Tag Archive for: Mover and Shaker

Elena Kim: VP Business Development, TV/OTT at Global Music Rights

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Elena Kim“I found a different lease on my otherness. I can’t chase everybody’s projection of me,” says Elena Kim, “but the more I recognize the uniqueness of my own experience, the more I feel I have to offer.”

Kim speaks to how she learned to dream, connecting through differences, emotional regulation and integrating masculine and feminine aspects of leadership.

How the Invitation To Dream Changed Everything

Kim spent the first six years of her career in investment banking in Moscow, before the financial crisis of 2008. She decided to take the ‘opportunity’ of the market slump to invest in herself by pursuing an MBA. While filling out the application, she had to answer where she envisioned herself in five years, which she had never considered: “It quickly became a self-discovery journey for me.”

When Kim pondered what she cared or was passionate about, she realized she didn’t know what she really wanted.

“It was the first time when I allowed myself to dream as if anything was possible,” reflects Kim. “At that time, it was films and TV series – my window into the bigger world, into a different world. Growing up in Uzbekistan, I never had allowed myself to even consider the possibility of working in entertainment.”

She received her MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles when digital media was becoming prevalent in media and entertainment, which created a permissive playing field of newbies. Jumping on the rising wave of digital transformation as major players were just coming onto the scene, she joined a startup and began to reinvent her career path.

For several years, she acquired film and TV content for digital platforms, such as Hulu, Vimeo and iflix. For the past three years, she has negotiated and licensed music rights for programming across broadcast, cable, local TV networks and streaming platforms, which gives her a bird’s eye view of the whole TV and film industry.

“What I’m passionate about is figuring out what makes people’s hearts beat faster. What do they really love to watch and what determines that?” she says.

Having worked across emerging markets, she observed the obvious: whereas what people prefer to watch in Latin America might differ from that in Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa or Southeast Asia, the love for stories about human experience is shared universally.

The Curiosity to Learn

Early on, Kim believes that her strongest asset was curiosity and willingness to dig deep into a subject. She notes she had amazing teachers who taught her the structure of learning a new skill and how to dissect a new concept to understand it.

“So how do you learn a new industry, for example? You look at the main players and their business models: how do people make money? What is the current political, economic, legislative environment impacting the industry? What are the major trends? What stands behind the main buzzwords?” asks Kim. “As you learn the basics, you then start tuning into where the opportunity is. What forms core competitive advantage, and what is driving the opportunity, what needs to hold true to fully unleash value? etc.”

When she was coming from Russia to the U.S., shifting from banking to media, she applied this process: “It became very clear to me that the wind was blowing towards online viewing, and I knew I wanted a job that had something to do with digital distribution.”

She loves how digital distribution of content included many more voices in a global dialogue. Regardless of where you are from and what you believe, you can connect over Game of Thrones or Friends.

The Value In Our Differences

As an avid globe trotter (over 60 countries and counting), she finds traveling therapeutic. She especially enjoys interacting with local people who don’t speak her language, figuring out ways to communicate beyond verbal. She holds such memories dear to her heart after surviving an earthquake in Nepal, sharing music with children from indigenous tribes in Indonesia, self-driving through Botswana and Namibia with local hitchhikers, getting help from local police after being robbed in Argentina, for example.

During one such trip, she traveled to Peru and had her first experience with plant medicine under the guidance of a local shaman, who held space with due reverence to ancient practices and traditions: “This was learning on a cosmic level. I won’t even attempt to describe it in words. If my spiritual inquiry started with understanding the concepts of neuroplasticity (who you are today is not a verdict), my awakening was turbo charged by living through the learning during this psychedelic experience.”

Kim continues, “One of the things now running through my veins is the knowing that what makes me connect with people is the ways in which we are similar, what intrigues and draws me to people is the ways in which we are different.”

“My personal journey with ‘otherness’ has been an emotional roller coaster. I am Korean ethnically, born in a Muslim country of Uzbekistan, mentally grew up in Russian culture in the Russian society,” says Kim. “Now I live in the U.S. as a gay woman, a scientifically-inclined spiritual psychonaut, where I’m ‘too woo woo’ in analytical circles and ‘too in my head’ in esoteric environments, etc. Of course, these are mostly distorted self-assessments.”

Growing up, she felt the disconnection of being Asian in Russia by not ‘presenting’ as Russian. Yet she speaks Russian, not Korean or Chinese, for which she’s regularly mistaken. Last year, prior to the current geopolitical crisis, she spent time in Russia, where she identified a piece in herself that she feels is Russian: her sense of depth. She does not give people any box to put her in anymore: “I don’t even fit the labels I have for myself,” she notes, “I’ve stopped explaining. ‘I’m from Russia’ is all I say now.”

To Kim, whatever makes us different is what helps us to represent a specific side of humanity as part of the whole. She resonates with Jerome Braggs’s notion that if you believe in universal oneness, then excluding experiences that are unique leads to robbing others of a fuller wholeness. Therefore, the more different we’re perceived we are, the more important it is for us to show up in all areas of life – and she notes those differences are defined in so many ways beyond ethnicity, race, gender or sexual orientation.

Integrating Feminine and Masculine Traits in Leadership

In a previous role, Kim was encouraged to start an initiative to foster diversity, equality and inclusion across employees from 40+ different countries and cultural backgrounds, which activated for her the importance of so-to-speak “feminine” qualities of leadership, especially when dealing with something intangible like what gives people a collective sense of purpose, belonging, safety for authenticity, and striving for excellence.

