Tag Archive for: professional women

Ivelisse Rodriguez Simon, Managing Partner, Avante Capital Partners

Ivelisse Rodriguez Simon“I wish I had known from the start of my career that I should have more confidence in myself,” says Avante Capital’s Ivelisse Rodriguez Simon.

But, as she says, when you enter an industry where no one looks like you, it can be challenging.

“Over time I’ve realized that you should never doubt your own capabilities. There may be obstacles, but you can do it. With a lot of luck, hard work and great mentors I’ve made it in this industry, which is hard for women, especially minority women.”

Setting an Example Through Dedication and Success

Not only has Rodriguez Simon “made it” in the industry; she has helped set the standard.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Rodriguez Simon grew up in a low-income neighborhood on the south side of Chicago becoming the first of her family to attend college—the University of Illinois, where she studied finance and accounting. Her journey in the financial world began when she was selected by a professor who would send a handful of students to Wall Street every year to see the financial world firsthand.

While there, she interviewed with Salomon Brothers and received the job. Positions followed in banking and private equity, then a mentor convinced her to apply to business school, and she earned her MBA from Harvard. Shortly after, she and her business partner established Avante Capital Partners, which has grown to become one of the largest women-owned private credit and equity funds.

For the past 11 years they have continued to grow the platform. Today, with a team of 14, the company has invested more than $500 million in 39 small businesses, making strong returns and never losing money on a loan.

As one might imagine, that is the professional achievement Rodriguez Simon is most proud of so far—launching a firm in an industry where there is stunningly little diversity. “Only 1% of the $7 trillion private equity industry is run by women or minorities, and I’m both,” she says. “We get to fulfill our mission every day, promoting diversity in our industry by hiring really talented people who just happen to be women or minorities.”

Finding Multiple Avenues to Increase Diversity

In addition to offering great jobs, Rodriguez Simon has found other ways to pay it forward. She has formed a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) through a program offered by the Small Business Administration. She is working closely with a number of senators to not only promote more diversity within fund managers, but more importantly to make sure there are more women- and minority-owned businesses that are able to access capital.

“It’s not just a mission, but a passion, and I am really excited about building a pipeline of women and minority fund managers and helping promote diversity within our industry,” she says. As part of this effort, Avante Capital launched its “Small Business Investment Scholars Program” this summer. Nine first generation college students, all women or minorities, were invited to participate in eight-week internships in order to get exposure to finance and break into the industry.

To further build the pipeline, she encourages young professional women to learn as much as they can upfront and develop their technical skills, but she also says it’s important not to quit on the industry. “It’s difficult and challenging, but rewarding in so many ways.” And Rodriguez Simon urges women at her stage to work together to recruit more women, to be intentional and brave about it.

On that note, she believes it’s important to join organizations that support and empower women. Rodriguez Simon has been an active member of the Private Equity Women’s Investment Network, which was founded by Kelly Williams. “She’s a groundbreaking leader in this industry, and after an extraordinary career started this organization whose only mission is to support and advocate for women in private equity management.”

While the industry has not typically been flexible for working women, Rodriguez Simon sees COVID-19 as an interesting test case of what it could be, as there has been resounding proof that yes, you can successfully and productively work from home. “Hopefully the acceptance of remote work that occurred during COVID-19 will have a cross-over effect that will open doors to more women.

“Historically women had to choose between careers and parenthood, and they would usually opt for the latter,” she says, adding that she was able to overcome that choice by creating her own business and making her own rules.

That has led to a healthy work/family balance, which has allowed her to spend more time with her husband and three kids, an 8-year-old and 11-year-old twins. Prior to COVID-19, they enjoyed abundant international travel, visiting Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Japan, Italy, Spain, New Zealand and more. Now, they stick closer to home, exploring California, until it is once again safe to resume those global treks.

“We go with a mission to learn about other people’s cultures,” says Rodriguez Simon. “You can break down a lot of the divides we have in this world when you talk to others and start to realize that at the core, everyone wants the same things.”

by Cathie Ericson

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Gia Morón, CEO, GVM Communications, Inc & President, Women Grow

Gia MoronFrom entertainment to Wall Street to PR entrepreneurship, Gia Morón has repeatedly found herself in spaces she never imagined.

With a gift for drawing connections and a super keen gut instinct, she’s now at the forefront of women leaders driving diversity in the emerging cannabis industry.

Different Industry, Similar Skills

As Director of Promotions and Publicity for an entertainment firm in her 20s, Morón cultivated a passion for telling stories. When one day she was laid off, a staffing company suggested a curveball.

“There wasn’t an inkling within me that would’ve thought that I would be on Wall Street,” she says, having barely paid attention to the stock market. “I was thinking how different could this be? Only to learn that the same skill set still applied, just in a different industry.”

As Media Relations Officer at Goldman Sachs, she found that finance was as much about storytelling as entertainment was. She also soon realized that everything – including the entertainment world – came back to the hub of finance.

“I thought it was only a stepping stone,” she says. “But I don’t think school could’ve taught me what I learned on Wall Street.”

Becoming an Entrepreneur

“Oftentimes when we’re in the middle of something,” says Morón, “we have no idea what we’re being prepared for next.”

Morón worked with the 10,000 Women initiative at Goldman Sachs, which also launched 10,000 Small Businesses. So when the 2011 downsizing ended her 15 year stint there, she started her own public relations, brand and business development firm to try out similar consulting, this time on her own.

“I said let me take the time to do this now,” she remembers, “rather than regret not doing it. If it doesn’t work, I can always go back.”

Morón launched GVM Communications, Inc on April 20th, 2012, a date (4/20) that, in retrospect, seems auspicious.

