Voice of Experience: Nicola Morris, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, WEX

nicola morrisBy Cathie Ericson

People truly do want to help, says Nicola Morris, reflecting on a lesson she’s learned over the years. “When I received offers for guidance or building out networks and relationships, I wish I had understood the value and not been as shy and reluctant to take people up on their outreach,” she says, when looking back on her career. “It’s a hard thing for many people to do, especially when you’ve not yet proven yourself, but once you progress in your career, and see how much you want to help others, you look back and realize the offers you received were equally genuine. Where I spent time working into the wee hours, I know that some of that effort should have been redirected to having lunch with colleagues or mentors along the way.”

Change Dynamic As a Career Constant

“Winding.” That’s the word Morris uses to describe a varied career covering sectors such as government, startups and financial services, and functionalities that have entailed IT strategies, product marketing and M&A.

When she looks at the diverse journey, however, she sees one unifying theme: helping companies maintain the leading edge for how they grow and expand, whether it’s through new products, acquisitions or an expanded marketplace. “I’ve had a patchwork of experiences that have come together to create an exciting, interesting career,” she says.
At WEX, she focuses on shaping the direction of the company through the decisions she makes now that will influence tomorrow. “We have to understand how to meet the customer’s needs today and then realize what our reality will be tomorrow to map out the journey that will get us there.” Doing so involves deciding on the steps and executing, whether success will be achieved through new product sets, business ventures, investments or expansion into new global environments.

Technology will be the driving force in her company as the business model coalesces around blockchain, AI, mobile and IoT – developments that will have a meaningful impact on most businesses but particularly ours, she says, as they focus on how they can imbed payments seamlessly through various technologies. She says it will be particularly interesting to see how the sharing economy’s inevitability will drive evolution in many industries, and the changes that will be wrought by this pivot from a consumption economy.
Another heavy influence comes from a macro-demographic perspective and the effects it will have on customers’ needs, as well as what it means for her company’s internal employee base and generational shift to consider how millennials work differently than Gen Xers.

The Value of Relationships To Bolster Your Career

Morris thinks of her professional life in terms of the people she leads, and how they contribute to the future of the company, which is why she names her teams and the professional accomplishments of the people she’s worked with and for as the achievement she’s most proud of.

Being better and working harder is a key component to the success puzzle, she stresses, but you have to balance that with relaxing and going with the flow. “You have to be the one they want in the boat because you’re good, sure, but because you have those other pieces to your personality as well,” she points out.

She finds that as a general rule women still tend to underplay their achievements and be more self-deprecating, where they should focus on accentuating these success.
“We need to recognize our own unconscious bias, and the lens through which we are viewing the world and work environment. Then we can determine how we can address it to be better leaders, employees and colleagues.”

Morris found that early in her career, it was challenging to be one of few women in a male-dominated environment, because of how they form relationships by socializing. “The connections you make during casual conversations and events do shape the way people work — who they will think of for a new assignment, for example,” she says. And while she points out that it’s rarely intentional, recognizing the dynamic of unconscious bias at work and figuring out how to put yourself in situations where you can reap positive benefits will help you move ahead.

Balance in the Workplace and Beyond

One of WEX’ core values is ensuring there are policies that are balanced for all employees. For example, the company just launched a new parental leave policy, very intentionally focused on both parents, not just maternity leave.

“I look at my own situation with three children and two careers, and I know it would have been great for each of us to have had the flexibility. It wouldn’t have made sense for only me to take leave, because of where our careers were at the time we had children. It’s about giving family the flexibility rather than just the mom,” she says.

With three kids, ages 15, 17 and 13, Morris laughingly notes that her family and their hobbies are her hobbies too, whether it’s sports or music. She notes that proximity to big cities has helped nurture both those interests for the whole family.

Morris says WEX encourages the team to give back through philanthropy so she enjoys her work on the boards off two local nonprofits, Center for Grieving Children, which provides peer support for families who have gone through loss, and the Portland Symphony Orchestra. “These two organizations represent a nice balance, and I really appreciate that my involvement is so positively supported by my company.”

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Voice of Experience: Lia Turri, Partner, PwC Italy

lia turriBy Cathie Ericson

With a 20-year track record of success at PwC, including 10 years as partner, Lia Turri has always specialized in the financial services sector, developing a strong client services background. She has focused on engagements with leaders of Italian companies and helped oversee IPOs and a variety of special projects. This longevity has helped her guide clients as the industry ushers in changes brought by the effect of new technologies. “It will be a completely different environment in five to 10 years and my goal is to help my clients adapt,” she says.

Heading Up Diversity Efforts Region Wide

In addition to her client services roles, Turri was asked in 2016 to coordinate diversity strategy across PwC offices in the Middle East, Europe and Africa after a successful stint as the diversity leader for Italy.

She has embarked on a listening tour, as she works with the diversity leaders across the region to hear their key priorities and understand the successful actions they are already implementing, thus enabling teams to share best practices with one another.

The first step in any change management process, she says, is to determine current priorities and then adopt a scale of measurement so you can track progress and make sure the actions you’re putting in place achieve the desired results.

Diversity can be measured in many ways, such as gender, culture and age, but the team has found that gender is something that can be most effectively monitored. Currently, 18% of partners across the footprint are female, so that is an easy metric to focus on for improving. “We are losing competencies if we don’t keep women at higher levels,” Turri points out, so it’s vital to share successful best practices.