Kim recounts we have historically glorified and rewarded traits of leadership that are labeled as “masculine” – assertiveness, linear thinking, clarity without questioning and go-getting. But traits that we assign as “feminine” – such as empathy, collaboration, creating constructive atmosphere – are considered nice-to-have but not necessarily perceived as attributes of leadership or rewarded.

“The DE&I initiative quickly led me to a path of dissecting and challenging the leadership paradigm that we were operating under,” reflects Kim. “It’s so clear to me that to be successful in a multicultural organization, you have to have an acute level of empathy and cultural awareness. And the soft skills are increasingly becoming must-have.”

She has come to see that “feminine” leadership qualities are a necessary complement to “masculine” qualities, not a compromise or trade-of. “I used to hold this myth that once you start being softer, you lose your edge, an ability to reach goals in a timely manner. I had this notion you either be like a robot or you float in the clouds, and that was a misconception.”

Reflecting on the evolution of her leadership style, she says: “Even if I was telling myself a different story, early on I was truly managing out of egoic fear of losing control. I was never a micro-manager, but I was a micro-controller. I had to know everything, call the shots, be the one interacting with management to control the narrative, etc.”

Kim realizes this came from being extremely demanding on herself, and meant she came off polished and unapproachable. As she steps up as a leader, her focus is increasingly shifting to creating opportunities for others to push their growth edges, normalizing making mistakes while minimizing their impact.

Now she finds herself at a company that’s thriving despite the global pandemic. “We have set clear goals, roles, strategy and timeline, while the flow and interaction within the team remains fluid, supportive and trusting. I don’t need to chase anyone to get their job done, rather keep communicating progress, so folks can self-direct their work streams to deliver on time. This release of control within set boundaries is still work in progress as my ego peeks its head constantly. With that, I find myself being successful at my job, really supported by my team and a much happier me.”

Emotional Regulation and Co-Creation

Kim feels the pandemic, socio-economic inequity, and current geopolitical crises have brought a set of unique challenges around managing people’s mental and emotional states. Leaders are not necessarily equipped with due skillsets, protocols or guidelines to attend to people’s emotional turbulence. She is increasingly interested in the area of emotional self-regulation and has heard many executives speak to challenges of operating in toxic environments where stress and reactivity are the norms: “Even in my relatively emotionally intelligent company, without the acquired self-regulation practices I’ve exposed myself to in the last couple of years, I could not have managed some of the incidents that have come up inside and outside of the company. A simple thing like taking a deep breath might lead to a more beneficial outcome in an emotionally charged situation. These tools are teachable and the impact is quickly palpable.”

Her latest fascinations include Web 3.0 and decentralization, and she’s presently teaching a blockchain fundamentals course at chief.com to a network for executive women.

By Aimee Hansen

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Veronica Willis: Investment Strategy Analyst, Wells Fargo Investment Institute

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Veronica Willis“I’ve learned a lot of strategies about productivity during this working-from-home time due to COVID-19,” says Veronica Willis. “I’ve also learned a lot about what really is high and low priority, so now I know what to focus on and I will take this back to the office with me.”

Wells Fargo’s Willis discusses a career shift into investment strategy, finding her own stride as a leader, and what the remote working environment has taught her so far.

Moving Toward Investment Analysis

A Chicago native, Willis graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in mathematics with a concentration in statistics and a second major in Spanish language and literature.

After joining Wells Fargo in 2012, she put her quantitative prowess into application in researching and running quantitative models for developed and emerging countries, commodities and currencies.

From working in heavy quantitative analysis, she began to investigate the strategic side and felt herself pulled in that direction.

“I realized the writing side was interesting to me,” says Willis. “I began to explore the research and strategy side, especially around commodities. And while the quantitative work still mattered, I found my interests were going in a different direction.”

In 2015, she began to move into research and recommendations around asset allocation with the head of asset allocation, bringing strategic market insight into advising investors on how to minimize risk and maximize success, in alignment with their investment goals.

Currently she is part of Wells Fargo Investment Institute, focusing on clients of Wells Fargo’s Wealth & Investment Management division —where much like bridging the rich diversity of her two university majors, she combines an aptitude for quantitative and qualitative insight.

Becoming a Leader

Willis is proud of the new tax efficient asset allocation models that launched on December 1, a project she worked on throughout this year and for which she took the lead.

“It’s been a great opportunity to show my leadership abilities,” reflects Willis. “It’s really amazing we were able to get this completed in this complicated year.”

As she takes on new leadership opportunities and challenges, Willis is coming into stride with the gear-shift that rising to leadership asks of her.

“As a leader, I’m excited to learn how to take the lead in projects, how to manage peers and take ownership,” she says. “That can be a fine balance if you move from working with people as peers to then being in charge of a project. I struggled a little with the shift at first.”

However as she ventured into this territory, Willis quickly gleaned?? that real leadership is never a one-size-fits all approach, but a matter of listening and attentiveness.

“I think the key is to figure out how people want to be managed, style-wise,” says Willis. “Some people want autonomy and to be left alone. Some people want a lot of check-ins. As a leader, you need to meet them in the style that is best for them.”

Willis is now enjoying expanding her experience in people management.

“I want to be a leader who develops people on the team,” she says, “I want to guide them in their careers, especially now in this remote work environment, as teams are geo-diverse, and there’s just not the opportunity to catch up in the office as there once was.”

Attuning the Work-Life Balance

Willis finds that the remote workplace has prompted her to increase mastery of her time management and prioritization skills.

“I’ve learned time management working from home,” says Willis, who produced a massive amount of intensive research during the volatility in the spring. “I used to pull long days and check emails outside of the office constantly. I realized when I was working from home that I had to draw some boundaries and stop at a certain time.”

Stepping away from the office, Willis has found it easier to curtail the 24/7 availability habits and instead create a better work-life balance.