“I wanted to try something different, but I went back to something I was familiar with,” she comments, on initially taking on finance and tech affiliated companies as her client base. “And I thought to myself, I’ve got to fire myself and really go into something entirely different.”

So she began to amass clients from fashion to plastic surgery, which she now sees as preparing her for the next development, which sparked when she started noticing a documentary series on legal marijuana on CNBC around 2013.

The Story Didn’t Add Up

“I am thinking this is prime time and they are focused on marijuana on a financial network,” Morón recalls. “There’s something I need to pay attention to. And that (intuition) I attribute to Wall Street, where you learn about forecasts.”

What also piqued Morón’s intrigue was that all the interviewees for these businesses were white men, whereas people of color from her old neighborhood were being arrested for the same thing that was now becoming legal, and lucrative.

“There’s a changing of the tide that really is only showing the success of a white male community, but continues to show the disproportionate civil injustices against Black and brown people,” she observed. “Well, that didn’t make sense to me.”

Stepping Into the Room

After discovering Women Grow in a magazine she was cover-pitching for a client, Morón apprehensively attended her first meeting, just off Canal Street in New York City.

She was surprised to find a very friendly room of people dressed in blazers with an atmosphere akin to an afterwork social networking gathering, but only five Black people present.

“I thought you could pick this room up and put it anywhere in the country, but you’d never know you were in NYC based on the lack of diversity,” says Morón. “And we’re talking about marijuana, right? Why shouldn’t there be a whole plethora of diverse faces in the room?”

“I walked up to every single Black person with a smile on my face, the five in the room, and I was very direct. I said, ‘Hi Black person, my name is Gia’,” says Morón. “I wanted them to know I see us in this room, and I recognize that it is important for us to acknowledge each other.”

She would then suggest they get to know the room, and regroup. This strategy worked and for the next meeting, she and the others brought ten more interested people of color.

“I think you can approach a situation like that and feel like you’re the only one,” she says, “or you can say, ‘I can invite other people and not be the only one.’”

She realized from the meeting that her PR skills were needed in the cannabis industry, and began to bring in new clients in 2015 to her GVM portfolio.

“That is when I learned that whatever people were currently doing in their jobs or their businesses could be applied in the cannabis industry,” says Morón, attributing her vision again to her time in finance. “And once that light went on, I recognized that cannabis would eventually make its way into every industry that operates today.”

Forging Diversity In an Emerging Industry

For Morón, Women Grow is the “gateway” into the cannabis industry for women, a network of diverse women bonded by the common mission of becoming leaders in this emerging industry.

“Oftentimes we come into a new space with old practices looking for different results that cannot happen unless we become intentional and conscious about what we need to change,” she observes.

Her organization has repeatedly witnessed the need to challenge and disrupt the familiar bastions that uphold the white men’s club – such as disproportionate access to licensing and capital – amidst the major obstacles of no federal legality, regulation or banking system.

Women represent 27% of cannabis leadership so far, ahead of other industries, and this is a direct result of intentional action to correct the course, now. Still Morón says more work needs to be done to see further leadership of women in the industry.

A new partnership with the Arcview Group’ Women’s Investment Network (“WIN”) will focus on educating, deal flow and networking around investment.

Creating a Legacy of Leadership

Alongside brilliant colleagues she admires and feels bolstered by, Morón has forged inclusion not only in the industry, but also at Women Grow.

“White women often see diversity as gender first. Whereas women of color see diversity as cultural first, then gender,” she discerns. “I didn’t recognize that until I was having these amazing conversations with women across the industry.”

Morón talks about releasing the fear and judgment that arose as she ventured into cannabis, and how every stereotype that could come up has been blown apart. She said the biggest misconception most people have is that they must consume cannabis in order to be in the industry, which is not the case. Learning about the plant and regulations that vary from state to state about the industry is most important.

“My gut feeling kept telling me over and over, you’re on the right path,” she says. “I had to recognize every time I trusted my gut, it didn’t fail me. I’ve experienced small fails, but not complete failures.”

“I am so proud to actually be in an industry where I find people who look like me – women and people of color, coming together, having the backgrounds we have, doing the work we are doing, and I get to say this is my network of people,” Morón beams. “We are literally part of the bricklayers of building this industry.”

“Our ancestors or people from our communities have paid the price,” she says. “And now our responsibility is to execute and make a positive impact. We believe in an industry where we can thrive, and not just survive, but moreover really create legacies for our own families and communities.”

by Aimee Hansen

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Iris Colón, Manager, Transformation & Growth, BDO

Iris ColonIris Colón names her biggest learning moment as being able to recognize the power in your own voice, especially as a woman of color.

That confidence often comes from accumulated knowledge, but since she has been fortunate to work in a wide variety of industries, she knew that she couldn’t have amassed as much industry knowledge as others; however, that didn’t make her opinions less valid.

“Even if someone had more longevity, I can speak from different perspectives, which is especially important in today’s climate,” she says, adding that she also likes to be the voice for others who feel there is too much risk to speak up or take action. She learned to advocate for herself as a teenage cancer survivor.

Pivoting Among Industries

”Winding, with some roundabouts” is how Colón describes her career path. Her first role out of college was as an assistant at a nonprofit working to improve afterschool programs by enhancing the skills of afterschool staff. She believes being discovered for the role was serendipity as she had applied online, and by coincidence, the CFO had been the program director of an afterschool program she had attended many years ago and recognized her name. Then, she was interviewed by someone who had attended her college and lived in Washington Heights where she grew up.

