Tag Archive for: Mover and Shaker

Mover and Shaker: Liliana Bauer, Marketing Director, WEX Latam

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By Cathie Ericson

“I once heard that we should listen before acting and think before reacting.

The adage is one that has stuck with me and that drives my leadership style in a significant way,” says WEX’ Liliana Bauer. “Thinking for ourselves, rather than just repeating the ideas we hear, makes a big difference in how we conduct our lives and make appropriate choices.”

And she adds, “If we seize opportunities, take our goals seriously and maintain our enthusiasm—always respecting everyone else in an ethical way—we will arrive at the destination we choose.”

A Career Built On Accepting Challenges

That ethos has helped Bauer build a multi-layered career. She attended school in Brazil, earning both a bachelor’s degree in marketing and communications from Mackenzie University and an MBA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas University.

After graduating, she began her career with Coca-Cola, holding roles in divisions including promotions, product management and customer loyalty. She then spent nearly a decade at Citibank, responding to the centralized structuring and implementation of the B2B and institutional marketing in Brazil, where she handled marketing strategy, as well as overseeing PR and corporate communications for all business units. Her last role at Citibank was as a regional marketing manager for the Latin American region’s 24 markets, reporting to Miami and New York.

In 2011, she joined HSBC Latin America as a senior marketing manager, responsible for global banking and markets, private banking and asset management. She also oversaw planning and marketing effectiveness for HSBC’s corporate segments, where together with the countries and the global team, she developed the department’s strategic and business information for the executive committees of the region, as well as results analysis and financial control. In addition, she was responsible for the Latin American marketing for the Global Banking and Markets segment, reporting directly to London.

Prior to joining WEX, she served as a marketing executive at credit card issuer Banco Bradesco Cartões, where she oversaw strategic marketing management and payments solutions studies.

She then joined WEX Brazil as a marketing director, responsible for implementing strategies to strengthen the company’s market presence through business plan and strategy execution.

A self-described “builder,” focused on getting things done in a straightforward manner, Bauer says that one of her major achievements at WEX so far has been creating a strategic marketing mindset, from building a successful team to shaping, driving and maximizing marketing activities, including focusing on analyzing results and repositioning products.

One of the projects she is most excited about right now is her role with one such repositioning of their major product—focusing on the value proposition definition and planning larger market penetration that is driven by market research and customer surveys.

That quest for data inspires her whole career, as she finds that much of her success comes from constantly questioning assumptions, both in information she hears and where the market is trending, what the target audiences are exposing and how her team is reacting. “When making decisions about the direction of my career, I try to take a high-level, long-term perspective, based not only on what things look like, but on what they really are, what is behind each scenario, and what the legacy of my decision will be,” she says.

Surrounding Yourself With the Right People and Company Culture

Over the years Bauer has been fortunate to work with many inspirational professionals, and she’s appreciated their role in patiently showing her how to meet their expectations while advancing her own career. “I’ve always paid a lot of attention to their behaviors and decisions, learning how to drive efforts in a more constructive way, while achieving the best and fastest results,” she says.

One role model who stands out is Francine Suescun, whom Bauer describes as “a great teacher and a wise leader,” adding, “She has a broad range of experience and the ability to integrate actions in an end-to-end process, guaranteeing successful delivery of every project. Besides that, she always tries to make wherever she is a better place—thinking of others rather than just taking actions that benefit herself,” an example that Bauer is quick to thank her for, telling Suescun that she is the one responsible for the professional profile Bauer has today.

In addition to surrounding herself with smart role models, she has wisely chosen the company she works for, saying that at WEX all people are seen and equally accepted—and recognized for their achievements—regardless of gender, age, department, education level or other defining elements. She finds that during business meetings, leadership summits or social celebrations, people from different locations and ages, men and women alike, interact on equal footing, listening to one another and keeping an open mind.

The same dynamic occurs on her team, where position and gender don’t matter. “If an employee is committed to doing good work, bringing relevant information or just taking advantage of an opportunity to improve their understanding about something, we respect them the same way,” she says.

Another important part of the WEX culture is the focus on work-life balance. Bauer has been able to devote time the past two-and-a-half years holding various roles for a social entity teaching English to low-income students, from ages 10 to 83. “It is such a valuable opportunity to learn from those students as they develop, and those people have played a crucial role in changing my life,” she says. “Interacting with others who have the same objectives, intensity and wishes is what makes us feel part of a society in such a special way.”

An avid traveler, Bauer has visited more than 50 cities in Brazil and 15 countries around the world. “When we interact with people from a different culture, with different points of views and experiences, we are able to rethink the prejudices we have and our previously established opinions and see how the vast resources of ideas can move the world forward,” she says.

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Mover and Shaker: Kim Ford, Senior Legal Director, Asia Pacific and Global Issuing, WEX

KIm Ford - BW headshot-Retouched

By Cathie Ericson

WEX’s Kim Ford has always worked hard to create and drive a positive and satisfying career.