“It’s very easy to stay logged in, checking and replying to emails, long after the work day has finished,” says Willis. “I’ve learned it’s okay to turn off the work phone, and I plan to continue to have the off-time delineation when we go back to the office.”

Mentoring and Supporting Others

During the first year of her career with Wells Fargo, Willis had a formal sponsor who advocated for her and still does to this day.

Willis has found that mentorship is very valuable in building up her transferable skills, and she wishes to pass that support onto others.

“My mentor helped me find my voice to help others and build my skills,” she says. “I mentor people who are now going through the same program that I myself started my career in.”

Outside of work, Willis also serves on a young professional board at the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery, focused on stopping abuse and neglect of children. She supports the organization in creating a safe space for kids to come and providing help-line support for overwhelmed parents in need.

Be Willing to Discern and Expand

If she could say anything to her younger self, it would be to practice discernment and own your ‘no’s’ as much as your ‘yes’s’ in alignment with valuing your time and professional goals.

“It’s okay to say no to some requests,” she reflects. “I was always saying ‘yes’ early in my career, and I would tell my younger self to be more selective, especially if you’re trying to build a specific skill-set.”

Her advice to others is not to let your past interests or roles define the latitude of your future possibilities.

“Don’t necessarily box yourself in — you don’t have to be what you studied in college. You can explore new things that interest you and that you have passion around,” Willis encourages. “It’s okay to build those skill, and then it’s okay to follow your passions and grow.”

 

Risks

All investing involves risks including the possible loss of principal.

 

Disclosures

Wells Fargo Investment Institute, Inc., is a registered investment adviser and wholly-owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., a bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

The information in this report is for general information purposes only and is not intended to predict or guarantee the future performance of any individual security, market sector or the markets generally. 

The information contained herein constitutes general information and is not directed to, designed for, or individually tailored to, any particular investor or potential investor. This report is not intended to be a client-specific suitability or best interest analysis or recommendation, an offer to participate in any investment, or a recommendation to buy, hold or sell securities. Do not use this report as the sole basis for investment decisions. Do not select an asset class or investment product based on performance alone. Consider all relevant information, including your existing portfolio, investment objectives, risk tolerance, liquidity needs and investment time horizon.

Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment Management, a division within the Wells Fargo & Company enterprise, provides financial products and services through bank and brokerage affiliates of Wells Fargo & Company. Brokerage products and services offered through Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. Bank products are offered through Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

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Luvleen Sidhu, Co-Founder and CEO, BankMobile, a division of Customers Bank

Luvleen SidhuAs a successful entrepreneur, Luvleen Sidhu, co-founder and CEO of BankMobile, has learned firsthand the many challenges and satisfactions CEOs experience.

“While I am incredibly proud of my work leading this company, I’ve developed a new appreciation for the challenges leaders face. It takes a lot of patience and dedication, mixed with the understanding that you are probably going to have to change course along the way as you learn more.”

Finding the Creativity in Finance

Changing course comes naturally to Sidhu; although her dad was in finance, she initially pursued a premed path at Harvard. When she realized she preferred to follow in his footsteps, her parents gave her their blessing, and she began working at Lehman Brothers while still in school and joined full-time after graduation. She soon learned how fast things can change as her first day coincided with the bankruptcy. Fortunately, her role was on the hedge fund side so she was protected and stayed there for two years after it became Neuberger Berman. “It was a pivotal moment for me as I realized the fragility of the financial industry and also saw people who lost everything, a realization that has impacted me and helped influence what we do today.”

She then went to work at Customers Bank for a year, exploring digital bank models, then earned her MBA at Wharton. That’s where she got the entrepreneurial bug, which was reinforced by a project during a summer position in the financial services practice at Booz & Company, where she was helping a client strategize how to launch its own digital bank.

She got a full time offer to join Booz, which became part of PwC, and that’s when the concept of BankMobile came up, as a culmination of everything she had explored throughout her career to date. “As my classes showed, you have to find a need and see where you can do it better.”

Indeed, she saw an opportunity in banking where customers were lacking the experience they wanted, and she felt there could be a more affordable, transparent banking model that would be digital first—and also profitable.

Innovation Leads to Success

With that idea in mind, Sidhu partnered with Customers Bank to complement its strength as a small business bank and incubate BankMobile as a consumer digital bank. Since then she has overseen its monumental growth and was named “Fintech Woman of the Year” by LendIt in 2019, when the bank was also honored as “Most Innovative Bank.”

Currently she is excited about a strategy they are pursuing of white label banking for companies that want a unique way to attract, retain and delight customers. Since BankMobile has already identified the pain points, they can provide the end-to-end experiences that allows companies to offer their own branded banking services while avoiding the regulatory challenges inherent in becoming a bank. Already they are working with nearly 800 colleges, as well as T-Mobile.

That decision came from the realization that sometimes you have to pivot, and while you might not end up how you started, it can be just as meaningful. This business shift came after a year-and-a-half when they realized that while they wanted to create a brand that would resonate with their customers, the direct to consumer model was not going to be as profitable. “The choice was to stick with this consumer brand or pivot, which would allow us to still be true to the mission to create more affordable, transparent banking. We recognized that we can embrace a different way to accomplish our goals and mission, which brought about the change from B2C to B2B.”

Seeking Advice from Like-Minded People

Throughout her life, Sidhu has recognized the importance of mentors, starting with the superintendent of her high school and middle school who was a mentor to her then and has since started his own executive coaching company. In that role, he has provided her leadership team with coaching to help develop their thinking around core values and mission.

“He’s an eternal learner and having someone I’ve known throughout my life whom I trust and respect has been an important relationship,” Sidhu says.

