Lessons Learned: Choices and Career Paths, Lecture notes of Lease Finance and Investment Banking

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Choices   Thanks  for  having  me  here  today,  it  is  a  pleasure  and   honor  to  be  here  on  such  a  great  day.    I  want  to  wish  all   of  the  mothers  in  the  audience  Happy  Mother’s  Day,  you   also  have  survived  four  years  of  college,  congratulations.   27  years  ago  I  was  in  your  place,  ready  to  head  out  to   New  York  to  work  on  Wall  Street.    I  thought  describing   the  choices  I  made  and  lessons  learned  along  the  way   would  have  some  value  for  you  graduates.   I  don’t  actually  remember  much  about  my  graduation   day  in  1986  because  I  was  so  excited  to  get  out  of  here  to   be  with  friends  and  family  that  I  couldn’t  wait  for  the   ceremony  to  end.    So  I  will  try  to  be  as  brief  as  possible.   As  a  freshman  at  Illinois,  I  was  a  pre-­‐med,  Chemistry   major.    After  a  year,  I  gave  up  on  medicine  because  I   didn’t  have  the  desire  to  go  another  four  years  of   medical  school  plus  residency,  etc.  after  undergraduate   and  I  almost  fainted  while  observing  surgery  in  a  hospital   during  the  summer  after  my  freshman  year.    I  then   focused  on  Chemistry  for  the  next  two  years  with  the   intention  of  pursuing  a  graduate  degree  in  chemistry.     But  after  a  summer  research  internship  at  Argonne  Labs   in  Chicago  after  my  junior  year,  I  concluded  that  being  a   research  chemist  wasn’t  going  to  work  for  me.    When  I   returned  to  campus  my  senior  year  and  started   interviewing  for  jobs  in  the  chemical  industry,  I  was  not   excited  about  any  of  the  opportunities.    It  just  so   happened  that  I  had  a  professor  here  at  Illinois,  who  had   formerly  worked  on  Wall  Street,  who  convinced  me  that   working  in  New  York  on  Wall  Street  was  the  best   opportunity  for  me.   Lesson  Learned:  Follow  your  instincts   To  pursue  a  job  on  Wall  Street  I  wrote  a  bunch  of  letters   to  the  investment  banks  and  they  all  immediately   rejected  me.    Since  I  wasn’t  ready  to  give  up,  I  flew  to   New  York  with  a  strategy  to  show  up  in  the  lobby  of  the   buildings  where  these  firms  were  located  and  call   upstairs  to  see  if  they  would  meet  with  me.    Remember,   this  was  in  the  pre-­‐9/11  days  when  there  was  very  little   security  in  these  big  buildings.    After  a  couple  of  days  it   looked  like  this  was  the  dumbest  idea  I  ever  had  in  my   life,  especially  after  I  had  already  turned  down  all  of  my   job  offers  in  the  chemical  industry.    But  somehow  I  was   run  for  18  years,  I  felt  that  to  progress  in  my  career  from   this  point  I  needed  to  seek  new  intellectual  challenges.    A   client  convinced  me  to  come  join  him  as  a  senior  finance   executive  in  his  company.    Not  only  was  I  going  to  be   leaving  investment  banking  but  I  was  no  longer  going  to   work  in  New  York.    Most  of  my  investment  banking   colleagues  thought  I  was  crazy  for  leaving  the  business   but  some  expressed  jealousy  at  the  move  I  was  making.     Of  course,  in  very  short  order,  the  company  I  joined  ran   into  financial  difficulties  so  I  had  to  roll  up  my  sleeves   and  dive  into  a  very  difficult  situation.    The  intellectual   challenge  was  well  beyond  what  I  was  expecting  and   ultimately  this  move  set  me  on  a  new  course  in  my   career.   Lesson  Learned:  Always  focus  on  the  intellectual   challenge,  don’t  be  complacent   Since  2004,  I  have  been  the  Chief  Financial  Officer  of   three  companies  and,  at  each  stage,  the  job  has  gotten   larger  and  more  complex  so  I  am  learning  at  a  rapid  pace   and  building  my  knowledge  and  experience.  I  have  had   many  job  opportunities  along  the  way  that  appeared  to   offer  more  money  or  perks  but  I  always  have  stayed   focused  on  improving  each  company  where  I  have   worked  to  develop  a  track  record.    As  you  progress  in   your  career  there  are  always  potential  shortcuts  or   perceived  easier  or  faster  alternatives,  usually  involving   more  money  or  titles.    But  if  you  pattern  your  career   path  as  a  marathon,  you  will  build  a  much  stronger  track   record  that  creates  a  durable  foundation  for  your  future   career  for  the  long  term.     Lesson  Learned:  The  journey  lasts  a  long  time,  it  is  a   marathon  not  a  sprint  and  most  of  the  time  is  not  linear   Today  is  a  day  to  celebrate  and  have  fun.    As  you  leave   campus  and  pursue  the  next  stage  of  your  journey  you   should  always  celebrate  your  successes  and  have  fun   along  the  way.    When  you  truly  enjoy  what  you  do  in   your  career  it  isn’t  work  and  it  isn’t  hard  to  outperform   your  peers.   Lesson  Learned:  Have  Fun   Best  of  luck  for  the  future,  you  have  already  made  a   great  choice  and  accomplished  a  lot  by  getting  a   Chemistry  degree  from  the  University  of  Illinois.