“I believe in giving my very best to any role I am in and making the most of it. To do that, I try to make sure that I actively pursue and create the right opportunities. Equally I also like to make sure that I regularly pause to reflect and evaluate to ensure that I am on track from both a professional and personal perspective. If something is amiss, it’s important to me to quickly identify steps to correct and ‘right the ship’ –I have learned that life is too short to not take control of your happiness, career path and job satisfaction,” she says. “I feel that following this philosophy has led to me to where I am today. I am in a role where I can genuinely say I am doing some of the most challenging and exciting work of my career to date, and working with wonderful people at a really great company.”

Blending Two Career Disciplines To Forge a Successful Path

Ford’s first foray into the world of law was as a private practice insurance litigator, acting for professionals filing claims under their professional indemnity insurance policies. While she enjoyed the work, she realized after a few years that private practice and the expected path towards partnership was not for her. She began to look into ways she could use her skills as more of a strategic business partner, which would allow her to deliver end-to-end solutions and ultimately have the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of her labor pay off.

Ford subsequently joined ANZ Bank as an in-house legal counsel in the retail banking division where after a few years she jumped at the opportunity to join the corporate ranks of ANZ’s retail business. Over the next four years, she gained experience in project management and senior product management running a business line P&L, eventually leading ANZ’s retail loyalty team.

After this stint gaining corporate experience and learning more about the challenges of operating a business, Ford was offered the chance to return to her roots as a lawyer and join WEX as Associate General Counsel for its Asia Pacific business, a generalist position that allowed her to touch all legal-related issues. She held that role for three years and now is accountable for the Asia Pacific legal team, as well as for Global Issuing, which supports WEX’s new market entry efforts and growth strategies.

The value of her two distinct career paths became clear in 2017, when she successfully led the project responsible for setting up, licensing and operationalizing WEX’s emoney Institution in the United Kingdom. The emoney Institution license enables WEX to offer credit and all its products across the 31 nations in the European Economic Area, and securing the license was part of broader efforts to both expand in Europe and enable the provision of WEX’s payment solutions in the region .
“For me, it bore out the benefits of the combination of my legal training and corporate experience and underscored the importance of having previously taken the time out of legal to gain solid experience in the corporate environment,” she says, adding that there are very few employers globally where she would have the opportunity to work on the type of projects she is currently undertaking.

Valuing the Whole Person

Ford sees sponsorship as critical to any career, but underscores that it is a two-way street: First you need to earn your sponsor’s commitment and provide your sponsor with a return on their investment, and then you need to commit to nurturing the relationship. Along the way she has been fortunate to have a number of role models, but one of the most profound experiences she has had was with a partner for whom she first worked when commencing in private practice. She took the time to teach Ford how to properly structure advice and legal arguments, while ensuring that she always kept the client’s best interest at the forefront of her thinking. “She was very firm at times, which as a junior lawyer was sometimes a little scary, but at the same time she was very nurturing as well as generous with her time and knowledge. She also taught me the importance of pragmatism,” Ford says, adding that she helped influence many of the career traits that Ford depends on today.

In addition to excellent role models, Ford believes that companies need to have policies and approaches that bring equality to the workplace, for everyone. “WEX is an incredibly family-friendly and flexible place to work, which enables me and — and consequently my family — to have a healthy balance,” she notes. “WEX encourages the delivery of results at work while at the same time ensuring that we all have the time to take care of the other important aspects of our life, such as family and health.”

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Mover & Shaker: Emilie Poteat; Senior Management Associate at Bridgewater Associates

By Cathie Ericson

As a sociologist by training, Emilie Poteat has learned that it’s simply a fact that things will work out when you stop trying so hard and get out of your own way.

“You have to continue to make pathways to a goal regardless of how many iterations there are and realize that you have to embrace the ability to admit failure, evaluate what could go better and try again,” she says.

An Ongoing Path to Self-Reflection

Poteat started her career in a non-traditional way, earning a PhD with a focus on economic sociology – researching how markets form and how companies function and evolve in markets. While she had initially thought she might pursue a future in academia, her wife suggested she work at one of the companies she was researching instead. She spoke to Goldman and ended up working in their transformation department where they were focusing on organizational design — looking at their operations and determining what could be improved and how they could learn from others in the marketplace.

When she was contacted by a venture capital firm in Philadelphia, she was intrigued at the prospect of occupying the operator seat as she had been looking into small companies that Goldman could invest in and had been seeing interesting businesses bubble up. She took the role, where she led a turnaround on an insurance company, splitting it into two and bringing it to profitability.
While it was challenging given all the dimensions, she found it fascinating and names it as one of the professional achievements she is most proud of. “Bringing that company to profitability was both exhilarating and terrifying,” she says, noting that the culture was poor which led employees to have low expectations. She worked on an all-encompassing change from business processes to product changes and interpersonal relationships, relishing the chance to drop down and look at a problem and then zoom up to the bigger picture.