She also counts her father as both mentor and role model. Currently he is CEO of Customers Bancorp, the parent bank, but previously he had helped grow Sovereign Bank, now Santander Bank, into a top national bank. “I love his patience and excitement. Even when things get tough, he is lighthearted and gets excited and energized by challenges. He rolls with the punches,” she says, adding that of course she also appreciates that he had given her a head start in learning about banking at a young age.

Today she also finds inspiration among her fellow CEOs as an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, which meets weekly to discuss current topics and share best practices. Throughout the COVID-19 situation, she has found it invaluable to hear how others are navigating similar situations in varied areas, such as communicating with customers and employees, cutting costs, negotiating leases, working with a remote team and most of all, protecting their health and that of their business.

Spirituality is very important to Sidhu, who starts every morning with 45 minutes of chanting. “It energizes me and helps me reflect and find clarity toward my intentions for that day and my life as a whole.”

by Cathie Ericson

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Mover and Shaker Q&A: Alpa Lally, Vice President of Data Business, Experian

Alpa LallyAlpa joined Experian in 2012 as an MBA program participant after initially working in the civil and structural engineering field in Canada and the US. After completing her program rotation she joined Experian’s North America Consumer Information Services (CIS) business as a Director of Prospecting. In 2015, Alpa joined the Global team as a Vice President of Strategy and in 2016, she joined the EITS organization to lead the Application Programming Interface (API) Centre of Excellence team. Most recently she joined the Experian Consumer Information Services to run the Data Business in North America, where she is responsible for product management related to Experian’s core and alternative data assets, including credit scoring models and tools. Additionally, Alpa is the Women in Experian (WiE) EITS ambassador, the sponsor of the Namaste Employee Resource Group (ERG) and is considered a thought leader in the industry by participating in speaking engagements globally. We caught up with her to learn how she is helping consumers gain access to the financial services that they need in her role at Experian.

TGH (theglasshammer): What are you working on right now?

AL (Alpa Lally): I oversee the products and scores at Experian. I feel lucky to be helping people access the credit they need while helping lenders make smarter decisions. We recently launched Experian Lift, a new scoring model that helps lenders score credit invisibles and people with a limited credit history. For the 40 million people who are currently viewed as unscoreable to a lender, this is a big deal. People who are new to this country, just getting their financial feet wet, or are recovering from a significant life-changing event may not have the traditional credit history typically used to assess creditworthiness and Experian Lift is our latest example of our commitment to help them get access to the financial services they need.

TGH: Where does your passion for this topic come from?

AL: My passion for improving financial access really comes from my own personal experiences and challenges that I have faced with credit access. I’m originally from Canada and immigrated to the U.S. When I moved, none of my positive credit history came along with me, so I had to start building my credit history from scratch. Proving you are a good credit risk to a lender when you have no traditional credit history is a real challenge and it’s a reality many people face.

Later in life, I also went through a major life-changing event: I got a divorce. This meant I was removed from joint credit accounts and was facing a lot of new debt. Because of these major life events, there were times that I had to rely on alternative forms of lending with high interest rates since I did not qualify for traditional, more affordable credit. My experiences fuel my passion to help people get the financial services they need when they need them.

TGH: What is the biggest challenge you face in your mission?

AL: One of the biggest challenges we face in the mission to improve financial health is that there is still a certain level of hesitation people have in sharing their own data. From where I sit, I’ve seen the benefits sharing data can have on a person’s ability to access many of the things we take for granted in life, such as qualifying for a loan for a new car.
As our technologies continue to evolve, I am able to see firsthand how sharing additional data has impacted many of the one million customers who have signed up for Experian Boost since we first launched six months ago. With this new product, for the first-time people have the opportunity to contribute information directly to their credit report. I’ve seen how many have boosted their score instantly by adding their positive cell phone, cable, utility and mobile phone payments to their report. As this trend continues and we see new tools like this creating a meaningful impact, I think more and more people will understand the value sharing data can create in their own lives because it not only has the potential to increase your credit score, it can allow consumers to get better access to credit for things they might need, like a car or personal loan.

TGH: What is your most recent success?

AL: I’d have to say my role in helping launch Experian Lift and its go to market strategy and the continued support of Experian Boost are my most recent successes. I feel good about these initiatives because an individual has never been able to directly impact the information included on their credit report until Experian Boost. Being a part of this groundbreaking tool was a proud moment for me both personally and professionally. Because it was such a new concept, there was a lot at stake, and we were unsure how people would respond. The results we’ve seen to date confirm that when we put financial health the heart of what we do, we have an opportunity to make really amazing things happen for people and businesses.

TGH: What is the one thing you know now that you wish you had known when you were first starting this endeavor?

AL: It is okay to stumble, and you will. No launch, pitch, or new innovation goes off without a hiccup or two so your ability to push forward is vital. To achieve this, you need to have constant feedback and a team that is in it together.

TGH: What is your advice for other women who have a challenge they wish to pursue?

AL: Go for it! I think as women we tend to overanalyze and overthink our actions. There’s never going to be a perfect time to pursue a challenge or a new endeavor. Women should also feel empowered to look for mentors and successful professionals in the industry and ask their advice. I’ve gained a lot from being mentored and mentoring others. In either situation, I always have key takeaways that I find help me both personally and professionally.

I also recommend getting actively involved at your organization. At Experian, we celebrate the diversity of ideas and backgrounds across our company. I have actively embraced our Employee Resource Groups and participated in events and initiatives such as International Women’s Day, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Hispanic Heritage Month, Pride and Veterans Day, among others. These employee groups are a great place to feel a sense of belonging and connect with people across the company with different backgrounds. It can be really beneficial to have these networks and relationships in place throughout your career as some of these people will be the ones you go to when you hit roadblocks and need help or advice.

