal experience and something that I am proud of,” remarked Fang. “It drives me and motivates me to keep going forward in my career.”

Currently, Fang continues to serve as a financial services auditor specializing in banking, and she also is part of the Risk Assurance department which offers risk advisory services for clients. “Our team is very solutions based,” said Fang, “which results in a very collaborative work environment. We work on so many different engagements, and yet I observe that there is rarely conflict or disagreement. This aspect of teamwork is something I greatly appreciate about working for PwC.”

“It’s been quite a journey,” said Fang, who has been with PwC for her entire career.

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Voice of Experience: Marissa Thomas, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

women working mentoringEven after 20 years in the industry, PwC’s head of private equity, Marissa Thomas, says she still loves what initially drew her to the field: the adrenaline rush of a fast-paced industry rife with deadlines and tight-knit teams.

Thomas has spent the entirety of her career with PwC. She started in the regional corporate tax business, moved into the M&A tax business and even spending a three-year stint in Switzerland, where she was second in command with a team from all over the globe. Ten years after joining the firm, she was named partner – a great achievement given that the average time it takes to make partner is seventeen years.

“My role has changed a lot, shifting from client services to focus more on private equity,” Thomas said. “Two years ago I took over private equity, which is 10 percent of our revenue in the UK and I’m very proud to lead that business. When I started leading the business the industry dynamics were changing, and with that came a challenge to encourage our private equity teams to be more innovative about how they add value to clients. It was hard work but rewarding when people in the business and more importantly our clients responded positively to our approach.”

Plenty To Be Proud Of

Thomas can add being the first women to head private equity in the UK firm, a division notoriously run by men, to her long list of noteworthy achievements.

“It’s a big achievement and recognition of your hard work. I’m equally proud when clients ask me to take on big roles outside of my specialty, as it that they’re willing to put their faith in me and they trust I’ll do a good job,” Marissa said.

Thomas says she doesn’t wish to change anything about her career or the way she’s approached it. Part of the reason, she says, is that hers is an industry that changes rapidly.

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Voice of Experience: Gigi Freeman, Executive Director, MSCI, Inc.

women smilingIdentifying opportunities for career advancement is something that has served Gigi Freeman, Executive Director at MSCI , very well throughout her entire career.

She graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in Earth Science, and she envisioned herself establishing a career in science before realizing that financial services held a lot of opportunity for anyone willing to work hard and learn at a fast pace, regardless of their educational background.

Although Freeman could have chosen to pursue a scientific career, she chose to follow her heart –and her instincts –instead.

Career Path

Freeman accepted an internship at a financial research firm where she learned about equity markets. This experience ultimately sparked her interest in returning to school to earn her MBA, but before she did that, Freeman was fortunate enough to secure a position in a rotational trader training program.

During the summer between her first and second year of business school, Freeman accepted an offer to be a summer associate at Goldman Sachs in their Equity Sales and Trading group, which led to a full-time position in the Boston office after she completed her MBA.

After working with large asset management clients in the Boston area, Freeman accepted an international assignment that brought her to London to be a US shares sales trader covering continental accounts. “This was great exposure for me to see how business is done in London as well as how different cultural norms affect the business space,” noted Freeman.

Freeman’s career path changed directions when she joined a small boutique investment research firm which almost had a startup environment, according to Freeman. She recalled, “This was such an interesting point in my career because I had the opportunity to perform several different tasks. With only 35 people in the entire company, I really felt like I was part of building something from the ground up.”

This firm was eventually purchased by RiskMetrics, and later RiskMetrics was acquired by MSCI, Inc., where Freeman serves as an Executive Director, overseeing MSCI’s Sales Training and Online Client Experience. “Due to these acquisitions, my role changed,” explained Freeman. She continued, “I was responsible for relationship management, and was approached several times about joining the sales team, but I knew that was not the right fit for me at that point in my career.”

Being able to accept challenging roles and transition into new territory is something that Freeman is especially proud of. “I was asked to changes roles and take a little bit of a risk when I moved into a Director of Operations position, but I knew I was a quick learner and I had confidence in my abilities,” said Freeman. “Accepting this role allowed me to learn more about our business and it led to my current role where I am involved in strategic IT products and broader business initiatives,” she continued.