And therefore she found herself at a crossroads when she finished that engagement, trying to decide if she wanted to continue operating companies, which combined her love for research with her proclivity to flipping companies around, or did she want to take some time to work on herself? Ultimately she decided to come to Bridgewater where she is focused on the systemization of management, while learning more about how she operates as a leader. “I am investing in myself by taking a role with a smaller scope, yet one that I know will help me be more impactful when I eventually step back into the operator position,” she says.
For now she believes that her time at Bridgewater will help show her strengths as well as flaws, as she works with a team who is poised to provide honest feedback.

Building Relationships as a Key to Success

After spending six years getting her PhD and teaching university classes, Poteat expected the corporate world to be cutthroat, but she has found it to be extremely humane. “It has been incredible to meet smart, hard-working, dedicated people who have gone out on a limb for me,” she says. As one example, she cites Johann Shudlick, then the head of the LGBT network at Goldman and now driving diversity at Bridgewater as the one who went to bat for her, finding out her goals and then taking the time to open doors by introducing her around the Street.

While she acknowledges the business world can be competitive, she finds there is still a camaraderie around it. “I’ve been happiest when I’ve helped others around me grow, and I’ve been able to make great friends and form strong relationships over the years,” she says, noting that academia involved more quiet work without that interplay.

As she reflects on those she admires, she says she finds herself noticing those who can objectively view themselves in the moment. “Yes, you have to consider your numbers and impact and how you effect change, but what I admire is people who are able to genuinely lead by understanding how their leadership style impacts the group.”

Always looking for those learning moments, Poteat cites one that has stuck with her. She relays how she had signed off on what ended up being a big bill, before she realized she had gone through the motions and pushed it forward without checking it carefully enough. “It ended up being impactful, and I should have verified that it wasn’t exactly what I thought it was,” she says, saying it helped her self-reflect on how her bent toward action orientation helped propel the blunder forward. “While this focus on action is generally a strength, it can be more of a hindrance when I pair it with bravado,” she says, noting that it’s important to always slow down and take that extra step. “I learned the importance of balancing confidence with humility, which I try to work on every day,” she says.

While Poteat knows that it can be hard for some people, she says that it would be impossible to her to not be out at work. And she’s found it to be a benefit to her career as it opened up relationships in affinity groups, as well as allowing her to help others on the personal front. In fact, in larger organizations she finds that the managers she had were quite proud she was on the team and that her different reality allows her to see the play on the field from a different vantage.

She and her wife share their life with two Golden Retrievers and love to travel. On the philanthropic fronts, they invest in LGBT-founded companies through angel investing with a group called Gaingels. Companies they support must have LGBT representation within the C-suite, and one of Poteat’s favorite parts is getting to meet the founders while providing economic empowerment.

In addition, she and her wife, along with her wife’s family, have established the Global Education Scholarship fund in memory of her wife’s brother who passed away when he was 31 from cancer. It supports students at Elon, particularly those who may have a chronic illness that might diminish their health quality. She says she always wants to emphasize that despite any life challenge, the timeline of your life remains separate from the value you bring to each moment.

“We underscore that it’s not the length of your life timeline, but the volume of the value you fit into your time,” she says, an ethos they themselves live by maximizing the value of every day.

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Mover and Shaker: Virgen Tracey, Senior Team Leader, WEX

Virgen TraceyBy Cathie Ericson

Knowing and understanding that it’s ok to take risks because that’s how you will grow and learn has helped forge a successful career path for WEX’ Virgen Tracey.

She is quick to point out that there’s never a dumb or perfect idea, and just because you’ve been somewhere longer, it doesn’t mean you have all the answers. In fact, the best ideas often come from fresh thinking.

“I always tell my team that you can’t learn if you don’t make mistakes, and it’s true for me, too. Realizing that the next time I’ll better know what to do has allowed me to grow in my career and as a person,” she says.

For Tracey that 20 years of growth has brought a thriving career at WEX as a leader, taking on diverse roles within the contact center that have allowed her to conquer a new challenge every day.

“Being able to take risks in my role has been a huge learning point for me. We think outside the box every day, not only from a professional standpoint, but as a rapid-growth company, we must be able to embrace change,” she says. Tracey credits her ability to lead by example, to “walk the walk,” as a key force for building credibility and trust and having a followership that has made her a successful team leader.

Leading the Contact Center To Success

Joining WEX fresh out of college, Tracey knew she would have to work hard, but also learn to be open to change to make the most of the startup environment. And, at the forefront of her mind was the realization that the company had earned a great deal of respect and customer trust that they would deliver excellent service, and her role was to stand by those ideals. She appreciates that she has been there throughout the growth of the company, fulfilling her belief that her hard work would pay off.
Right now, she’s excited to be working on supporting with implementation of the Salesforce service cloud application into the contact center. They are currently piloting it with 50+ employees across the organization, and she says it has been a game changer for how it’s going to increase efficiencies and gives insight into how to better support the customer to provide a better agent and customer experience. “Using this tool allows us to increase the information we have at our fingertips, directing us to what we need to change and enhance for better employee customer satisfaction and efficiency.”