Turri has found that initiatives across Italy have already brought positive results, as the team has received feedback from clients that the increased diversity has been noticed. She appreciates the opportunity she has been given to head this initiative and is eager to get everyone on board.

“It’s gratifying to be able to work across the boundaries and be in touch with people from other offices and areas. It has truly helped me recognize how many amazing people are working within PwC,” she says.

Growing the Pipeline

Turri has been active in a mentoring program called Sharing the Future, which is designed to help increase the pipeline for the partners of tomorrow by pairing senior managers with mentor partners. The pilot was such a success that they decided to continue the program with a new group of mentees, and all the partners who participated the first time elected to continue with the program — a success from both sides.

One of the messages that Turri shares with younger associates she works with is that you have to make sure that you are in the driver’s seat of your career, rather than letting others decide for you. For example, she says it is a common occurrence that a young woman will have a baby and others will start counting her out. “They might decide that her family has taken precedence, so they don’t invite her to participate in interesting projects because they think she won’t have the capacity, yet they haven’t even asked her what she wants.” Turri cautions against letting other project on you and your career.

“Blind spots are the the measure of the other person, not you,” she says, and yet they can affect the opportunities you are offered. In that way they can influence whether you can achieve a goal and will allow others to impact your career trajectory if you let them.

She also finds that in a male-dominated industry, many women assume they need to act like a man to progress in their career, but eventually they realize they are submerging the qualities that set them apart.

Finally, women need to support each other, she says. “Women have a great power, and if they are working together, they can great results.”

Along the way she has learned the importance of getting that support, even at home, through her two kids, ages 20 and 16. “They keep me energized in whatever I’m doing at work or at home,” she says. “They are very supportive of me in my passions and interest. Because I put a lot of time into my work, they encourage me to remember to always seek balance.”

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Voice of Experience: Carey Kolaja, Global Chief Product Officer, Citi FinTech

carey-kolajaBy Cathie Ericson

“Earlier in my career, I thought I always had to be right, but I learned that’s just not the case,” says Carey Kolaja of Citi FinTech. “Life is more enjoyable when you remove that pressure you’re putting on yourself and turn to others for input. The collective wisdom can yield a greater return,” she says.

Kolaja has had 21 years in financial services, but a series of diverse experiences – which has run the gamut from start-ups to big banks to consulting firms — has taught her to trust the input of others as she learned new strategies with different companies.

She worked in the information technology department of eBay and most recently came from PayPal, where she experienced incredible growth, seeing the company mature from 1,000 employees when she started to 14,000 when she left. It was an environment where every couple of years the company would reinvent itself, and she oversaw a host of different challenges over 13 years as she rose through the ranks to become Vice President of Global Consumer Products, helping establish the brand to hundreds of millions of customers globally.

Building Programs That Endure

“I am fortunate to have risen to a role that allows me to be at the epicenter of the collision between finance and technology, during a time of great growth and change,” she says. “I am proud of the global products I’ve placed in the market over the years and the impact they’ve had in transforming consumer buying behaviors,” Kolaja adds.

Not only has she made her mark on products, but programs as well. At eBay she was asked to establish a women in tech program that started with 50 and ended with 1,800 by the time she passed the baton. “It continues to live on, and it’s exciting when you can build things that endure. I have always defined successful leadership as making others better as a result of your presence, and making sure that impact lasts in your absence,” she says, noting that the programs that have been most meaningful are those that were organic, rather than mandated from the top down.

Managing Industry Disruption

The team Kolaja now works with, Citi FinTech, has been set up within the past 12 months — a unit charged with “designing and delivering the bank of tomorrow,” as the industry moves forward to stay relevant in this fast-moving space. “There’s been some disbelief that what we were trying to do would happen,” she says, given that there are such stringent policy restraints, and the huge leap involved in its aim to meet customers in their day-to-day lives and access their money whenever they need to in today’s digital and mobile world. “The odds are against us but if you look at what we’ve accomplished so far and what we have in the works for the months ahead, it shows that you can’t discount the banks,” she says.

The disruption has happened throughout the industry, as people’s identities have moved from the physical to the digital realm, and every company from established firms to startups are trying to figure out how to enable people to safely and confidently make financial transactions. As the physical bank’s role continues to change, the industry will continue to reimagine the personalities that financial instructions have, by learning from fintech and other industries.

“The expectations have changed and it’s all about enabling transactions for our customers when and where they want, and often while they’re doing something else,” she says.

“While a customer is eating dinner she remembers she needs to check her savings account for an upcoming family vacation. How do we help in that moment? We will continue to transcend traditional touchpoints as we engage customers on their terms and meet their goals and aspirations.”

Part of the change in the industry is being wrought by a general change in the trust dynamic in society at large, she believes. Whereas people used to trust institutions, now they trust brands. We used to trust hotels, and now we stay at people’s homes in the Air BnB society.

But embracing this transformation is part of who Kolaja is and how she has always led. “I have always coached my team by leading with the fact that you have to be able to imagine that the possibilities of change are endless, and that those who change the world are those who believe they can.”

She has learned the value of empowering others, and her global role has allowed her to see what she can learn in different cultures that was relevant across the board. That notion helped her to understand the value of diverse thoughts, experiences and points of view. “Most boundaries – whether they are cultural or organizational — are usually artificial, and exist in your own mind,” she says, noting that you can’t let others impose their boundaries on you.