After her stint there, Colón went to work in NYC government on workforce development, first holding positions as an analyst and then a manager. Her next pivot was to technology since she had planned to move to Connecticut, and many New York City agencies require you to be a resident. She was able to land the job because of her transferrable skills in data management, which she had performed for all the workforce development programs. While there, she pursued her MBA while working fulltime.

After graduation, Colón decided to seek consulting roles with a human component and took a position with a healthcare company, where she helped implement multiple organizational changes, such as the Fully Integrated Duals Advantage (FIDA) program. Then as the firm confronted transformation, she decided it was a good time for her to seek other opportunities.

She held a client-facing role at McLagan an Aon company for three years, where she worked with fintech firms helping them establish their vision and HR initiatives, as well as with major financial companies in the Caribbean. Now she is at BDO, working on a team focused on Strategy, Operational Efficiency, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Learning & Development for the Advisory division.

As she has moved between roles, she has always prioritized finding a company that lives its values. To help assess that, she treats interviews as a two-way fact-finding mission, asking how they treat employees of all races and genders.

Her proudest professional achievement encompasses two facets: She is proud of her workforce history where she’s been able to adapt to so many types of industries, with a personality that lends itself to be a good fit with a wide variety of people and projects. However, she’s also proud of her education. As a Latina, graduating from college as a first-generation student was an amazing achievement, and then earning her MBA, as one of the few women in her classes, and also taking a leadership role in student government while she was at NYU Stern.

Giving Back is Part of her Nature

Colón believes strongly in the value of mentors. When she graduated from high school, she was awarded a scholarship and partway through her college experience she was assigned a mentor who could help her through her schooling and choosing her major. But Colón adds that she wishes she’d had more mentors who looked like her and shared similar experiences and backgrounds. Nevertheless, she says she was fortunate to have had multiple female bosses, and therefore was able to note qualities that were both good and bad to emulate or avoid.

Sometimes she believes women can see each other as competition, which can hamper a working relationship. She found it vital to identify a boss who was supportive of what she wanted to do and saw her potential and then was willing to help her grow. “Your boss needs to be an advocate for you and show they want you on the team,” she says.

Currently, Colón is active in her firm’s Multicultural Alliance that helps to plan events and also makes sure that company leaders back up their words with actions related to diversity and inclusion. Outside of her firm she gives back to organizations that have been important to her, such as the Women’s Bond Club, where she initially received her scholarship. The group has since expanded its programming to include internships and mentoring and now awards multiple scholarships.

She also participates in several alumni groups connected to NYU, including the Black and Latino Alumni Group of NYU Stern and NYU Alumni Club in Connecticut, and Haverford College, Multicultural Alumni Action Group. As a young adult cancer survivor, she is part of the First Descents and Stupid Cancer communities.

As a native New Yorker, she never anticipated moving to Connecticut, but enjoys a full life there with her husband, Anthony, and three-year-old son, Justin. And now she shares her newfound love with others, as a member of the Newcomers Club of New Canaan’s social committee dedicated to helping new residents connect with each other and get involved in the town.

“Diversity can infuse every part of your life,” she says.

by Cathie Ericson

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Heidi Pellerano, Chief Commercial Officer, The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf)

Heidi PelleranoWorking in the sports industry makes Heidi Pellerano very visible as a woman.

But she is able to lean on a philosophy that helps athletes themselves as they strive for success. “I might not be the best athlete, but no one will outwork me,” she says. “You might have to work harder if fewer doors are open, but it’s something I’m proud of.”

Connecting Her Passion to a Career

Many professionals take unusual paths, but that is an understatement to describe Pellerano’s career. She studied as an electrical engineer and worked in the field for three years as a military consultant. But then, she had “that moment” where she was considering that she had a long career ahead of her and wanted to make the most of it. “It was a difficult process and took some soul searching, but making a shift allowed me to be true to myself.”

Although she didn’t come from a typical “sports family,” she’d always been passionate about them and decided to see what paths might open up. As a girls basketball coach at the time, she leaned on some of the parents to help set up informational interviews as she realized it was a tough industry to break into, especially given her background. “I offered to work for free and do whatever it took, but nobody picked me up on my offer,” she says. Through the advice of the parents, she identified an opportunity to earn a master’s degree in sports management at the University of Massachusetts, which would demonstrate she was serious.

During her program, Pellerano became uneasy as she started hearing about the decisive plans her classmates had, and it became clear that even if it wasn’t a long-term goal, she needed something that would differentiate her. It was the 1998 timeframe when women’s sports were growing, and she realized that could be a niche. She specialized all her projects to establish herself, and was approached by a classmate whose dad wanted to bring a WNBA team to Orlando, which opened the door to an internship.

Recognizing it’s an industry that’s all about networking and connections, she focused on meeting other professionals, which paid off when one of the women she had met went to work at the NBA in New York and hired Pellerano. Soon she decided that a marketing degree would complement her skills so she went back to school at Duke University, where she once again was vocal about her goals. A classmate referred her to a small consulting agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, OnSport, which became her entry point to strategic consulting in sports and entertainment.

When the firm was sold to industry giant Wasserman, Pellerano stayed on and just left last year to become Chief Commercial Officer at The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf), one of FIFA’s six continental confederations. She is excited to tell the story of the group’s 60th anniversary next year as the most recent hire of a recently transformed leadership team. “There is a tremendous upside and potential with all the changes that have happened in recent years.”

Making Your Voice Heard

Today when she meets with prospective hires or conducts informational interviews, Pellerano sees potential that others might not. That’s because she had been pigeon holed by her major, without someone to help connect the dots. By doing it herself, she has been able to create the career she wanted, and today can help others with a non-traditional background see where they might fit.