After the full roll-out to more than 130 employees in the South Portland contact center, she will then support with spearheading the roll-out in the contact center in Ogden, focusing on ensuring the impact is minimal.

Mentors Lead the Way

To Tracey, a role model is someone she can look up to, but is also a mentor who can provide support and feedback to help her grow based on what they’ve seen in their interactions.

Over the years she says she has been honored to work with many successful individuals who have helped show her the ropes, in both IT and leadership roles. “If I wanted to know how others got to where they are today, I had to seek out the opportunities to network and find mentors,” she says. She credits a willingness to being open to listening to their stories about the best practices that worked for them and how they got on the path that led them to their end result of success.

And now she is focused on being a role model to others, taking what she’s learned by seeking out opportunities to learn from others and sharing that knowledge. “I can’t wait for the moment that I report to many of my team members whom I have helped nurture to a place of leadership,” she says.

Currently she is part of the pilot of WEX’ mentoring program where she is paired with a mentee, which has helped give her confidence and also will expose her entire team tåo the many benefits of formal mentorship to encourage new styles and ways of thinking.

Melding a Busy Professional and Personal Life

With three kids, ages 6, 15 and 19, there is never a dull moment, particularly when travel softball is part of the picture. “I love watching my 15 year old daughter play, and notice her development and how she gives 100 percent on and off the field. It’s such an inspiration as a work ethic,” Tracey says, noting that watching her hard work and openness to coaching is a lesson she herself can bring back to work.

Aside from giving “200 percent” to work, which has paid off in being tapped for her fifth upcoming President’s Club, Tracey always takes time to be present in her family life…but admits with a laugh that she also will never turn down a trip for shoe shopping. Most importantly she loves spending time with her husband and kids and enjoying any free time they have together.

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Mover and Shaker: Yin Seo, Technical Product Manager, Laserfiche

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Yin Seo

By Cathie Ericson

Work is much different than school, Yin Seo realized early on.

“At school, everything is laid out and you know the success metric you are working toward, but in the professional world, there’s no answer key,” she says. “Everything you are doing is brand new and something that no one else has done, so what separates good employees from exceptional employees is that the exceptional ones are able to decide for themselves what is best for the team and the organization. You will never be given an assignment where someone else knows the answers.”

Advancing New Ways of Working

Seo started as a software automation engineer right out of UCLA but transitioned from coding to a subject matter expert role, where she worked more closely with clients. Soon she was overseeing an entire development team as well as the designers for a software division, which she found to be her true calling — managing the project development life cycle. There she made several impactful changes, including transitioning the development process to a “scrum” format, which she found to be superior as a way to emphasize the team mentality while implementing quicker turnarounds.

She remains passionate about project and product management and has since become certified as a Scrum Master and Project Management Professional. While the “agile” way of doing things has been successful for some time with software companies, it is moving into other industries as a best practice, validating that the technique will work for any type of project management.

She then moved to Laserfiche, a leading global provider of enterprise content management software, where she has spent the past seven months as a technical product manager, learning a new industry and new software.

Currently Seo oversees two teams working on advancing the company’s business process automation product suite. “My teams have been working really hard, and it’s exciting to see the fruits of their labor,” she says, adding that as a product manager, the most important aspect is making sure that what they’re building delivers value to customers.

One major accomplishment she has already achieved was being asked to give the keynote address at the annual Laserfiche Empower Conference, attended by more than 3,000 people. She had only been with the company for less than three months when she was invited to speak, which was a huge vote of confidence, but the other reason the accomplishment feels so significant is because previously she had been terrified to speak in public. “This was validation that I had moved out of my comfort zone to where I could handle it,” she says.

Using Strengths to Navigate Challenges

While there is a well-known dearth of women in software development, Seo sees that a major barrier for women to succeed lies in confidence. She believes that when young women see those numbers, they start to create a narrative about why there is a lack of women, which can create doubts: Are we not good enough? Is it too hard?

She urges young women to look past the statistics. “We want to be judged by our work, based on merit, and so we need to do the same for ourselves. We need to help the numbers grow, but not let them define us.”

And, she also reminds professionals at every level that they have to keep growing their skills. “If you are not improving, then you are technically losing ground since everyone else is focused on getting better.” As she points out, these skills might not always tie directly to your career; for example, for her it was improving her public speaking acumen.

An avid rock climber, Seo sees the sport as a perfect metaphor for the tech industry and pursuing goals. In rock climbing, climbers refer to every route as a “problem,” each with a grade, and as you get more experienced and stronger you can conquer higher grades – just as in business. “I’ve been learning that a lot of success comes from technique, and every problem has different solutions that you can solve in different ways,” she says.

Rock climbing also comes with its own set of stereotypes; for example that you have to be tall and have significant upper body strength, but Seo has found that you don’t have to be a certain body type to climb well. “My husband and I climb together, and he’s a little better, but there are some problems I can solve that he can’t. I am shorter but have less weight to pull up and am more flexible so you always have to use your strengths to your advantage.”
Just like in the business world.