Although she hasn’t felt subject to gender differences in the workplace, she understands that others look up to her for the strides she has made in fintech. When someone pointed out that she had found a way to break the glass ceiling and therefore had the responsibility to be a role model and speak out, she accepted that charge. Now, she is proud to say that 50 percent of leaders in Citi FinTech are women.

Speaking Out to Achieve Success

One piece of advice she offers women is to give themselves permission to speak, rather than always waiting for an invitation or a safe environment. It was during a week-long leadership program that her coach noted that people would listen when Kolaja spoke, despite her always waiting to be asked to speak. The coach advised her to make a habit of speaking up in the first three minutes of any interaction, which Kolaja says helped her believe that what she had to say added value. “That’s such an important coaching element for women in general,” she says. “I am the only one who can give myself permission to speak. That leadership program happened more than 10 years ago but I’m reminded of that lesson every day. If we limit ourselves, then ultimately we’re the ones who lose out.”

Kolaja says she tried and failed to separate her work and personal lives, so she incorporates them as much as she can. “Sometimes I need to be a mother in the middle of the afternoon and sometimes I need to be an employee at 10 p.m. Technology is helping me with both, and now the physical-digital balance is what I contend with.”

As a family of self-described “risk takers,” she and her husband and two boys, ages 14 and 10, love to travel as a family and golf and scuba dive. Recently they spent five days in Costa Rica with no devices. “Scuba diving allows us to spend time together, and it also allows us to be truly present. Now that we’re connected even while we’re in the air, the sea is the one remaining place we can have solitude.”

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Voice of Experience: Rana Yared, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

rana-yaredBy Cathie Ericson

“Stand out by owning your own details,” says Rana Yared of Goldman Sachs, offering advice she learned as an analyst. “Commit to knowing the specifics of every assignment and how they relate to the bigger picture. That’s how you establish you reputation as a thinker, not just a doer,” she says, noting that this advice has helped propel her career.

After earning a BS from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and an MSc from the London School of Economics, Yared believed her next step would be to earn a PhD. However, she says, “a function of luck, great mentorship, and letting opportunity come to me rather than having a pre-set plan,” propelled her on an alternate path.

Never before having considered a career in finance, Yared joined Goldman Sachs as an analyst in 2006. She moved up the ranks, eventually becoming a Managing Director in 2013, and today she leads both the New York and London-based Principal Strategic Investments (PSI) teams in the Securities Division, which are responsible for market structure strategy and the firm’s financial technology assets. In this capacity, she represents Goldman Sachs on the boards of several companies that PSI has invested in.

“I’m excited about the team’s role in reimagining how we serve our clients as we improve both the workflow and the quality of information that we can share in this time of digital transformation,” she says. Goldman Sachs is at the forefront of harnessing financial services innovation, and the transformation within the firm has been exciting. “There’s been a fundamental change in our business model and how we approach capital and liquidity,” she says. “It’s been fascinating to think of ways to optimize these varied opportunities.”

Yared is not only proud of the work the team has done for the Goldman Sachs franchise, but also that she has become a leader for the next generation. One career milestone she cited was being asked to speak at the First Year Securities Analyst Orientation. “I always remembered the female partner who spoke at my orientation upon joining the firm, and the impact her comments and advice made on me. It’s an honor to be trusted with making a first impression on our newest joiners,” she explains.

She also reflected on the moment she was able to tell her parents she was promoted to Managing Director. “As the child of immigrants, I was proud to share with them my accomplishments.”

Work Hard, Play Well

One of the lessons Yared has learned over the years is to have more fun. “When I first joined the firm in New York, I enjoyed the work but didn’t take the time to fall in love with the city,” she says, noting that it was initially challenging to manage her work-life balance. When she moved to London with the firm in 2008, she placed an emphasis on maintaining a balance between work and her outside activities. Now that she has returned to New York, Yared has remained committed to establishing ties to her neighborhood and exploring the city.

Another mentor provided a different success formula that has stuck with her: Q x A = E. “This means that the quality of one’s communication times its acceptance equals its effectiveness. In other words, the way that your message is delivered and heard is as important as your content,” she says.

Improving on all the advice she has received is a constant work in progress, but there’s another area that takes no second thought: “If there’s a day that your conscience is tested, that’s the day to walk away,” she says with conviction. “If something is making it challenging for you to sleep easy, you’re in the wrong place.”

Active in Programs Inside and Outside the Firm

Yared highlights that Goldman Sachs’ Women’s Career Strategy Initiative, a program tailored for associates, helped her refine key attributes, such as messaging and presentation skills. She recognizes that the bar of excellence can be higher for women to meet in the workplace. “It’s a tricky balance on how you should portray yourself, but it has become easier to navigate as my career progresses,” she says. She strongly supports the Female Trader Initiative, where female analysts and interns who have strong quantitative skills are provided mentorship.

A devotee of philanthropic causes, particularly those related to public education, Yared is a member of the Penn Fund Executive Board at the University of Pennsylvania and sits on the advisory board of Wabash College’s Democracy and Discourse program. “I was especially proud to have been asked to join the advisory board of this school, which has a long history of educating first-generation college students,” she says.