“There is a lot of innovation right now in the marketing technology space,” said Freeman, which is something that really drives her daily work. “I am spending a lot of time looking at marketing automation, mobile apps, and optimizing our CRM,” she added.

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Intrepid Woman: Loreen Arbus, Film Producer and Executive, Chair of Women Who Care Luncheon.

rsz_1rsz_loreenarbusBy CEO and Founder Nicki Gilmour

Loreen Arbus is a woman of many worlds and has certainly lived a life less ordinary.

She is already known by many as a change leader, a thinker and a doer, a career woman, a supporter of the arts, a member of numerous boards, an ally for people with disabilities and a major philanthropist in the US. When I recently spoke with her, I was delighted to experience firsthand her relentless bravery to tackle the hard topics with grace, which makes her completely deserving of the “Intrepid Woman’ mantle bestowed upon her.

How does she manage to be in so many worlds at once?

“I grew up as an outsider. It can be the best and worst thing to be not included since it can make you a better person, or do great damage to the individual,” Loreen said. She continued, “I feel lucky that it has made me a better person as I can identify with other people’s experiences as outsiders and help them to navigate their way to success.”

Perhaps her background of growing up as a once marginalized child has allowed her to defy labels or categories. It may have also given her the impetus to continue learning via new experiences, which span cultural aspects as well as humanistic endeavors, such as Co-Chairing the upcoming 13th Annual Women Who Care Luncheon to benefit United Cerebral Palsy of New York City Women who Care Luncheon at Cipriani’s in NYC on Wednesday May, 7th.

Loreen founded The Women Who Care Luncheon as an ode to unsung heroines like her sister’s caretaker Miss Karen Hansen. Loreen recounted to me that her interactions with Miss Hansen were life enhancing, and she accredits Miss Hansen with teaching her unconditional love due to the way that she cared for her older sister who had severe disabilities. The Karen Hansen Caregiver Award is a major part of the luncheon. It was Loreen’s parents Leonard H. and Isabelle Goldenson who co-founded the nation-wide organization of United Cerebral Palsy in 1949. UCP has a number of programs to help children with disabilities, including a favorite program of Loreen’s –an advocacy program that empowers adults and young people with skills to go to Albany and advocate directly for themselves with state representatives.

“I most often support causes in a specific way. I like to meet the people that I am helping, it replenishes my soul to experience the change that is taking place,” explained Loreen.

She encourages others to tour UCP and see how eager the children are to learn, play sports and word games. Loreen believes that connection to the mission of any charity can come alive; the closer one can get to connecting with the people driving it. Loreen also currently is the Executive Producer of the award winning documentary, “A Whole Lott More”, a film that aims to bring more awareness to employment issues for people with disabilities

On Being a Change Leader
Loreen’s trailblazing career in television meant that she pioneered where no woman had gone before as she was the first woman in to head up programming at a major U.S. television network, a feat she accomplished twice. Another noteworthy achievement to mention is that she spearheaded the inclusion of cable to be recognized within the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences EMMYs award system whilst she was at the Showtime television network. She understands the power of asking and ‘darn hard work,’ and mentions that she wishes women would be less apologetic around owning their hard work.

Loreen commented, “The greatest gift that I was given is that I can look at all sides of an issue. It is very exciting to be part of my mission that can lead to changes being made.”

Certainly, her unwavering dedication to helping others, and her ability to create space for other perspectives to come alive and become working ideas, is a striking feature about her.

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Voice of Experience: Amanda Blanc, CEO of Commercial Lines and Personal Intermediary, AXA Insurance UK

amanda blancAmanda Blanc began her career in 1989 as the first female and youngest branch manager at Commercial Union. She achieved many other top positions during the following years, which taught her one important lesson: a lack of confidence can stop many women from reaching their true dreams.

When she mentors other women she realizes that, when looking at the list of competencies in job descriptions, they focus on that one particular qualification that they do not meet. In contrast men will feel qualified for the job if they meet six out of ten competencies.

Women in the insurance industry have several barriers which they must overcome, and confidence is one of the qualifications that keeps this business, as Blanc described, “a man’s world, particularly at executive level.”