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Mover and Shaker: Heather Andrews, Vice President of Strategic Accounts, WEX Corporate Payments

Heather Andrews smEveryone finds success in different ways, says WEX’s Heather Andrews, but in her case, it has come in part from the drive to learn, no matter what career path you are on.

That philosophy, along with her willingness to step through open doors – even the scary ones – has fueled her career trajectory.

Capitalizing on New Opportunities Brings Success

Although Andrews studied psychology, she didn’t see a clear path for a career without attending grad school, but was ready to enter the working world. She accepted an offer doing retirement plan education, which opened up an exciting world as she became increasingly interested in the role that employee communications play in benefits and helping employees engage in their future.

It was an especially pivotal time in the industry as 401(k)s were increasingly usurping defined benefit plans, creating new choices for employees and new roles for organizations to manage around this reality. She returned to school to earn her master’s degree in leadership and change management in organizations, which meshed well with her psychology background, and then branched off to do some independent consulting where she could assist organizations confronting major system changes.

Along the way she engaged with a startup tech firm that was building a new benefits platform to consult on their business and communications planning. It ended up being a major opportunity as the company grew rapidly as the first online benefits platform to hit the market. Andrews wore all the customer-facing hats and stayed with the company as it was acquired to become Evolution1and eventually WEX Health.

Helping grow that business from being the fifth person to its success today is the professional achievement she is most proud of so far. “Being part of that groundbreaking team as the business grew from something so small and new to influencing an entire industry and becoming something of such incredible value was so exciting,” she says.

Moving from healthcare to the corporate payments executive leadership team offers a new world for Andrews to explore. “It’s a huge change that really allows me to stretch my brain,” she says. “I realize that a lot of faith has been put into me in this role at a critical time of growth, change and risk, and that’s motivating. It inspires me to make a difference.”

Growing Along the Way Through Personal Lessons and Mentors

When she first entered the corporate world, Andrews held a common perception, that she wasn’t sure how much of an impact one individual can make. That was part of what she loved about consulting: Seeing that people can make a major impact from the start, particularly if they can confidently work with professionals at all levels, unafraid to let their opinions and ideas be heard even if they get shot down.

And she knows that much of her success has come from leveraging personal and professional relationships. “Ethics and hard work have been important factors in my career, but I know that doors were opened for me because people had faith in what I can do, and then I was not afraid to step through them,” she says, adding that success comes when you lean forward and take chances, especially when you’re part of an entrepreneurial organization.

One role model who stands out is a female attorney at WEX Health who shared insights on why female business leaders have to be true to themselves, never compromising what they believe in and exuding confidence that you can accomplish it.

In addition, she cites WEX’s Integrated Leadership Development Program as having been crucial to her success at WEX for the networking and coaching it provided. “I have this fantastic coach who is also a woman who has been through a diverse and rich career,” she says. “This perspective as a successful woman in business helps me navigate what I need to do next as I continue to grow my career.”

But you don’t need a formal program to grow: Andrews finds life lessons all around her, from leaders on any stage, whether professional or political, who are able to balance assertiveness with having the grace to hear and respect people around them. “They are able to use that professional fire to be successful but maintain high ethical standards that they aren’t afraid to share vocally. I admire people who are unafraid to step out and say ‘I don’t care what others think; this is what I believe is right.’”

And sometimes we experience a hard-earned lesson, says Andrews, as she recalls a time early in her career when she was still working on retirement plans. She made a bold promise about how easy a migration would be, without fully thinking through how a failure to deliver might affect her equally young client. When the project ended up being more complex than expected, this client was taking the heat internally. “I didn’t embrace her vulnerability, and I lost her trust. This incident has always stood out to me as a reminder that you have to understand your counterparts and the position you’re putting them in by what you’re promising.”

Of course, inspiration also comes from home, as Andrews finds through her husband and four boys, who range in age from 15 to five. “I see myself through their eyes and want to be an example because every single day will impact their lives.”

Treasured family time includes an annual summer trek to a new national park, and winters spent skiing and snowboarding. This activity has an ulterior motive, she laughs. “Hopefully if they have a winter sport they like, they will stay in Minnesota close to me.”

Day-to-day, whatever they do, they do it together, whether it’s sports, music or academics. “We also take the time to volunteer together, as a family, which I believe is important to provide a positive influence that will affect how they are as adults.”

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Mover and Shaker: Amelie Jeangeorges, Senior Manager, Chief of Staff to the Global Human Capital Leader, PwC

Amelie JeangeorgesBy Cathie Ericson

“Be authentic, passionate and energized. Never give up as you work hard to get what you want to achieve.”

That’s the advice that Amelie Jeangeorges has for other women who want to succeed.

When Amelie first began her corporate career, she feared she might lose her personal brand and just become a ‘number’. But, at PwC, she’s found she’s only ever been encouraged to build her own personal career path and differentiate herself to create the experience she really wants.