In her spare time, Yared loves traveling, cooking and photography.

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Voice of Experience: Meltem Cagan, Managing Director – Country Team Head for Turkey, UBS

By Cathie Ericson

Meltem Cagan made an assumption that many women do when they’re starting their careers. “I always thought delivering the results was the most important component, but now I see that relationships and how you position yourself politically are hugely important, particularly in financial institutions,” she says.

Very numbers driven, she underestimated the critical nature of perception, which created some unfair situations in her view. “If you concentrate on delivering results, that’s important, but there’s this other component I wasn’t aware of at first that factors equally,” she says. “As a logical and straightforward person, I realize I was naïve to not understand this as a significant element in the industry, and I am eager to share that knowledge with others.”

A Career Destined for the Top

Cagan’s career has had a clear theme: Start at the bottom and climb the ladder. That was the case when she started as a trader in Turkey: During her 10-year tenure, she ended up running the trading floor for a medium-sized bank. Then she decided to move to wealth management, which took her to London with Citi where she started as a private banker and built her business before being asked to head Citi’s private banking business.

After her Citi stint, she joined Morgan Stanley to fulfill her desire to work for an investment bank; three-and-a-half years later she was approached by UBS, fortuitous timing since at the time Morgan Stanley was planning to sell its business. She happily accepted UBS’ offer to join the biggest wealth manager in the Turkish market, where she has been for almost three years.

“My career has taken me through all types of banking, and due to my team’s success, I have always been offered increasing responsibility. That’s what drives me,” she says.

She appreciates the current flexibility she has and the opportunities she’s had to work in Turkey and London, where she is a managing director. “It was a difficult ascent as a woman and I am proud of my career path,” she says.

Over the past three years, she has been focused on growing the business and is excited to see how they can take it to the next level. “Rather than growing 10 percent, I’m wondering how we can double it,” she says, noting that it’s not just about growing the business but enhancing their reputation. “We would never grow the business at the expense of our reputation. The challenge is to successfully do both together.”

With that goal in mind, Cagan also acknowledges the industry is going through a difficult period in terms of growth. Still not fully recovered from the 2008 crisis, many countries are experiencing anemic growth, which keeps interest rates low and injects a great deal of volatility into banking, creating a low- or no-growth environment. In addition, in many markets there is much inefficiency and regulation, which can conspire to create a difficult environment to deliver results. “We have to deal with cost pressure and margin pressure, but we will be successful,” she says.

Barriers for Women are Largely Self Imposed

“Most women, including myself, are perfectionists. We expect too much of ourselves and can be harsh and critical. But this mindset puts you in a situation where you don’t highlight what you are good at and that can translate into a weak position,” she says.

The remedy is to change your focus from what you don’t have, to a “glass-half-full” perspective. Ultimately this will change how you present yourself and help you go into situations like negotiations with a stronger positon.

“Some people are good at marketing themselves and others find it degrading,” she says. “There’s the perspective that you do a good job; the numbers show it; people acknowledge it and you don’t find the inclination to market it, but that can work against you.”

That’s why she advises young women to work on honing self-esteem and confidence, which can be aided when you start as a subject matter expert with a specialization. “While you are increasing your general knowledge, you will increase your confidence. It goes together as a package.”

As women climb the ladder, she encourages them to stay results-oriented, noting that many women work hard and produce lots of activity but not necessarily the outcomes they need. She suggests finding an efficient way to get results, while being mindful of the importance of being supportive of one another and curbing rivalry.

“We can get into competition later when there’s more of us,” she says wryly. “Part of self- confidence is building others up.”

Cagan builds her own knowledge by being active in “A Women’s Network,” which is focused on top women in wealth management. She appreciates its networking environment and forums with trainings on topics such as personal brand, management skills and more.

An Eye Toward Philanthropy and Family

With a family spread between Turkey, the United States and the U.K., Cagan devotes much of her spare time to travel.

“I am naturally a curious person so the diversity of culture enriches me,” she says, not just with her family but with their friends and extended circles.

In addition, she is an active philanthropist and finds it particularly meaningful to support the education of girls in her country, a cause that is dear to her heart. She also is working to become an advocate for incoming refugees, especially girls, offering financial as well as one-on-one help.

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Voice of Experience: Michele Trogni, Executive Vice President, Consolidated Markets and Solutions, IHS Markit

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michele-trogniBy Cathie Ericson

With a longstanding career working for and selling to financial institutions, Michele Trogni, Executive Vice President of Consolidated Markets and Solutions at IHS Markit, shares her best piece of advice – success isn’t achieved by one person alone. It’s all about everyone involved, whether it’s your team, your customers or your community.

In her current role, Trogni leads the delivery of data-driven solutions for customers in product design, technology, and managed services including digital, tax solutions, counterparty manager, Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Third Party (KY3P).

She is responsible for helping customers achieve their business goals and competitive advantage through focused, scalable solutions which reduce cost of ownership, improve decision making, lower risk and engage end clients.

Banking and Tech Combine for Ideal Career

As the first in her family to attend university, Trogni has always been a trailblazer. Her career in banking was built during the 25 years she spent at UBS. She first started as a financial controller, often working on integrations and merger-related projects. It was a very acquisitive time, and she was often required to close transactions in a tight timeframe. “It was a perfect fit for me as a tech-savvy accountant with a rambunctious personality,” she says.