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Mover and Shaker: Sylvia Guinan, Financial Advisor, Wells Fargo Advisors

Sylvia Guinan“Our time is now,” says Sylvia Guinan, financial advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors, in encouraging women to consider a career in the financial services industry.

It is incredibly rewarding to help individuals feel a sense of clarity, confidence and control over their investments and more importantly their future. “Years ago, the industry might have been all about stocks and performance, and while that’s still important, now everything is much more holistic. Client’s dreams, goals and fears are what drive the investment process. Women are skilled at connecting and getting people to talk about what is most meaningful to them, as well as what their fears and concerns are, which makes them excellent financial advisors,” she says.

While the number one cause of chronic stress among adults is finances, she finds that the truth is that when you dig deeper, most people are not concerned just about what they’re investing in, but how their finances can work for them by supporting them and their future plans.

A Focus on Providing Solace During Divorce

Guinan began her career at Smith Barney in New York, focusing on this type of holistic investment planning, which has always been the core of her business. She moved to Wells Fargo Advisors in 2009, where she was able to continue that commitment to ensuring each of her clients has a solid plan driving their investment decisions. “I feel fortunate that I’ve always loved what I do, and what creates that satisfaction is my long-term, meaningful connection with the clients; you almost become family because you’re one of the first phone calls when something exciting happens or when they have a need.”

Over the past several years, Guinan has created a niche practice, with nearly 70 percent of her clients being women in transition – divorce, widowhood or financial changes. She has earned her designation as a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®) and has built a strong rapport with divorce attorneys, mediators, accountants, psychologists and therapists. Most recently, she has teamed up with a prominent attorney in New London, CT, for what they call “Second Saturday” events, where they deliver a presentation aimed at giving advice to these clients as they begin to explore the beginning process of their transition, and have received an excellent response.

“I’ve always wanted to make a difference, and here I am able to work with women going through the most difficult times of their lives and give them hope and a new perspective as they move forward. We aim to offer them clarity around their proposed settlements, confidence by showing them where they stand by illustrating it in their investment plan and a sense of control as they start to rewrite their new chapter.”

Her confidence in exploring this area comes from lessons she has learned over the years including that if you are authentic, you will attract clients with whom you connect. Previously, she had assumed you had to emulate what a man might be like – more subdued. However, as Guinan has transitioned to being her ‘real self,’ she discovered that she is attracting clients with whom she find a good fit.

She advises younger professionals to connect with clients who are aligned with their process and to be selective when onboarding new clients. “I still have a great majority of clients with whom I started my practice, and my assistant and I have noticed that our success has come from working with like-minded clients, where it becomes reciprocal and they want to welcome you inter their inner circle by referring their family and friends. But it’s important to spend time upfront having the ‘fit’ meeting since you can’t be all things to all people,” Guinan says. Not only is the new prospective client interviewing you, you are also interviewing them to see if they are a good fit.

Finding Balance in Circles of Support

One important support system she has found through Wells Fargo Advisors is the annual Women’s Summit that gathers advisors from around the country for collaboration and vision sharing. She went the first year she joined the firm and hasn’t missed one since.

Sylvia obtained the firm’s DELTA designation, which is a high-end practice management coaching program that Wells Fargo offers their advisors. Upon completing the 19 modules with firm trained coaches, Sylvia became fully implemented and attends their annual meeting. She is also in a DELTA peer group she and seven other advisors started to support each other and share best practices. Sylvia said DELTA is by far the best training she has ever received.

Additionally she feels revived being with her three children. Living across the street from the beach, they enjoy being near the water and reveling in the beauty of the sunsets.

The family also enjoys traveling and have been to Puerto Rico, St. Martin, St. Thomas and Cuba, among other locations. She has a tradition when each of her kids turns 15 in which they do a one-on-one trip; so far, she has been to the Bahamas with her son and Bali with one daughter.

She also faithfully practices yoga, which she calls “meditation in motion,” allowing her to clear her head and ‘fill her cup’ so she can be more present when she is with clients, family and friends. “It trains you to release distractions and go with the flow, which helps me be more observant,” Guinan says, adding that she particularly appreciates the practice of ending every session with “Namaste,” which means “the light in me honors the light in you.”

“It’s a beautiful message that I hope I am able to convey in all my relationships, especially in this day and age,” she says.

Investment and Insurance Products: NOT FDIC Insured / NO Bank Guarantee / MAY Lose Value

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Mover and Shaker: Felicia Hanson Ofori-Quaah, Senior Associate, Milbank, LLP

Felicia Hanson Ofori-QuaahSuccess is very much a subjective concept, says Felicia Hanson Ofori-Quaah.

“To my mind, success means that you have found a true balance that works for your individual circumstance, but in order to reach that equilibrium, it is absolutely necessary to devote a significant amount of time for self-care, making physical and mental well-being an absolute priority.” To that end she finds that using vision boards is invaluable as they offer a sense of purpose, direction and achievement in all aspects of life—including personal, family, financial, social and professional. And, she adds, it is important to realize that one’s perception of success can change, so it is important to reflect often and ensure that at any given time, you are heading in the direction of your most current iteration of the definition of success.

Finding Success Of Her Own

Hanson Ofori-Quaah’s educational career was impressive—she read law as an undergraduate at the University of Bristol, then studied for the Legal Practice Course at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice and trained to be a solicitor at Norton Rose LLP, where she qualified as a corporate lawyer focusing on mergers and acquisitions within the mining sector. After a year in that role, she decided to transition to the area of finance law, focusing on project, energy and infrastructure finance. She moved to Milbank LLP seven years ago and is currently a senior associate with a practice that predominantly focuses on financing energy, infrastructure and mining projects in Africa and the Middle East, including advising on cross-border, multi-sourced financings that involve commercial lenders, export credit agencies and development finance institutions.