Embracing the Challenge of an International Career

In 2009, having graduated from the French business school ICN with a Master’s degree in Finance and Business, and having completed two internships in London and Luxembourg, Amelie started a career in audit, taking on a role in the Banking Capital Markets (BCM) in Assurance at PwC France in the Paris office. After five years in France, she applied for a tour of duty in PwC’s New York office in BCM audit, where she had the opportunity to serve one of the firm’s largest global clients.

At the end of her audit tour, Amelie realized she wasn’t quite ready to return to France, and chose to pursue an additional international learning experience: supporting the Global Human Capital Partner as Chief of Staff, and helping to deliver the global human capital strategy to empower PwC people in their own careers.

Amelie’s current role is one of her proudest professional achievements to date — having the opportunity to grow personally and professionally despite living in a different cultural and working environment. “I’ve now lived in four different countries, and need to keep challenging myself to forge my path outside of my comfort zone,” she says.

“It’s not always been easy, but I’m proud of what I’ve achieved and where I am today within PwC,” she says, acknowledging that taking on this position after almost 10 years in audit has been one of the most important learning experiences and one her best decisions.

Amelie describes her current role as that of a ‘conductor,’ supporting the team to deliver the strategy and coordinate and even lead the projects.

“This experience adds another arrow to my professional quiver because I am gaining additional soft skills,” she says, noting that these are more important than ever given the rate at which technology is disrupting how we work. She believes that the future workplace will not be ‘machines versus humans’ but rather ‘humans enhanced by machines.’ Human skills such as creativity, agility, relationships and leadership will matter more than ever.

Promoting Wellbeing Throughout the Organization

Amelie sees this as an exciting time to be in human capital, as her team focuses on delivering transformational projects in a complex organizational structure.

Recently, Amelie helped launch ‘Be well, work well,’ PwC’s global initiative underscoring the business necessity of addressing wellbeing at work.

“Poor physical and mental health and a lack of personal and organizational purpose, are among the world’s most important societal problems, threatening individual resilience and business sustainability,” she says.

She believes that part of the success of ‘“Be well, work well’” is that it promotes flexibility, which increases the overall diversity, advancement and retention for all employees. The initiative looks at wellbeing not only as a physical component, but across three other dimensions — spiritual, emotional and mental.

“The right energy balance has to be a priority for women, men, parents, non-parents, different generations – everyone. I see that successful people prioritize wellbeing, making it relevant for all profiles and all geographies. It is very important that we all role model wellbeing in our respective private and professional spheres to make our life better and healthier and to appreciate each day,” Amelie says.

In pursuing her own wellbeing, Amelie has seen the importance of balance and spending time with friends and family as it allows her to disconnect from her often-intense working life.

Emulating Women Who Have It All – Success + Balance

Throughout her career, Amelie has been accompanied by key mentors who’ve helped guide her in making the right decisions and analyzing obstacles from all different angles.

“It has been critical for me to leverage their experiences and get their coaching and advice as I am building my own career,” she says, adding that being open-minded to other opportunities and keeping her relationships with her network has helped her earn sponsors who have helped her navigate her way.

There have been a number of career models who have inspired her — most notably women in senior positions, such as her current boss, Agnes Hussherr.

“The women who impress me have earned key positions with numerous responsibilities and yet continue to strive for bigger and better objectives while maintaining work-life balance.”

Initially apprehensive about gender equality and the risk of women not having the same opportunities as men, Amelie sees there have been advances, but still feels there is a lot of work to be done, and it will take time to change the culture and old principles.

“I am very passionate about this diversity topic, and I think we — women and men — should all be feminists to change our world and allow women access to the same level of responsibility with the support they need as a female, a spouse or a mother.”

She embraces diversity on the cultural level as well, given her experience of traveling around the world, which has helped her to develop her global acumen and promoted the importance of being open-minded to different cultures and diverse perspectives.

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Anna Gorga Soderini, Vice President, Investment Management Division, Goldman Sachs

Anna Gorga Soderini

While it might be harder to find a role model who seems similar to you if you’re LGBT+, a woman, a different race or any underrepresented minority, it’s still very important to find mentors who can guide you in your career, notes Goldman Sachs’ Anna Gorga Soderini.

“When seeking a role model, look beyond traditional ‘diversity’ and focus on individual challenges people might have faced where you can find points in common that might not be obvious,” she says. “If you more broadly define ‘role model,’ you can find someone who also had to adapt to circumstances and conquered similar challenges, even if they might not represent your exact demographics,” she says.

A Meandering Path, With a Destination of Authenticity

For Soderini, the professional journey has been just as important as the destination, and she took what she describes as a bit of a meandering path. She began with classical education – Latin, ancient Greek and philosophy – yet ended up in a finance career. While in London completing her Masters in economic development at the London School of Economics, she was exposed to financial markets for the first time, and to the role efficient asset allocation plays in enabling economic development.