However, Blanc’s belief in her potential has led her to work as a consultant for Ernst & Young, as the regional director for AXA’s commercial intermediary business, as the distribution and customer services director at Groupama in 2003, as Chief Executive of Towergate Retail Division in The Towergate Partnership and, starting in 2011, as CEO of Commercial Lines and Personal Intermediary in AXA.

Her confidence in her abilities is only one of the reasons for her success. “I don’t do regrets or looking back. You just need to learn from any mistakes and move on without dwelling,” she explained.

Insurance and the Financial Crisis

Blanc identifies transparency as one of the key issues that the insurance industry must face, and knows that AXA’s effort to be more transparent with their customers is an important challenge.

“Insurance is notorious for indulging in acronyms and technicalities that are all but impenetrable to the man on the street. We are working on being much clearer, in layman’s terms, about what is and isn’t covered in a policy and what steps our customers can take to ensure that they do not breach any of the policy conditions. It might seem like a small thing, which it is, but it is pretty fundamental. I want our customers to be absolutely clear about what it is they are buying and how they use the policy when they need to.”

She also recognizes that “banking has received most of the public vitriol following the financial crisis, but the wider financial services community had much to feel sheepish about too, and insurance has certainly not been immune to some of the behaviours that have had such a catastrophic impact on banking. As financial institutions, we have lost the faith and trust of our customers, [whose] starting point now is that we are going to fleece them, and so they treat us accordingly. That is a shocking situation to find ourselves in and one that we must change.”

“It’s not going to change with lip service or marketing ploys. The only way we are going to get the customer back onside is by changing the way we behave, creating business models that deliver shareholder value through good customer experience and making sure that the necessary change in culture genuinely permeates throughout the business,” Blanc said.

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Movers and Shakers: Triinu Magi, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Neura

happy man with womenTriinu Magi, Co-Founder and CTO of Neura, a company leading the trend on the Internet of Things, has always believed in paving her own path. Growing up in Estonia, Magi was instilled early on with the idea that everyone had the opportunity to create their own successful future. This mentality and entrepreneurial work ethic has shaped Magi throughout her professional development.

“This established the foundation that made me the leader I am today,” said Magi.

Drawn to Innovation
Magi entered the workforce at the young age of nineteen and she noted that in every role she held, innovation and technology were always two key focal points. Before she branched out on her own to create Neura, Magi spent over fifteen years working in various computer and network security related positions.

During the period when Estonia was establishing their independence from Russia, Magi played a key role in developing the Estonian e-government services and she was instrumental in creating an independent security analysis for Estonia’s e-voting system. Later in her career, Magi worked in research and innovation for Israel’s RSA Security.

“Without these experiences, I would not be able to hold the role I do at Neura. I consider each of these roles to have been stepping stones that have led me to where I am today,” said Magi. “I definitely feel like I was in the right place at the right time,” added Magi.

While Magi acknowledges the part that her previous roles have played in her success, she is proud of the fact that she had the courage to follow her passion and her heart by forming her own company. “I encourage every woman to follow their passions by doing what they love,” said Magi, “and this will involve a lot of hard work, but in the end it will be extremely rewarding.”

Magi has always gravitated toward innovation throughout her career, which is why it is no surprise that she started Neura one year ago. “We are excited about the work we are doing with the Internet of Things and exploring the interconnectivity of technology that will ultimately make our digital experiences more personalized and more human,” Magi explained.

She continued, “I believe that Neura will be the solution that enables the Internet of Things movement to provide trustful, intelligent and adaptive services to connected devices’ users. This is the future of technology, bringing intelligence to connected ecosystems, and we’re very excited to be a part of it.”

Women in Technology
“Do whatever it is you love to do,” advised Magi. According to Magi, women need to be careful not to create their own barriers by self-selecting out of opportunities. “By doubting our abilities and lacking confidence, we enable the negative stereotypes that surround women in technology,” said Magi.

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Voice of Experience: Heather Kafele, Partner, Shearman & Sterling

Heather kafeleLooking back on her career, Heather Kafele, a Washington, DC-based litigation partner at global law firm Shearman & Sterling, remembers that she was not exactly sure which career path she wanted to take. She was certain about one thing, though: “I was very passionate about the world’s injustices.”