As she took on more and more projects, her career took her from the UK to Chicago. She became more involved with the technology function, which spurred her enthusiasm as she saw the potential of combining tech into future strategy.

After a brief stint in Chicago, Trogni upped roots again and headed to New York in 1997. “My CIO at UBS was impressed with the directing I’d done on a wide variety of merger projects, but he told me that if I want to be given the opportunity to do something big, I have to really know the ins and outs of how it all works.”

Trogni was advised to move into technology to be at the coalface running the IT function, and that’s exactly what she did. “Learning how to run the division was an important milestone that propelled my career. I couldn’t have accomplished what I have, if I had stayed on a superficial level,” she says.

She was asked to become group CIO in 2009, overseeing a $5 billion budget and more than 17,000 employees – an impressive achievement considering there were still so few women in tech. After five years she decided to retire from banking, but her best-laid plans for a year off were undone when she was offered the opportunity to move from building tech to selling it through Markit after just six months into her retirement.

It is a perfect fit: selling products she understands to customers like banks and hedge funds that she knows well. “They know I have sat in the buyer’s seat which is compelling to them,” she says.

Now Trogni is responsible for a much larger role within her firm. In July 2016, Markit merged with IHS to create IHS Markit, a global powerhouse and leader in critical information analytics and solutions that drive economies worldwide. She is excited to bridge two firms from both the cultural and operating perspective, creating a new vision for the combined firm.

Making Sense of Diversity

While Trogni has the intellectual skills to succeed, she also has a high “EQ,” an emotional quotient that has served her well and, she believes, enabled her to navigate successfully as a woman in a world that is heavily male dominated. “Some colleagues ended up obsessing about that, but I never did,” she says.

Prior to the financial crisis, firms were working hard to embrace diversity, but Trogni believes that their emphasis on diversity shifted to crisis management. “We’re gradually getting back to where we were,” she says, but notes that there is still a lot of unconscious bias in the workplace that the next generation will have to deal with – something she feels positive about given the fact that millennials are a less-judgmental generation. “I’m very optimistic that they are the perfect ones to address and overcome it,” she says.

It’s the Team That Leads to Success

Over the years, she has had many peer sponsors and managers, and she believes in paying it forward, focusing on ongoing coaching. “No one’s career can be just about them,” she says.

Trogni feels professionals get the best results when they have multiple sponsors, rather than relying 100% on one person to offer the next opportunity, which can lead to burn out. These various sponsors have modeled qualities she wants to emulate, and she also takes inspiration from West Coast entrepreneurs – people who “break the mold,” like Sheryl Sandberg and Elon Musk.

She also has seen the importance of surrounding yourself with a team that offers different specialties. “I don’t need all Type A people, or sales guys or marketing pros,” she says. “You need a combination of a wide variety of skill sets because you only win when you cover all your bases.”

Of course, a sense of humor, and ability to laugh at yourself never hurts, she adds.

A Robust Life outside Work

Community service has long been an important component of Trogni’s life. She has been active with the UBS-sponsored Bridge Academy, a half industry and half governmental-supported school focused on math and music in a low-income part of London. Through fundraising activities she helped spearhead, the school was able to raise £1.5 million, allowing it to expand to offer classrooms for Sixth Form, the equivalent of US 11th and 12th grades. She also worked with the school to create female empowerment groups that introduced girls to coding and tech.

In addition, she spent four years on the board of NPower, a tech charity that trains young, underprivileged adults in the skills they need to build websites and then matches them with clients.

Mom to four kids, ages 18, 15 and 13-year-old twins, Trogni stays busy with their sports and enjoying the “loud family fun” that kids bring – fitting in CrossFit workouts when she can. The family likes to travel and relishes time spent at their home in Nantucket.

Closing thoughts

When asked to point to career achievements that she is most proud of, Trogni turns to her role leading Investment Banking Operations at UBS during the financial crisis. It was a time of high emotions in the industry as well as tremendous risk, she recalls. “Turning to sponsors, mentors and my team helped to ease this burden and proved to be a time when my EQ really came to the fore. The last thing a leader wants is to get to the top of the hill with no one behind you.”

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Voice of Experience: Miruna Stratan, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

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miruna-stratanBy Cathie Ericson

As a technologist, there is no better time to enter the financial services sector, asserts Miruna Stratan, Goldman Sachs Managing Director in the Technology Division. “Technology is no longer a cost center, but is at the core of digital transformations across the industry, providing the opportunity to impact and shape new business models.”

Driving Technology Advances Throughout Goldman Sachs

Miruna joined Goldman Sachs after studying communication and electronics engineering at Bucharest Politechnica University and earning her graduate degree in telecommunications from Stevens Institute of Technology. Building technical teams and developing new innovative infrastructures have been the hallmark of her career throughout her time at the firm.

During her 17-year tenure at the firm, she has held multiple roles. Early on in her career she built technology solutions for the banking business. Subsequently, Miruna took a series of technology infrastructure engineering roles, focusing on data center engineering products across the computer storage and networking space and working closely to drive the firm’s global data center architecture and strategy.