She has realized sports is an industry where it’s easy to be overlooked—one not designed for introverts, meaning she has to make adaptations as one herself. “The extroverts are very comfortable being seen and heard, and I’ve talked to a lot of people about how it’s fine to be introverted, but you have to understand how to shine at the right moments or it can have a limiting effect on your future.”

She acknowledges that as a former military consultant, she has gone from one male-dominated industry to another, and it’s important to focus on developing relationships.

At Wasserman she worked with an HR specialist, who posed an analogy that helped the issue of diversity and inclusion click. “When you look at the network of those in leadership, it will look like people like them, which is how underrepresentation continues,” she says. “Therefore, the best way to increase inclusion is to commit to open doors and advocate for advancement.”

“In many organizations, the biggest hurdle for women and minorities is they feel like they are meeting a quota,” says Pellerano. “If that’s the case, then forget what opened the door and prove them wrong.”

In fact, she exudes what she calls the “boxer mentality.” That means you may wonder how someone can withstand the pain, yet still have that attitude of never giving up. “Someone else has to call them out; it won’t be them,” she says, noting that there are days you wonder whether the struggle is worth it. “You have to realize everything will pay off for the next generations.”

Sports remain a passion in her personal life, and she also enjoys traveling with her family and friends, with favorite destinations being anything outdoors. “Since my job requires me to spend so much time inside, I love to get fresh air, whether it’s mountains, oceans or rivers. A beautiful landscape makes me happy.”

by Cathie Ericson

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Isela Bahena, Managing Director, Private Infrastructure Group, Nuveen Real Assets

Isela BahenaIn our careers, we oftentimes think ahead to potential impacts of any move, which while deliberate, can make us hesitant to grab an opportunity that doesn’t fit our exact narrative.

But what might seem like a career deviation can often turn out to be something you should embrace as a real opportunity, says Isela Bahena. “It might seem scary, but looking back I see a lot of growth when I took those chances,” she says. “There will be challenges, but sometimes the bridge is going to look different when you actually cross it.

This outlook has paid off in her career, but her demeanor, as well. In fact, she finds that younger colleagues often ask her why she doesn’t look nervous when changes are announced. “I tell them that’s because in the long run I always see them as opportunities.”

Embracing Change

Bahena has held this attitude throughout her career, which started in public finance and commercial lending, an area that she believes offered a strong foundation in skillsets for what she does now. After five years at Bank of America, she then decided the time was right to earn her MBA and attended Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. During her summer in between first and second year, she interned at TIAA, Nuveen’s parent company; her lending background attracted them to her as a candidate, and she received a full-time offer to join them after graduation.

She’s been there since 2004, working on a number of teams through various rotations, starting with the private placement and private equity funds and co-investment. She found that to be an especially exciting opportunity as she was the sole associate on the team at the time, supporting seven directors and managing directors.

“I was learning a lot because I was touching all sorts of deals, which quickly expanded my breadth of knowledge,” Bahena says. Her ability to underwrite equity investments was a big advantage, and she was soon tasked with joining a team that was building a new asset class in private equity infrastructure. A decade later, she is driving strategy as a senior member of the team. “Generating ideas and envisioning what the business will look like as part of the broader organization is exciting, and this is one of the most interesting things I’ve done,” Bahena says.

There is growing interest in the sector where she invests, as well as ESG and impacts of climate change, where the firm is a leader globally. “I am at exactly the right juncture to showcase our strength and leadership to the market.”

Subtly Encouraging Diversity

While progress has been made, Bahena points out that finance is still a very male-dominated industry, and she believes that increasing awareness is the first step to be more inclusive. What happens, she finds, is that successful professionals often look for a younger version of themselves in candidates, but she notes that we need to collectively change that perspective to introduce more diversity in the industry.

“You have to be able to see other versions of yourself so you can share opportunities with those who don’t look just like you,” she says. For example, when a male colleague mentions that a new candidate or hire reminds him of his younger self, she suggests he think about someone who reminds him of a daughter or niece as well. “I look forward to being part of that change,” she says.

Throughout your career, she says it’s vital to always keep learning and adding to your tool kit. “It keeps you fresh and keeps your career interesting,” she says. In fact, one of the professional achievements Bahena is most proud of was being chosen to participate in the Emerging Leaders program in 2012, an opportunity that allowed her to meet a small group of colleagues who are now leaders all over the organization. “It was a nice pat on the back to be included and it was important for my growth and development,” Bahena says.

While she appreciates participating in industry-oriented events targeted toward women as a way to collaborate and discuss challenges, the goal, of course, is that women won’t need those to thrive.

When mentoring others in her organization, either formally or informally, she encourages them
to consider the brand they want to portray. “What adjectives do you want colleagues to consider when your name is said? That impression will precede you, so you want to make sure you’re building the reputation you want to have to the best of your ability.”

Always Giving Back

Bahena says that philanthropy has been an important component of her life she has embraced for a long time—not just giving money, but also time and expertise.

“I stand on the shoulders of many who came before me to lay this foundation to be where I am today so I believe it’s my responsibility to help out,” she says. That’s why she donates her time to a number of different causes, such as education, where she has served on the board of a charter school; as well as working with nonprofits in a variety of areas, from a legal fund to community-oriented grassroots organizations focused on causes from women’s rights to climate change.

As the eldest daughter of Mexican immigrants, she believes her family set the stage for looking at different perspectives and viewpoints from a very young age. “My upbringing also helped me look at the future as being a glass that is half full, and seeing that empty half as an opportunity with room for me to fill it with more water.”