Seeking Gender Balance Should Be The Industry’s Ongoing Mission

One of Hanson Ofori-Quaah’s first realizations when she joined corporate law was that the gender balance in the legal profession would not reflect what she had experienced in the lecture theatre, where there were as many, if not more, women enrolled. She found most of them to be incredibly ambitious, having set their sights on the highest prizes in the legal profession, that of being Queen’s counsel, an equity partner or general counsel for a top-tier company.

However once she started her career, she quickly realized that although a large number of women were entering the profession, only a very small minority were making it to the “top,” whether they had chosen the path of parenthood or not. And, she has also witnessed the under-representation of black female lawyers in senior positions in law firms in the city.

Hanson Ofori-Quaah had assumed that, as it was in law school, working hard and getting good grades would assure your success. But in the world of law, she has found that while hard work, diligence and dedication are important, it is also equally important to be aware of and practice effective internal and external self-promotion in order to stand out from the crowd, raise your profile and be in the best possible position to achieve promotion through the ranks. And, having a mentor, or even better, being backed by the support of a sponsor, has a significant positive effect on a person’s career trajectory.

“In my experience, for a person to truly thrive and succeed in an organization, you need someone in a position of seniority who is ready, willing and able to put their name and resource behind your advancement,” says Hanson Ofori-Quaah. “Working hard so that you are brilliant at what you do is the first step, but I think it is also vital that you have someone advocating for you when decisions that impact your career progression are being made.”

Unfortunately, her experience has been that more often than not, women tend not to have this benefit, which can have a significant impact on the success of their career progression.

As in any area where there is the potential for bias—either conscious or unconscious—the key to improving this situation starts with those in senior management positions within their respective organizations taking steps to review the decisions they are making. “I encourage them to regularly consider the profile of the people they tend to sponsor, and challenge themselves to widen this pool for the benefit of those who are able but underrepresented,” Hanson Ofori-Quaah says.

Role Models Can Lead the Way

While she still seeks the benefit of a sponsor, Hanson Ofori-Quaah has been fortunate to have two “absolutely phenomenal” women whom she considers as professional role models: Lisa Opoku and Paulette Mastin. She first came across Opoku’s profile in another GlassHammer piece, when she had recently returned to work from her first maternity leave. Having read Sheryl Sandberg’s book and eager to put the advice into practice, she plucked up the courage to send her an email, and to her amazement she responded. She was drawn to Opoku’s story; while she is currently a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, she began her career in the legal profession and like Hanson Ofori-Quaah is of Ghanaian decent with two children.

“Lisa has provided me with the type of invaluable and practical advice that every working parent needs,” Hanson Ofori-Quaah says. “I also admire her passion to develop and promote talent, especially in women in her organization, and I believe others in leadership positions should aspire to emulate that as it would undoubtedly lead to higher retention and promotion of women across many organizations.”

Her other mentor is a counsel at the Magic Circle law firm Linklaters and as Hanson Ofori-Quaah says, “I do not exaggerate when I say she is the ‘matriarch’ for numerous lawyers of color, particularly female lawyers of color, in the Square Mile.” In addition to her day job as counsel in a very demanding role, Mastin is the chair of the Black Solicitors’ Network and a mother of two, yet always makes time to mentor others.

Seeking any opportunity to continue to learn, Hanson Ofori-Quaah has found the Milbank@Harvard program to offer a tremendous impact on her career to date, as it has given her the opportunity to be taught by leading professors at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School on four separate occasions, each time building on the previous session. The program, which includes intensive interactive courses on finance and accounting, leadership and team management, strategy, marketing, negotiations and macroeconomics, have been important in helping her enhance her position, equipping her with skills and expertise she has found to be invaluable to her career.

“I constantly search for avenues—whether through mentors or educational opportunities—to find professional and personal advice that can build my expertise.”

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Mover & Shaker: Nicole Poteat, Vice President and Private Client Advisor, Bank of America Private Bank

Nicole PoteatBy Cathie Ericson

Before finding her current position, Nicole Poteat was unsure there was a career in finance that would allow her to truly bring her full self to the table.

Now, as a Private Client Advisor with Bank of America Private Bank she has a strong institution behind her, but also plays the role of entrepreneur, allowing her to combine her professional and intellectual drive with her personal interest in building relationships and helping others thrive.

“It’s important for young professionals to remain open to the idea that even if the seat they are currently in is not a fit, there is still a path out there that will capitalize on the different facets of their passions and abilities. They just have to remain vigilant about seeking it.”

Finding a Passion in Client Service

Fortunately Poteat was able to find that path. She studied government at Harvard and then graduated from Boston College Law School, starting her career in the government and non-profit space. At the same time, her wife Emilie was finishing a PhD and studying the sharing economy, which piqued Nicole’s interest in how companies thrive in today’s environment. That led her to look into a position with Goldman Sachs as a summer associate, subsequently joining the firm full-time after graduation. While her “bigger picture” enterprise strategy role offered lots of opportunity for growth, she realized she missed having a direct impact and forming client relationships; therefore, when she was approached by a recruiter from U.S. Trust, she transitioned to the private banking world where she has been for almost two years.