Over the years, she had the opportunity to work directly on building innovative technology stacks that transformed Goldman’s operational model and enabled the firm to be increasingly agile. Miruna was also part of the team that engineered the virtual desktop platform for the firm, and more recently she drove a security engineering project that enabled Goldman Sachs to extend its cloud platform securely to public cloud providers. Currently, she manages the external cloud access platform, cloud desktop and remote access function for Goldman Sachs engineering. She was named Managing Director in 2015.

Being named “Technology Fellow” in 2014 was a notable achievement for Miruna. The role of Technology Fellow is a distinction reserved for the best engineering and architectural talent at Goldman Sachs, a select group of engineers whose authoritative knowledge is demonstrated through strong technical leadership, innovation and problem-solving expertise.

“At Goldman we manage complex technology stacks and control frameworks; we think of ourselves as a technology firm building the platforms that allow our colleagues to transform our businesses into a data-driven model through applied technology,” Miruna says. “It is exhilarating to be at the forefront of emerging technologies in the infrastructure organization when the rate of technology change has been so tremendous.”

Lessons Learned – and Now Shared

Over the years, Miruna’s career has progressed in large part because of the opportunities she took to move laterally throughout the firm. “I had to prove myself each time in these new roles, on different types of technologies, but these opportunities were the most amazing learning experiences I had,” she notes. “I am quite proud of the engineering teams I have built over the years as well as seeing many of my mentees grow and develop.”

One important lesson she has learned is the significance of communicating your contributions to others. Early in her career, she focused on building her technical skills while avoiding the spotlight. She recommends that women develop their technical skills and establish themselves as an expert in a specific technology or platform early on, but once they get there continue to accept lateral opportunities and embrace the challenge to work on something completely different. Miruna also realized it’s essential to listen to feedback and be thoughtful about how to align others to your vision.

“You have to modulate your message to the audience and understand how to be practical when delivering a product,” she said. “Communicating your strategy effectively to stakeholders ensures buy-in for a new project or platform.”

Ensure Women Have a Seat at the Table

Initially, Miruna felt intimidated as the only woman in most situations, but over time, she found diverse role models within the firm and across the tech industry. Connecting with these individuals helped her realize that being different allows others to naturally notice your contributions more.

“It’s so important to have strong female and diverse role models in executive and senior technical roles,” Miruna says. “We have to carefully mentor the technical talent not only as they enter the firm, but throughout their career.”

Due to her own experience in the sector, Miruna is passionate about building a thriving female tech community and has participated in industry conferences such as the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, ABI.NY events and Lesbians Who Tech.

She also focuses on giving back to the Women in Technology organization and devotes significant time to recruiting and retention programs, partnering with external organizations such as Girls Who Code and the Anita Borg Institute. Additionally, she has been involved in the Geek Speak program, which provides individual coaching and feedback to help women improve their presentation skills when discussing technical topics.

Throughout her career, Miruna has been involved with Goldman Sachs’ affinity networks, serving as the Managing Director sponsor for the technical pillar of Women in Technology. She has also participated in the Disability Interest Forum and is an ally to the firm’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community.

Supporting Children With Disabilities

Separately, she actively works at balancing her family and career while simultaneously addressing complex special needs situations. “I have learned how important it is to prioritize, delegate and recognize the activities that are the best use of my time,” she says.

Miruna is passionate about helping kids with disabilities by ensuring kids with dyslexia have access to specialized education accommodations and programs. As October 15 is both World Sight Day and World Dyslexia Day, in October she reflects on her future impact and contributions to this important issue and creates a specific action plan for the upcoming year.

“There is now so much technology available that can be leveraged to help kids with disabilities participate fully and successfully at their grade level in the learning process,” she says. “I regularly research innovation that creates accessible, technology-based solutions in the areas of communication and advocate for such solutions in the special needs community and within my school district.”

An avid reader of both science books and literature, Miruna enjoys traveling with her husband and their 12-year-old twins. Recent trips have included Spain and Romania, and this year they traveled to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and learned about the amazing geology of Yellowstone County.

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Voice of Experience: Marilyn McDonald; Director of Product Management Technical, Global Digital & Cloud Technology, Citi

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marilyn-mcdonald-featuredBy Cathie Ericson

“Do not wait to be asked to the table. If you have value to add, then invite yourself,” says Citi’s Marilyn McDonald, a motto she has followed throughout her career at numerous “tables.” Along the way, she has also lived the advice she now offers others: “Be authentic. You don’t need to be exactly like someone else, be they male or female, to succeed because the parts that make you authentic are the parts that will help you be successful.”

Building Her Career In Many Disparate Industries

“Non-traditional” is the word that McDonald uses to describe her career. She put herself through college while working full time – community college first and then Arizona State University. At 22 she drove to Northern California in order to learn to snowboard and work at a ski resort, spending the subsequent five years “following the snow” from California to Australia and New Zealand. Then she backpacked around Europe until she ran out of money. “These experiences really helped broaden my view of how culture and people influence behavior,” McDonald says.

As she contemplated career options, she took a correspondence course in computer programming until “I realized I was terrible at it because I couldn’t sit still long enough,” she laughs. Around that time she moved to New Zealand with her husband and young son, where she worked in enterprise software implementation, putting software into manufacturing businesses and writing reports for the business.

Soon after, she transitioned to working for an advertising agency which she says began her love affair with building great customer experiences. “I worked on some fabulous accounts and even made some pitches for big corporations. These experiences were some of my most foundational, especially the experience I gained building cross-media campaigns to reach consumers across more than one channel,” she says.