Before going to law school, Kafele had the opportunity to reside in Kenya on a grant to study international development. There, she was able to do some soul searching and considered many different options, including earning a Ph.D. in philosophy and staying in academia or taking an alternative route to practice law. After taking both the GRE and the LSAT admissions exams, Kafele decided to pursue a legal career.

“I loved law school,” said Kafele, “and I continued to follow a non-traditional path.” Instead of spending her summers at big law firms, Kafele worked at the public defender’s office and was convinced this is where she would start her career after graduating from law school. However, faced with a pile of debt after graduation, Kafele made the prudent decision to join a big firm before pursuing her passion of becoming a public defender.

Life had something else in store for Kafele, however. She discovered that the type of work she did at Shearman & Sterling was extremely rewarding as it involved cutting-edge and thorny legal issues, diverse clients and industries, and an opportunity to travel and see the world.

“I never expected to stay at a big firm, but I found myself passionate about the work,” Kafele said. “Being a trial lawyer means working with witnesses, documents and facts to weave together a compelling story and draw judges and jurors into that story. This process is both challenging and thrilling.”

“Women have a unique ability to connect with other people – including judges, jurors and witnesses – which are a true asset for women litigators,” she added.

One of the most significant and memorable experiences in Kafele’s career came when she had the opportunity to participate in a three-week jury trial on a big antitrust case. “These cases rarely go to trial so this experience was very unique and exciting,” Kafele noted. Recently, Kafele represented Ardagh Group in a high-profile litigation brought by the Federal Trade Commission challenging Ardagh’s acquisition of Saint Gobain’s US glass container business. And just this week, Kafele scored a significant victory on behalf of several major banks upholding New York’s “separate entity rule” and extending it (for the first time) to document subpoenas.

Special Interest in Cartel Law and Pro Bono Work

Kafele has extensive experience in international cartel enforcement matters, handling complex multi-jurisdictional cartel and grand jury investigations, as well as class action litigations. According to her, many more jurisdictions other than the US and EU are developing cartel laws or enforcing existing cartel laws, making it an international norm and changing the way companies do business. She explained, “The dynamic of cartel law has really changed, which makes it a very exciting area to work in. Since Shearman & Sterling is a global firm, I advise companies all over the world and help them investigate issues, understand the US process and coordinate with counsel in other jurisdictions.”

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Voice of Experience: Edith Cooper, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Human Capital Management, Goldman Sachs

edith-cooper-193x193For the last six years, Edith Cooper has been the Global Head of Human Capital Management at Goldman Sachs. In other words, she is responsible for the well-being, development and promotion of Goldman’s 32,000 employees worldwide. While this is no small task, Cooper loves the people-centric aspect of her role. “Our people are our number one asset,” said Cooper.

She continued, “This is a dynamic business and our priorities evolve alongside the markets. As a result, there is an increased focus on managing people, leading people, and leveraging the diverse set of experiences that our people bring to the table.”

The Dynamic Space of Human Capital Management

Cooper’s role at Goldman Sachs has also evolved over the last 17 years as she has transitioned from sales and trading into managing clients and people. According to Cooper, the last five years have been especially challenging, however, new opportunities to serve clients continue to emerge. She noted, “as markets and organizations continue to expand and globalize, we now more than ever must pay attention to and respond to global trends.”

“Clients need us to have 24/7 awareness of market drivers and opportunities in order to facilitate growth, and part of my role is to ensure that our people are well positioned to add that value to our clients,” Cooper added. She explained how important it is to attract people to the organization who are not only individually excellent, but also embrace the fact that delivering client satisfaction is very much a collaborative effort.

According to Cooper, technology is changing the human capital management space in a number of ways including by enhancing and expanding recruiting efforts. “The connectivity is constant,” noted Cooper, “and our reach is global due to online tools and advancing technologies.” This is elevated by the fact that the Millennials who are beginning to fill the halls at Goldman Sachs have been raised around technology, and incorporate it into everything that they do.

“The challenge used to be in gathering information, but now that so much more information is easily accessible, the opportunity to add value is by connecting information and leveraging it strategically,” said Cooper.

Expanding the Dialogue of Women’s Career Advancement

Cooper acknowledged that there has been significant progress for women in the workplace, but that there is more work to be done. “In order to be successful, an organization must ensure that there is diversity at every level,” she explained. According to Cooper, the ongoing conversations around professional women encourage people to broaden their perspective and expand the dialogue.