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Virginia Johnson; Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Legal; Global Atlantic Financial Group

Virginia JohnsonNever check your bag. Those words of wisdom have stuck with Virginia Johnson throughout her legal career since one of her first business trips as a first year associate. Traveling with a senior partner to embark on a lengthy trip, she arrived at the gate and when he asked where her suitcase was, he was shocked that she had checked it. “’Didn’t anyone ever teach you Associate Travel 101?’ he asked me.” Fortunately for Johnson, the bag quickly emerged from baggage claim as expected, but the advice has stuck with her…fast forward over 15 years and it still rings true, she says.

Wearing Many Hats Creates Exciting Opportunities

Of course, that’s just one small, but colorful, piece of advice that has helped propel her successful career. Johnson started as a corporate lawyer in 2002 at a large international law firm, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where she served as a securities and complex commercial litigator for nearly 9 years. She transferred from New York to Boston during her time at Weil, and eventually moved to a smaller Boston-based firm as a partner, where she could build her own book of business in an entrepreneurial environment. In 2012, she came across an opportunity to join the legal department of a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, and as she had always been intrigued by the idea of going “in house,” she made the leap.

Since its spin-out from Goldman in 2013, the company, which rebranded as Global Atlantic Financial Group, has dramatically transformed itself, in ways that Johnson says makes it “feel like it’s been 20 different jobs.” There, she currently heads up the corporate legal group and oversees just about everything a corporate legal department would need to handle, including contracts, licensing, cybersecurity, data privacy, litigation, employment, intellectual property, governance, risk, strategic transactions, cross-functional projects, business integration, and more.

She loves her current role where she can serve as a legal advisor but also assist with developing and shaping business strategy. “I am proud that I have been able to cultivate such a rewarding career, but also that I have built a reputation as a dependable problem solver in many contexts—a seasoned generalist who can jump into different types of situations,” she says. “As my expertise has adapted, I’ve been tapped by numerous leaders and have been able to expand my skill base. Business partners often tell me that if they don’t know who to call, they call me, as I have become known as somewhat of a ‘fixer,’ someone who can take on anything and just figure it out.”

Currently that covers leading her company’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, including introducing new initiatives, advising the business on legal risks and regulatory compliance, and conducting analysis of workplace safety logistics, company policies and procedures, employee benefits, and other aspects. While she acknowledges it is challenging, she also sees it as a chance to feel positive about something that is otherwise tragic. “Working on our response efforts is a way I can pour myself into the crisis and make a positive impact,” she says. “Most importantly, we are making sure we’re being flexible, fair and caring to our team and our customers.”

Johnson also is involved in a number of technology initiatives at Global Atlantic, an area for which she has a personal passion. This is a time like no other, she says, to spotlight the importance of innovation. “I have seen attitudes change almost overnight toward remote work and the urgency of digitizing our business capabilities, and it’s vital to embrace it, not be afraid of it. This forward-thinking attitude is critical to the future of our workplaces.”

Building Relationships and Learning on the Job

While Johnson says that sponsors can play an integral role in a career she also sees the benefits of networking at all levels.

“During my undergraduate studies and law school, I believed that if you simply buckle down and work hard, that would be enough, and by becoming a subject matter expert, people will seek you out. But now I know, it’s more than that: You have to network and build relationships,” she says, adding that she makes sure to tell her mentees not to underestimate the value of your network and to begin to grow those relationships immediately in your career. Too many times she has seen people focus exclusively on their work, and then find years later that they are building those relationships from scratch.

She credits her career transitions with seeking out and nurturing connections that would pay off in years to come. Success in the world of law entails a blend of talent and effort, along with some luck, she says.

As she considers the many mentors she’s had, the traits she admires most are having a mastery of skills and a devotion to excellence, while still maintaining a life outside work and a sense of humor. “These things aren’t mutually exclusive,” she explains. And, she appreciates those who put a premium on diversity in hiring and foster an environment where people can offer divergent opinions and dissenting views.

Johnson is proud of helping found a women’s network, which has become a firmwide presence at Global Atlantic, offering a large network across all the offices. Acting as a senior sponsor, she finds the most rewarding part has been the ability to empower younger professionals as “office champions” to plan events and initiatives. She sees it as a way to both retain talent and attract new professionals.

A Full Life Inside and Outside Work

In addition to her mentoring work within the company, Johnson is active in external mentoring with Big Sisters and Mentorloop, a virtual networking site that matches pairs according to interests. While she has spent much of her career in the financial services industry, she is an innovation enthusiast who loves learning about emerging technologies, and she often attends tech-focused events and peer chats to satisfy her curiosities.

Johnson also loves music, film, theater, and travel, and looks forward to resuming those activities after the pandemic clears. Since working from home full-time during the coronavirus outbreak, she has enjoyed being able to exercise more, favoring virtual boxing classes and yoga. And she treasures time she can spend with family, friends and her pets. “It’s important to have a well-rounded life outside of work. It gives you valuable perspective in making business decisions and also when you’re done with the workday.”

by Cathie Ericson

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Six Ways Executive Coaching Can Improve Your Life

Improve Your Life

Coaching is often misunderstood. It is not consulting, as the objective of coaching is not teaching or giving advice, but to facilitate your ability to learn about yourself, unlock your own potential, and improve your life.

If you’ve advanced to the upper ranks of your profession, do you even need an executive coach? You got this far, right? Especially at the executive level, having a great coach can dramatically enhance both your leadership and your life. In these times when leading with empathy is a necessary trait, a coach can help you show up to your team with a profound and helpful way to navigate this insanely difficult year as a professional woman in financial services or anywhere.

What can an executive coach do for you? Here are 6 ways that professionally and personally, a coach can help you become the leader and the executive you want to, and need to be.