When McDonald returned to the U.S., she worked in marketing and advertising with what she calls “some of the best and brightest minds.” Around this stage she was offered a role at a very large online retailer as a product manager. “I believe marketing is about understanding your customers’ behaviors, and product development is about using that understanding to build the right products – so almost two sides of the same coin,” she notes, citing this as an extremely rewarding and challenging part of her career working with teams that launched a number of firsts for the company.

Subsequently, she gravitated to the financial services industry, where she met her first mentor. “He saw potential in me and gave me greater and greater levels of responsibility – running not just the marketing arm, but events, the web development team, PR and finally all of the customer experience touch points,” she says.

Next McDonald received an opportunity to help create a technology culture inside a bank, the biggest and most rewarding challenge of her career. “Citi has been around for over 200 years, and has focused on technology for many decades. Citi understands it must evolve in order to compete,” she says.

Since change needed to happen at many levels – people, technology and culture — it was exactly the type of monumental challenge that she loves, working with a team she admires.

“My proudest moments have always been around building healthy cultures where people can thrive and develop. I am happiest when someone is able to advance in their career due to an environment or an opportunity we created together,” she says.

Currently there are many trends that will change the face of the industry, particularly as fintech firms are starting to get their banking licenses, which is a big game changer for traditional banks. Now, she says, it is about providing the best possible experience for the customer, including a focus on safety and security, all of which will drive innovation in the financial services space.

Supporting Diversity Efforts

McDonald finds barriers for women in financial services to be similar to many other industries; however, she finds things are improving on a daily basis across the board. “It is heartening to see the increasing number of women in all levels, but particularly in more senior positions where they can be role models and provide opportunities for others,” she notes.

She is active in Citi Women, a corporate-wide diversity effort designed to unlock the combined potential of women and Citi by inspiring progress, leading change and driving success. The program aims to attract, develop, advance and retain female talent at all levels within the company.

In addition, for the first time, she and Citi colleagues attended the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing as an organization this year, and included a number of women from Citi’s technology groups to learn, network and share.

One of the founding members of a corporate women’s group, McDonald says she has been “lucky enough to be in some pretty brilliant circles.” She even helped found an Oval (Only Very Awesome Ladies) organization that is still in existence today in Seattle.

Interests as Varied as Her Career

McDonald loves to read, garden, bake and remodel houses. “My son is now 20 so he is taking less of my mental bandwidth these days, but instead, our lives now revolve around our enormous and very hairy dog and two cats.” New to the New Jersey area and just getting settled, she is looking forward to finding more ways to give back to my community.

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Voice of Experience: Amity Millhiser, Chief Client Officer, PwC US

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amity-millhiserBy Cathie Ericson

When Amity Millhiser considers her career with PwC, the word that comes to mind is “expansive.” Over her 20 years with the firm, she has worked across countries, industry sectors and lines of business.

“I am proud that I have been able to have such a multi-faceted career while raising my amazing daughter,” she says. “If you’re courageous enough to pursue the opportunities that are thrown your way and think ambitiously about your future, you can have amazing experiences. I’ve spent my entire career in one firm yet had multiple careers within that framework.”

From Wineries to Tech – A Career Spanning Multiple, Varied Industries

Millhiser joined PwC in San Francisco right out of college working with small businesses which at the time were primarily wineries. She knew she wanted to go abroad so she agreed to a three-year assignment with PwC Switzerland, ultimately staying for 19 years. While there she became the first female partner as well as starting the M&A business for the region. “It was a fantastic opportunity to travel the world and work with amazing clients and a wonderful team,” she says. “Switzerland is as global and multinational as it gets.”

Upon her return to PwC’s US firm she became a managing partner and chief client officer for the Silicon Valley office. There she finds every day to be a new experience as she gets to know and understand the complex issues that her clients are facing and marry those with the experience PwC has to bring the right solution.

Since technology colors every industry sector – whether finance, retail or healthcare — she enjoys digging in to a fascinating conversation with each and every client about the impact that technology is having on their business, as they identify opportunities and risks at all different time horizons.

Sharing Lessons With Colleagues

Although Millhiser is cognizant of the many opportunities and experiences she has had, looking back she wishes she had realized the great impact she could have had from the very beginning. “You have to be willing to ask for opportunities and speak up if things interest you,” she says. “I always advocate for young people to be willing to articulate the types of experiences they’d like, and then be willing to work hard once they receive that coveted assignment. The risk you take in terms of trying new things can be the best thing you ever did.”

She also advises women to seek three things early in their career: business training, mentoring and broad experience. “Those are three differentiators that I really have benefitted from.”

As women rise through the ranks, she reminds them to be supportive of one another – not just cheering the accomplishments, but having the courage to provide feedback that will help each one continue to excel. “The Silicon Valley practice I lead is full of incredible women who lead large client teams, each of us focused on our clients and the market. We are all very supportive of each other but we know that when you genuinely want your peers to get ahead, you not only celebrate their success but offer constructive feedback so everyone rises together,” she says, noting the value of encouraging women at all stages of their lives and careers.

Becoming Agents of Change

One group that Millhiser supports wholeheartedly is HeforShe, a UN initiative designed to promote gender equality around the world. “I have always felt very fortunate to be part of a family and company that encouraged me,” she says, which is why she knows that it’s vital to commit to women and girls on a global level.

