Take the Stage

In this episode, we are shining the spotlight on Malia Funk, a second year associate at a Lower Middle Market firm. Malia's journey into PE started in Hawaii, traversed to OSU, and wound up in Manhattan. It’s much more complex than geographical change or happenstance. It’s purposeful. Methodical. Calculated. No paths are created equally and no two paths are the same. The traditional road to private equity is usually paved and straight - there's a typical profile that prevails, but as Malia points out and exemplifies, there is a recognizable shift where the trail can be a bit more adventurous.

(5:34) What attracted you to PE and acquisitions and what were your concerns about entering the M&A space?

(12:38) Malia shares her thoughts about women withdrawing from recruitment opportunities and how they tend to view the job application process. Are women more afraid of failure or is it something else?

(18:36) Malia provides some unique perspective on the psychology of male traits that are often emphasized (confidence and individualism) and how they differ from those of women (caring for others, putting others above yourself, and being likeable). The conversation continues about the implications of these traits on entering the candidate/interview process, especially as they pertain to women.

(21:55) How will women and women of your generation (millennial and Gen Z’s) influence PE in the future? Malia "spins" a great response about how women who have been able to make it to the high stakes table and make big investment decisions have already broken the molds and overcome numerous setbacks and they'll bring a lot of good disruption along with them.

(28:35) How can women best prepare themselves for the challenges and rewards of a career in private equity? Malia reflects and offers a lot of practical advice and so many golden nuggets that are 100% suitable to both genders, such as the importance of young professionals establishing their hardware and then uploading their software...yes!

(34:55) Malia and Alexis wrap up their session with thoughts on how women should support their fellow female colleagues in private equity.

Connect with Alexis on LinkedIn

[email protected]

www.career-rockstars.com

Today we are shining the spotlight on a true trailblazer in the tech and media scene. Cristina Garces is CEO and founder of Optiva Media, a niche engineering services company that delivers audio and video technology solutions across the entire digital TV and audio media market chain. 

(0:31): Who is Optiva Media? Cristina provides the background.

(1:43): A Women in Business 2020 Grant Thornton report says Spain has 5% more than the global average of gender equality in the work place when looking at women who hold senior management positions in mid size companies.

(5:00): Career journey of CEO Cristina Garces from studying arts and literature to earning a computer engineering degree, founding a company and becoming CEO. She tells an interesting “trail-blazer” story about how she continually forced changes and made decisions that often went against conventional thinking when she left reputable companies and high job security in search of new challenges and ventures.

(16:47): As a woman working in male dominated industries, was there ever a point in your career where you felt you needed to change, act or speak differently and adopt “mannerisms”? Cristina states that to be taken seriously especially for younger women, you need to act and be more serious and bold than your colleagues. Also she suggests young women be over-prepared and be prepared to take control in meetings.

(26:06): Women being proactive at Optiva Media through their “Coffeeology” initiative in order to: 1) hire more women; 2) retain them; and 3) how can they change/evolve the Optiva culture to support and continue the advancement of women.

(34:58): What is your best piece of advice to women aspiring to progress through the ranks in your career?

Connect with Cristina on LinkedIn

Check out Optiva Media on LinkedIn

Report Mentioned: Women in Business 2020 Grant Thornton

Connect with Alexis on LinkedIn

[email protected]

www.career-rockstars.com

Today we'll be shining the spotlight on Sugata Jain, former Director of IE Business School's Startup Lab and currently a lady who rocks the male-dominated space that is venture capital and early stage startups. In this episode we cover several key topics including: 

[13:59] Pain points when working with entrepreneurs  

[16:40] Pain points of VCs/investors when sourcing business opportunities

[26:22] Why this space continues to be so male-dominated  

And lots more! Connect with Sugata Jain www.linkedin.com/in/sugatajain/ 

And if you want more information on how to recruit rockstars for your company, please reach out:  [email protected]