She initially joined a private equity firm that invested in emerging markets before spending two years in Mozambique following that country’s civil war, an incredible experience that made her keenly aware that opportunities emerge following significant periods of change. After her stint in Mozambique, Soderini enrolled at New York University’s Stern School of Business to pursue her MBA and enhance her knowledge and understanding of finance.

After graduating with her MBA, she took a position in M&A, covering and advising financial institutions. Soderini joined Goldman Sachs Asset Management in 2007 to pursue a role on the buy side.
After making a conscious decision to not share with her former employer that she was gay, Soderini realized this was impeding her ability to form deep relationships with her colleagues and managers, and knew she needed to be open in her next role if she wanted to be successful. She came into the interview process at Goldman Sachs identifying openly as LGBT+, and she says she was blown away by the inclusiveness of the firm and her future colleagues.

When discussing professional achievements of which she is proud, Soderini immediately mentions her involvement with Goldman Sachs’ LGBT Network. She cites her role on the Pride steering committee and subsequently being invited to co-lead the Americas LGBT network at the firm, as a significant moment in her career. Soderini notes that the position is one of great responsibility due to the advocacy and education element of the role, by ensuring the firm remains at the forefront of LGBT+ issues.

Shifting Industry Norms Provide Opportunities for Goldman

Currently, Soderini is excited about co-leading an effort to integrate new data sources into the investment process, as the industry comes to terms with the disruption brought about by technology. She believes the ability to capitalize on these changes will become increasingly critical to the investing process and thus consequential for GSAM’s business.

“This is an inflection point for the whole industry, as data is being created at exploding speeds,” she says. “The size and complexity will require new analytical tools, and we now have more processing power at our fingertips. Goldman’s breadth of strategies, technological sophistication and depth of resources will allow us to harness technology to the benefit of our clients in a way that less capable competitors can’t.”

Also related and top of mind is the debate about active versus passive management, and how Goldman Sachs can weather the current outflows from active management.
“Technology has made fundamental investing harder since it has democratized information and analytical tools. Some of the challenges of active investing are cyclical and will fade under new market regimes, but others, such as the technological disruption, are secular: The firms willing and able to adapt to the new environment will be the ultimate winners. “Goldman Sachs is one of only a handful of asset managers that has the wherewithal to experiment and execute across strategies as we begin to understand these shifts.”

Embracing the Corporate Paradigm

Soderini says she wishes someone had told her when she was starting out that doing a good job is a necessary but usually not sufficient condition to continue progressing in one’s career. She understood the financial sector to be a meritocratic environment, but had not realized how critical it is for everyone around you to see you proactively contribute, understand your career goals and believe in your ultimate potential as a leader.

But while you have to express your views and telegraph your goals and passion, she notes that it can be tricky to get the right balance, particularly for women and those who come from cultures that don’t promote assertiveness.

“At school you are used to being rewarded for executing well in a linear relationship with faculty, completing homework or passing a test,” she notes. “But the work environment is more complex and there are multiple constituents. You don’t work in isolation, and taking the initiative in engaging with your manager and colleagues, as well as championing your work is a necessity.”

Sharing the Proud Culture of Goldman Sachs

In addition to her work with the LGBT Network, Soderini is active with the Pride Summit, a recruitment event where LGBT+ employees and Allies interact with sophomore and junior undergraduates who are looking to learn more about the firm. She finds that people vastly underestimate the leading role the financial industry plays in advancing LGBT+ causes, so it’s incumbent upon the industry to conduct outreach and education.

She also appreciates the opportunity it provides for LGBT+ women to interact in an environment geared toward networking. “We can cast a wider net and create critical mass by bringing this group together at our office.” She loves being able to attract talented individuals from many backgrounds to showcase the firm.

“I talk about it with such enthusiasm because I would have loved to have had something like this when I was in college,” she says, noting that it really underscores the progress that has been made that these programs now exist.

In her spare time, Soderini loves traveling with her wife, primarily from the base they have established in Barcelona, a beautiful city and convenient location for exploring Spain and Europe.

By Cathie Ericson

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Mover and Shaker: Renata Caine, Vice President, Virtual Payments, WEX

renata caineBy Cathie Ericson

“I used to think that showing weakness was a sign of inexperience, but by focusing on my confidence I can see that failure is a part of every professional,” says WEX’s Renata Caine. “I know that imperfection is authentic, and that helps me promote an environment that allows failure when it’s used as a learning experience.”

Highlighting a Team Dynamic Internally and Externally

Although WEX is not technically her first job, Caine says it’s where she feels that she grew up professionally. “The virtual payments line of business is very entrepreneurial and fast paced, which gives people the opportunity to do things they haven’t before. I have learned a lot in a short period of time,” she says.

Her career progression began as an individual contributor, and she knew she loved building relationships; she now manages a sales and marketing team responsible for the acquisition and support of external customers. “To me, building an internal team is not so different to supporting external customers.” I feel that I’ve found exactly what makes me happy.”

One of the best parts of her current team dynamic is the respect they have for one another. The relationships between the team members allows for some good-natured fun: They never miss an opportunity to laugh with one another.