As one of the initial ten corporate HeForShe IMPACT champions, PwC continues to foster advocates as men and women work together to be agents of change all over the world. As part of its commitment, the firm has developed and launched a male-focused gender curriculum designed for global reach so they can educate others to be gender advocates and increase the number of women in leadership roles. While the firm has achieved parity in terms of intake, a major goal is to continue to retain women at higher levels of leadership.

Encouraging Financial Literacy For Young People

Another area where Millhiser is actively involved is “Earn Your Future,” a PWC US program that was launched with the idea to leverage the firm’s people, talent and time to develop the financial skills of young people in the community. “We have to help them develop financial acumen but also be prepared for jobs of tomorrow,” she notes. The initiative involves an interactive curriculum designed to give students in grades 3 to 12 financial and economic knowledge. Educators are supported with tools that include real-time feedback, guides and other resources.

In 2013 the firm set out to reach more than 2.5 million students and educators with an initial commitment of $160 million, including one million service hours. Since then, partners and staff have given over 800,000 service hours, reached 3.5 million students and educators, and made an investment of over $80 million. In 2015, they raised the stakes to $190 million.

The program has been hugely successful in terms of reaching and empowering more educators and students than we ever thought possible, while also inspiring our people to be active in the community,” Millhiser says.

Seeing the World

Having “seen the world through PwC,” Millhiser continues to indulge her love of travel as much as possible, choosing beach locations when she can.

She has enjoyed sharing that international perspective with her 17-year-old daughter. “I’ve been able to show her the world outside the community she lives in. Because of that, she has a natural curiosity and an ability to go into new situations and adapt and make them work.”

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Voice of Experience: Jeewon Kim Serrato, Co-Head of the Global Privacy & Data Protection Group, Shearman & Sterling LLP

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“You need to be true to yourself, especially as a woman in the tech industry,” says Jeewon Kim Serrato. There aren’t many women in cybersecurity so I know I stand out, but I also bring a different and valued perspective,” she says. “I am comfortable in my own skin and have confidence in my skills and capabilities, and I advise others to embrace their differences rather than trying to be someone they are not.”

voice-of-experience-jeewon-kim-serratoIn her view, combining this approach with intellectual curiosity and the willingness to learn and think creatively to come up with solutions is what will allow professionals to succeed in the industry.

Building a Career in Data Privacy

After graduating from law school at UC Berkeley, Serrato’s first job was in Washington, D.C., working on the Hill. That early experience where she was actually writing law gave her a whole different perspective, and as she says, molded her into the person she is today. “It was an incredible experience as a young lawyer to be in an environment where I truly realized that laws are made by people.”

That work also exposed her to the issue which has been a constant throughout her career and in which she has become an expert: working to balance national security issues with data privacy.

After leaving the Hill, Serrato worked at a law firm, delving into the intersection of law and policy and privacy issues related to mass media and the digital world, and then served as a senior privacy executive at LexisNexis and as Chief Privacy Officer at Fannie Mae.
The wide range of experience she has had working in public policy, business and private practice gives her a unique perspective, one that she has now brought to Shearman & Sterling in the privacy and data protection practice.

There, she is excited to be building the privacy practice within the firm’s cross-functional global network of lawyers. With offices in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, they oversee myriad issues, from transactions and litigation to regulatory and compliance work.

“When I first joined Shearman, my vision was to develop a comprehensive, 360- degree practice. One of my priorities is to talk to our clients about their needs and help them respond when incidents break despite their best preparatory work.”

Many clients are already reaching out on advisory and compliance issues — curious about how they can prepare for major changes to the European rules coming in 2018.

The most challenging issue she identifies in the privacy industry right now is rapidly evolving regulations. Their global clients are challenged by the desire to have a consistent policy, when even the definition of what is “personal” fluctuates via a patchwork of laws. Even companies that are based in the United States need to consider that it’s likely their data is global, due to cloud storage or traveling employees.

Blending Professional and Personal Activities Helps Create Balance

Serrato knows it’s necessary to focus on work/life balance by prioritizing how you spend your day. “It becomes more difficult as we rise to more senior levels because there are even more demands on our time. And as our work becomes more demanding, our personal life also becomes more complicated.”

That’s where she believes outsourcing can be helpful, whether you rely on your family for assistance or use an online app to help with your errands. “There are so many resources you can use that allow you to outsource tasks that are less important so you can focus on those that are.”

Serrato is involved in a number of industry groups: two noteworthy ones are an appointment to sit on the Department of Homeland Security Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, and serving as a Dell Security Solutions Chief Information Security Officer Advisory board member.

Not only are these activities relevant to her work with clients, but Serrato sees other benefits to traveling and meeting with peers who are immersed in cybersecurity and data privacy issues. “We learn a lot from each other as we think through the laws and regulations that impact our clients, but these groups also serve as a platform to collectively determine best practices and industry standards to work towards,” she says.

She also appreciates the networking opportunities available at Shearman, and in particular supports the WISER (Women’s Initiative for Success, Excellence and Retention) associate-led group which encourages informal networking.

Though Serrato has enjoyed her time in D.C., she is looking forward to an upcoming transfer to San Francisco, for both personal and professional reasons. She intends to spend more time with family there, but also appreciates the high-profile tech companies with whom she can consult.

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