For our Voices of Experience series, The Glass Hammer interviewed Dorothy Price Hill and asked her about her experience in private equity and her advice for young women in finance who might be interested in pursuing a similar career path.

Ms. Hill is the Director of Investor Relations and Business Development at a New York-based private equity investment firm specializing in buyouts and buildups of business services companies at the lower end of the U.S. middle market. She has a 14-year record of accomplishment in alternative investments and investment banking, including experience in private equity, hedge funds, risk management, investor relations and capital markets.

Prior to her current role, Dorothy worked for Capital Dynamics, Deutsche Bank, McKinsey, Siemens and the Council on Foreign Relations. In the 1990’s, she spent six years overseas with Goldman Sachs during the firm’s major international expansion and completed assignments in Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and France working with corporate and high net worth clients.

Ms. Hill holds an M.B.A degree from the NYU’s Stern School of Business and a B.A. from Dartmouth College. She is a guest lecturer at the Stern School of Business; serves as co-head of the New York City chapter of 85 Broads, the Goldman Sachs alumnae network and does annual fundraising for Mt. Sinai Hospital’s Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit, among other organizations.

How did you get started in financial services?

I became interested in financial services after meeting several financial-firm CEOs in my first post-college job at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. There, I had the opportunity to work with Fortune 500 CEOs, leaders of non-profit organizations, and other world leaders and prominent academics.

Please tell us how a past success – or failure – has helped you learn and grow.

While I’ve been lucky to work for some great firms in positions of increasing responsibility, my career path has not always been smooth. I once worked for an organization led by a highly-experienced financial professional who was borderline abusive to his colleagues, and while it wasn’t fun, it was a tremendous learning experience. I learned a lot about the psychology of working with others and what does, and does not, work in terms of motivating colleagues and teams.”

Read more

This piece is the first in the Spotlight on People series, in which the editors of The Glass Hammer ask high-ranking women in business to share their secrets to success.

We first interviewed Pat David, MD and Head of Diversity for Citi Markets & Banking, about her experiences in banking and her advice on mentoring, balancing your work and your life, and getting ahead. Pat had the following wise words about mentoring to offer young women beginning a career in finance:

  • Take ownership of your career
  • Be a mentor to others – formal or informal
  • Build strong relationships with senior management and other people of influence – create your own ‘board of directors’.

Read more

Three times in the last week, I have had the same déjà vu-inducing experience. First, when I was helping a client prepare a high-tech conference speech, second, when writing an article about dark pools of liquidity in the European equity trading landscape (welcome to my world), and finally, while listening to a friend bemoan her ineffective interdepartmental meetings. My friend perfectly summed up the common thread in these experiences: “How are we supposed get anything done if we can’t understand a word anyone says?”

Read more

In the world of marketing, where the main currency is brand recognition and reputation, companies strive to build their brand equity, meaning the value that clients and prospects perceive in a brand.

But the concept of brand equity applies to individuals, not just companies and products. Just like Volvos are perceived as reliable and Rolexes are perceived as luxurious, people cultivate certain traits as they navigate office relationships and seek to advance their careers. These labels affect the perception of your value as an employee and define your personal brand equity.

Read more

Voice of Experience: Women who have made it, on their own terms, reaching the upper echelons of the professional world. TheGlassHammer is delighted to give a platform to those women who have blazed a trail…Christy Roux Bremner, Global MD, PORTIA, Thomson Financial, gives us her career insights.

Read more

Voice of Experience: women who have made it share their wisdom with TheGlassHammer: Patricia David, Head of Diversity, Citi Markets & Banking.

Read more