1. Own Your Leadership Strengths

Own and hone your abilities. Leadership is as learned and acquired as it is somewhat innate. Research regarding female twins explores how developmental experiences and genetics work in tandem to create female leaders. This work, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, has found that around 30% of factors that lead to women in leadership roles are genetically influenced. This research seems to find that some people are literally born for capacity to lead with executive capabilities inherently there. The other 70% has to do with direct experiences and family influences. Within that a large proportion of success is attributed to securing and occupying a leadership role in the first place or climbing the ladder.

Part of executive coaching is unearthing the natural leader you already are, including identifying your unique strengths and styles. This includes bringing into your awareness the inherent talents that you might not be aware of, or are not valuing enough.

If you are gifted at visioning future opportunities or quality listening or making unexpected connections, you might take that skill for granted. An executive coach can reflect back your unique aptitudes, validate them and help to leverage them more. A coach helps build self-assurance so you can be relaxed in your own skin as a leader.

2. Transition into Leadership Mindset

As you move up, it becomes necessary to re-orient your focus towards your leader role. Coaching will provide valuable “cold, hard truth” about your weaker areas that can be developed.

Part of moving up in an organization is letting go of your comfort zone (how you focused your attention and efforts before your current position).

Putting your head down and doing your own quality work was enough before, but now must evolve to motivating and inspiring others. Coaching can help you to develop a new set of responses and priorities at work.

3. Expand Your Self-Awareness

Executive coaching can help executives focus on self-awareness, so you can see both yourself and others more clearly. A coach helps you to pause and reflect on your unconscious thinking and to question your assumptions and beliefs.

When you dismantle core ways in which you are inhibiting yourself, your perception can widen to transform both your professional and personal life.

Most of us don’t see ourselves clearly, but self-awareness is highly correlated with effectiveness as a leader and with attracting followers. It includes being able to understand how you see yourself and the world, what biases you hold, what beliefs you possess and the impact you might have on others.

With your coach, you examine the way you think and process circumstances and how that creates outcomes. You might consider what thinking process led to a specific action and outcome, and how you could have perceived and responded differently.

You will question core limiting beliefs, often hidden from your conscious awareness, that keep you trapped in emotional cycles, self-sabotage or repeating “safe” behaviors that undermine your potential.

Coaching serves to elevate your emotional intelligence, which becomes more essential the higher you go, and affects your quality of presence, how you respond within a moment and perhaps what kind of skills you need to seek in those around you.

The more emotional intelligence you have, the higher you will go at work.

Research shows that some women have more emotional intelligence than men, if you are one of those women use it. If you are not, and there are many women who do not fit this stereotype, then work with a coach to develop it.

4. Enhance Quality of Relationships

Coaching helps you to gain a more accurate sense of how others perceive you as a leader, which can throw the light on challenge areas to affect better outcomes.

Over 70% of people have shared that coaching improves work performance, relationships and effective communication skills. It helps you to see others more clearly, and to see interpersonal issues between you and others more clearly.

Coaching can help you to examine your limited beliefs about others, especially those who aren’t like you, so you can form productive and rewarding relationships with a more diverse range of people.

5. Improve Focus and Decision-Making

Tony Robbins asks, “Are you majoring in minor things?”

Coaching helps to clarify your core personal and professional values, so you can structure and direct your attention in ways that create real fulfillment. A coach helps you discern between being busy and being effective, so you can better focus your precious energy.

A coach provides valuable external perspective on your strategic thinking and ideas – bringing new angles to consider, pointing out blindspots, giving validation, helping you to articulate your ideas more clearly and step-by-step and helping to navigate execution, even in making bolder moves.

A coach can challenge the assumptions that are limiting your progress. By providing a reflection on patterns or fears that hinder and obstruct your thinking, a coach can help you become more effective at decision-making.

6. Gain A Dedicated Ally

In the feminine version of the heroic journey, there is help along the road. A coach represents an ally that walks the path with you, always in your corner, supporting your development and achievement.

Whether it’s truth-talking on where you’re stuck or advocating for your gifts, a coach will be your confidante and champion in the leadership journey. A coach offers a detached perspective that helps to bring life into clarity, focus and often wider possibility.

As well as helping clarify what you want, outlining how to get there, and then helping navigate the path, your coach becomes your accountability partner along the road to your goals, reminding you of your intentions, where you want to go and why.

With the mental, emotional and strategic inspiration and support of coaching, the leadership road becomes a more personal and expansive journey than you may have ever imagined.

by Aimee Hansen

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Yeng Butler, Head of Liquidity Client Group, Wells Fargo Asset Management

Yeng Butler“Joining Wells Fargo & Company when I did, just prior to Covid-19 has certainly given new meaning to the phrase ‘trial by fire’ as I had to learn how to effectively navigate within the firm on a very quick timeline.”

Yeng Butler joined Wells Fargo Asset Management as the head of Liquidity Client Group in November 2019, after eight years at State Street. However, Yeng Butler’s career has been anything but linear. She recounts that she has always followed her curiosity and hasn’t been afraid to look beyond immediate and obvious career opportunities.

“Trust yourself.” She states, “I have taken risks that other people might not have taken. There are choices to make and you can benefit by taking a broader approach, and not be so linear, narrow or ‘safe’ in your career choices.”

The Importance of a Sponsor

As a student of government and Asian studies, Yeng entered financial services via a graduate training program at Merrill Lynch which gave her a two-year rotational experience in New York working in investment banking, private wealth, equity sales and trading, asset management as well as the retail aspect inside branches.

During one of those rotations, she met a person who would become a lifelong sponsor of hers.