And that is the professional achievement she is most proud of: Working alongside her team and bringing value, building mutual respect and watching them grow, surrounded by people who have the same goals and sense of purpose. “Right now I’m leading a team that’s at full capacity and building them out to know their role in continuing to create a high-achieving cohort. Together we’re all working toward motivating each other and fostering success working together.”

When she first entered the corporate world, she thought there might be a culture of “every man for themselves,” and while that might be the case in some places, she finds that people at WEX are always happy to help one another. “Relationships are the core of our business and I see that played out within WEX and across customers as well,” she says. “Every aspect of building a team and working with customers and prospects has been relationship-oriented.”

In fact, over the years, she has appreciated the transparency that her clients have shared about their business and what they can accomplish together. This has allowed her to get glimpses into the inner workings of other companies, creating a better combined strategy.

Finding Success Through Modeling Others

Caine has had unofficial mentors throughout her career; some began organically and helped all along the way, while others came along during certain parts of her career and helped her grow in a specific situations or roles. “I’ve taken bits and pieces from so many people and that has molded me into what I’ve become,” she says.

By participating in WEX’s Integrated Leadership Development Program in May 2015, she allowed herself to admit where she struggled as a leader and see where others saw her strengths and weaknesses. “It was a valuable experience because as a group, we would celebrate what we did well,” Caine says. “I learned that my perception of myself doesn’t always match others’ perceptions of me, which forced me to be more self-aware. This, over time, empowered my development.”

But she hearkens back to her mother as her original role model. “Growing up and watching her work every single day, she seemed to have achieved balance with career, managing a household and raising two successful kids, never complaining, and always getting it done,” she says.

That ethic is mirrored in her work today, where Caine says that her success has come from hard work, combined with focus and commitment and letting others know she’s dependable and available to them.

Seeking Balance With Family

Caine finds comfort in a balance that supports work and home life — sometimes one gets more attention than the other, which is always a work in progress.

“As passionate as I am for my contribution to WEX, my passion for family exceeds it,” she says, of her son and daughter, ages seven and six. “I want them both to know equally that they can achieve whatever they set out to,” she says, adding that the times she’s away from home are opportunities to share the wonders of the world and diversities of culture. “I want them to appreciate all there is to find, and I hope it propels them to seek adventures in their own lives.”

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Mover and Shaker: Stefanie Stewart, Vice President, Senior Real Estate Portfolio Manager, Voya Investment Management

stefanie stewart featured“Hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. It’s important to be aggressive and vocal, but respectful. People won’t always agree with you, but in a relationship business, upholding your reputation is essential.”

Conquering a Male-Dominated Industry

These words of wisdom have helped propel Stefanie Stewart through her ascent in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

A finance and real estate major in college, Stefanie worked in student housing, which sparked her interest in commercial real estate.

A professor helped connect her with ING (now Voya) and she started as an analyst eleven years ago, working her way up through the ranks. Seven years back, she moved from an analyst to a production role with her own territory, which she names as the professional achievement she is most proud of so far – her success in exceeding production goals.

“That win was particularly sweet,” said Stefanie considering an experience she had prior to joining Voya – where she has enjoyed being supported throughout her career.

“I was given an interview as a courtesy. At the end, the male manager said, ‘The commercial real estate industry is a good ol’ boys network, I don’t think it’s a place for a young woman.’” Stefanie used the experience to motivate her.

“It is a male-dominated industry, and when I made the transition from analyst to producer I wondered if I would be as successful as the guys at building external relationships. Typically, at first, you start with people lending their relationships, but then you have to build your own book of business,” she notes. Stefanie is proud that she’s been able to succeed and build a reputation for herself in the industry, with the support of her team.

Building Relationships to Build Your Career

A member of Path Builders early on in her career, she has also taken advantage of a variety of women’s networking events.

Stefanie has found sponsorship to be important in her career, with managers who have been committed to putting her in front of senior managers. She says she was fortunate that she was part of the mentoring program while making the transition, which was great timing to help her navigate the waters professionally and even politically.

She also credits much of her growth to managers in the group who have given her opportunities that she acknowledges she often wasn’t yet ready for – some of which filled her with fear, whether it was being in front of senior managers, a complex deal or participating on a panel. In hindsight, each was pivotal in her career. “They have only made me better, and now I look forward to some of these situations that make me uncomfortable, because I know they will give me the opportunity to continue to grow.”

She has had many role models along the way too, and knows that sometimes they can serve as a model of as much what not to do as what to do. “I’ve learned a lot by observing how people handle things under stress or react to criticism, and it has helped me remember that you can always learn from positive feedback.” External role models who are navigating similar challenges, from different sides of the equation, can also be helpful as a sounding board.

Her experience in the real estate program at Florida State University prepared her well for the real estate business, and she now serves as a mentor for recent graduates of the program, as well as visiting to provide case studies for the classes and sitting on a real estate trends conference planning committee. “If I can help a 22 year-old find their way, that is very gratifying to me,” she says.

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