by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

Annie Morris, Managing Director of Linedata‘s business in North America, graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a joint degree in business and humanities, confident that her skills learned would translate into skills usable in the business world.

“By the time the recession [of the 90s] hit, the only people getting jobs out of school were accountants and engineers, but the skills that I picked up taking those humanities classes have paid off ten-fold. In the humanities program, all the exams were face-to-face with your professor, so even though we were pretty young, we had to be able to clearly express our thoughts and positions in order to get a better grade. Again, that skill is something that can be used and transferred into any role.” She added that the writing requirement of many humanities programs “is not to be underestimated. It is so important to be able to write succinctly to be able to make your point.”

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by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

With a background in IT and project management, it may surprise some that Cleo Thompson, the head of PwC’s Gender Advisory Council, is the company’s global go-to person for gender diversity. But her personal philosophy may explain it:

“Don’t pigeonhole yourself. Don’t think you are restricted by what you studied. If you are flexible, there are lots of ways to use your skills to make a sideways move, especially within a large organization like PwC.” She added, “I’ve never yet had a job in PwC that someone has done before –I’ve either applied for a newly-created role or I’ve convinced management to craft the position for me.” She advised that she prefers to “drag myself up and bring someone along with me – many of the people I have recruited and trained within PwC have been promoted and gone onto great things.”

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by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

Anne Wallace is a trailblazer. In a 35-year career in banking and financial services that has taken her from the public to the private sector and back again, Wallace has broken down barriers for women and has reshaped the industry in the process.

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by Natalie Sabia (New York City)

Her journey started immediately after business school when she landed a much-coveted job at Disney. Over twenty years, she worked her way up in the company, holding various leadership positions in finance, operations and technology with studio entertainment, as well as corporate and consumer products divisions.

The imminent birth of her first child was a turning point. About to go on maternity leave with her first child, she was debating whether to take time off to be a stay-at-home mother. Her boss at the time talked her into coming back to work part-time. She was concerned, not sure how to manage the competing demands of work and motherhood. “I was nervous for the change, but I tried not to second guess my decision,” Glaser said. “If he hadn’t invited me back, I would never be in the position I am now.” By accepting the offer, she was able to raise her kids but also keep her foot in the door.

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by Caroline Shannon (Akron, Ohio)

For Heather Gates-Massoudi, balancing work and personal life has always been a juggling act. When she was in her twenties, it was all work and no play, with her spending much of her time cranking out audits or investment banking deals long into the night. Then, as her early thirties rolled around, Gates-Massoudi found herself squeezing in more personal time, including annual vacations to exotic locales. The same went for her late thirties, when she was able to take time off for her maternity leaves and to spend time with her family.

“Which leads me to today, where balancing means enjoying the time I spend at work and enjoying the time I spend with family and friends,” says Gates-Massoudi, 40, who is the director of venture capital services at Deloitte. “I feel incredibly balanced today taking time to work out, learn with my children, laugh with my spouse, spend with friends and being thoughtful, but efficient at work.”

And Gates-Massoudi’s thoughtful efficiency is exactly what got her where she is today. Graduating with her bachelor’s of arts in accounting from Colorado University, she moved right on to public accounting at Coopers & Lybrand which is now PricewaterhouseCoopers. Despite a brief hiatus, she spent nearly a decade there before continuing on to investment banking at Hambrecht & Quist, where she worked on initial public offerings in corporate finance. Once her work was done there, she joined venture-backed company, Participate Systems, as the vice president of business development and general manager of channel partnerships, eventually, leading to her position at Deloitte.

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