The position has been an ideal match for her talents and interest. “One of the reasons I love this role is that I can support the development and careers of people doing fascinating work without having to solely focus on one niche industry,” she says, noting that she works with professional such as doctors, founders and investors. “My clients are solving so many interesting problems—often with groundbreaking products—and it’s exciting to be able to support them and help them navigate their lives and their personal wealth as they experience professional success. Many of them are diverse, and it’s particularly satisfying to work with this population who hasn’t historically been in touch with the private banking world.”

Poteat says that one of the biggest looming assumptions when she left law school and started her career was that a transition into the corporate world meant an unsustainable lifestyle with unmanageable work hours. While she has experienced this at times in her career, she has also found a path to sustainability by “developing a career I’m passionate about where the work doesn’t feel like work—it’s a vocation. I love what I do so the time I am spending on it feels exciting and challenging rather than unmanageable.”

And, she says, the key is to be thoughtful about what you want to do—from impact to responsibilities—and then identify where your skills match up to those desires and how that can be applied professionally.

The Process of Finding a Mentor

Early in her career, Poteat would hear people talk about the end product of having great sponsors or mentors, without being explicit about what it took to develop those relationships. “It was a process to learn that there’s no ‘easy bake oven,’ one-size-fits-all strategy to getting the right mentor for you.” And, she points out, it seems especially daunting when all you’re hearing is the end result…the big difference that this one person made in a career.

Now, she has found, the journey to form those strong relationships has to begin with a context where people are ready to see you and what you can offer and even from there, other things need to line up. “Ultimately it’s about finding someone who wants to see you in that way (as a mentee) and cares about you and your career and wants to support you.”

And that can take a lot of conversations to find the people who are going to be willing to support you and fully see you. Poteat is proud that she has found such relationships by forging those conversations, which has led to a cadre of mentors at her current firm, including her manager and colleagues, as well as people from other contexts of her life, such as David Beatty, a friend and founder of Gaingels, an angel-investing group.

She is particularly appreciative of the opportunity to learn from women who blazed trails as the “first” women in the room; noting that her cousin, Jeannette, was one such trailblazer. Jeannette Loeb was the first female Partner at Goldman Sachs. Poteat has been fascinated by the tales she’s heard of those early days and what it was like to be effective in spaces that were built for, and up until that point had only been filled by, men.

She feels fortunate to work for a company like Bank of America that actively works to stay modern by putting diverse teams in place to serve a wide variety of clients. “It’s not the old-school bank of the past, but one that looks like the clients of today, and I’ve benefited from their efforts to be awake to that need.”

A Full Life Outside Work

Poteat is a member of Gaingels, an angel investing group focused on companies with LGBT representation at the C-suite level. She is an active philanthropist, having endowed the Michael Poteat Global Education Scholarship at Elon University in memory of her brother. The scholarship benefits students living with chronic illness, allowing them to experience internships and study abroad, thus hopefully setting them on a path to find a career “click” for their interests. She is also a board member of the Ackerman Institute for the Family, the family therapy non-profit.

She and her wife Emilie live in Westchester with their two golden retrievers, Charlie and Eliot, and recently announced that they will be joined by two more family members when their twins arrive this fall.

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Mover & Shaker: Helen Campbell, Management Consultant, Implement Consulting Group

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Helen Campbell_1209by Cathie Ericson

A career that allowed Helen Campbell to live and work in multiple countries gave her a unique view into culture and the way it should impact your working life.

For example she had always assumed that it was important to fit in and adhere to the company values, which was reinforced with her first professional role in Japan, where the culture was still then very much about dedicating yourself to a company for life.

“I realize now that especially in consulting, it should not be about signing up to a company’s way of working, but rather that by joining a company you should change and add to it and bring your own uniqueness to it,” she says.

A Career Spanning Multiple Countries and Roles

Campbell studied electrical engineering at Queen’s University of Belfast, as well as Japanese as she hoped to visit Japan. Her chance came at a career fair at the university, where she learned about an Irish government program that supported Irish graduates finding a job in Japan with companies that had a link with Ireland. She got a job with Fujikin, a Japanese manufacturing company, and flew to Japan with 16 other Irish graduates.

As the first female and non-Japanese engineer the company had hired, there was quite a bit of adjustment on both sides, but Campbell worked for them for six years—two in Japan, one in Dusseldorf in Germany and three in London, in a variety of roles that included engineer, key account manager and project manager. Realizing that was the role she enjoyed the most, she decided to look for another position where she could develop these skills and joined QinetiQ, a UK defense company, where she managed a range of defense and commercial projects and travelled to countries like Jordan and Brunei.

It was there that Campbell interacted with several consultants and became interested in the opportunity that consultancy provides to be part of transformational projects. She joined PwC in London in their Portfolio and Programme Management consulting practice and worked there for eight years, including transferring to Stockholm with them in December 2016.

Last year she decided it was time to try something new and left PwC to join Implement Consulting Group, a Nordic consultancy, as a senior consultant.

The company is growing rapidly and thus feels very entrepreneurial even with around 900 employees, Campbell notes. As it’s not as well-known in Sweden as Denmark, she is excited about growing the business, especially around supporting clients with the delivery of their largest and most complex transformations.

Starting an LGBT Network, Which Started a Movement

While her career has held an impressive mix of managing large efforts like a merger of two airlines’ finance functions and large-scale IT implementations, what Campbell is most proud of is the feedback she gets from junior consultants with whom she has worked. “I really enjoy teaching others and encouraging them to stretch themselves on projects, and because of that I’ve helped many consultants achieve promotions, which is extremely rewarding,” she says.

While working for PwC, Campbell co-founded the LGBT network for the UK; along with a small team she built a strong network—called GLEE@PwC (Gays, Lesbians and Everyone Else)—and developed a brand around it. That included hosting high-profile client events, where they got a majority of the UK employees wearing rainbow lanyards. Through running the network, she sat on several panel events and spoke at conferences about the value of being your true self at work.