“Before the program ended, I proactively called my sponsor up and asked if he would consider hiring me, as I knew I could learn so much from him, and that this was someone that I wanted to work with.”

The sponsor immediately said yes and thus began an eight-year journey from analyst to salesperson to vice president of sales leading a team. In 2010, the sponsor who had given her the first big break called again and invited her to come and work with him back in Boston with State Street.

By this time, Yeng was based in the West Coast. “We loved the Northern Californian way of life, but I knew I was ready for a big challenge again. From a team of two people, we built the business to a global team of 30. It was there I realized that my skillset and passion was strong on build outs and turnaround work.”

Butler is excited about her role at Wells Fargo Asset Management and is currently managing a team of thirty and is running a business with $240B under management. She took the role because she wanted to solidify her skills around expansion of an established business.

“The mandate is to double the business which despite what is going on is a very exciting challenge and the new flows have already surpassed our targets for the year.”

When asked about career advice to her younger self, Butler states that she would have told herself to shake off the imposter syndrome.

“Own your voice! You are expected to have an opinion so offer it, and do so cogently.”

Butler believes that constantly developing EQ (emotional intelligence) around communication and how to deliver the message effectively is something that is a critical skill to develop for everyone to bring others along on any journey. She also recognizes the value of other traits and behaviors in the Wells Fargo culture that she is embracing.

“There is great collaboration here and although it’s a big company, there is a sense of urgency to get things done. In addition, I see a lot of women in senior leadership roles and there are clearly so many areas of opportunity here. There are visible jobs for women at Wells Fargo outside of the stereotypical areas.”

The Wider Road Taken

Talking about wider as opposed to narrow and linear career paths that many people follow, Butler, despite having a clear path of institutional sales ahead of her, left Merrill Lynch in 2004 to pursue a master’s degree.

“I knew if I stayed that I would stay in institutional sales and that would be all there was to my story and although it was hard to leave, I believe to this day, it was courageous. Courage to take the non-traditional path, to carve your own career path and to do so with thoughtfulness and patience. ”

Six months before starting her masters at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government to pursue a graduate degree in public administration, she set off to volunteer in Western Samoa.

“I reached out to a great organization called MicroDreams, who provide microloans to women entrepreneurs. I said I have six months to offer you, can I be of any help?”

This opportunity was enriching after graduating from Harvard. Butler saw that environmental, Social and governance (ESG) investing and policy was an emerging area and moved to the Bay Area in 2005 to work for a policy organization called Business for Social Responsibility.

The Balancing Act

Yeng Butler candidly talks about how she purposely opted out after six months to focus on starting and caring for a family, which included running her own business.

“I lasted six months before realizing it just was not a fit for me. I think fit is important to talk about. I made the choice to run a retail insurance business and it was an excellent lifestyle business where I could bring my infant daughter to work. I hired and managed a team of eight people and got to keep my skills sharp on my terms.”

She muses on the having-it-all question. And lands on that she believes that you can have it all – but not all at once.

“Now that my kids are older, I have a bit more flexibility to be hyper-focused at work. However, when I am with them, I try to be entirely present, and that means putting the mobile phones in a drawer.”

In her spare time, Butler enjoys spending time with her family solving jigsaw puzzles, tinkering in her vegetable garden and watching her daughter perform in musical theater.

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Erin England, Partner, Katten

Erin England

GittingsLegal – NE73197

Success comes in many forms, and you have to define it for yourself, explains Katten’s Erin England.

Today England enjoys being able to share her story with young professionals and students, and says she often hears from advice seekers after a presentation. But that advice can’t be one-size-fits-all because success looks different for everyone and has to be targeted toward their unique goals. “If they don’t know what they are looking for personally, the advice won’t be in alignment with the outcome they want,” England said.

For England, she initially viewed success as becoming financially stable. “I know what it’s like to struggle financially – my family did when I was young – so in the beginning I set my sights on academic and professional achievement and the financial stability that comes with it.” Upon achieving that security, England has revamped her definition of success.

Living Her Dream

As the youngest of three raised by a single mother, England was the first in her family to go to college. She graduated with a business degree from Texas A&M University. After graduation, she spent a few years in banking, and then set her sights on law school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

She started her legal career at another Dallas law firm where she worked for nearly 12 years, making partner along the way, and recently joined Katten as the first Commercial Finance partner in Texas.

At her former firm, she specialized in “fund finance” or “subscription financing,” which involves lending to private equity funds and securing the loans by the capital commitments of investors in the fund. She has brought her experience to Katten and is looking forward to building out the practice at the firm.

Learning Along the Way

England speaks of her early years in law as marked by a condition many young professionals experience: a dose of imposter syndrome, which for her created a sense of not belonging and having to “fake” it. “I was hesitant to speak up and was afraid to be myself because I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. My perception was that I did not grow up like other lawyers in the firm, which may have not been true, but my sphere of influence was so different than my colleagues at the time,” she says. But she soon realized that everyone makes mistakes, everyone has their own story of struggle, and the firm is better off having people from many different backgrounds.

Helping Others With the Climb

At her former firm, England co-chaired the women’s initiative committee and is looking forward to getting involved with Katten’s robust Women’s Leadership Forum. Opportunities to support fellow women attorneys are important to her, she says. “I love the reciprocal mentoring and encouragement these programs offer, and it’s an excellent way to meet others across the firm.”

She believes women should work to lift each other up. “Lift as you climb,” is one of her favorite sayings. And she thinks it’s vital for women in her position to stay aware of how to help others. She recommends her peers “move over and add a chair when they get a seat at the table.”