For Cooper, a great source of pride comes from the fact that she has had the opportunity to grow her career at Goldman Sachs while also maintaining a great home life. She attributes this to the fact that her support system –both at work and at home –has been strong and steady. While this has worked for her, she encourages women to determine their own degree of work-life balance by recognizing that there are multiple paths to take and choices to make throughout the length of your career.

“Women who believe that they can go out and be excellent at every single thing on a daily basis are likely setting themselves up to fail. You must pick your spots and create your own definition of success,” added Cooper.

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Intrepid Woman: Nell Merlino, Founder and President, Count Me In

nell_merlino_headshotBy Michelle Hendelman

When Nell Merlino created Take Our Daughters to Work Day, it was a natural extension of the work she always envisioned herself doing – that is creating opportunities for women to advance themselves and showing them the pathways available to achieve their goals. “For as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in the role women play in the economy and helping women understand their own economic impact,” said Merlino.

According to Merlino, both of her parents always emphasized the importance of being self-sufficient and acting as a change agent within the community. Now, Merlino, the Founder of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence –the leading non-profit provider of resources for female entrepreneurs who want to grow their business into a million dollar enterprise –is accomplishing both of those things very well.

“The structure of Count Me In gives aspiring female business owners the opportunity to focus on the growth of their business by giving them a robust peer-to-peer community of other ambitious women to work through the challenges with,” said Merlino. “I am so proud of creating a group where women can learn from each other,” she added.

According to Merlino, a central tenet of each Count Me In program is teaching women how to pitch their business succinctly and persuasively. “We challenge women to condense their business idea into a two minute pitch, which forces them to drill down to the essence of who they are and what they have to offer,” she said.

On Having a Rewarding Career
Merlino stressed how important it is to understand the value of coupling your passion in life with the prospect of making money. “Many people think that in order to enjoy the freedom of entrepreneurship, you have to let go of the idea that you will make a lot of money,” said Merlino. She continued, “You can find something that you love to do, or that you are really good at doing, and figure out a way to make a great living out of it.”

This is one reason why Merlino believes it is important for young women and girls to see professional women being successful. She noted, “Young women need to be able to see themselves in that role and be shown the pathways to get there.” By exposing young business women to conferences, meetings, or networking events where they can visualize what their own future can look like, they will begin to believe in the possibilities and opportunities available to them in their own career path.

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Voice of Experience: Minal Patel, Managing Director, Managed Services Business Development, SunGard

Mina Patel 2Minal Patel, a Managing Director at SunGard, started her career in banking at Barclays Bank in the UK over twenty five years ago. At Barclays, she had the opportunity to participate in an accelerated training program that rapidly moved her through various areas of retail and wholesale banking. Although she had the chance to experience different aspects of the industry, Patel ultimately decided to explore career options outside of banking.

“I joined a technology startup that was looking for business expertise to build a treasury management system. I was able to apply my business background, which in turn exposed me to IT operations and the entire software development lifecycle,” said Patel.

She continued, “This experience led me to another tech startup focused on derivatives trading and risk management. I switched gears to focus on the sales and account management side of the business. We were a new operation in Europe, with a very small team, so I was involved in everything from pre-sales support, getting in front of prospects, contract review and working with customers. After a couple of years I decided to transfer to the New York operation to focus on that market. All of this was great experience for building my career.”

When the second startup was acquired by SunGard in 1998, Patel stayed on board and has been with SunGard ever since. She attributes her longevity at SunGard to the fact that she has been able to adapt and take on different roles within the company. “It has been exciting to have the opportunity to do a number of different things while remaining at the same company,” noted Patel.

Her Work at SunGard

During her tenure at SunGard, Patel’s responsibilities have spanned from running a global client and professional services team (around a set of trading and risk solutions) to taking on a horizontal role focusing on expanding SunGard’s global development and delivery capabilities.

Over the last 2 years, her role has been focused on further developing the managed services business within SunGard Financial Systems. Patel partners with each of the Financial Systems business groups to shape business and operational plans that will advance their managed services agenda – and grow the company’s overall managed services portfolio. “Figuring out the best ways that we can evolve as a company alongside the industry – and our clients – is one of the most exciting things about my job,” said Patel.

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