In fact it was only when she joined PwC that she came truly out at work, and at that point there was a lack of LGBT role models and especially women. A turning point she remembers is when EY won the Stonewall LGBT Workplace of the Year Award, and Liz Bingham made a speech about her career at EY before and after she came out at work. “This was the first time I had heard a senior lesbian woman speak about the value of being herself at work,” Campbell says.

Developing GLEE generated a lot of attention internally in PwC with poster campaigns, a designated Twitter account, internal news articles and more, which meant that many on the committee were contacted by LGBT people across the country about coming out or about becoming more of an activist. Through those efforts, Campbell was able to mentor several LGBT men and women. “I have loved supporting them in their personal journey, both in and out of work,” she says.

Campbell believes there is still a big journey in the corporate world and in society around acceptance and normalizing trans-gender people. “Even in Sweden, which is fairly progressive, I am not sure I have seen any trans-supportive policies,” she says, although she notes that gender-neutral bathrooms are the norm.

For those reasons, it’s important to continue to be open and transparent—as a way to bring attention to LGBT issues and change hearts and minds.

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Get Profiled on glasshammer2.wpengine.com

group of business women - career-adviceHere at glasshammer2.wpengine.com we are always looking for great people to profile.

Over 12 years we have profiled nearly 1,000 women! We have certainly honored our mission of telling people’s stories and continue to do so…we quite possibly could be the longest running online magazine in existence that has focused on career advice for professional women!

The important work continues, and it starts with you!

If you would like to be considered or have someone to nominate please let us know by emailing nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com.

We do have criteria: Voice of Experience (our Monday column for the past 12 years without fail) is for women in financial or professional services firms or in Fortune 1000 firms who are Managing Director/SVP and above.

To be considered as a Mover and Shaker, Rising Star, Intrepid Women or Men Who Get It, please tell us more about you.

We also have a thematic calendar to tell deeper stories regarding the many identities we all hold. We are welcoming suggestions for these months now:

  • May – Asian Pacific Heritage Month
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In addition, we accept guest pieces and op-eds where appropriate.

All of this and the past 12 years have only been possible due to amazing site sponsors, so if your company would like to sponsor the site, we would love to hear from you.

Thank you for reading us.

Remember, we coach individuals, train, and consult on networks and diversity programs as well! Get in touch if you want to hire us.

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Mover and Shaker: Cassandra Cuellar, Associate at Shearman & Sterling

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Cassandra Cuellar

By Cathie Ericson

Being inquisitive and asking a lot of questions is one of the best ways to move ahead, whether you’re working with a partner or client, believes Shearman’s Cassandra Cuellar.

In addition, she recommends that professionals always maintain a positive attitude, showing up and treating every day like a new day. “It’s a stressful job, and you have to recognize that your role is to find a way around issues, to find a solution that will meet the client’s ultimate goal whether it’s an internal or external client.”

Honing a Specialty That Always Has Emerging Challenges

After growing up in a small town in Texas, Cuellar came to Austin in 2003 to attend University of Texas – the first lawyer in her family — and has been there ever since. While attending law school, she clerked with the firm Andrews Kurth, where she received an offer to work with the Emerging Companies group. She worked there for seven-and-a-half years until this March when the group of 14 attorneys and associated support staff moved over to Shearman and Sterling LLP.

Currently she is working with companies that are exploring very cutting-edge fields. For example, she is enjoying the challenge of developing two areas in the practice — cryptocurrency and digital assets – and helping move them more into the mainstream. “We have to take them out of the hands of the fringe groups and make them more accessible so people will become comfortable with crypto and blockchain,” she notes.

Another exciting area of growth is in AI. She has a client who focuses on looking at manuscripts and movie scripts for patterns that resonate, which she says is the type of task that AI will revolutionize by applying a more systematic approach.

Learning By Doing

Cuellar describes her first two years as an “unending learning moment.” At the time, she was working with several junior attorneys who left for various reasons so she seized the opportunity to fill the gaps. While it entailed many late nights, in hindsight she sees that taking on these various extra projects was the best possible thing she could have done to propel her career. “I was able to learn from mistakes and now have a vast background which helps me recognize things that I wouldn’t have noticed before.”

While embracing those kinds of opportunities can grow your career, she also finds incredible benefits in taking advantage of mentoring, whether formal or informal.

In fact, at an earlier position that didn’t offer a formal program, she sought out other attorneys to help give her advice. “People are more than willing to have conversations with you when you show you appreciate their time,” she says.

At Shearman, she recognized the culture of mentorship and support the minute she came over. “Female partners whom I don’t even work with have reached out, which was so impressive that these busy women would welcome me and offer their support,” she says. One in particular who stands out is partner Sarah McClean, whom she notes has been very conscious about developing a team of great women and inviting her to immediately get involved.

Another option Cuellar took advantage of was getting involved with industry organizations, which she finds particularly important for minority lawyers. She has enjoyed the four years she’s been involved with the Hispanic National Bar Association, which offers avenues for professional development and advancement; for example, she has had the chance to make pitches to corporations and gleaned immeasurable professional development opportunities from sitting in and learning from other attorneys

Because she places great importance on developing the pipeline of younger lawyers, she’s also been involved with a UT group called Minority Women Pursuing Law, which works with first-generation law students to offer counsel on job hunting. Each year Cuellar presents on what they should know as college students about what law schools and law firms are looking for to help give them a leg up.

Married with two dogs, Cuellar loves to cook and barbeque at home, and she and her husband enjoy frequent visits to their families in south Texas.

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