When younger women are overwhelmed at a law firm, she encourages them to know that it will get better. “For example, when you make partner, you have much more control of your day and you’ve earned the respect of your peers.” Unfortunately, in her experience, it’s been the case that many women leave firm life or the practice altogether just when they’re hitting their stride.

England believes that the prevailing barrier to success for women in the legal industry in general is the lack of women in positions of power. She notes that it’s “tough to be what you can’t see.” And while she acknowledges that there are systemic flaws that make it difficult for women to achieve positions of power, she says sometimes the only thing you can do is “just keep swimming.”

With over a decade of practice under her belt, England says she no longer views success in terms of financial security, but as having the opportunity to pay it forward by helping others achieve their professional or personal goals.

With a husband who is also a partner at a large law firm and a young daughter, England’s family is busy. As she works remotely, she makes a point to bring her daughter in to video calls as appropriate to help show other associates how family can be part of a full professional life.

England is devoted to nonprofit work, having been on several boards, including her local YMCA and the Dallas Women Lawyers Association. She recently joined her first for-profit board for a new company called the Bold Women Society, a community that spotlights women with courageous stories.

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How to Make Your Next Career Move During COVID-19

Next Career MoveNavigating change at work is applicable to everyone in their career right now. Working with an executive coach can help with adapting to the new environment of work from home and adjusting your mindset to deal with the changes that, due to a pandemic, seem to be here to stay for a while.

Executive-level jobs in the financial services and Fortune 500 are not exempt to disruption as the economic damage starts to take effect and it is very possible that companies will start slashing budgets and downsizing later this year.  So now, not later, is the time to prepare to make your next career move.

It won’t be the old-fashioned tap on the shoulder informing you that your team is being consolidated and there is no place for you.  The digital version of getting marched out of the building can provoke the same feelings of rejection, shame, anxiety and fear of what job to do next. If you are fired or made redundant, furloughed or re-org’ed out, then all is not lost. Instead, start with your own inner voice and control your psychology around what just happened, as self-talk and old fears and feelings can easily surface at this point. Your unconscious mind will enjoy slapping you with paradigms developed over a lifetime. These can take many forms; for those with imposter syndrome it could be “told you so, you didn’t belong there.” In the case of general self-worth concepts it could be the shame of “letting them down,” even though when I push my clients to further consider this internal message the “them” is mystical, general and undefined.

The best investigation you can do into your own constructs can be done using concepts from Lahey and Kegan’s work in Immunity to Change. This is a book I write about often and pursue with coaching clients to help them understand how to break out of implicit notions that your brain is quietly telling you.  These notions are working as the operating system beneath all the human apps or hacks that you think you are running for things like productivity and mastery in your life.

In times of potential trauma, such as job loss, you are faced with a choice of how to recover, as there are many emotions and thoughts involved with this type of situation. The best thing you can do is let go of any negative emotions such as anger or bitterness or shame. This is often easier said than done. Get perspective, as most likely this is not about you personally in these COVID-19 times. Use this event instead as reframe the change as an opportunity to understand what you enjoyed most, and least, about both the job itself and the company culture. This will help you figure out what is next for you professionally. If you have any kind of decent financial cushion, make a promise to yourself that you will not make rash decisions and instead take the time to reflect on what you really want to do.  That could come quickly if clarity happens, which is why a good coach can help you by supercharging you and your process. What do you need more of? Less of? How do you get what you want? This can be more satisfaction, more time, more flexibility, more money, a different title or even a complete pivot into a different career.

Not Furloughed or Fired but Ready for a Change

Even if things are steady at work it is okay to think about making a change, especially if your industry doesn’t look robust in terms of future sustainability or growth. See the writing on the wall regarding how your company is dealing with employees during COVID-19. Look for actions and behaviors. Are they laying off staff in other departments or teams? How are they doing it? Is there a voluntary severance program in place where the deal is lucrative? If so, perhaps it is worth talking to your manager about the future, specifically your future. This can be a courageous conversation to have so make sure you are in good standing with your boss as of course there is risk attached. If everything looks steady, find ways to ensure you make your value visible at all times. Working smarter not harder is the key here.

Take this time to think about what you want long term. In these exhausting times, it is easy to just survive the day and pour a cocktail on a Friday to celebrate getting through another week at work. Do an exercise of “flash forward” and picture yourself three years from now; what are you doing work-wise? Which firm are you in, if any, and what does your day-to-day look like? Start with the end in mind and start to think about the steps that could be taken to get there as Rome (or anything) was not built in a day. What skills do you need to develop? What connections do you need to make? What does starting the transition or pivot to a new job, career or industry look like? Herminia Ibarra’s fabulous book Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader very much argues that we are all in transition, and we just might not know it yet. From this perspective, looking at networks and skills is a worthy action at all times. I highly endorse her work, and this is a consistent recommendation from me to my coaching clients across senior levels on Wall Street, tech, fintech, healthcare and pharma.

As gloomy as things might seem right now with the outlook for the economy and personal risks in going to work, it is ultimately an ideal time to figure out what you want and what works for you. Things will return to a normal of sorts, but who knows when? Think about the last time you interviewed for a job. You might have been in a different place in your life and it’s okay to acknowledge that everything has changed. Not least, you have a chance to think about your enhanced skillset. And surely all of our resilience muscles have increased, as we have been resourceful though quarantine, kids crawling in to zoom meetings and productivity despite lack of connectivity. You are better placed than ever to be the best executive version of yourself!

If you wish to have a complimentary, exploratory conversation to see if executive coaching with Nicki Gilmour or one of our associate coaches could help you navigate your career this year and beyond, then please select the time that works best for you from the link below.

Event: Exploratory Coaching chat – see full list of times

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